{"id":3250,"date":"2018-06-06T13:41:42","date_gmt":"2018-06-06T13:41:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thunderbird.tv\/2018\/06\/06\/thunderbird-entertainment-takes-off\/"},"modified":"2018-06-06T13:41:42","modified_gmt":"2018-06-06T13:41:42","slug":"thunderbird-entertainment-takes-off","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thunderbird.tv\/2018\/06\/06\/thunderbird-entertainment-takes-off\/","title":{"rendered":"Thunderbird Entertainment Takes Off"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>With its Netflix deals, a new HQ for Atomic Cartoons and plenty of projects in development, the prodco&#8217;s leaders discuss the company&#8217;s future growth plans.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><em><a href=\"http:\/\/playbackonline.ca\/author\/Lauren%20Malyk\">Lauren\u00a0Malyk \/ June 6th, 2018<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n<p>Playback\u2019<em>s\u00a0<strong><a href=\"http:\/\/playbackonline.ca\/2018\/06\/04\/indie-list-2018-the-year-in-review\/\">annual Indie List<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0breaks down industry trends and ranks the biggest-spending Canadian companies. This year we spoke with some of the List\u2019s movers and shakers to discuss the strategies and shifts that shaped their businesses in 2017. The second part of this series is an interview with Thunderbird Entertainment execs Jennifer McCarron, Mark Miller and Ivan Fecan.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Thunderbird Entertainment spread its wings in 2017. The Vancouver-based prodco, known for hits like\u00a0<em>Kim\u2019s Convenience<\/em>\u00a0(CBC) and animated series\u00a0<em>Beat Bugs<\/em>\u00a0(Netflix), increased its production spend to $65 million, from $41 million in 2016.<\/p>\n<p>Founded in 2003, by Tim Gamble, Michael Shepard and Cam White, Thunderbird Entertainment is comprised of four divisions: scripted (produced under the Thunderbird brand), animation (Atomic Cartoons, which it acquired in 2015), factual (Great Pacific Media, acquired in 2014), and distribution (Thunderbird Releasing, acquired in 2014 as Soda Pictures).<\/p>\n<p>The company\u2019s 2017 jump in production spend can be attributed to its growing animation arm, says co-president and Atomic Cartoons CEO Jennifer McCarron. The division recently moved into a\u00a0<strong><a href=\"http:\/\/playbackonline.ca\/2018\/03\/22\/how-beat-bugs-helped-atomic-cartoons-realize-its-expansion-plans\/\">new 35,000-square-foot Vancouver headquarters<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0and has shifted away from being a service hub to become a full-fledged, independent content creator.<\/p>\n<p>McCarron says it\u2019s largely Atomic\u2019s relationship with Netflix that\u2019s allowed it to expand, with the SVOD picking up the worldwide rights to Atomic\u2019s new animated adventure comedy<strong><em><a href=\"http:\/\/playbackonline.ca\/2018\/03\/01\/netflix-takes-worldwide-rights-on-atomics-the-last-kids-on-earth\/\">\u00a0The Last Kids on Earth<\/a><\/em><\/strong>, exec-produced by McCarron and set to debut next year. The studio also does service work on shows such as the upcoming\u00a0<em>Cupcake and Dino: General Services<\/em>\u00a0for Netflix and Nickelodeon\u2019s\u00a0<em>Max &amp; Ruby<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p>Mark Miller, co-president and CEO of Great Pacific Media, says Thunderbird\u2019s three-pronged approach has been designed since day one to sustain the highs and lows that define video production. \u201cIf factual started to have a low point, it\u2019s going to be propped up by animation or by scripted,\u201d says Miller. \u201cSo, we have this diversified company that can help support its parts when times are bad and times are good.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Great Pacific productions include reno show\u00a0<em>Game of Homes<\/em>\u00a0for W Network and two unscripted series for Discovery:\u00a0<em>Heavy Rescue: 401<\/em>\u00a0and<em>\u00a0Highway Thru Hell<\/em>, a show Miller calls \u201ca true Canadian story.\u201d He says both\u00a0<em>Heavy<\/em>\u00a0and\u00a0<em>Highway<\/em>, in addition to having strong linear viewership, have found new audiences on Netflix as well, with the former being shown in 160 territories via the streamer and Discovery.<\/p>\n<p>While Great Pacific and Atomic continue to ramp up, Thunderbird executive chair, producer and interim CEO Ivan Fecan, who directly oversees the company\u2019s scripted division, says he is paring down the number of scripted projects Thunderbird has in development, from around 30 to four or five in any given year.<\/p>\n<p>One of Thunderbird\u2019s big scripted releases in 2017 was on the film side, with\u00a0<em>Blade Runner 2049<\/em>, a franchise for which it has long owned the underlying rights. Reflecting the challenges of today\u2019s exhibition market, the film was well-reviewed but underwhelmed at the box office.<\/p>\n<p>That said,\u00a0<em>Kim\u2019s Convenience<\/em>\u00a0has been a hit, earning a third season on CBC and winning best comedy at the 2018 Canadian Screen Awards.<\/p>\n<p>Building on that traction, Thunderbird is looking to option more existing IP (<em>Kim\u2019s<\/em>\u00a0is based on a play of the same name) and adapt properties into compelling series, says Fecan.<\/p>\n<p>It is currently in production on one such property (undisclosed) and, in the year ahead, its other divisions will debut new series,\u00a0<strong><em><a href=\"http:\/\/playbackonline.ca\/2018\/05\/15\/great-pacific-media-unveils-queen-of-the-oil-patch\/\">Queen of the Oil Patch\u00a0<\/a><\/em><\/strong>for APTN (Great Pacific Media) and\u00a0<strong><em><a href=\"http:\/\/playbackonline.ca\/2018\/05\/09\/pbs-kids-orders-first-alaskan-native-series\/\">Molly of Denali\u00a0<\/a><\/em><\/strong>(Atomic Cartoons\/WGBH Boston) for PBS Kids and CBC Kids. Great Pacific\u2019s hit\u00a0<em>Highway Thru Hell<\/em>\u00a0will also return for a seventh season on Discovery in Fall 2018.