Guru Studio, an award-winning Canadian animation studio, is exploring the possibility of opening an office in Hong Kong or mainland China.
The Toronto-based company is keen to get a slice of China’s animation market, which has been growing quickly.
Louise Jones, Guru vice president of finance and business affairs, said at a FilMart panel discussion on animation March 19: “China has the single biggest TV audience in the world and is the second big economy. It’s a natural move for us to build a brand in China.”
On March 18, 20 episodes of Guru Studio’s flagship preschool series, “True and the Rainbow Kingdom,” were released on QQ Player, a multimedia player developed by Tencent. It is the studio’s first major foray into China; it previously collaborated with iQiyi and Tencent Video to show “Justin Time,” another original, but smaller, production by the studio.
For “True,” Guru Studio has formed partnership with Chinese entertainment firm Hengxin Shambala Kids (Guangzhou) Cultural Industry Development, which serves as an agent helping it with everything from streaming to merchandising to publishing. “True” is financed by Netflix and Canada’s national public broadcaster CBC. It is one of the top preschool shows on CBC. So far it has attracted millions of clicks by Chinese viewers. The exact figure is to be confirmed.
Jones also told Variety that Guru Studio is contemplating establishing a branch in China. “We’ve been thinking about that. We’re trying to see when that will be needed and where we can do it.” Hong Kong could be an option and could serve as a “baby step” for Guru Studio to secure a firm footing in mainland China, she added.
Guru Studio is currently looking for Chinese partners to stream two other animation series: preschool show “Pikwik” and “Big Blue,” an underwater comedy adventure series.