Jam Filled Entertainment

(Redirected from Starz Animation)

Jam Filled Entertainment is a Canadian animation studio based in Ottawa, Ontario (with additional facilities in Toronto and Halifax), and a division of Boat Rocker Media. The company is best known for animating Thomas & Friends (starting with season 17) and Nicktoons (such as The Loud House and its spinoff The Casagrandes).

Jam Filled Entertainment
FormerlyJam Filled Toronto:
  • Dan Krech Productions (1985–2000)
  • DKP Effects (2000–2004)
  • DKP Studios (2004–2006)
  • Starz Animation (2006–2011)
  • Arc Productions (2011–2016)
Company typeSubsidiary
Industry
Founded2007; 17 years ago (2007)
Headquarters65 Auriga Drive, ,
Canada
ParentBoat Rocker Media
DivisionsJam Filled Toronto
Jam Filled Halifax
Websitewww.jamfilled.com

History

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Jam Filled Entertainment was founded in Manotick in 2007 by Kyle MacDougall, Phil Lafrance, and Jamie Leclaire. In January 2011, Jam Filled moved to a new location in Ottawa. On August 3, 2016, Boat Rocker Media acquired Jam Filled Entertainment.[1] On August 22, Jam Filled purchased the assets of Arc Productions, allowing them to expand into creating CGI animation in Toronto. Jam Filled opened a 10,000 square feet studio in Halifax, Nova Scotia in the fall of 2019 to work on more 2D animation projects.[2]

Jam Filled Toronto

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The Toronto branch of Jam Filled Entertainment was originally established as Dan Krech Productions on June 24, 1985, as one of the first visual effects companies in Toronto. In 1987, DKP became the first company in Canada to have an in-house digital suite. DKP had produced visual effects and animation for over 2,000 commercials and long-form projects by 2000, many of them for U.S. companies. DKP moved to a new facility on Queen Street East in March 2001. American telecommunications company IDT Corporation acquired DKP Effects on March 16, 2004,[3] leading to the company being renamed DKP Studios.

On 26 May 2006, Liberty Media bought IDT Entertainment from IDT, including Anchor Bay Entertainment and Film Roman, and merged it with the Starz cable network to form Starz Media.[4] Under its new management in 2007, the studio began a "Starz Shortz" program which has produced Bundle of Joy, Enter the Sandbox, Ormie and Lovebirds.[5] In 2007, Starz Animation took over animating Shane Acker's feature 9 from Attitude Studio, Luxembourg.[6] In 2010, the studio opened a major VFX wing to create all the effects for the new Starz Channel/Graham King Productions miniseries, Camelot, Alcon Entertainment's Dolphin Tale, and producer Avi Arad's family feature, Robosapien: Rebooted.

In April 2011, Liberty Starz sold Starz Animation to a Canadian consortium, and it was renamed Arc Productions. Under the new owner, the studio was planning to do more proprietary production.[7][8][9][10]

On August 1, 2016, Arc Productions announced that they were closing down the studio because they were filing for bankruptcy and locked out over 500 employees after telling them there was a payroll glitch and no one had been paid.[11] On August 10, 2016, following Arc's closure, Jam Filled Entertainment entered an agreement to acquire Arc Productions' assets in which they call "substantially all of the business".[12] Jam Filled Entertainment also acquired 248 of Arc's former employees. Later on August 22, 2016, Arc Productions was reopened as Jam Filled Entertainment's Toronto facility.[13]

In 2020, Jam Filled announced that they would no longer animate episodes of the original Thomas & Friends series after the 24th and final series, with Nelvana taking over for the 2D-animated reboot series, Thomas & Friends: All Engines Go.

Productions

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Jam Filled Entertainment

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Television series

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Title Year(s) Notes Client
Almost Naked Animals 2011–13 9 Story Entertainment
Crash Canyon Breakthrough Entertainment
Camp Lakebottom 2013–14 pre-production to rough-cut; season 1 9 Story Entertainment
The Day My Butt Went Psycho! 2014–15 season 1 episode 20; season 2 Nelvana
Studio Moshi
Nickelodeon Animated Shorts Program 2013–18 "The Loud House", "Off the Shelf", "My Friend Pancake", "Robo Wonder Kid", and "Fur-Ever Family" Nickelodeon Animation Studio
Numb Chucks 2014–16 9 Story Media Group
The Loud House 2016–present animation services Nickelodeon Animation Studio
Thomas & Friends 2016–21 series 20–24; continued from Arc Productions HiT Entertainment
The Bagel and Becky Show 2016–17 pre-production to rough-cut Radical Sheep Productions
Rusty Rivets 2016–20 continued from Arc Productions Spin Master Entertainment
WellieWishers 2017 season 2 Mattel Creations
Kody Kapow Zodiak Kids
Final Space 2018–21 animation services; seasons 1–3 ShadowMachine
Pinky Malinky 2019 Nickelodeon Animation Studio
DC Super Hero Girls 2019–20 season 1 and shorts Warner Bros. Animation
The Polos 2019 Boat Rocker Media
Bubble Guppies 2019–23 seasons 5–6 Nickelodeon Animation Studio
The Casagrandes 2019–22 animation services
Kingdom Force 2019–20 Boat Rocker Media
Dino Ranch 2021–present
The Snow Ball 2021 short film
A Tale Dark & Grimm Boat Rocker Media
Netflix Animation
Inside Job 2021–22 animation services Netflix Animation
What If...? 2021 additional effects for season 2; "What If... Iron Man Crashed into the Grandmaster?" Marvel Studios Animation
Nickelodeon Intergalactic Shorts Program 2022 "Rock Paper Scissors" Nickelodeon Animation Studio
Reindeer in Here CBS Eye Animation Productions
We Lost Our Human 2023 Netflix Animation
Rubble & Crew 2023–present Spin Master Entertainment
Clone High 2023–24 animation services; season 2–3 ShadowMachine
MTV Entertainment Studios
Praise Petey[14] 2023

