She then helped produce The Iron Giant for which she won a BAFTA award.

[4][5] Abbate shifted to the United Kingdom in 2004 to set up an animation production facility for 3 Mills Studios.

[6][7] Abbate has been married to Tony Cervone, an animation director, writer and producer, since 2012.

She returned to the United States in 2012 to serve as an executive producer on Warner Animation Group's first feature, The Lego Movie, released in 2014.

[8][2] In 2017 she was appointed as the Executive Vice President of Warner Animation Group and oversaw films like Lego Ninjago, Scoob!, Smallfoot, Teen Titans Go!