Montreal’s Digital Dimension Entertainment Group (DDEG) has formed a joint venture with boutique U.S. studio Lex+Otis to launch KRAKN Animation.

DDEG president and CEO Louis-Simon Menard (pictured) and Lex+Otis founder and CEO Jay Oliva will co-own the animation studio, which will have locations in L.A. and Montreal. KRAKN Animation will offer pre-production and animation services for real-time 2D and 3D productions.

Partnering on an integrated animation studio is a “natural step for both companies,” according to Menard in a statement.

DDEG – formerly known as Digital Dimension – recently split its different divisions into separate studios, with Meduzarts Animation focusing on mature or YA-targeted animation and Saturday Animation on kids and family-skewing series and films. KRAKN Animation serves as the company’s third studio arm.

Meduzart’s projects include Netflix’s Army of the Dead: Lost Vegas, the prequel series to Zack Snyder’s recently released zombie film. The series is produced in collaboration with Lex+Otis and Snyder’s The Stone Quarry Animation. The company’s other studio arm is .

“Both creatively and technologically, Lex+Otis and Digital Dimension strive to push animation to its limits, and both studios have filled their rosters with some of the finest animation talent in the world,” said Oliva. “Pooling our mutual talents and visionary approaches will truly bring the best of both worlds to KRAKN.”