TORONTO –Canada-based Tangent Animation has signed Peter Lepeniotis to an exclusive deal to write and develop three new animated feature films.
Peter 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, Canada, 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 had this to say, "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 Canada, came on the scene in 2014 and has achieved exponential growth utilizing an innovative production model, proprietary software and pipeline that results in more artistic value on the screen. Tangent’s first feature, Ozzy, was released in 2016, and Tangent is currently in production on a feature, with Baozou, slated for release in 2018.