Margie Cohn is President of DreamWorks Animation. In this role, she has full oversight of the feature film and television divisions.
The inaugural DreamWorks feature released by Universal Pictures in February, How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World, was the critically acclaimed final film in the epic trilogy that has garnered more than $500 million in global box office. Upcoming DreamWorks Animation movies slated for release include Abominable coming in September, Trolls World Tour, the sequel to Trolls and The Croods 2 in 2020.
Cohn had previously served as President of DreamWorks Animation Television. Hired to build the division at its inception in 2013, she oversaw television development and production, expanding the studio’s rapidly growing slate of original television series for DWA TV’s groundbreaking multi-year deal with Netflix as well as hulu, Amazon, Universal Kids and other leading broadcasters around the world. As part of the studio’s global initiatives, she and her team were tasked with creating original animated programming inspired by DreamWorks Animation and Universal Pictures’ iconic franchises and feature films, as well as projects based on original and acquired IP. Since 2013, DreamWorks Animation Television has won 22 Emmy® Awards.
Among the many titles DreamWorks Animation Television produced under Cohn’s leadership are the critically acclaimed, Emmy®-winning series including Guillermo del Toro’s Trollhunters (part of the Tales of Arcadia trilogy), All Hail King Julien, The Adventures of Puss in Boots, Dragons: Race to the Edge, and Spirit Riding Free in addition to the reimagined pop culture phenomenon Voltron: Legendary Defender. In 2018, DreamWorks Animation Television premiered eight new original series: Trolls: The Beat Goes On, Harvey Street Kids, The Epic Tales of Captain Underpants, She-Ra and the Princesses of Power, Kung Fu Panda: The Paws of Destiny and 3Below. New original series slated for 2019 include Archibald’s Next Big Thing, pre-school series Rhyme Time Town and Gabby’s Dollhouse in addition to a Fast & Furious series based on the global powerhouse Universal Pictures franchise.
Cohn previously spent over 20 years at Nickelodeon, where in various development and production roles she helped make the network number one in cable television for 18 consecutive years. She started as a coordinator in physical production and left as President of Content Development. During her years at Nick, she touched every type of production including live action scripted comedy; animation; games and reality; TV movies; documentary; soap opera and event programming. Some of the series under her guidance that went on to become beloved hits include Avatar: The Last Airbender, The Fairly Odd Parents, SpongeBob SquarePants, iCarly, Nick News with Linda Ellerbee and the Kids’ Choice Awards in addition to over 20 made-for-TV movies.
Cohn graduated from the State University of New York at Binghamton with a B.A. in Fine Art and English and in 2017 was presented with an Alumni Achievement Award honoring an alumna or alumnus, who over the course over a decade or more has exemplified outstanding, significant professional achievement. She serves on the advisory board of Women in Animation and is a member of Women in Film.
The studio was formed by the merger of the feature animation division of DreamWorks and Pacific Data Images (PDI). Originally formed under the banner of DreamWorks in 1997 by some of Amblin Entertainment's former animation branch Amblimation alumni, it was spun off into a separate public company in 2004. DreamWorks Animation currently maintains two campuses: the original DreamWorks feature animation studio in Glendale and the PDI studio in Redwood City.
