By Connie Thiessen
Corus Entertainment says its children’s content division, Nelvana, is not shutting down, but as previously announced has paused new studio productions for the time being.
The producer, distributor, and licensor of children’s 2D and 3D animated and live-action content, which celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2021, is known for popular series like The Backyardigans, Max & Ruby, Franklin and Friends, My Little Pony, and The Hardy Boys.
A thread on Bluesky social account @ToonHive over the weekend suggested that many crew members had “ended their last productions or are in the midst of closing up shop” as of last Friday.
A Corus spokesperson told Broadcast Dialogue, Cartt’s sister publication: “To confirm, Nelvana is not shutting down,” but said any remaining production activity was completed last week and that “there are no productions underway at this time.”
“It was announced earlier this year that as certain productions were completed, we would be pausing new studio productions for the time being,” the spokesperson continued. “Nelvana continues to operate, focusing on distribution, merchandising, and managing existing properties. As always, we continue to review opportunities and priorities as part of our ongoing business operations.”
In 2024, the studio cut top executive Athena Georgaklis and halted all new project development as part of the company’s ongoing efforts to reduce debt and improve operating efficiencies.
Nelvana has continued to announce new distribution deals over the summer, including a partnership with The Roku Channel to exclusively launch 3D animated preschool series Builder Brothers Dream Factory in the U.S. and doing deals with ITV in the UK and NOGA in Israel for animated action series Piñata Smashlings.
Corus ceased distributing ABC Spark, Nickelodeon, Disney French (La Chaine Disney), Disney XD and Disney Jr. channels at the beginning of this month.
