Choosing not to wait around for Cinar’s fate, Peter Moss has stepped down as the president of Cinar Entertainment, but will remain a consultant for the troubled Montreal-based animation production company.

‘I’m staying on as a consultant for creative and production affairs,’ he says. ‘I’ll help put deals together and search out projects Cinar might want to participate in.’

Moss says he is proud of what he accomplished during his two-year tenure as Cinar president, but found the energy being put into the sale of the company, and watching a number of near-misses to sell, exhausting. He became somewhat restless and, despite his allegiances to the company, decided it was time to move on.

‘Personally, I like the company, I wish the company well and I want to help it however I can, but I don’t feel that I want to sit while the company waits,’ says Moss. He adds that he does not believe Cinar will replace him any time soon.

‘I think as Cinar builds its strength it’s not going to be looking to extend its area of [production] activity in quite the same way,’ say Moss. ‘There are some ongoing projects that Cinar is involved with like Caillou, Arthur, Zoboomafoo and others that may come to fruition in time, but I don’t see Cinar delivering 200 episodes a year in the near future.’

Now turning his attention to independent production, Moss is currently in Toronto directing an MOW for Shaftesbury Films called Scar Tissue. He also has other projects in various stages of development he plans to produce, direct or write.

Moss stepped down as president of Cinar Entertainment just days after Cinar Corp. rejected a second attempt to organize a meeting proposed by its shareholders, headed by California’s Robert Chapman of Chapman Capital LLC. The purpose of the proposed meeting was to vote to replace the company’s board and executives. Cinar has stated it will hold its original position and the concerns of the shareholders will be addressed at a meeting scheduled for April 29, at which time the company will release its audited financial results and hold the election of the director’s board.

-www.cinar.com