Januel Mercado most recently collaborated with director Joel Crawford and producer Mark Swift on Puss in Boots: The Last Wish, making his debut in the role of co-director. The film received numerous accolades, including Academy Award®️ and BAFTA nominations.
Mercado has been involved with DreamWorks Feature Animation since he started his professional career at the studio in 2008, contributing to key franchises such as Kung Fu Panda, The Penguins of Madagascar and Trolls.
Prior to his role as co-director on PiB:TLW, Mercado served as Head of Story on The Croods: A New Age. Before joining DreamWorks Animation, he was a Supervising Director at Nickelodeon Animation Studio and also contributed to Warner Animation’s LEGO Movie franchise.
Mercado studied and graduated from the animation-illustration department at San Jose State University, which, through the years, has become a staple recruitment center for some of the industry’s top upcoming artists.