Xilam, the French animation studio behind animated series Oggy and the Cockroaches, is set to open a new production facility in Lyon early next year.

The expansion comes as the studio has five series currently in production, as well as a lineup of new offerings in the pipeline.

The new studio will be located just outside Lyon in the new Pôle Pixel district at Villeurbanne – a business park devoted to imaging and creative industries that houses more than 100 companies. The Lyon studio will help Xilam double its current production capacity and create 80 new jobs in the short term, with a total of 120 new jobs expected to open up within three years. The studio is poised to absorb Xilam’s current production flow while improving the entire technical and artistic process of its shows.

Xilam’s new Lyon Studio will start with preschool series Paprika for France Télévisions and the second season of Magic for Gulli, which targets kids ages six to 11.

The new studio will enable Xilam to have three major poles of production, which includes Xilam Paris, the production company’s original studio and head office that houses all of the activities devoted to development, writing and all fields that contribute to narration from pre-production to post-production. Xilam Lyon, meanwhile, will house all of the technical and artistic resources necessary for a simultaneous production line for two or three series, and Vietnam-based Xilam Ho-Chi-Minh City (a subsidiary of Xilam Animation since 2007) will continue to animate one series per year.