Locksmith Animation
Locksmith Animation (also known as Locksmith Animation Studios and Locksmith Animation Ltd. or simply Locksmith) is a British CGI animation studio founded by Aardman Animations collaborators Sarah Smith and Julie Lockhart on 5 March 2014 with the financial backing of Elisabeth Murdoch. Based in London, England, it bills itself as "the only high-end CGI animation movie studio in the UK making computer-animated family-oriented films." History. The studio was founded in 5 March 2014 by Sarah Smith and Julie Lockhart with the financial backing of Elisabeth Murdoch. In April 2014, visual effects/animation studio Double Negative  (now known as DNEG) formed a deal with Locksmith where it will provide the computer animation for Locksmith's films. In May 2016, Locksmith formed a production deal with Paramount Pictures, with Paramount acting as the distributor for Locksmith's films to be produced under the Paramount Animation label. The following year, however, Paramount abandoned its deal with Locksmith when Paramount chairman and CEO Brad Grey was replaced by Jim Gianopulos. In September 2017, Locksmith formed a multi-year production deal with 20th Century Fox, which would distribute Locksmith's films; 20th Century Fox Animation was brought in to oversee  the deal, as Locksmith was aiming to release a film every 12–18 months. The first film to be released under the production company was "Ron's Gone Wrong", which was released on 22 October 2021 by 20th Century Studios. In October 2019, while Disney took over 20th Century Animation, Locksmith formed a new multi-year production deal with Warner Bros., which will distribute future Locksmith films under the Warner Animation Group label after the release of "Ron's Gone Wrong", which was now the only Locksmith film to be distributed by 20th Century Studios. In June 2021, it was announced  that Natalie Fischer, the former COO of Illumination Entertainment, will step in as CEO. Locksmith co-founder Sarah Smith exits the company to pursue her own creative endeavours. It was also announced that Locksmith is currently in production on "That Christmas", a holiday film based on filmmaker Richard Curtis' children’s book series, "Wed Wabbit" a live-action/animated hybrid film based on Lissa Evans' children's book and working on an original musical-comedy film. In January 2022, Locksmith had optioned to adapt Marissa Meyer's fantasy novel series "The Lunar Chronicles".