Animation producers find new money for multi-platform content linked to series

By Susan Tolusso

OTTAWA - Yes, Virginia, there really is a way to earn separate revenues for multi-platform content linked to an existing TV series, and it really is possible to ensure the Internet, in particular, offers material distinctly different from what’s on the TV set, and from what every other site offers. “The sky really has fallen,” says Kevin Gillis, executive producer and managing partner of Breakthrough Animation, a five-year-old division of Toronto’s Breakthrough Films & Television. “It’s up to us as producers and broadcasters to figure out how to invest in content that people are coming to, independent of TV shows.”...