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EXCLUSIVE: Pixar co-founder and longtime Disney Animation President Ed Catmull has joined the Board of Directors and Creative Advisory Board at Baobab Studios. Honored with five Academy

Awards as well as the A.M. Turing Award (referred to as the “Nobel Prize of Computing”) for his contributions to 3D graphics and CGI filmmaking, Catmull brings over 50 years of experience to

Baobab’s board. He served as President of both Walt Disney Animation Studios and Pixar, from Pixar’s acquisition by Disney in 2006 through his retirement in 2019, and oversaw numerous

groundbreaking films from both studios, including Disney’s _Big Hero 6_, _Frozen_ and _Zootopia_, and Pixar’s _Finding Nemo_, _Incredibles 2_ and _Toy Story 4_, to name a few. As a member of

the independent animation studio’s boards, Catmull will guide creative and operations, as the studio accelerates its award-winning storytelling across both emerging and traditional mediums.

“I’m honored to join the board of directors of Baobab Studios and to be part of their creative journey,” said Catmull. “Baobab is at the forefront of telling incredible stories across

mediums, and I look forward to supporting the entire team as the company evolves into the preeminent animation studio of the future.” WATCH ON DEADLINE “I have followed Ed’s work for years

and am proud to welcome him to our board of directors,” added Baobab Studios’ co-founder and CEO, Maureen Fan. “Ed’s leadership and innovative genius in the world of animation is

unparalleled, and his insight will be invaluable as we imagine new characters and worlds, as well as an active role for our audiences inside of them.” Catmull is joined in his roles at

Baobab by Twitch co-founder Kevin Lin, as well as Glenn Entis—the former Chief Visual and Technology Officer at Electronic Arts, whose computer animation company PDI was acquired by

DreamWorks SKG in 2000. Lin is one of the two pioneering founders of Twitch, the world’s largest live social video platform for gamers and creators, which was acquired by Amazon in 2014 for

over $1 billion. As one of the most respected entrepreneurs and executives in digital media, Lin and Twitch function as a center of gravity to the multi-billion dollar esports industry that

is reimagining gaming, traditional sports, content and other interactive technologies. Lin is also a co-founder of Gold House, the leading Asian and Pacific Islander changemaker community

that unites, invests in and promotes API creative and companies. Entis is an Academy Award-winning animation pioneer and games industry veteran who co-founded Pacific Data Images (PDI) and

wrote its first animation system, thereby earning a Scientific and Technical Award from the Academy of Motion Pictures and Arts and Sciences. DreamWorks SKG later acquired PDI to enable

DreamWorks Animation’s pivot to computer graphics. Together, they created the studio’s first animated feature,_ Antz!_, which was directed by Baobab Studios’ co-founder and Chief Creative

Officer, Eric Darnell. While CEO of DreamWorks Interactive, alongside Steven Spielberg and Jeffrey Katzenberg, Entis oversaw the creation of video games including the groundbreaking _Medal

of Honor_ series, whose story was directed and produced by Spielberg, with music composed by Michael Giacchino. Its commercial and critical acclaim spawned 14 sequel installments and a new

video game genre—the WWII first-person shooter. Electronic Arts acquired Dreamworks Interactive in 2000, with Entis joining the gaming giant as its Chief Visual and Technology Officer. Fan,

Darnell and Larry Cutler founded Baobab Studios in 2015 and have already seen the studio win nine Emmy Awards, including consecutive Best Interactive Media trophies for_ Invasion!_,

_Asteroids!_, _Crow: The Legend_, and last year, _Baba Yaga_. Baobab is known for working across the mediums of traditional animation, Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality and has also

released projects including _Jack_, _Bonfire_, _Paper Birds_ and _Namoo_. Named_ Fast Company_‘s 2018 Most Innovative Company, its works have been viewed millions of times and have starred

such talents as John Legend, Oprah, Kate Winslet, Jennifer Hudson, Glenn Close, Daisy Ridley, Constance Wu, Diego Luna, Liza Koshy, Tye Sheridan, Elizabeth Banks, Ethan Hawke, Lupita

Nyong’o, Ali Wong and Edward Norton. The company at the intersection of film and games most recently boosted its team with five new additions across their creative and marketing teams,

bringing in Oscar nominee Erick Oh and Jony Chandra as Directors, Hayley Porter as Director of Marketing, and Michael McCormick (_The Sims_) and Brian Tinsman (_Pokémon_) as Games Creative

Directors. Baobab recently announced that it is teaming up with Disney Branded Television to create _The Witchverse_, an event anthology series for Disney+. The series is based on _Baba

Yaga_, Baobab’s three-time Emmy-winning short film and VR experience, starring an all-female ensemble of Kate Winslet, Jennifer Hudson, Daisy Ridley and Glenn Close. The studio’s IP is also

currently being adapted into books, as well as additional films, original series and games.