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).
 | |
| Formerly | Jam Filled Toronto:
|
|---|---|
| Company type | Subsidiary |
| Industry | |
| Founded | 2007 |
| Headquarters | 65 Auriga Drive, , Canada |
| Parent | Boat Rocker Media |
| Divisions | Jam Filled Toronto Jam Filled Halifax |
| Website | www |
History
editJam 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
editThe 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
editJam Filled Entertainment
editTelevision series
edit| 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
edit| 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
editFormerly known as Dan Krech Productions, DKP Effects, DKP Studios (IDT Entertainment), Starz Animation, and Arc Productions.
Dan Krech Productions
- Eve of Destruction (1991) (post-production)
- High Tide (1994) (title design & graphics)
- Far from Home: The Adventures of Yellow Dog (1995) (special effects)
- National Lampoon's Senior Trip (1995) (special effects)
- Bogus (1996) (special effects)
- The Siege (1998)
- The Nuttiest Nutcracker (1999; with Columbia TriStar Home Video)
- X-Men (2000)
- CyberWorld (2000)
- Joseph: King of Dreams (2000) (3D effects)
- Picture Claire (2001) (main titles)
DKP Effects
- Space Station 3D (2002)
- The First $20 Million Is Always the Hardest (2002) (special effects)
- 3-2-1 Penguins! (2002; with Big Idea Productions)
- Scourge of Worlds: A Dungeons & Dragons Adventure (2003) (special effects)
DKP Studios
- Game Over (2004)
- The Librarian: Quest for the Spear (2004)
- Nerf N-Strike (2004; with Hasbro)
- VeggieTales (2004–2005; with Big Idea Productions)
- Shoebox Zoo (2004–2005; with Blueprint Entertainment, BBC Scotland, and Alberta Filmworks) (TV)
- Surly Squirrel (2005) (short film)
- The Happy Elf (2005)
- Everyone's Hero (2006; with 20th Century Fox)
Starz Animation
- VeggieTales (2006–07; with Big Idea Productions)
- The Pirates Who Don't Do Anything: A VeggieTales Movie (2008; with Universal Pictures and Big Idea Productions)
- Space Chimps (2008; with 20th Century Fox and Vanguard Animation)
- Chop Socky Chooks (2008; with Aardman Animations and Decode Entertainment) (TV)
- 9 (2009; with Focus Features and Relativity Media)
- Yes, Virginia (2009) (TV)
- Gnomeo & Juliet (2011; with Touchstone Pictures and Rocket Pictures)
- Camelot (2011) (visual effects)
- The Simpsons ("Condiments" sequence) (2011)
Arc Productions
- Matt Hatter Chronicles (2011)[15]
- Hoodwinked Too! Hood vs. Evil (2011)
- Dolphin Tale (2011)
- Snack Attack (2012) (short film)
- Barbie: Life in the Dreamhouse (2012–15)
- Halo 4: Forward Unto Dawn (2012) (visual effects)[16]
- Lego Marvel Super Heroes: Maximum Overload (2013)[17]
- Pixie Hollow Bake Off (2013)
- Robosapien: Rebooted (2013)
- Barbie & Her Sisters in A Pony Tale (2013)
- Thomas & Friends: Series 17–20 (2013–16, with HiT Entertainment)[18]
- Thomas & Friends: King of the Railway (2013, with HiT Entertainment)[18][19]
- Thomas & Friends: Tale of the Brave (2014, with HiT Entertainment)
- Thomas & Friends: The Adventure Begins (2015, with HiT Entertainment)
- Little Boy (2015; with Open Road Films and Metonia Films)
- Lost in Oz (pilot; 2015)
- Thomas & Friends: Sodor's Legend of the Lost Treasure (2015, with HiT Entertainment)
- Barbie & Her Sisters in The Great Puppy Adventure (2015)
- Lego Marvel Super Heroes: Avengers Reassembled (2015)[20]
- Before I Wake (2016) (special effects)
- Ice Age: The Great Egg-Scapade (2016)
- Thomas & Friends: The Great Race (2016, with HiT Entertainment)
- Elena of Avalor (2016)[13]
- Barbie: Star Light Adventure (2016)
- Trollhunters: Tales of Arcadia (2016)[13]
- Tarzan and Jane (2017)[13]
References
edit- ^ "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.
- ^ "JAM FILLED IS DROPPING ANCHOR IN HALIFAX!". Jam Filled Entertainment. September 23, 2019.
- ^ "DKP acquired by U.S. animator". Playback Magazine. 29 March 2004. Retrieved 27 August 2011.
- ^ "Liberty Media to acquire IDT Entertainment". IDT. May 16, 2006. Archived from the original on 23 July 2011. Retrieved August 27, 2011.
- ^ Lacey, Liam (March 24, 2011). "Animation company aims for 3D without nausea and headaches". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved August 27, 2011.
- ^ "New Starz studio busy on Burton's 9". Playback Magazine. Retrieved 2007-09-17.
- ^ Vlessing, Etan (April 13, 2011). "Starz Animation Studio Renamed Arc Productions". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved August 27, 2011.
- ^ DeMott, Rick (13 April 2011). "Starz Animation Toronto Rebrands as Arc Productions". Animation World Network. Retrieved 2 February 2022.
- ^ Arrant, Chris (13 April 2011). "Starz Animation Toronto rebrands as Arc Productions Animation & Visual Effects". Cartoon Brew. Retrieved 2 February 2022.
- ^ Vlessing, Etan (14 April 2011). "Starz Animation Toronto rebrands as Arc Productions". Kidscreen. Brunico Communications. Retrieved 2 February 2022.
- ^ Valiquette, Mike (August 1, 2016). "BREAKING NEWS: Arc Productions Files for Bankruptcy". Retrieved August 2, 2016.
- ^ "Jam Filled looks to acquire Arc Productions assets".
- ^ a b c d Wolfe, Jennifer (August 22, 2016). "Jam Filled Entertainment Acquires Arc Productions". Animation World Network. Retrieved September 11, 2016.
- ^ 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.
- ^ Vlessing, Etan (June 6, 2011). "Arc To Animate 3D TV For Platinum and Endemol". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved January 20, 2013.
- ^ "Arc to Provide Visual Effects for 'Halo 4'". Animation World Network.
- ^ "Lego Marvel Super Heroes: Maximum Overload". IMDb.
- ^ a b Zahed, Ramin (February 6, 2012). "Arc is on Board HIT's 'Thomas & Friends'". Animation Magazine. Retrieved February 8, 2012.
- ^ "King of the Railway (Thomas and Friends)". Barnes & Noble. Retrieved December 16, 2012.
- ^ 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.