Locksmith Animation and Twentieth Century Fox Film (TCFF) have signed a multi-year production partnership that will see a new animated film released every 12 to 18 months. The first title has been greenlit.

The films will be developed and produced by the UK-based studio, which has also partnered with Double Negative for digital production. TCFF is distributing the Locksmith films, in addition to upcoming titles from Blue Sky Studios, producer of the Ice Age franchise movies.

The studio was founded in 2014 by writer/director Sarah Smith (Aardman’s Arthur Christmas) and producer Julie Lockhart (Shaun the Sheep Movie, Pirates! In An Adventure with Scientists!, also Aardman) and financial backer Elisabeth Murdoch, daughter of Rupert Murdoch, media mogul and Newscorp CEO, the conglomerate that owns Fox.