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CEO Zareh Nalbandian at Animal Logic HQ in Sydney. (Photo: James Horan).

Animal Logic has two big releases coming up, with 'The Lego Batman Movie' arriving in March to Aussie cinemas, followed by 'The Lego Ninjago Movie' in September..

Al is also gearing up to shoot hybrid live-action/animation feature 'Peter Rabbit' in Sydney, the first step in its bid to become a fully-fledged studio — .a creative enterprise. rather than a .service provider,. as CEO Zareh Nalbandian puts it..

This interview has been edited and condensed.

Is Animal Logic Entertainment, your development arm, based in La?

It.s here as well. Felicity Staunton is a creative executive here, and I have three execs in La. We all travel. They travel here, we travel there. We work as one unit. We.re repped out of CAA, [and] our lawyers are there. But our creative hub is here,...

Animal Logic is expanding so quickly that its Sydney headquarters and the pool of visual effects and animation artists in Australia aren.t big enough to accommodate the workload.

Hence the move to launch Animal Logic Vancouver, a 450,000 square feet (41,806 square metres) facility which will exclusively handle animated films for Warner Bros.

Located in the city.s Yaletown creative precinct, the studio will open in September and by mid-2016 will have 300 employees, the vast majority locals.

Animal Logic CEO and co-founder Zareh Nalbandian tells If he is making a considerable investment in the facility but he has the financial comfort of a 3-picture deal with WB which will entail four years of production.

The Lego Movie sequel, written by the creators of the original hit, Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, will begin production in January. It.s the feature directing debut of Rob Schrab (Community, Parks and Recreation, The Mindy Project...

Astro Boy may be heading back to the big screen, thanks to Australia’s Animal Logic Entertainment and Japan’s Tezuka Productions, which are plotting a live-action feature adaptation of the iconic manga.

No director is attached to the project, but the producing team, including producer Zareh Nalbandian (of Animal Logic) and exec-producers Jason Lust (of Animal Logic), Mike Callaghan and Reuben Liber (both of Ranger 7 Films), is about to head up a search for writers.

Animal Logic is acclaimed for its special effects work on projects as massive as Happy Feet and Avengers: Age of Ultron, but the studio is also taking a stab at developing its own projects, many of which include a hybrid of animation and live-action. A Betty Boop movie is one such project in the works.

Astro Boy was massively popular in Japan as a 1950s manga created by Osama Tezuka, and multiple anime...

Astro Boy is heading back to the big screen, this time as a live action adventure from Australia's Animal Logic Entertainment and Japan's Tezuka Productions. Jason Lust (Guillermo Del Toro's Pinocchio) will executive produce alongside Mike Callaghan (The Package; 6 Bullets) and Reuben Liber (One in the Chamber) for Ranger 7 Films. No writer or director has been set at this time.

Astro Boy was adapted into an animated adventure for the big screen in 2009. The property is based on the popular Japanese Manga created in the 1950s by Osamu Tezuka, whom many believe is Japan's answer to Walt Disney. Astro Boy has ran for decades in the comics and in newspaper strip form. It has been adapted into several animated series that have aired around the world. Hollywood has tried to launch a live action version in the past, but attempts have failed.

The story follows Astro, a robot...

Animal Logic Entertainment and Tezuka Productions are teaming to develop a live-action feature film adaptation of the iconic anime series "Astro Boy".

Known mostly for their visual effects work, Animal Logic began a development arm for feature projects back in 2007 with the recently announced "Betty Boop" film being one such project.

No director is attached, and a search is now underway for writers. Zareh Nalbandian will produce.

The original "Astro Boy" was created in the early 1950s by Osamu Tezuka as a manga, which was then translated into an internationally popular and well-regarded anime series in the 1970s and 1980s.

Imagi Animation tried adapting the property with a watered down 2009 animated feature that scored mixed reviews and was a commercial flop.

Source: Heat Vision...

Animal Logic CEO Zareh Nalbandian was eager to talk about the world-class creativity of Australian visual artists, technicians and producers as well as his long-time mentor Murray Forrest before accepting an industry award on Thursday night. But he was constrained in what he could say about Animal Logic.s participation in the three upcoming Lego movies on Warner Bros. slate. .We are optimistic about making an announcement very soon about Animal Logic.s involvement in future Lego movies,. he told If before accepting the Murray Forrest award for excellence in filmcraft. At the closing night of the Australian International Movie Convention on the Gold Coast Forrest presented the award to Nalbandian and the Aimc lifetime achievement award was bestowed on veteran actor Michael Caton. WB has announced the Lego spin-off Ninjago, directed by Charlie Bean and based on the Cartoon Network animated series of the same name, will be released...

Animal Logic CEO Zareh Nalbandian was eager to talk about the world-class creativity of Australian visual artists, technicians and producers as well as his long-time mentor Murray Forrest before accepting an industry award on Thursday night. But he was constrained in what he could say about Animal Logic.s participation in the three upcoming Lego movies on Warner Bros... slate. .We are optimistic about making an announcement very soon about Animal Logic.s involvement in future Lego movies,. he told If before accepting the Murray Forrest award for excellence in filmcraft. At the closing night of the Australian International Movie Convention on the Gold Coast Forrest presented the award to Nalbandian and the Aimc lifetime achievement award was bestowed on veteran actor Michael Caton. WB has announced the Lego spin-off Ninjago, directed by Charlie Bean based on the Cartoon Network animated series of the same name, will be released in...

A music-driven, hybrid live action/animated comedy starring Betty Boop will be among the first projects from the co-venture between Animal Logic Entertainment and Simon Cowell.s Syco Entertainment.

Fleischer Studios, which created and produced the Betty Boop cartoon series, has boarded the project, whose development was announced overnight.

No writer or director has been attached yet. Animal Logic CEO Zareh Nalbandian and Jason Lust will produce with Cowell and Syco.s Adam Milano.

The iconic character first appeared on screens in 1930 with numerous appearances in Max Fleischer.s Talkartoons and the Betty Boop cartoon series. Her last movie appearance was a cameo in Robert Zemeckis' blockbuster Who Framed Roger Rabbit in 1988.

Nalbandian tells If that two Us studios have expressed interest in developing the film with the producers and there has been a lot of interest from potential writers and directors.

"We need to find a director who...