Illumination Founder Chris Meledandri Receives Lifetime Honor From Pharrell Williams At Annecy Film Festival

Illumination founder and CEO Chris Meledandri was feted at the Annecy International Film Festival Wednesday morning with a “Golden Ticket” lifetime accreditation in a surprise session featuring Grammy-winning musician and Louis Vuitton designer Pharrell Williams.

Williams presented the honor to Meledandri, who had been attending Annecy with filmmaker Benjamin Renner to unveil footage of Illumination’s new feature film Migration, which hits theatres December 22 and stars Oscar nominee Kumail Nanjani and Elizabeth Banks. The pic was written by Emmy-winner Mike White.

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Williams has been a frequent collaborator with Meledandri’s Illumination and earned his first Oscar nomination for his song Happy from the company’s Despicable Me sequel. Meledandri has a long history at Annecy, debuting several films at the Festival, including Despicable Me, and The Secret Life of Pets.

Introducing Meledandri on stage, Williams said: “To create with Chris, to see the world through his eyes, means that clouds don’t have to be white. And that there’s water to be found in the desert. And every roadblock, if you look closely enough, can be a road map to a better place. No walls, no ceiling, no time frame, no limits. That’s where Chris lives.”

“The collaboration between Illumination and Annecy has been a determining factor in the Festival’s recent development,” said Marcel Jean, Annecy’s Artistic Director. “The trust that Chris Meledandri has placed in us, in particular during the various film launches for the Despicable Me franchise, has been a tremendous boost to our development. Awarding the Golden Ticket to Chris Meledandri symbolizes how significant this bond is for Annecy.”

Mickaël Marin, CITIA’s CEO, added: “Chris Meledandri has been instrumental in changing the way feature films are produced. By choosing to produce in Europe, and in particular in France, he has unified the best of two continents. It is this visionary ethos that we want to celebrate.”

Annecy awarded its first Golden Ticket to Jeffrey Katzenberg, Co-Founder of DreamWorks Animation, in 2016. Other previous winners include Gebeka Films’ Marc Bonny.

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