Esme & Roy lands a second season

Sesame Workshop and Corus Entertainment’s Nelvana have greenlit a second season of the animated preschool series Esme & Roy (pictured, right). The new episodes (26 x 11-minutes) and its first 22-minute special will air on Treehouse and HBO in early 2020. The show’s first season – distributed by Nelvana outside of the U.S. – was recently picked up by KiKa (Germany), Disney Junior Southeast Asia, NRK (Norway), SVT (Sweden), YLE (Finland), Minimini (Poland), HOP (Israel) and DKids (the Middle East and North Africa).

Esme & Roy follows the titular monster sitters as they help little creatures through everyday situations. Produced by Sesame Workshop and Nelvana, the series was created by Dustin Ferrer and Amy Steinberg (Shimmer and Shine, Team Umizoomi and Peg + Cat).

New Line boards Bron’s Taylor Sheridan thriller

New Line Studios has partnered with Bron Studios to co-finance Those Who Wish Me Dead, directed by Taylor Sheridan. The film is produced by Bron and Film Rites, with co-financing from New Line and Creative Wealth Media and stars Angelina Jolie (Maleficent), Nicholas Hoult (X-Men: Dark Phoenix), Jon Bernthal (Baby Driver) and Tyler Perry (Vice). Warner Bros. Pictures is handling global marketing and distribution.

Pixomondo appoints new global CEO

VFX company Pixomondo has appointed Jonny Slow (pictured, left) as its global CEO. The former Zodiak Media U.S. divisional CEO will now oversee the company’s studios, which includes Toronto, Vancouver and a recently-opened studio in Montreal. Pixomondo has worked on series such as the Toronto-shot Star Trek: Discovery and Game of Thrones. It picked up an Oscar in 2012 for its work on Martin Scorsese’s Hugo.

Cobie Smulders, Tantoo Cardinal series ordered at ABC

ABC studios has ordered a series starring Canadian actors Cobie Smulders and Tantoo Cardinal for its 2019/20 lineup. The untitled drama series is based on the Stumptown graphic novels about army veteran Dex Parios (Smulders) who becomes a private investigator in Portland, Oregon. Cardinal co-stars as Sue Lynn Blackbird. The series is produced by ABC Studios and L.A.-based prodco The District.

With files from Kidscreen