Industry veteran Cox joined Aardman in February 2017, where she will oversee the development of a new slate of Aardman intellectual properties across all platforms, including digital and broadcast.

Where Aardman's core business is stop-motion - Shaun the Sheep and Wallace and Gromit - Sarah will focus on the development of other animation types.

Peter Lord, co-founder at Aardman, said in a press announcement: 'I am simply delighted that Sarah is joining Aardman at this very exciting time. With her flair for developing and mentoring creative people, she's the perfect person to drive some terrific new projects.' 

Prior to Aardman, Cox was the owner and creative director of AthurCox, an award-winning film and production company, and Picasso Pictures (between 1994-2002), where she primarily worked on commercials.

Aardman has announced Early Man as its upcoming project, starring Eddie Redmayne, Tom Hiddleston, and Maisie Williams.

Sarah Cox will join a panel discussion at Cinekid for Professionals with several different producers of various genres and disciplines. The main focus of the talk will be the motivations and reasons behind the form of a project. Why would you choose animation, stop-motion, or live-action for your story, and does it affect storytelling?

Cinekid for Professionals is a four-day industry event during the Cinekid Festival. It brings media professionals from over 40 countries to the Netherlands and supports the media industry with the ScreeningClub, the Co-Production Market, seminars, an expert conference, and network meetings. 

Cinekid for Professionals will take place from October 24 - 27 in Amsterdam.

Peter Schavemaker