Spin Productions, one of Canada’s busiest commercial post houses, has opened an entertainment division specializing in long format and has begun developing its own proprietary animated series.

Spin Entertainment, which expanded the Toronto-based company’s staff by 20, is in the midst of completing its first long-form project, the imax animated 3D production CyberWorld. It is creating 10 minutes’ worth of 3D animation which will tie together eight animated segments, says Spin partner and ceo Norm Stangl. The film is scheduled to wrap in April and is due out in October.

Stangl says Spin is also developing a series titled Wubbies, which he will shop around mip-tv in April. Wubbies, a 3D animated series featuring a group of huggable furry creatures, will target the preteen market.

‘Any company that has creative strategy and a strong creative backbone will move forward to develop its creative potential,’ Stangl says. ‘Really what we’re doing is taking a creative skill set that we’ve had in place for years and extending it.’

Stangl says launching such in-house productions was, in fact, the sole purpose for his joining Spin’s partners when they created the company.

‘That’s why we called ourselves Spin Productions out of the gate,’ says Stangl, a former production executive at Bear Spots. ‘I’m actually pulling the company to my roots.’

He adds that service work will continue to be Spin’s bread and butter for the foreseeable future.

The new division is also creating visual effects for the feature Bait, a Castle Rock Entertainment production that just wrapped in Toronto.

Spin Entertainment was launched in July, but its inaugural assignment, CyberWorld, only began production in January.

Spin is looking to set up the entertainment division in a separate facility which will be connected via a private digital network called Wam!net. The network, which Spin is currently testing, will also likely connect the company’s Atlanta office with Toronto, Stangl says.