Sphere Launches Children and Household Division Led by Marlo Miazga

Sphere, considered one of Canada’s main producers and distributors of tv and movie content material, will convey its English-language youngsters’s factual, scripted and animation models underneath one Children and Household banner. The unified division will probably be headed by Marlo Miazga, Sphere Media’s President, Unscripted and Documentaries. Miazga may even proceed in her function overseeing all different non-scripted output from Sphere’s Toronto workplace.

This transfer follows the announcement that Sphere Animation President Jacques Bilodeau will probably be retiring later this yr, after a 30-year profession on the forefront of Canada’s animation business. Bilodeau based pioneering digital studio Oasis Animation in 2003, which grew to change into the biggest 2D animation manufacturing studio in Quebec. In 2019, Oasis was acquired by Sphere and rebranded Sphere Animation. Over the past 20 years, Bilodeau has been liable for a string of hit animation sequence, largely not too long ago Sphere’s Crimson Ketchup and Riley Rocket, in addition to Saving Me for BYUtv

Earlier than he stands down, Bilodeau will work with Miazga to fold Sphere Animation into the brand new Children and Household unit, which goals to construct on Sphere Media’s profitable monitor report in producing award-winning youngsters’s content material to change into a serious participant on this area. Miazga, who will proceed to steer Sphere’s Media’s Toronto unscripted and factual divisions, will probably be supported in her new function by Andrea Griffith, who has been promoted from her present function as Director of English Unscripted Content material to Children and Household’s Vice-President of Growth and Content material.

Ghislain Cyr, founding father of Sardine Productions which was subsequently acquired by Sphere in 2022, will change into Inventive Director. Judith Beauchemin, Sphere’s Animation’s Vice-President of Operations, may even transition to the brand new unit, the place she’s going to function Vice-President of Manufacturing and Publish.

“Jacques has undoubtedly been a elementary contributor to the success story of Sphere,” mentioned Bruno Dubé, Sphere’s President and CEO. “As a colleague, entrepreneur, skilled and inventive, I’m profoundly grateful to him for giving us such a major time in his illustrious profession. These footwear can by no means be crammed, however I’ve watched Marlo’s stewardship over the previous couple of years of an revolutionary, numerous and award-winning slate of youngsters and household reveals. I do know she is ideal for the job of making one thing new with the cohesion and oversight wanted for the ambitions we maintain.”

Miazga commented, “Pulling collectively the mixed artistic genius that exists in our places will exponentially improve our total potential and present the world what a drive we could be after we come collectively. This highly effective mixture of one of many world’s most acknowledged animation service suppliers with the capability for good unique IP creation means we will now confidently stake our declare as a serious international participant on this sector.”

Sphere Children and Household is a part of a strategic plan that began final April, when the corporate rebranded its specialist models underneath the Sphere banner and reorganized its inner groups to harness synergy and collaboration, and create a extra productive and environment friendly working surroundings. The rationalization additionally noticed Sphere open new animation services to service its rising slate of kids’s programming. The brand new studio in Ottawa — recognized for its dynamic TV, movie and animation industries and pool of extremely expert artists — added greater than 100 animators to Sphere’s workforce.

 sphere-media.com