<\/p>\n<p>Both McCarron and Miller say they expect Thunderbird to continue to grow as the divisions look for symmetry where genres can overlap, like in adult animation and kids factual, for example.<\/p>\n<p>But with all this growth, Fecan notes Thunderbird\u2019s biggest challenge will be to keep expanding in a way that supports a healthy work culture and structure. That said, he adds Thunderbird is always on the hunt for another company or catalogue to take under its wing.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019ve certainly done a lot of mergers and acquisitions in my life, and the number one place where these things make or break is culture,\u201d says Fecan. \u201cIn our business, the assets are creatives and they walk in and out the door every day, so if you don\u2019t get the culture right it\u2019s going to fail.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Read more:\u00a0<strong><a href=\"http:\/\/playbackonline.ca\/2018\/06\/06\/indie-list-2018-thunderbird-takes-off\/#ixzz5Hffco5od\">http:\/\/playbackonline.ca\/2018\/06\/06\/indie-list-2018-thunderbird-takes-off\/#ixzz5Hffco5od<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>With its Netflix deals, a new HQ for Atomic Cartoons and plenty of projects in development, the prodco&#8217;s leaders discuss the company&#8217;s future growth plans. Lauren\u00a0Malyk \/ June 6th, 2018 Playback\u2019s\u00a0annual Indie List\u00a0breaks down industry trends and ranks the biggest-spending Canadian companies. This year we spoke with some of the List\u2019s movers and shakers to &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/thunderbird.tv\/2018\/06\/06\/thunderbird-entertainment-takes-off\/\">Continued<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[53],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v22.1 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Thunderbird Entertainment Takes Off - Thunderbird Entertainment<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/thunderbird.tv\/2018\/06\/06\/thunderbird-entertainment-takes-off\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Thunderbird Entertainment Takes Off - Thunderbird Entertainment\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"With its Netflix deals, a new HQ for Atomic Cartoons and plenty of projects in development, the prodco&#8217;s leaders discuss the company&#8217;s future growth plans. Lauren\u00a0Malyk \/ June 6th, 2018 Playback\u2019s\u00a0annual Indie List\u00a0breaks down industry trends and ranks the biggest-spending Canadian companies. This year we spoke with some of the List\u2019s movers and shakers to &hellip; Continued\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/thunderbird.tv\/2018\/06\/06\/thunderbird-entertainment-takes-off\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Thunderbird Entertainment\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2018-06-06T13:41:42+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/thunderbird.tv\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/social-share.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"633\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Gearbox_admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Gearbox_admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/thunderbird.tv\/2018\/06\/06\/thunderbird-entertainment-takes-off\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/thunderbird.tv\/2018\/06\/06\/thunderbird-entertainment-takes-off\/\",\"name\":\"Thunderbird Entertainment Takes Off - Thunderbird Entertainment\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/thunderbird.tv\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2018-06-06T13:41:42+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2018-06-06T13:41:42+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/thunderbird.tv\/#\/schema\/person\/41eb8208032d7ee9602156e61d6f6c41\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/thunderbird.tv\/2018\/06\/06\/thunderbird-entertainment-takes-off\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/thunderbird.tv\/2018\/06\/06\/thunderbird-entertainment-takes-off\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/thunderbird.tv\/2018\/06\/06\/thunderbird-entertainment-takes-off\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/thunderbird.tv\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Thunderbird Entertainment Takes Off\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/thunderbird.tv\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/thunderbird.tv\/\",\"name\":\"Thunderbird Entertainment\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/thunderbird.tv\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/thunderbird.tv\/#\/schema\/person\/41eb8208032d7ee9602156e61d6f6c41\",\"name\":\"Gearbox_admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/thunderbird.tv\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/239363dc97071e1a4eb9d0cc6971f646?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/239363dc97071e1a4eb9d0cc6971f646?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Gearbox_admin\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/thunderbird.tv\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/thunderbird.tv\/author\/gearbox_admin\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Thunderbird Entertainment Takes Off - Thunderbird Entertainment","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/thunderbird.tv\/2018\/06\/06\/thunderbird-entertainment-takes-off\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Thunderbird Entertainment Takes Off - Thunderbird Entertainment","og_description":"With its Netflix deals, a new HQ for Atomic Cartoons and plenty of projects in development, the prodco&#8217;s leaders discuss the company&#8217;s future growth plans. 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