In the third such announcement involving industry job layoffs in 3 days, Canadian production company Cookie Jar has let go 35 people involved in animation production.
Canadian production company Cookie Jar Entertainment has laid off 35 animation personnel, according to a report in the Hollywood Reporter. The company, which purchased DIC Entertainment for $83 million in 2008 to expand its efforts into programming for the US, is the creator of such shows as “Caillou,” “Richard Scarry’s Busytown Mysteries” and “The Doodlebops.”
A company statement read, “Despite the tough economy, Cookie Jar is reaching out to new consumers, partners and markets around the globe. We are re-aligning our resources and investments in response to the current environment in the global economy and new opportunities in our industry. Consequently, we have made the difficult decision to right-size our activities, mainly in animation, so that we can invest further and faster in live-action programming to complement our industry-leading animation library. We are also expanding CPLG’s mandate with London, England as the global headquarters. Cookie Jar will continue to maintain all 16 offices around the globe. We express our sincere appreciation to the 35 colleagues who are leaving us and our best wishes for their success in future endeavors."
This is the third such announcement involving industry job layoffs in 3 days, beginning with the reported upcoming shut down of Disney’s ImageMovers studio followed by the shutdown of C.O.R.E Digital.
Dan Sarto is Publisher and Editor-in-Chief of Animation World Network.
