Ann brings three decades of senior leadership experience at the Walt Disney Company, where she last served as the Senior Vice President for Studio Planning and Talent at Walt Disney Animation Studios. While at Disney, she held executive positions heading up Production, Studio Planning, Data Analytics and Human Resources. Ann will be based in Weta Digital’s Los Angeles offices and report to CEO Prem Akkaraju.
At Disney Animation, Ann led the production resource structure for all projects, developed integrated partnerships within production and technology, redesigned the studio’s people and talent structures, strategies and organization, and created an engaged inclusive community in support of all films, shorts and special projects. During her tenure, the studio released a string of critically and financially acclaimed successes, including Tangled, Wreck-it-Ralph 1 & 2, Big Hero 6, Zootopia, Moana and Frozen 1 & 2.
Ann joined Harvard Business School as an Executive Fellow doing research, under the guidance of Professor Linda A. Hill, on leadership in the digital era and recently co-facilitated a course on Leading and Building a Culture of Innovation for the Executive Education Program at HBS.
“Throughout her career, Ann has built a reputation for innovative thinking, transformational leadership and production excellence,” stated CEO Akkaraju. “As we expand Weta globally and into original content and animation, it was important to bring in someone of Ann’s caliber in this leadership role.”
“Weta is a company where quality, risk-taking and innovation are key and it is such an exciting time in its evolution” said Le Cam. “The growth plan is ambitious and remains true to the investment in top talent that has been the bedrock of Weta’s success so far. The challenges ahead will bring new opportunities for talent around the globe to continue the good work in new ways. I look forward to working with Prem and the team at Weta in the exciting chapter ahead.”
ABOUT WETA DIGITAL
Weta Digital is the standard-bearer for creativity and innovation in visual effects and animation, attracting talent, partners, and clients that seek to push what is possible in pursuit of their artistic vision. Weta’s proprietary pipeline continues to evolve and provide artists with the tools they need to create their best work. Based in Wellington, New Zealand, Weta Digital is the largest single-site VFX studio in the world drawing artists from over 40 countries. They are some of the most creative and ambitious artists, engineers, and executives in entertainment and their work has earned six visual effects Academy Awards, ten Academy Sci-Tech Awards and six visual effects BAFTA Awards in addition to the 34 Visual Effects Society Awards awarded to them by their peers. Ground-breaking, performance-driven animated characters from Gollum to Caesar, and worlds from Middle-earth to Pandora, are regarded as some of the best visual effects ever to appear on screen.
For more information:
Corporate: www.wetastudios.com
Weta Digital: www.wetafx.co.nz
Follow: @weta_digital
PRESS CONTACTS:
Mara Buxbaum, ID | TeamWetaDigital@id-pr.com
Carol Marshall, CMPR | carol@cmarshallpr.com
Dave Gougé, Weta Digital | dgouge@wetafx.co.nz