Animation Studio Nelvana Cuts Top Exec, Pauses Development and Undergoes Layoffs

Animation powerhouse Nelvana, which has produced and distributed some of the biggest names in kid’s TV content over 50 years, is losing its studio production head amid a wave of cost-cutting by parent Corus Entertainment.

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Nelvana Studios vp Athena Georgaklis , whose TV credits as development and production head include The Hardy Boys, Miss Persona and Camp Lakebottom, is set to leave Corus on July 26. Toronto-based Nelvana, producer of classic children’s series like Barney, Franklin, Babar and Rolie Polie Olie, is also hitting the brakes on content development for the rest of 2024.

On Friday, a spokesperson for Corus confirmed to The Hollywood Reporter “that the difficult decision was made this week to pause development work at Nelvana, resulting in a small number of exits,” without offering additional details. In July 2023, New York-based private equity firm Integrated Media Company bought Toon Boom Animation from Nelvana for $111 million to allow parent Corus to pay down debt.

But a restructuring Corus, like other Canadian TV networks, has not been able to keep pace with industrywide cable cord-cutting and a dramatic drop in advertising revenues as TV viewers increasingly go to streaming platforms, and all the while U.S. programming costs continue to climb.

Corus, a major buyer of American series from Hollywood studio suppliers, in June 2024 saw Warner Bros. Discovery shift the Canadian rights to popular lifestyle brands like HGTV, Food Network and OWN to Rogers Sports and Media. The result has Corus aiming to cut around 800 jobs, or 25 percent of its full-time worker base, by the end of August to make deep cost savings.

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“We’re making tough decisions to shutter areas of the business we can no longer sustain and pause longer-term development activities while we implement efficiency initiatives,” co-CEO John Gossling told analysts during a July 15 conference call that followed the release of the company’s third-quarter financial results.

Last month, in the wake of losing the Warner Bros. Discovery channels and content, Corus announced longtime CEO Doug Murphy had left the media company, and CFO Gossling and Troy Reeb, Corus’ executive vp networks and content, overseeing programming, had been promoted to co-CEOs.

“Every time an announcement like this comes in the media sector, it’s both heartbreaking and boils my blood,” said Unifor national president Lana Payne, whose organization represents around 10,000 Canadian media workers, including in the broadcast sectors, said in a July 18 statement about the latest cost-cutting at Corus.

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