Investment in talent and infrastructure impacted Thunderbird Entertainment’s bottom line for fiscal 2022, despite an increase in year-over-year revenue.

The Vancouver-based prodco reported a year-over-year revenue increase of 34% in its year-end financial results, released Friday (Oct. 21). Thunderbird earned $149 million in fiscal 2022, compared to $111.5 million in the previous fiscal year.

The company reported a decrease, however, in its gross profit margin, which came to $3.6 million for the fiscal year, compared to $5.7 million in 2021. Adjusted EBITDA remained stable at $20.1 million in fiscal 2022 compared to $19.6 million in the previous year.

The results were attributed to the timing of IP project deliveries, including Great Pacific Media’s scripted series Reginald the Vampire and unscripted lifestyle shows Gut Job and Styled, as well as an increased investment in its production capacity, including talent, software and technology.

The investment is part of a strategic push for “long term, sustainable growth,” according to a statement from Thunderbird CEO Jennifer Twiner McCarron.

During a call with investors on Friday, Twiner McCarron said the company is continuing to focus on developing and producing premium projects as the content boom slows and production partners focus on “quality over quantity.”

She highlighted the revenue potential of its IP projects, as well as partner-managed titles. She said she remains “bullish” on the potential for The Last Kids on Earth, noting that the company has “the rights to make content for years to come with every book that comes out,” in addition to its potential in licence and merchandising sales.

Twiner McCarron pointed to the upcoming Princess Power (pictured) at Netflix as an exciting property for the company. Produced by kids division Atomic Cartoons with Drew Barrymore’s Flower Films, the partner-managed title is set to debut in 2023 with a commitment from Netflix to promote it as their core princess content on the platform to rival Disney+.

Twiner McCarron said Thunderbird owns a “substantial piece of the back-end” of the property, which they “could stand to substantially benefit from” starting in late 2023 and early 2024.

Thunderbird CFO Barb Harwood also told investors that the majority of the revenue derived from Reginald the Vampire will be seen in the next fiscal year. Only the delivery of the first four episodes of the 10 x 60-minute first series to Syfy were included in the financials, so the impact of acquisitions from Hulu, Prime Video, and other international buyers will not be seen until fiscal 2023.

The company reported $44.1 million in revenue for Q4 2022, up 69% from $26.1 million in the previous Q4. Free cash flow came in at a loss of approximately $747,000, due to its talent investment, but came to $13.9 million for the overall fiscal year. Thunderbird has 28 projects in various levels of production by year-end, and eight of them were original IP titles.

Image courtesy of Netflix