Corus Entertainment’s recent cost-cutting measures have provided an opportunity for Oscar- and Emmy-nominated scripted content producer Aircraft Pictures to buy back the shares previously acquired by the media giant. Both companies are based in Canada.
Aircraft principals Anthony Leo and Andrew Rosen are now once again the company’s sole shareholders. The shares, which were sold to Corus two years ago, were repurchased for an undisclosed fee. “Our team at Aircraft Pictures has been truly fortunate to work with our colleagues at Corus over the past two and half years,” said Leo. “This partnership has allowed Aircraft to take advantage of additional resources and opportunities that have helped position the company for growth as we head into our 20th year in business.”
Last month, Corus announced it was reducing its full-time workforce by 25%, cutting roughly 800 positions, as well as trimming or shutting down certain divisions. This includes halting development of new projects at Nelvana Studios, which has been a major contributor to Canadian animation for more than 50 years. The studio’s Vice President, Athena Georgaklis, was among the Corus-umbrella executives to depart in July.
The Toronto-based studio has been attached to several notable animation titles, including the series Summer Memories (with A&N Productions and Yeti Farm Creative) and feature film The Breadwinner (with Cartoon Saloon and Melusine Productions in association with exec producer Angelina Jolie), which was nominated for the Academy Award and Golden Globe for Best Animated Feature Film and won the L.A.Film Critics Award and Annie Award for Best Independent Animated Feature. Aircraft is currently co-producing Cartoon Saloon’s upcoming feature film Julián, with Sun Creature, Folivari and Wychwood Media. The project was presented at Cartoon Movie 2023.
The studio also produces live-action scripted content, including the international Netflix Top 10 chartmaker Geek Girl (also on Corus’ StackTV), which Nelvana and RubyRock, and long-running Hulu series Holly Hobbie, in association with Cloudco and Wexworks Media.
[Source: Deadline]
