Growing demand for content spurs studio’s ambitious development and production schedule.
OTTAWA -- Mercury Filmworks, one of Canada's most prolific independent animation studios, is expanding its management team, promoting several key executives and hiring new staff.
Current Vice Presidents Sandra Green and Nicole St. Pierre are promoted to Senior Vice President, Finance and Senior Vice President, Business & Legal, respectively. Both will continue to report directly to CEO Clint Eland and oversee the legal, business and finance operations of the growing company, as well as supporting operations for Lighthouse Studios.
Green has been with Mercury Filmworks since 2004 and played a key role in creating a stable company with strong financial performance, and prior to Mercury Filmworks in 2007, St. Pierre worked as an independent entertainment lawyer and producer.
Mercury Filmworks’ Head of Studio Jefferson Allen, charged with overseeing the Ottawa studio’s production pipeline is promoted to Vice President, Studio Operations, expanding his areas of responsibility to include oversight of all general production and studio operations, reporting to Eland. One of the original group of artists hired in Mercury Filmworks’ Vancouver studio in 1998, Allen rose through the studio ranks through artistic and technical positions before being named Head of Studio in 2015.
Supervising Producer Chantal Ling rises to the newly created role of Vice President, Original Series and Co-Productions, tasked with collaborating with broadcasters and partners on the development, financing, and production of series and co-productions, as well as supporting the management team at Lighthouse Studios. She will collaborate with Mercury Filmworks’ Head of Development Travis Williams, Chief Creative Officer Jerry Popowich, and Eland, to whom she will report.
Ling, who joined Mercury Filmworks in 2012 from a post as Executive Vice President of Amberwood Entertainment, will continue to leverage her extensive professional network and nearly two decades of experience (which earned her five Gemini Award nominations and a Gemini Award for Best Direction in an Animated Series) to create critically-acclaimed series for both Mercury Filmworks and it’s co-production partners.
Tara Pollock comes on board in the newly created role of Studio Manager. Reporting to newly appointed VP of Studio Operations Jefferson Allen, Pollock will also work closely with Chief Creative Officer Jerry Popowich, who continues to oversee studio culture and talent development activities. Pollock brings a wealth of human resource management experience to her new position, and will be charged with managing artist recruitment, onboarding, benefits, sponsorship, events, and ongoing employee training and development activities.
Mercury Filmworks’ expansion started earlier this year when the company joined forces with Academy Award-nominated animation studio Cartoon Saloon to create Lighthouse Studios -- a 2D-focused animation studio located in Kilkenny, Ireland, that operates independently from Cartoon Saloon and Mercury Filmworks, but works in collaboration with both companies.
A rich but carefully curated production slate, which includes five original series in various stages of development, will carry Mercury Filmworks through 2018. Additionally, the company is collaborating with partners on a slate of animated projects, including four series with long-time partner Disney Television Animation; two high-profile series for Amazon Studios; a highly-anticipated series with Silvergate Media for Netflix; and a number of special projects with Marvel.
Source: Mercury Filmworks
Tom McLean has been writing for years about animation from a secret base in Los Angeles.
