Karen Toliver Named Vice President Of Animated Film At Netflix

Karen Toliver is leaving Sony Pictures Animation for Netflix, where she has been named vice president of animated film.

Here are the details:

• Toliver will join Netflix in March. She will be responsible for two or three animated features per year.
• She will report to Melissa Cobb, vp of the kids and family division (and previously vp of original animation). She’ll work alongside another feature animation vp, Gregg Taylor.
• At Sony, Toliver oversaw development on The Mitchells vs. the Machines, which Netflix released. She also produced the short Hair Love, for which she became the first Black woman to win an animation Oscar.
• Previously, she spent ten years at Fox Animation, serving as a production executive on Blue Sky films like Rio, Ferdinand, and three Ice Age installments. She started her career at Disney, where her credits include Brother Bear, Chicken Little, and Meet the Robinsons.
• Toliver told Variety, which first reported the news:

It has been an absolute dream working with Kristine Belson and her game-changing team at Sony Pictures Animation. The experience has been instrumental in shaping how I approach producing. Storytelling in animation continues to evolve and expand, and I am excited to join the team at Netflix to continue to break new ground.

• Netflix has a stated ambition to release six self-produced animated features a year — a milestone it is getting very close to.
• Its 2022 slate includes My Father’s Dragon, Wendell and Wild, The Sea Beast, Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio, and Apollo 10 ½: A Space Age Childhood, which will premiere at SXSW next month.

Image at top courtesy of Monikka Stallworth-Blakes