‘Inside Out 2’ Director Kelsey Mann Signs with UTA (Exclusive)

Pixar veteran Kelsey Mann, who most recently directed Pixar’s Inside Out 2, has signed with UTA for representation in all areas.

It is the latest animation get for the agency, which in the summer signed longtime Dreamworks and Forgotten Island co-director Januel Mercado.

And it continues a trend of animators stepping out of their animation companies to test of the waters of a wider entertainment industry, sometimes beyond straight animation. In September, for example, Minions creator and Despicable Me filmmaker Pierre Coffin signed with WME.

Mann’s last movie was Inside Out 2, one of the biggest critical and commercial successes of 2024. It earned a 98 percent score on Rotten Tomatoes and grossed $1.7 billion worldwide, earning him an Academy Award nomination for best animated feature while setting the record for the highest-grossing directorial debut in film history.

A storyboard artist who earned his stripes on Cartoon Network, Warner Bros., and Lucasfilm Animation shows, Mann joined in Pixar in 2009, serving as story supervisor on Monsters University, The Good Dinosaur, which he also co-wrote, and Onward. He also contributed to Pixar’s senior creative team across recent hits including Toy Story 5, Hoppers, Elemental, and Turning Red. He made his directorial debut with the Monsters University theatrical short Party Central.

Mann is now focusing on his next chapter as an independent director and creator.