‘Mortal Kombat’ Producer Larry Kasanoff Leads New Global Venture The Cartoon Coalition

A group of international animation experts whose collective credits include animation projects for Batman, Spiderman, Lego, Star Wars, Mortal Kombat, Smurfs, Beauty and the Beast, Marvel Avengers, Justice League, Hero Factory, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, The Lion King and more, have formed The Cartoon Coalition, a new private venture ‘dedicated to combining the world’s best artistry with the newest technology to make the best animated movies, TV and theme park rides.’

The Cartoon Coalition will make its market debut at AFM with a trio of original feature scripts.

Producer Larry Kasanoff (Mortal Kombat), whose Threshold Animation Studio has made movies, TV or theme park rides based on brands including Spider-Man, Avengers, Justice League and Star Wars, serves as CEO of the new company.

“This is really just an expansion of what we’ve been doing, dedicated to taking it to a bigger level,” says Kasanoff. “We have been so fortunate to work with a group of wonderful, talented animation professionals, and now we are formalizing that to build it to new heights.”

Kiran Joshi, CEO & Founder of Nepalese animation studio Incessant Rain and former Disney supervisor with credits including Beauty and the Beast, The Lion King and The Hunchback of Notre Dame, is Chief Animation Officer, and via his company, will oversee all the productions. “Ventures like ours ensure diverse global content which is key to the success of the industry,” says Joshi.

“This is the most exciting team I’ve ever worked with,,” comments Emmy Award-winning animation writer Sean Catherine Derek, the company’s Chief Creative Officer. Her credits include Warner’s Batman, Marvel’s Spider-Man, Disney’s Pacman, Netflix’s Kong: King of the Apes and Tarzan and Jane, plus multiple Mortal Kombat productions.

Music and film impresario Jimmy Ienner (Dirty Dancing, Pink Floyd: The Wall), with almost 100 Gold and Platinum records to his name, is Vice Chairman.

Joel Sloss, who carries more than 30 years’ experience in enterprise and media infrastructure at Microsoft Corp and Walt Disney Studios, is Chief Technology Officer, charged with integrating AI and other forms of emerging technologies into animation processes.

“Our goal is to use the latest tools to enhance the work of talented artists, which will enable compelling storytelling that takes less time to bring to audiences,” explains Sloss.

Michael Lloyd, with well over 110 gold and platinum records, and more than 225 motion pictures, TV movies, TV specials and television series credits, including music supervisor/music producer for Dirty Dancing, is Chief Musical Officer. Also, as long-time part of Curb Records, Lloyd and Curb have been one the most successful teams in history linking music and film.

Priyanjali Bagaria, Associate Producer of Threshold Entertainment, will coordinate the Coalition’s operations in India, Asia and the Middle East.

The Cartoon Coalition kicks off this American Film Market with three original feature film scripts:

• World’s Top Monster — A ‘reality show’ where monsters vie for top titles like The Grossest, featuring monsters you know, like Dracula, and ones you will meet, like the Social Media Monster.
• Level Up — All the most famous video game characters come alive on the eve of the world’s biggest esports event. When they are invaded by an evil alien video game, it falls to the world’s lamest game characters to save the planet.
• Krazed for Karaoke — Wild animals find a discarded karaoke machine and start their own contest to find the Karaoke King or Queen of the jungle.