Tangent Taps Lepeniotis to Develop Features

Peter Lepeniotis will write and develop three animated features for Canada-based Tangent Animation.

TORONTO -- Canada-based Tangent Animation signed Peter Lepeniotis to an exclusive deal to write and develop three new animated feature films.

Lepeniotis is best known for writing and directing the 2014 animated feature, The Nut Job, which was adapted from his original award-winning animated short, Surly Squirrel. The franchise includes this summer’s The Nut Job 2: Nutty by Nature. Peter has just completed his second directorial film, the soon-to-be-released Gnome Alone.

A native of Toronto, he started his career working on the 1995 live-action/computer-animated fantasy comedy, Casper, then went on to work at Pixar Animation Studios and Walt Disney Feature Animation as an animator on such films as Toy Story 2 and Fantasia 2000, before becoming a writer and director.

Ken Zorniak, Tangent’s president and CEO, stated: “I am ecstatic to welcome Peter to our team of talented, award-winning artists and we are excited to see what future films will come from this promising partnership.”

Peter Lepeniotis said: "I'm pumped about this opportunity to work so closely with Tangent. Their current feature in production is looking outstanding. Jeff Bell, Phyllis Laing and Ken Zorniak have strong industry backgrounds that really support strong story and high-level animation. They all just want to make good movies. I want to bring everything I can to the table and utilize Tangent's incredible team."

Tangent Animation, with offices in Winnipeg and Toronto, came on the scene in 2014 and has achieved exponential growth using an innovative production model, proprietary software and pipeline. Tangent’s first feature, Ozzy, was released in 2016, and Tangent is in production on a feature, with Baozou, slated for release in 2018.

Source: Tangent Animation

Tom McLean has been writing for years about animation from a secret base in Los Angeles.