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Features S tudio V isit
Clockwise from top left: Rocket Monkeys, The Last Kids on Earth, Atomic Betty, The LEGO Star Wars Holiday Special, Mermicorn.
Atomic Power We check in with the folks at Vancouver-, Ottawa- and LA-based Atomic Cartoons to see what’s cooking at the creative Canadian hub.
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t’s hard to believe that it’s been 22 years since Trevor Bentley, Mauro Casalese, Olaf Miller and Rob Davies decided to launch their own animation studio in Vancouver. The fab four animation pros initially formed Atomic Cartoons to help produce Milo’s Bug Quest with Sunwoo Ent.’s Jae Moh. The studio, which was bought by Thunderbird Entertainment in 2015, has created or helped produce an impressive list of beloved animated gems throughout the years, including shows such as Atomic Betty, Rocket Monkeys, Beat Bugs, Hilda, 101 Dalmatian Street, Molly of Denali, The Last Kids on Earth, The LEGO Star Wars Holiday Special and Trolls: TrollsTopia. “Atomic was started by four artists in 1999,” recalls founder and exec VP Bentley in a re-
cent email interview. “We had previously worked together at other studios and decided we should take our experience and try and do things a little differently. We began with one service client and started developing our show Atomic Betty shortly thereafter.” Atomic Betty was a beautifully designed, Flash-animated show produced with Tele Images Kids (France) and Breakthrough Films & TV (Canada), which followed the adventures of a not-so-typical 12-year-old girl from Moose Jaw,
who is also part of an interstellar crime-fighting force. It was an instant hit for the studio and ran for three seasons (2004-2008).
Prioritizing Talent and Diversity According to studio president and CEO Jennifer McCarron, the studio continues to focus on building a culture of excellence and increasing IP ownership as the team launches its new CP & distribution division. “Service work and honoring all of our partners remains
‘Our team is 45% male, 45% female and 10% gender fluid. In every fiber of our being, we know we are nothing without the amazing talent doing all the hard work and we strive to make Atomic the best run of people’s careers.’ — Jennifer McCarron, president and CEO
www.animationmagazine.net 14
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may 21
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