Storm Dogs Gets a Director: Rob Minkoff Joins AI-Assisted Family Film
Rob Minkoff, who co-directed The Lion King, has been hired to direct Storm Dogs, a family film about talking dogs. The Hollywood Reporter reported the hiring on 10 November 2026.
The project is being developed by Eline van der Velden, the producer behind Tilly Norwood, the AI-generated actress who emerged in late 2025. Particle 6, the company van der Velden founded, will produce the film.
The story follows a group of pups who help a toddler, lost in the woods, find the way home. The film mixes live action with animation. According to the trade paper, it will use AI-generated imagery for the child and dog characters, with human voice actors providing their voices. Adult actors will appear in select live-action scenes.
The film is financed by a private donor behind Particle 6. The report says it will seek a studio distributor later in the process. No distributor, release date or budget has been announced.
Minkoff has said he is not involved with Tilly Norwood and does not endorse her, the report said. His name is now attached to a project that uses the same kind of AI tools as the performer that made headlines.
Particle 6 describes itself on its website as the maker of DeepFame, an AI engine that creates hyper-realistic digital avatars. Van der Velden is the company's chief executive. Its sister company is Xicoia.
For a film heading toward a studio, the next question is who buys it. Storm Dogs has a director and a producer, but it does not yet have a home in cinemas. Any release plan will depend on a distributor agreeing to take it on.
