Nelvana Studios VP Athena Georgaklis Departs, Development Halted Amid Corus Cost Cuts

Corus Entertainment today announced that Nelvana Studios Vice President Athena Georgaklis will be leaving the company on July 26. The studio, which celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2021 and is known for bringing beloved animated properties like Babar, Clifford the Big Red Dog and Franklin to screens, is also putting a stop to new project development for the rest of the year.

A spokesperson for Corus told The Hollywood Reporter, “the difficult decision was made this week to pause development work at Nelvana, resulting in a small number of exits.” Speaking to Corus Ent.’s cost-cutting measures, co-CEO John Gossling said earlier this week in a conference call, “We’re making tough decisions to shutter areas of the business we can no longer sustain and pause longer term development activities while we implement efficiency initiatives.”

A 22-year veteran of Canadian entertainment production, Georgaklis was appointed VP of Nelvana in early 2023, having previously served as Head of Development for almost seven years. At the studio, she spearheaded animation projects including The Most Magnificent Thing, D.N.Ace and Agent Binky: Pets of the Universe Ready, as well as The Hardy Boys live-action series. Before Nelvana, she oversaw all original animation production for Corus’ kids networks, supervising the development and production of content in both languages and working on hit shows like Johnny Test, Camp Lakebottom, Mysticons, 6TEEN and the Total Drama Island franchise.

Details of the Corus financial situation which has led to cost-cutting and restructuring efforts were not specified. THR points out that Nelvana last year sold its software business Toon Boom Animation to private equity firm Integrated Media Company for $111 million to help Corus pay down debt. The company last month lost Canadian rights to a number of popular Warner Bros. Discovery lifestyle brands (including HGTB, Food Network and OWN), which will lead to layoffs of about 800 jobs (25% of full-time staff) by the end of August.

Prior to Georgaklis and following the WBD channel shift, Corus announced longtime CEO Doug Murphy had departed the company. The company promoted Gossling (formerly CFO) and Troy Reeb (EVP Networks & Content) as co-CEOs in his place.

In addition to classic cartoons like Rupert, Care Bears, The Magic School Bus, Little Bear and William Joyce’s pioneering CG preschool show Rolie Polie Olie, Nelvana delivered many new millennium favories such as 6teen, The Backyardigans, Being Ian, Cyberchase, Max & Ruby, Clone High, Beyblade and Bakugan. More recent productions include Super Wish, Thomas & Friends: All Engines Go, Ollie’s Pack and Esme & Roy.

Nelvana has been working on a number of series eyeing a 2024 release, including Millie Magnificent (based on the short The Most Magnificent Thing), the updated CG series Barney’s World with Mattel and Leela’s Island with TIME Studios. Other upcoming projects include A Horse Named Steve with N. Ireland’s Sixteen South, based on the book by Kelly Collier, and Piñata Smashlings, based on the hit game by Toikido.

[Source: Hollywood Reporter]