Animation services

20th Television Animation
Vida the Vet 2024–present Spin Master Entertainment
X-Men '97 2024 additional effects for 2 episodes; "Tolerance Is Extinction: Part 2", "Tolerance Is Extinction: Part 3" Marvel Studios Animation
Exploding Kittens Animation services; post-production Bandera Entertainment
Chernin Entertainment

Films

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Title Year(s) Notes Client
Thomas & Friends: Journey Beyond Sodor 2017 Mattel Creations
The Great Northern Candy Drop Boat Rocker Media
Thomas & Friends: Big World, Big Adventures! 2018 Mattel Creations
No Time to Spy: A Loud House Movie 2024 animation services Nickelodeon Animation Studio

Jam Filled Toronto

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Formerly known as Dan Krech Productions, DKP Effects, DKP Studios (IDT Entertainment), Starz Animation, and Arc Productions.

Dan Krech Productions

DKP Effects

DKP Studios

Starz Animation

 
Logo of Starz Animation

Arc Productions

 
Logo of Arc Productions

References

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  1. ^ "Boat Rocker Media Acquires Jam Filled Entertainment". Boat Rocker Media. August 3, 2016. Archived from the original on October 1, 2019. Retrieved October 1, 2019.
  2. ^ "JAM FILLED IS DROPPING ANCHOR IN HALIFAX!". Jam Filled Entertainment. September 23, 2019.
  3. ^ "DKP acquired by U.S. animator". Playback Magazine. 29 March 2004. Retrieved 27 August 2011.
  4. ^ "Liberty Media to acquire IDT Entertainment". IDT. May 16, 2006. Archived from the original on 23 July 2011. Retrieved August 27, 2011.
  5. ^ Lacey, Liam (March 24, 2011). "Animation company aims for 3D without nausea and headaches". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved August 27, 2011.
  6. ^ "New Starz studio busy on Burton's 9". Playback Magazine. Retrieved 2007-09-17.
  7. ^ Vlessing, Etan (April 13, 2011). "Starz Animation Studio Renamed Arc Productions". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved August 27, 2011.
  8. ^ DeMott, Rick (13 April 2011). "Starz Animation Toronto Rebrands as Arc Productions". Animation World Network. Retrieved 2 February 2022.
  9. ^ Arrant, Chris (13 April 2011). "Starz Animation Toronto rebrands as Arc Productions Animation & Visual Effects". Cartoon Brew. Retrieved 2 February 2022.
  10. ^ Vlessing, Etan (14 April 2011). "Starz Animation Toronto rebrands as Arc Productions". Kidscreen. Brunico Communications. Retrieved 2 February 2022.
  11. ^ Valiquette, Mike (August 1, 2016). "BREAKING NEWS: Arc Productions Files for Bankruptcy". Retrieved August 2, 2016.
  12. ^ "Jam Filled looks to acquire Arc Productions assets".
  13. ^ a b c d Wolfe, Jennifer (August 22, 2016). "Jam Filled Entertainment Acquires Arc Productions". Animation World Network. Retrieved September 11, 2016.
  14. ^ White, Peter (2021-12-09). "Annie Murphy, John Cho & Christine Baranski Star In Animated Series 'Praise Petey' From Anna Drezen For Freeform As Network Takes Another Crack At Genre". Deadline. Retrieved 2023-07-29.
  15. ^ Vlessing, Etan (June 6, 2011). "Arc To Animate 3D TV For Platinum and Endemol". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved January 20, 2013.
  16. ^ "Arc to Provide Visual Effects for 'Halo 4'". Animation World Network.
  17. ^ "Lego Marvel Super Heroes: Maximum Overload". IMDb.
  18. ^ a b Zahed, Ramin (February 6, 2012). "Arc is on Board HIT's 'Thomas & Friends'". Animation Magazine. Retrieved February 8, 2012.
  19. ^ "King of the Railway (Thomas and Friends)". Barnes & Noble. Retrieved December 16, 2012.
  20. ^ Strom, Marc (November 12, 2015). "TV ULTRON CRASHES THE PARTY IN FIRST 'LEGO MARVEL SUPER HEROES: AVENGERS REASSEMBLED!' CLIP". Marvel. Archived from the original on January 8, 2017. Retrieved January 7, 2017.
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