DreamWorks brings “Forgotten Island” creators to Annecy to discuss Filipino cultural storytelling and casting Lea Salonga as main villain

DreamWorks’ upcoming feature Forgotten Island drew attention at this year’s Annecy festival when its creators took the stage to speak with a packed crowd about the film’s cultural focus and its voice-casting choices. The event centered on the studio’s stated aim to root the story in Filipino life and language, with the filmmakers framing the project as a direct homage to Filipino culture.

Director Joel Crawford told the audience that the approach followed the idea of “write what you know,” while also adding that the team “wrote who you know,” a phrasing used to describe how personal connections and cultural expertise shaped the production’s creative decisions.

The Annecy discussion also highlighted DreamWorks’ casting of Lea Salonga as the movie’s main villain. Salonga, widely known for her stage work and voice performances, was presented by the filmmakers as an actor whose vocal and performance range aligns with the character’s role in the film.

In their remarks, the creators emphasized that the production’s creative process was designed around consultation and representation, positioning the movie’s Filipino cultural elements as more than surface-level details. The team characterized the film’s intent as celebratory, saying it was built as a love letter to Filipino culture rather than a generic setting.

The filmmakers’ comments came amid growing industry scrutiny over how international stories are written, developed, and cast for global animation audiences. While the creators did not describe specific production timelines in the excerpted reporting, the Annecy appearance served as a high-profile venue for DreamWorks to publicly connect casting and narrative intent to Filipino cultural representation.

For audiences tracking voice-performance choices, the Salonga announcement provides a concrete anchor point for the film’s marketing narrative, linking a prominent performer to the villain role. For the creative team, the public-facing message at Annecy tied that choice to the broader goal of cultural specificity and credibility.

DreamWorks’ Forgotten Island, presented at Annecy through its creators’ remarks, is expected to continue rolling out details in the run-up to its release. The Annecy appearance functions as an early cultural and casting statement, setting expectations for how the studio intends to portray Filipino identity through an animated feature framework.