Animated Feature "PIERRE THE PIGEON-HAWK" Expands Star-Studded Cast

 ANIMATED F­­EATURE PIERRE THE PIGEON-HAWK EXPANDS STAR-STUDDED CAST

Howie Mandel, Luis Guzmán, Paul Blackthorne, Jamal Trulove, Evan Ross and Ashlee Simpson Board



LOS ANGELES (April 1, 2020) – Exodus Film Group announced today that Emmy® nominated Howie Mandel (“America’s Got Talent”), Luis Guzmán (Traffic, “Code Black”), Paul Blackthorne (“Arrow,” A Christmas Carol), Jamal Trulove (The Last Black Man in San Francisco), Evan Ross (The Hunger Games: Mockingjay) and Ashlee Simpson (Space Dogs: Adventure to the Moon, “Melrose Place”) have joined the animated feature Pierre The Pigeon-Hawk.  The star-studded cast also includes previously announced Nick Cannon (“Wild ‘n Out”, “The Masked Singer”), Academy Award® winner Whoopi Goldberg (Ghost, Sister Act, The Lion King), Jennifer Coolidge (Best in Show, Legally Blonde) and Kenan Thompson (“SNL”, The Grinch).  John D. Eraklis is directing and producing alongside Cannon’s Ncredible Entertainment and Ciaran Crampton and Chase Muratore’s Sugar Water Entertainment.  Sugar Water Entertainment is providing financing in partnership with Toonz Media Group and Michael Goldman, Jamal Trulove and Delbert Whetter are Executive Producing.  Highland Film Group is handling international sales with CAA Media Finance handling domestic sales.  The film is being produced and directed remotely and is in pre-production at Toonz Media Group studio in New Zealand.

Set in NYC, Pierre The Pigeon-Hawk is a musically driven animated comedy that promotes diversity, inclusion, and community.  Born as a product of forbidden love between a hawk and a pigeon…Pierre is rejected by both the pigeon and hawk communities.  Dejected and confused, Pierre sets out on a mission to find out where he belongs.  During his adventure, he unites with a band of unlikely friends including a bear that has recently escaped from the Central Park Zoo, an owl whose genius is outweighed only by his madness, and a pair of rag tag, pop-cultured city squirrels with attitude.  Amidst a journey of self-discovery, Pierre finds the courage to inspire animals from all backgrounds to change their ways and open their minds to a new way of thinking.  It will take a hybrid bird to unite a hybrid world.

Mandel previously hosted NBC’s Emmy® nominated “Deal or No Deal” and is currently a judge on NBC’s Emmy® nominated “America’s Got Talent.”  He has lent his voice to such films as Warner Bros.’ Gremlins and Gremlins 2: The New Batch and Animal Planet’s The Great Polar Bear Adventure.

Guzmán is known for roles in Steven Soderbergh’s Academy Award® winning Traffic, New Line Cinema’s Academy Award® winning Boogie Nights, New Line Cinema’s Academy Award® nominated Magnolia and Columbia Pictures’ Anger Management.  His recent credits include Netflix’s Sandy Wexler, Warner Bros.’ Keanu and We’re the Millers and CBS’ “Code Black.”  Recent voice-over work includes Twentieth Century Fox’s Turbo and Disney’s Beverly Hills Chihuahua.

Blackthorne’s credits include Sony Pictures Classics’ Academy Award® nominated Lagaan: Once Upon a Time in India, Disney’s A Christmas Carol, Universal’s Dumb and Dumber To and The CW’s “Arrow.”

Actor, musician and social activist Trulove made his acting debut in A24’s critically acclaimed The Last Black Man in San Francisco, directed by Joe Talbot.

Actor and musician Ross’ film credits include: Lionsgate’s The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 1 and Part 2, Mark and Jay Duplass’ Jeff, Who Lives at Home and Warner Bros.’ ATL.

Simpson’s acting credits include the animated Space Dogs: Adventure to the Moon alongside Alicia Silverstone, The WB’s Emmy® nominated “7th Heaven” and The CW’s “Melrose Place.”  She has written and performed songs for M. Night Shyamalan’s The Last Airbender and Columbia Pictures’ The House Bunny.

Mandel is represented by WME and 3 Arts Entertainment.  Guzman is repped by The Gersh Agency and Gravesend Entertainment.  Blackthorne is repped by Imperium 7 Talent Agency and Seven Summits Pictures & Management.  Trulove is repped by The Stars Agency and Tru Narrativ.  Ross is repped by CAA, Vault Entertainment and Ziffren Brittenham.  Simpson is repped by Vault Entertainment.

Exodus Film Group is a boutique production company based in Venice Beach, California. Exodus develops and produces a wide range of projects in both animation and live-action for all media. Exodus’ past productions include the animated features, "Igor", "The Hero of Color City", and "Bunyan & Babe”.

