New indie animation house Studio Unagi has officially launched in Montreal after quietly setting up shop over the past few months.
Heading things up is president and founder Guillaume Dubois, who has more than 15 years of animation and kids TV industry experience and previously worked at Mondo TV and Gaumont.
Unagi will focus on 2D-animated service work, as well as developing anime-inspired concepts. “Our ambition [is] to combine the technical and artistic excellence of Japanese animation with the cultural richness and creativity of Montreal to offer a competitive presence in North America,” Dubois explains.
Ankama CEO Anthony Roux has signed a first strategic partnership with Unagi that covers two of the French studio’s upcoming series: Sacré-couer (26 x 26 minutes, pictured) for five to nines on France Télévisions and teen toon Bestiale (seven x 11 minutes) for French VOD service Animation Digital Network. Production is currently underway on both projects.
Looking ahead, Unagi plans to expand its pipeline beyond TV content by exploring projects spanning YouTube, video games and other emerging formats. The studio is still staffing up, but its workforce so far is 90% Canadian, with women holding 75% of the roles.