Illumination Studios Paris
FormerlyIllumination Mac Guff (2011–2021)
TypeSubsidiary
IndustryVFX
CGI animation
PredecessorMac Guff (animation studio)
Founded2011; 12 years ago (2011)
FounderJacques Bled[1]
Headquarters
Paris
,
France
Key people
Janet Healy
(co-president)[1]
Jacques Bled
(co-president)[1]
ProductsFilms
OwnerUniversal Pictures (NBCUniversal) (Comcast)
Number of employees
850 (2016)[1]
ParentIllumination
Websiteilluminationmacguff.com

Illumination Studios Paris (formerly known as Illumination Mac Guff) is a French animated feature production company owned by Illumination, a division of Universal Pictures. Based in Paris, France, the company was created in 2011 as part of Universal's purchase deal of the animation arm of French animation and VFX company Mac Guff.[2] It is responsible for the animation on Illumination's feature-length animated films and associated short films, most notably the Despicable Me franchise.

History

Mac Guff era (2011–2021)

Following their work with Illumination on Despicable Me (2010) and its associated short films, Universal purchased the animation arm of Mac Guff, aptly renaming it Illumination Mac Guff. The first film produced by the new studio was The Lorax (2012). All subsequent films by Illumination have had most of their animation work outsourced to the studio, as it benefits from French subsidies.

Studios Paris era (2021–present)

Illumination Studios Paris as credited in Minions: The Rise of Gru (2022)
Illumination Studios Paris as credited in Minions: The Rise of Gru (2022)

With the release of Sing 2 in December 2021, the studio was renamed to Illumination Studios Paris.

Filmography

Feature films

Released

Title Release date Directors Composer(s) Budget Gross
The Lorax March 2, 2012 Chris Renaud
Co-Director:
Kyle Balda		 John Powell $70 million $348.8 million
Despicable Me 2 July 3, 2013 Chris Renaud
Pierre Coffin		 Heitor Pereira
Pharrell Williams		 $76 million $970.8 million
Minions July 10, 2015 Pierre Coffin
Kyle Balda		 Heitor Pereira $74 million $1.159 billion
The Secret Life of Pets July 8, 2016 Chris Renaud
Co-Director:
Yarrow Cheney		 Alexandre Desplat $75 million $875.5 million
Sing December 21, 2016 Garth Jennings
Co-Director:
Christophe Lourdelet		 Joby Talbot $634.2 million
Despicable Me 3 June 30, 2017 Pierre Coffin
Kyle Balda
Co-Director:
Eric Guillon		 Heitor Pereira
Pharrell Williams		 $80 million $1.035 billion
The Grinch November 9, 2018 Scott Mosier
Yarrow Cheney		 Danny Elfman $75 million $511.8 million
The Secret Life of Pets 2 June 7, 2019 Chris Renaud
Co-Director:
Jonathan del Val		 Alexandre Desplat $80 million $430.1 million
Sing 2 December 22, 2021 Garth Jennings
Co-Director:
Christophe Lourdelet 		Joby Talbot $85 million $407.5 million
Minions: The Rise of Gru July 1, 2022 Kyle Balda
Co-Directors:
Brad Ableson
Jonathan del Val 		Heitor Pereira $80 million $937.8 million

Upcoming

Title Release date Ref(s) Director(s) Composer(s)
The Super Mario Bros. Movie April 7, 2023 [3] Aaron Horvath
Michael Jelenic 		Brian Tyler
Koji Kondo
Migration December 22, 2023 [4][5] Benjamin Renner TBA
Despicable Me 4 July 3, 2024 Chris Renaud
Co-director:
Patrick Delage

Short films

# Title Release date Release with Note
1 Wagon Ho! August 7, 2012 Dr. Seuss' The Lorax Home video release
2 Forces of Nature
3 Serenade
4 Puppy December 10, 2013 Despicable Me 2
5 Panic in the Mailroom
6 Training Wheels
7 Cro Minion December 8, 2015 Minions
8 Competition
9 Binky Nelson Unpacified
10 Mower Minions July 8, 2016 The Secret Life of Pets Theatrical release
11 Norman Television December 6, 2016 Home video release
12 Weenie
13 Gunter Babysits March 21, 2017 Sing
14 Love at First Sight
15 Eddie's Life Coach
16 The Secret Life of Kyle December 5, 2017 Despicable Me 3
17 Yellow is the New Black November 9, 2018 The Grinch Theatrical release
18 The Dog Days of Winter November 23, 2018 Trolls Holiday Television release
19 Santa's Little Helpers February 5, 2019 The Grinch Home video release
20 Super Gidget August 27, 2019 The Secret Life of Pets 2
21 Minion Scouts
22 Minions & Monsters June 11, 2021 Minions: The Rise of Gru Television/Home video release
23 For Gunter's Eyes Only March 29, 2022 Sing 2 Home video release
24 Animal Attraction
25 Post Modern Minions September 6, 2022 Minions: The Rise of Gru

Television specials

# Title Release date Network
1 Minions Holiday Special November 27, 2020 NBC
2 Minions & More 1 September 22, 2022 Netflix
3 Minions & More 2 November 8, 2022

Miscellaneous work

References

  1. ^ a b c d Richford, Rhonda (December 9, 2016). "An Inside Look at Illumination's 24/7 Operation, From L.A. to Paris". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved March 30, 2018.
  2. ^ Keslassy, Elsa (2011-12-12). "Universal benefit in Mac Guff accord". Variety. Retrieved 20 October 2014.
  3. ^ Mateo, Alex (May 6, 2021). "Nintendo Appoints Illumination Founder/CEO Chris Meledandri as Outside Director". Anime News Network. Archived from the original on September 27, 2021. Retrieved September 27, 2021. The report also noted at the time that Illumination Entertainment's Mac Guff studio in Paris would animate the film, and that it was in the early stages of development.
  4. ^ Grobar, Matt (February 18, 2022). "Illumination & Universal Set Dates For Animated Films 'Migration' And 'Despicable Me 4'". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved February 18, 2022.
  5. ^ Grobar, Matt (June 28, 2022). "Universal Pushes Release Date for Illumination Comedy 'Migration'". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved June 28, 2022.

External links

Illumination
Animation industry in France
NBCUniversal
Categories