New Studio in LA

It appears that Chris Meledandri is going to leave Fox to start a new animation division at Universal Pictures.

Although I heard about this a little while ago, I was just as suprised as everyone else. I wasn't expecting this. It will be interesting to see if Chris can put together some success over at UP like he did with Fox/Blue Sky. Unfortunately, the early rumors are that the although the development will take place in LA, the actual production work may be farmed out. It is a little early to know where it will be farmed out to. It could be another studio in LA (Blur would make a nice candidate), a studio outside of LA, yet still in the USA, or to the lowest bidder across the oceans.

We may be waiting a while to find out, because I've heard that Chris has to finish two more pictures with Fox before he can legally begin the UP projects. Although the linked article does point to a 2009 release for film #1.