VANCOUVER – Thunderbird Entertainment (which produces the CBC’s Kim’s Convenience, among other titles) announced the appointment of Matthew Berkowitz to head of development at its subsidiary Atomic Cartoons. He has been brought on to develop and grow the studio's expanding IP and co-production slate, says the release.
Berkowitz spent seven years at Arc Productions, where he oversaw the studio's IP slate and established animation production relationships with Sony Animation, DreamWorks Animation, Amazon Studios, Lego, Zodiak and Sprout. Prior to Arc, he held positions at Film Roman, and Strike Entertainment.
As we redefine our approach to development at Atomic, it’s important for us to have an executive who is a passionate, dynamic and respected industry leader, and for us that’s Matt. He has a proven development track record, is a big picture thinker and we are thrilled to have him running our development operations on the ground in Los Angeles,” said Atomic president Jennifer Twiner-McCarron, in the press release.
“I am excited to help us expand further into the original content business,” said Berkowitz in the release. “Utilizing the premier talent at our studio, we are eager to tell world-class stories with talented creators from all over the globe.”
Thunderbird and Atomic launched Netflix’s original animated series Beat Bugs this summer alongside co-producers Grace: A Storytelling Company and Beyond Screen Production. They also recently announced a partnership with Skybound North, a division of Skybound Entertainment, giving Thunderbird an exclusive first-look at all animated and non-animated properties being developed for television by Skybound North in Canada.
Thunderbird Entertainment is a growing Vancouver-based multiplatform entertainment company with offices in Los Angeles, Toronto and London. It creates award-winning programming for Canadian and International broadcasters and boasts divisions in scripted development, theatrical distribution, production, and animation. Its most recent projects include the upcoming Blade Runner 2049 starring Ryan Gosling and Harrison Ford and Canadian comedy Kim’s Convenience.
