Lauren Montgomery, a seasoned vet of the original ‘Avatar: The Last Airbender’ series, is set to direct the first film, yet unnamed, under the Avatar Studios banner.
Lauren Montgomery (Avatar: The Last Airbender, Voltron: Legendary Defender) is now attached to direct an untitled, animated Avatar film now in development under the Avatar Studios banner. The project will be the first of three animated Avatar features from Paramount Animation and Nickelodeon Animation.
Avatar Studios was founded in February 2021 with the mission of creating original content, from animated series to features, within the universe of Avatar: The Last Airbender and The Legend of Korra. Ramsey Naito, president of animation and development at Paramount Animation and Nickelodeon Animation, invoked this mission in a statement on Montgomery’s hiring.
“As original creators Mike [DiMartino] and Bryan [Konietzko] expand the Avatar universe with us, we're keeping it all in the family with Lauren, bringing the same kind of expert, beautiful work she did on the original series to her new directing duties on the forthcoming theatrical,” Naito said.
The first film will be produced by Konietzko and DiMartino, alongside Eric Coleman (Avatar: The Last Airbender, SpongeBob SquarePants). Its development will be overseen by executive vice president of movies and global franchises for Paramount Animation and Nickelodeon Animation, Latifa Ouaou, and vice president of animation at Nickelodeon Animation and Paramount Animation, Jason McConnell.
Nickelodeon and Paramount Animation announced the forthcoming features during their special presentation last week at Annecy 2022.
Max Weinstein is a writer and editor based in Los Angeles. He is the Editor-at-Large of 'Dread Central' and former Editorial Director of 'MovieMaker.' His work has been featured in 'Cineaste,' 'Fangoria,' 'Playboy,' 'Vice,' and 'The Week.'
