With its latest move, Frederator Studios is saying “Wow!” The animation company, led by veteran TV and digital media exec Fred Seibert, has been acquired by Rainmaker Entertainment. The result of the deal will be a merger that will combine Rainmaker, Frederator, and Ezrin Hirsh Entertainment to form a new venture called Wow! Unlimited Media.
The deal will combine three studios that all work in the animation industry but inhabit very different niches within it. Rainmaker, based in Vancouver, is best known for producing the 90s cult-classic ReBoot, which was the first ever CG-animated TV series. Frederator, which has offices in Burbank in New York, has parlayed Seibert’s success on TV channels like Nickelodeon into a massive digital network that serves animators around the globe and counts hundreds of millions of views per month. Toronto-based Ezrin Hrish is co-founded by the so-called “father of Canadian animation,” Michael Hirsh. Hirsh’s credits include classic TV shows like The Care Bears and Babar.
Seibert, who is regarded by some as a digital media pioneer thanks to his work with Next New Networks, will become the Chief Creative Officer of Wow! and will be its primary shareholder. There will be a lot of details forthcoming, but suffice it to say that Frederator will continue it’s mission from Burbank and New York to find the world’s greatest talent, making great films, and building channels for fans to see their films,” wrote Seibert in a post on the Frederator website.
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According to The Hollywood Reporter, Wow! will start off with a war chest of at least $11 million, thanks to “an underwritten private placement.”.
