Sony Pictures Animation has named Justinian Huang, former head of development for Pearl Studio, its new vice president of creative.

Reporting to Kristine Belson, Huang joins SPA following a recent Sony Pictures first-look agreement with Netflix. The deal includes kids/family and animated titles, a Netflix spokesperson told Kidscreen.

Before joining Sony, Huang was the head of development at Pearl Studio in Shanghai where he oversaw co-production on Abominable, which earned US$189.7 million at the box office. He also worked on the Netflix original film Over the Moon, and served as the development exec for Kung Fu Panda 3 (US$521 million globally). At Pearl, Huang oversaw the company’s development slate and focused on getting creative partnerships with Asian and Asian-American talent.

Prior to Pearl, Huang held roles at Lionsgate, 21st Century Fox and Lynda Obst Productions.