Canadian animation icon, Nelvana, is making the social media rounds this past day for the reported closure of the company last Friday, with some employees reporting the abrupt closure occurring last Friday. No official announcement has been made, but it's parent company, Corus Entertainment, has reported a slate of difficulties the past year, including loss of key US licensing (notably, Warner Bros Discovery and Nickelodeon, ) with the abrupt pausing of production of projects last summer. This is combined with weakened ad revenue as more and more consumers shift to online streaming services and increasing costs in licensing US content.
www.hollywoodreporter.com
Nelvana is most famous for its cult animation classic, Rock and Rule, as well as assorted Star Wars animation produced in the 80s, including the Holiday Special segment and the Droids and Ewok animated series. In addition to animation services for partners like DiC (Inspector Gadget) and licensors (Beetlejuice, WildCATS), Nelvana provided dub and localization work for Cardcapters Sakura, Bakugan and Beyblade.
More recently, Nelvana had partnered with Mattel Television in relaunching the Barney franchise.
Animation Studio Nelvana Cuts Top Exec, Pauses Development and Undergoes Layoffs
Athena Georgaklis will depart on July 26 from the animation studio behind series like 'Miss Persona,' ‘Barney,’ ‘Franklin’ and ‘Babar' as parent Corus Entertainment cuts jobs and costs.
www.hollywoodreporter.com
Nelvana is most famous for its cult animation classic, Rock and Rule, as well as assorted Star Wars animation produced in the 80s, including the Holiday Special segment and the Droids and Ewok animated series. In addition to animation services for partners like DiC (Inspector Gadget) and licensors (Beetlejuice, WildCATS), Nelvana provided dub and localization work for Cardcapters Sakura, Bakugan and Beyblade.
More recently, Nelvana had partnered with Mattel Television in relaunching the Barney franchise.