Illumination Enlists Artist-Executive Mike Moon To Launch Adult Animation Label Moonlight

Illumination is teaming with veteran artist and former Netflix head of adult animation Mike Moon to launch Moonlight, a new adult animation label of its own.

Details of the appointment:

• Moonlight is being set up under the Illumination umbrella and will focus on animation for adults as the company expands beyond its traditional family-friendly fare. All films produced by Moonlight will be included in Illumination’s existing exclusive distribution agreement with Universal.

• Operating out of Santa Monica, Moon will serve as president at Moonlight as well as a senior creative advisor to Illumination at large. Moonlight films will be made at Illumination’s Paris studio, Illumination Mac Guff.
• Moon is a rare breed among animation executives in that he was an artist first, having spent 15 years working in the craft before moving to management. He’s worked for the likes of Sony, Disney, and Cartoon Network, and his artist-producer credits include Foster’s Home for Imaginary Friends, Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, and Netflix’s upcoming special Entergalactic. He was most recently head of adult animation at Netflix, but left the job at the end of July to pursue other opportunities.
• Of the announcement, Moon said: “I am thrilled to be joining the amazing team at Illumination. Chris has created the benchmark for character, stories, and innovation in animated films and I am honored to be a part of the future of this visionary studio.”
• Illumination founder and CEO Chris Meledandri added: “We have an exceptionally talented group of artists, filmmakers and producers at Illumination and believe that there is no better compliment to this team than Mike and the new company we are partnering to build. He has exceptional taste, deep experience, and a strong vision for the films we intend to make together. I look forward to Mike and Moonlight making a substantial contribution to Illumination’s future.”