W!LDBRAIN Animation Powerhouse Expands Operations to Los Angeles

Growth Attributed to an Increase in 3D Animation in Television

LOS ANGELES, March 4 /PRNewswire/ -- W!LDBRAIN, the award-winning entertainment company that develops and produces television, motion pictures, commercial content and licensed merchandise, is expanding W!LDBRAIN Animation Studios, the animation powerhouse based in San Francisco, to include a satellite studio in Los Angeles, it was announced today by Marge Dean, General Manager, W!LDBRAIN Animation Studios. With W!LDBRAIN's growing pipeline of motion pictures and television series, and a steady increase in long-form, work-for-hire business, the impetus of this move can be attributed to the growth of 3D animation in television. The new W!LDBRAIN Animation Studios space is located in Sherman Oaks, CA and is up and running, effective immediately. The Los Angeles-based studio is being headed by Chris Staples and Michelle Papandrew (Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends). W!LDBRAIN Animation Studios' San Francisco-based operations will continue to serve as a principal hub for commercial work, television, motion pictures and game animation, as well as original content development.

"The accelerated growth of our own intellectual property production slate and our work-for-hire business led to our decision to expand the animation studios to Los Angeles," said Dean. "W!LDBRAIN is a leader in 3D CGI animation. This is an area of the entertainment business that continues to show tremendous growth, both domestically and internationally. There are a number of studios that are looking to produce 3D CGI television series based on their respective 3D animated box office hits. This creates a great opportunity for us to expand our future work-for-hire business as one of the few studios that has an experienced and tested CG pipeline for television," she continued.

Dean and Josh Book, CG Supervisor for W!LDBRAIN Animation Studios, are both pioneers in the creation of CG production for television. Book structured and developed the CG department at Nickelodeon that produced Tak and the Power of Juju, the network's first CGI series; The Penguins of Madagascar, the CGI animated television series based on the 2005 film, Madagascar; and Fan Boy and Chum Chum, the CG animated comedy series spin-off of the Nickelodeon anthology series Random! Cartoons. Dean produced Roughnecks: Starship Troopers Chronicles, a CGI animated television series based on both the novel by Robert A. Heinlein and the 1997 film adaptation directed by Paul Verhoeven. She also set up the team for the popular CGI series, Back at the Barnyard for Nickelodeon, and produced the first season.

W!LDBRAIN Animation Studios has a proven track record for producing CG television since 2003, with Higglytown Heroes, the hit animated television series featuring characters modeled on Matryoshka nesting dolls, airing on the Disney Channel and with Bubble Guppies, the interactive, animated variety show for preschoolers set in a vibrant 3D, CGI animated underwater classroom, which is set to air on Nickelodeon. Additional work-for-hire business includes an animated pilot created by Nancy Hower and John Lehr, that features the voice of Jeff Foxworthy and is produced by Twentieth Century Fox Television. W!LDBRAIN Animation Studios is also in production on a series of webisodes for companies such as Smith & Tinker and continues to produce award-winning commercial animation work for long time clients, including Esurance and Lamisil.

In addition to its work for hire business, W!LDBRAIN Animation Studios animates its own intellectual property, including Yo Gabba Gabba!, the groundbreaking, award-winning, live-action, animated series that currently ranks as one of the most popular series on television with broad appeal among preschoolers, parents, teens and adults. A motion picture based on the hit series is currently in development. Additional animation IP in production and in development at W!LDBRAIN includes Team Smithereen, a short form animated series written and directed by Dan Clark and a live action, animated feature film based on the popular Kidrobot limited edition toys with Paramount.

About W!LDBRAIN:

Founded in 1994, W!LDBRAIN (www.wildbrain.com) is an award-winning entertainment company that develops and produces unique and compelling content across the media spectrum, with offices in Los Angeles, New York and San Francisco. W!LDBRAIN also creates and distributes collectible merchandise through its subsidiary Kidrobot, planet Earth's premier creator and retailer of limited edition toys, clothing, mini-figures, artwork and books. Powered by its distinctive pool of talented animators and directors renowned for blending traditional animation methods with state-of-the-art computer graphics, the studio and its creative team have consistently won top industry awards. In film, W!LDBRAIN has garnered numerous awards, including an Annie for its computer graphics short film Hubert's Brain. As one of the nation's foremost producers of animated commercials, W!LDBRAIN has won Clios, Addys, BDA Awards and Annies for their commercial work, reinvigorating classic brands for leading companies including The Coca-Cola Company, Honda, Kraft and Nike.

    Media Contact:  Kelly Kimball
    310.271.1400/ kkimball@wildbrain.com