Netflix will absorb Animal Logic into its global animation business less than two years after acquiring the company’s animation studios.
Netflix Animation film VP Karen Toliver will step in to oversee teams in Sydney, LA, and Vancouver, following the resignation of Animal Logic CEO Sharon Taylor.
While Netflix has no official comment on the restructure, C21 reports an internal memo sent to staff from Toliver paid tribute to Taylor as a “beloved member of the Animal Logic team”, before going on to state that the merger would create a “powerhouse global studio where we can tell stories the world will love, push the boundaries of our artform and become a leading animation studio”.
Taylor, who has been with the company for almost two decades, only took over the top job in September last year, having been announced as the successor to co-founder Zareh Nalbandian in June.
She had spent the past five years as COO, before which she worked at Animal Logic Vancouver as executive vice president and general manager, and also had stints as group head of production and head of production accounting.
Her promotion to CEO came barely a year after the sale of Animal Logic’s animation studios to Netflix last year for a reported $700 million.
The announcement of the deal stipulated that Animal Logic teams and leadership would “remain operating under the Animal Logic brand and fulfil the production of existing and ongoing commitments while continuing to collaborate and work with longstanding studio partners”.
At the time, Nalbandian said the acquisition was the “perfect next chapter” for the business, which had already collaborated with the streamer on Wendy Rogers’ The Magician’s Elephant, and Ron Howard’s upcoming The Shrinking of the Treehorns.
Taylor also described the agreement as a “mutually beneficial, natural progression”, adding that she was “so excited to continue to build on our success together”.