Founded by Nick Cannon in 2009, Ncredible Entertainment has quickly become a powerhouse brand in the entertainment industry. Ncredible Entertainment continues to demonstrate the kind of intuitive feel for cross-promoted multimedia initiatives that thrives in today’s 2.0 creative environment. Under this banner, he produces numerous TV and film projects, including Nickelodeon’s Make It Pop, TeenNick Top 10, and React To That. The rapid growth of Ncredible Entertainment has established projects in TV, Film, Music, along with Products & Services and a growing Management division.

Highland Film Group’s slate also includes: Andrew Baird’s Zone 414 starring Guy Pearce, Matilda Lutz and Travis Fimmel; Mark Earl Burman’s Ambush starring Aaron Eckhart; Ray Giarratana’s The Tiger Rising starring Queen Latifah and Dennis Quaid; Jonathan Milott and Cary Murnion’s Becky starring Lulu Wilson, Kevin James, Joel McHale, Amanda Brugel, Rovert Maillet; Jiu Jitsu starring Nicolas Cage, Alain Moussi, Tony Jaa, Frank Grillo, Rick Yune, Marie Avgeropoulos and JuJu Chan; Open Source starring Bruce Willis; Persephone starring Brianna Hildebrand; John Krokidas’ Tunnels starring Susan Sarandon and Jaeden Martell; Vaughn Stein’s Inheritance starring Lily Collins and Simon Pegg; David Stassen’s Happy Life starring Ike Barinholtz and Alexandra Daddario; Trauma Center starring Bruce Willis; Michael Polish’s Axis Sally starring Al Pacino; Southland starring Bella Thorne and Jake Manley; Skylin3s, the third chapter of the successful franchise, starring Lindsey Morgan; and Ghosts of War starring Brenton Thwaites, Theo Rossi and Skylar Astin.

Toonz Media Group is India’s,  and one of Asia’s, most active animation production studios, having worked with many of the leading entertainment studios, channels and networks including Exodus Film Group, Marvel, Nickelodeon, Turner, Disney, Netflix, Dreamworks, 20th Century Fox, Paramount, Sony, Universal, BBC, Amazon, Google, Hulu, HBO, and Lionsgate. Toonz produces over 10,000 minutes of 2D and CGI kids and family content per year and has produced and co-produced to date over 75 animation and live action series, as well as 5 feature films, including comedy Bunyan & Babe and Hero of Color City, both with Exodus Film Group.    Mr P. Jayakumar, CEO of Toonz Media Group comments, “I am delighted that Toonz is partnering on and co-producing  ‘Pierre The Pidgeon-Hawk’ in our New Zealand studio, and bringing our two decades of animation production experience and expertise to create this original kids and family comedy.”



About Highland Film Group
Led by founding partners Arianne Fraser and Delphine Perrier, Highland Film Group (HFG) is an independent worldwide sales, production and film financing company. Launched in 2010, HFG has had success across a wide range of film genres and platforms, building a reputation for handling high-octane films in the action/horror/thriller space, focusing on cast, director, film maker driven content.

Previous titles include: Joe Carnahan’s Boss Level starring Naomi Watts and Mel Gibson; Michael Cristofer’s The Night Clerk starring Tye Sheridan, Ana de Armas and Helen Hunt; Shawn Ku’s A Score to Settle starring Nicolas Cage; Berlin, I Love You with Helen Mirren, Keira Knightley, Jim Sturgess, Mickey Rourke, Diego Luna, and Jenna Dewan Tatum; Vaughn Stein’s Terminal starring Margot Robbie; Lin Oeding’s thriller Braven starring Jason Momoa; Scott Mann’s Final Score starring Dave Bautista and Pierce Brosnan.


About Toonz Media Group
Founded in 1999, Toonz Media Group constitutes a fully integrated global kids and family entertainment force whose activities span IP development, production, distribution & rights exploitation, digital & gaming content, licensing & merchandising, augmented & virtual reality experience creation, and animation and SFX training. Toonz has 2D, 3D, Stop Motion and Live Action production studios in India, New Zealand, Turkey and Ireland, recently acquiring Emmy Award-winning Telegael. Toonz-owned Imira Entertainment globally distributes the group’s original productions and acquired kids & family content. Toonz has recently acquired a leading stake in new technologies company TiltLabs. The group’s digital arm, Toonz Media Network, focuses on Web TV and digital production, brand development and broadcast to kids’ audiences under its ‘Chotoonz’ and associated brands, and linear and non-linear channels including Russia’s Malish TV. Toonz Media Group is a part of the multi-billion-dollar Comcraft Group based out of Geneva, Switzerland. Visit Toonz’s web here.