Under the exclusive multiyear cross-studio agreement, the award-winning creator, producer, and director will develop, create, and produce original animated programming for both studios; the announcement was made at a Studio Focus presentation at Annecy 2022.
Cartoon Network Studios (CNS) and Warner Bros. Animation (WBA) have scored an exclusive multiyear cross-studio overall deal with Emmy Award-winning creator, producer, and director Genndy Tartakovsky. An award-winning animation visionary, director, writer, and producer, he is best known for the hit Cartoon Network series Dexter’s Laboratory, Samurai Jack, and Star Wars: Clone Wars. The announcement was made at a Studio Focus presentation at the Annecy International Animation Festival.
Under the terms of the agreement, Tartakovsky will develop, create, and produce original animated programming at both CNS and WBA intended for a variety of audiences and for all television platforms, including HBO Max, external streaming services, cable, and broadcast networks.
Developed by CNS and WBA, the cross-studio overall deal provides creators with maximum creative flexibility to develop original material and access to the extensive character and franchise libraries at each studio.
Check out AWN’s talks with the director: Genndy Tartakovsky Talks ‘Primal’ and Telling Stories Without Words and Genndy Tartakovsky and the Return to ‘Samurai Jack’.
Tartakovsky is currently in production on Unicorn: Warriors Eternal, an animated supernatural adventure family event series coming to HBO Max and Cartoon Network. Season 2 of his Emmy Award-winning series, Genndy Tartakovsky’s Primal, premieres this Summer on Adult Swim.
"Genndy is a true visionary who embodies the creator spirit of Cartoon Network Studios,” said Cartoon Network Studios and Warner Bros. Animation president Sam Register. “As he continues to push the boundaries of storytelling and animation, we are excited to have a front-row seat both here and now also at Warner Bros. Animation."
“My time at Cartoon Network Studios, since its inception, has been the most creatively formative and fulfilling years of my career,” shared Tartakovsky. “I now find myself continuing that amazing relationship as well as bringing in Warner Bros. Animation - the home to everything that inspired me to become an animator in the first place. I am beyond excited to see what we do next!”
Tartakovsky created Dexter’s Laboratory, Cartoon Network’s first series, during his time at Hanna-Barbera where he also helped produce and direct another fan-favorite series, The Powerpuff Girls. He then moved to Cartoon Network Studios, where he created Samurai Jack and Sym-Bionic Titan as well as produced and directed the beloved animated series Star Wars: Clone Wars.
In 2012, Tartakovsky made his feature directorial debut with the Golden Globe Nominated Hotel Transylvania, later directing its two sequels. He has received 13 Primetime Emmy Award nominations and has been awarded five Emmys.
In 2017, after a 12-year hiatus, Tartakovsky brought back the fan-favorite Samurai Jack. Born from a desire to create the greatest action-adventure animated series ever, the show is cinematic in scope, incorporating action, comedy, and intricate artistry.
Tartakovsky reunited with Adult Swim on a half-hour animated series, Genndy Tartakovsky’s Primal, that debuted in 2019. The show features a caveman at the dawn of evolution, a dinosaur on the brink of extinction, and their unlikely friendship that becomes their only hope for survival in a violent, primordial world.
Tartakovsky is represented by WME.
Source: Warner Bros. Animation and Cartoon Network Studios
Debbie Diamond Sarto is news editor at Animation World Network.
