Princess Pictures has deepened its relationship with the Fox Entertainment-owned Bento Box Entertainment, jointly launching animation venture Princess Bento Studio.
In 2019, Princess Pictures signed a first-look animation development deal with Bento Box, with all projects to be fully produced in Australia with local talent and crews.
The new Melbourne-based animation studio takes that a step further, and is expected to create 150 full-time technical and creative jobs.
Princess Bento Studio will produce content for platforms in the US, Australia and other international territories, including Australian co-production treaty countries. The studio will be overseen by the Bento Box and Princess management teams, with the appointment of dedicated management forthcoming.
The venture has been supported through Film Victoria’s recently announced Victorian Screen Incentive.
Previous animation projects from Princess Pictures include Adult Swim’s Yolo: Crystal Fantasy and ABC’s Koala Man, both created by Michael Cusack.
“While closely working with everyone at Princess Pictures over the past year, my team and I immediately saw a natural fit between our two companies,” said Bento Box co-founder and CEO Scott Greenberg.
“With growing demand for animated content, a shared passion for the type of programming we want to make and a short-hand that perfectly complements our individual strengths, it was clear to us joining forces to set up shop in talent-rich Australia with Princess Bento will take our partnership to the next level and bring strategic benefits to both companies and, most importantly, creators and buyers around the world.”
Princess Pictures founder Laura Water said; “Working with Bento Box has been one of the most creatively rewarding experiences in the history of Princess Pictures. Not only have we been able to promote some of the best animation talent in the country, we’ve also been able to create a pipeline for new combinations of artists, comedians and underrepresented writing talent to develop uniquely Australian stories.
“We consider the team at Bento Box to be like family, and we’re so excited to expand the possibilities for adult animation with this new collaboration.”