Toronto-based animation distribution company Statement Animation is looking at live entertainment as a way to support independent animation through a co-development partnership with Houston-based TPC Productions.

Announced on Thursday (July 3), the deal will see Statement’s animated series, shorts and films adapted into live entertainment. TPC Productions will serve as the exclusive live production partner.

Matthew Celestial (pictured), president and CEO of Statement Animation and its owner Statement Worldwide, tells Playback Daily that TPC Productions will also offer up live stage, event or immersive entertainment projects that it believes can be adapted to animation.

He says that the projects on Statement Animation’s slate are not ready to be revealed at the moment, with announcements coming soon, but notes that it has an animated feature and an AR experience in the works.

Statement Animation began in 2016 as Statement Strategies, a PR firm for animated projects, with a client roster including Nelvana, HaZimation and Ado Ato Pictures. In 2024, it expanded into distribution, licensing and coproductions, supporting its slate of animation, video games and interactive experiences with financing, distribution and marketing.

Celestial says live entertainment can represent additional revenue to support independent animation and insulate animators from industry-wide events that impact production, such as the 2023 writers and actors’ strikes in Hollywood.

“This is really just a response to the challenges that animation is facing right now,” he says.

Celestial, previously a board member for the Toronto Animation Arts Festival International, says major issues for independent animators are fewer greenlights from broadcasters, distributors and streamers, lack of support for smaller animation prodcos and brain drain of Canadian talent to the U.S.

Celestial adds that live entertainment can be a difficult area to venture into, but looks to collaborations with filmmakers, coproducers, TPC Productions and other partners to be announced in the coming months to find the right fits for the format.

“It really is [about] the creative integrity of the project,” he says. “Not just turning something into live entertainment for the sake of it. Some projects may not necessarily live perfectly in that world.”

Image courtesy of Statement Animation