Netflix Taps Hannah Minghella to Lead Animation Studios
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- Hannah Minghella was named head of Netflix Animation Studios, shifting from her prior role overseeing both feature animation and live-action family films to focus solely on animation, a restructuring designed to streamline the division.
- Minghella will oversee a film slate that includes "Kpop Demon Hunters 2," "Ray Gunn," and "The Mitchells vs the Machines 2," and will run the studio's three animation facilities in Burbank, Vancouver, and Sydney, which employ more than 1,000 people.
- Minghella will also drive franchise expansion into live events and consumer products, signaling Netflix is treating animation as a broader IP monetization play, not just film production.
- Minghella retains oversight of in-process live-action family projects, including Greta Gerwig's "Narnia" and the "Eloise" adaptation, during the transition.
- Kira Goldberg, a Netflix film VP since 2018, takes over the live-action family division, working under chairman of film Dan Lin; she currently oversees thrillers, dramas, and faith-based films including "Apex" and "Remarkably Bright Creatures."
- "Kpop Demon Hunters" became Netflix's most popular movie of all time, and a sing-along theatrical version became a box office hit last fall, with Maggie Kang and Chris Appelhans returning to direct and write the sequel.
Why it matters: Netflix is reorganizing around the franchise logic that 'Kpop Demon Hunters' just validated as its most-watched movie ever: a single animation chief now controls the pipeline, the 1,000-person studio footprint, and the cross-business push into live events and consumer products. Goldberg's parallel promotion, signaled in Deadline's dual headline, shows Netflix is splitting family content cleanly between animation (growth engine) and live-action (steady ops) rather than running them as one unit.
