Eric Darnell

Eric Darnell is Co-Founder and Chief Creative Officer of the Emmy award winning and leading VR animationstudio Baobab Studios, whose mission is to inspire you to dream by bringing out your sense of wonder.Started by industry leaders Maureen Fan (Zynga VP of Games, Farmville Franchise), Eric Darnell (Director ofall 4 Madagascar films), and Larry Cutler (Dreamworks' Head of Character Tech, Pixar TD Toy Story 2,Monsters Inc, Oscar tech judge), the company's Emmy-award winning VR animation, INVASION!, starringEthan Hawke, launched to substantial critical acclaim and has become the top downloaded VR app. In a first,Hollywood is taking IP from VR to become a feature film: Roth Kirschenbaum Films (Maleficent, Alice inWonderland, Snow White and the Huntsman) has signed on to adapt INVASION! into a big screen feature film"flattie".Baobab Studios first VR experience INVASION! garnered laurels from film festivals globally includingSundance, Toronto, Cannes and is currently a top ranking download on major VR platforms including Oculus,VIVE, PSVR, Samsung, Within, Hulu and others. Their follow up experience ASTEROIDS! starring ElizabethBanks was an official 2017 selection for both Sundance and Cannes and recently won the “OutstandingInteractive Media” 2018 Daytime Emmy. Crow: The Legend, their most recent production, stars John Legend,Oprah Winfrey, Sarah Eagle Heart, Randy Edmonds, Liza Koshy, Tye Sheridan, Diego Luna, and ConstanceWu. ​The piece won an Annie Award for the Best VR Production and was an official selection at AnnecyCannes Venice, where it premiered. The 2D version of ​Crow: The Legend​ went viral with over 3 millionviews online in less than 2 weeks.Baobab was named Most Innovative Company for 2018 in the VR/AR category by Fast Company. Baobab hasraised $31M to date making them one of the largest independent VR studios today. Baobab’s vision is to createexperiences with the empathy of film, the agency of games, and ultimately the motivation of real life.Eric’s career spans 25 years as a computer animation director, screenwriter, story artist, film director, andexecutive producer. He was the director and screenwriter on all four films in the “Madagascar” franchise, whichtogether have grossed more than $2.5 billion at the box-office. He was also executive producer on “ThePenguins of Madagascar.” Previously, Eric directed DreamWorks Animation's very first animated feature film,“Antz,” which features the voices of Woody Allen, Gene Hackman, Christopher Walken, and Sharon Stone. Ericearned a degree in journalism from the University of Colorado and a master’s degree in experimental animationfrom The California Institute of the Arts.

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