How an outside idea reaches a company, in its own words · checked 2026-10-29
How to pitch a movie idea to Illumination
Does not take outside ideas
Illumination falls under NBCUniversal’s terms, which will not review story or character ideas it did not ask for. It licensed Sergio Pablos’s Despicable Me concept and made The Super Mario Bros. Movie with Nintendo.
Read off Illumination's own pages on
Where pitches like these are made: Teatro 5, Cinecittà studios · JRibaX, CC BY-SA 3.0
In its own words
“Except as may be explicitly requested in connection with particular programs or promotions, NBCUniversal is not requesting, and is unwilling to review, ideas or materials relating to characters, storylines, treatments, scripts, artwork, visual or audio-visual content, or other artistic or creative works (whether relating to pre-existing NBCUniversal properties or not).”
What it has bought from outside
2010
The Despicable Me concept from Sergio Pablos
“Despicable Me is an American media franchise created by Sergio Pablos.” en.wikipedia.org
2023
The Super Mario Bros. Movie, made with Nintendo from Nintendo
“an animated film based on the Mario video game franchise as a collaboration with Nintendo directed by Aaron Horvath and Michael Jelenic, was released on April 5, 2023.” en.wikipedia.org
