Canada’s Mercury Filmworks (The Bob’s Burgers Movie, Hilda, The Wonderful World of Mickey Mouse, The Lion Guard) and France and Canada’s Blue Spirit Studios (Blue Eye Samurai, Marvel’s What If…, Rocket & Groot), part of TF1 Group’s Newen Studios, announce the launch of Seraphim, a new and bespoke animation pipeline designed to produce high-end animation that seamlessly melds 2D and 3D techniques, blurring the line between concept art and production.
Seraphim brings together Mercury Filmworks’ celebrated 2D animation with Blue Spirit’s cutting-edge 3D production capabilities, offering a palette of artistic expressions and performances previously unattainable for most producers. Combined with both studios’ excellence in pre-production and storytelling, the partnership will deliver ground-breaking premium animated content that is visually breathtaking and narratively compelling.
Designed for high-budget projects for adult and family audiences, including films in the $30–$50 million range and series with premium plus episodic budgets, Seraphim offers comprehensive production services from visual development to post-production.
The new pipeline not only leverages the expertise of both companies, but also the extensive resources available across their creative and production hubs in Ottawa, Montreal, Paris and Angoulême. These locations provide access to top-tier talent and offer significant tax credits and financial incentives.
The pipeline is already onboarding its first client, with visual development set to begin this summer.
“Seraphim addresses the global shortage for reliable sophisticated animation capabilities for big-budget series and movies. It will operate as a bespoke production service for each project and be configured to meet specific creative and production needs,” commented Mercury Filmworks CEO Clint Eland. “Our clients are producers seeking a design and production pipeline solution for unique and artistically ambitious projects that push the boundaries of animation.”
“By combining our strengths, we can explore new creative horizons and deliver sophisticated animated content with compelling characters, intricate stories, and groundbreaking visuals,” added Olivier Lelardoux, CEO at Blue Spirit. “This unique approach ensures that each animation produced is not just a project, but a masterpiece.”
Seraphim represents a significant expansion beyond the core focus on animated television and film for children and families, venturing into projects that exceed the traditional budget norms of these markets. The pipeline will not be utilized for original content projects for Mercury Filmworks or Blue Spirit Productions, nor will Seraphim impact the partner companies’ service work development and productions.
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