The roots and lineage of Iwerks & Co. dates back over 100 years ago to Kansas City, Missouri, when Leslie Iwerks' grandfather, Ubbe Ert Iwwerks (which he later changed to Ub Iwerks), and Walt Disney met in 1919 at the young age of 18 while working together at the Pesman-Rubin Commercial Art Studio. 

After quickly discovering that they were both hardworking, naturally talented and shared a passion for animation and filmmaking, they set up their own animation troupe, the Iwwerks-Disney Company, to try and succeed as young animators. However, not long after their company was started, Walt felt the call of the entertainment industry out west and relocated to join his brother, Roy Disney. 

In 1923, Walt invited Ub out to Hollywood to join the Disney brothers as chief animator on their series known as The Alice Comedies. From there, Walt and Ub created Alice in Cartoonland and Universal Studios’ Oswald the Lucky Rabbit. Within five fateful years, they would go on to create the most iconic and beloved animated character in the world: Mickey Mouse. 

Over the next 52 years, Ub made his name known in the film industry as an animator and visual effects pioneer, blazing a path through his innovation of new technologies, camera systems and film techniques that have laid the groundwork for much of what the world sees today. Of the many breakthrough advancements invented during his career, working with the likes of Walt Disney, Alfred Hitchcock and his own Ub Iwerks Studios in the 1930s, the most notable include the multiplane camera, the animation Xerox process, wet gate printer, traveling matte process and the Circle-Vision 360° camera and theatres.

Throughout his career, Ub was continuously recognized and honored by his peers, receiving multiple Academy Awards® and, in 1989, becoming one of the first Disney employees to be given the Disney Legends Award, a hall of fame program that recognizes individuals who have made an extraordinary and integral contribution to The Walt Disney Company. The International Animated Film Association, ASIFA-Hollywood, also named the top juried award for technical achievement in the animation industry at the Annie Awards the Ub Iwerks Award because of the countless impacts his innovations had on the industry.

Following in his footsteps, Ub’s son, Don Iwerks, began his career in 1954 as a camera technician at the Walt Disney Studios working on 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. While there, he worked in the studio machine shop under the tutelage of his father until he ultimately took over the department. In this role, he invented and built camera systems that have been utilized at Disneyland, Walt Disney World, Epcot Center and Tokyo Disneyland, including the 3D camera system for Captain EO, the endless loop cabinet, the 360° camera system and projection and lighting effects, among many others.

In 1986, Don left Disney to form Iwerks Entertainment, his own company that has become a world leader in large format, 2D, 3D, 4D, virtual reality and motion-based simulation theaters. To this day, the company rivals IMAX® in the 15 perf/70mm and 8 perf/70mm camera and projection system formats, with over 200 attractions in 40 countries worldwide to-date.

Don Iwerks has received numerous acclaims for his technological advancements, including the prestigious Gordon E. Sawyer Award at the 1996 Academy Awards® and Iwerks Entertainment receiving the 1999 Academy Award® Scientific Technical Achievement for the Iwerks 8/70 Linear Loop projection system. In 2009, he was inducted into the Disney Legends by Bob Iger and Roy E. Disney, honoring him as an individual whose "imagination, talents and dreams have created the Disney magic." 

Having grown up behind the scenes at the Disney Studios and Disneyland, Don’s daughter, Leslie Iwerks, knew from an early age that she wanted to tell stories in her own unique ways and mediums. She began her career working with her father at Iwerks Entertainment, and in 1999 Leslie Iwerks Productions was established after the success of her full-length directorial debut for Walt Disney Pictures, The Hand Behind the Mouse: The Ub Iwerks Story.

Through her hard work at Iwerks Entertainment, she became the head of creative development at the company before it merged with SimEx Inc. in 2002 to become SimEx-Iwerks Entertainment. While there, Leslie partnered with Walt Disney Pictures and renowned big wave surfer Laird Hamilton to direct and produce a large format film about the sport. The project led to her traveling to Maui and creating The Ride/The Day, a one-hour documentary following five of the top big wave surfers in the world.

For her next film, Recycled Life, Leslie Iwerks ventured into the depths of the largest landfill in Central America to document the lives of the people who had been living and working there for the last sixty years. The film was received with critical acclaim, and nominated for a 2006 Academy Award®, an ACE Editing Award and winning numerous awards from top film festivals around the world. While working on the film, Leslie partnered with Pixar Animation Studios for The Pixar Story to give an unparalleled look into their work and the groundbreaking innovation behind it. The film was nominated for a 2008 Emmy® in the Outstanding Nonfiction Special category. 

In 2015, Leslie Iwerks Productions changed its name to Iwerks & Co., with the "Co." representing Leslie's ongoing collaborations with outstanding producing partners and idea people on every project. Under the newly branded company, Iwerks & Co. spent five years documenting Disney Imagineers around the world, and ultimately creating The Imagineering Story, the critically-acclaimed docu-series that debuted on Disney+ in 2019 to high praise from critics and fans alike.

Since its first inception, the company has grown to become an industry leader in documenting the human story of innovation and enterprise around the world, consistently telling compelling stories about visionary people and entities who have achieved the remarkable, the unbelievable and the often unfathomable.