It can be tough to launch an independent animation studio at a time when Pixar, Disney, DreamWorks, Blue Sky/Fox, Illumination and Sony Pictures Animation are all churning out content and enjoying big box office successes. But Power Rangers producer Haim Saban thinks he can muscle into the marketplace, partnering up with video maven Jeremy Zag and director/producer Chris Columbus for a new animation company called Zag Animation Studios.
The company initially plans to kick off producing family fare in 2017, looking to put out one CG animated film and one blend of live-action and CG a year. Columbus, a man with no little history of launching big franchises, is set to start things rolling with CG ‘toon Melody. There are two other films in development, fellow ‘toon Abominable and live-action effort Ghostforce.
"After all of these years, it's fantastic to start a new venture that brings together talented artists from around the world under Jeremy's excellent leadership and Haim's brilliant international business experience," said Columbus in a statement picked up by Variety.
Like people such as Disney/Pixar’s John Lasseter or Phil Lord and Chris Miller over at Warner Bros.’ ever-expanding animation department, Columbus will act as overseer on the films he doesn’t direct. Can this new company succeed where other start-ups have faltered? There does seem to be more room for smaller companies such as Toonbox, which had a hit this year with** The Nut Job,** but we’ll find out for sure in a couple of years…