Time Studios, Nelvana enter development, production deal for NFT-inspired series

Wil Lee’s the littles

US-based Time Studios and Canadian studio Nelvana have forged a development and production pact for a pair of NFT-inspired animated children’s series.

The projects come from NFT (non-fungible token) creators Pablo Stanley (Robotos) and Wil Lee (the littles), with Time Studios’ Kids and Family division and Corus Entertainment-owned Nelvana, and are set to go into production later this year.

The series will see Stanley and Lee using their experience creating NFT collections to come up with original characters. The project created by Stanley features a group of friends who go on fantastical adventures in a world in a distant future, while Lee’s preschool series is about an adventurous girl who uses her imagination and befriends a set of sweet but rambunctious bears.

The deal comes six months after the studios partnered to develop an animated adventure-comedy series for preschoolers called Leela’s Island.

“There is an insatiable appetite for fresh new content, and we have been able to secure, structure and develop these partnerships with Pablo Stanley, Wil Lee, other NFT creators and now Nelvana at an unmatched speed,” said Time Studios president Keith A Grossman.

“These crucial partnerships underscore an important next stage in Time Studios and Time’s web3 approach of identifying incredible IP from the blockchain and bringing it to viewers at home.”

Athena Georgaklis, head of development at Nelvana, added: “Nelvana is elated to be collaborating with Time Studios Kids and Family on their first-ever slate of web3 IP to enter into production.

“Web3 is an up-and-coming area to discover original, innovative and inspired stories. We are excited to marry our expertise in animation production with Time’s knowledge of this new space to bring these stories to life and bridge the worlds of web2 and web3.”

Outside of the Nelvana deal, Time Studios also has another NFT-derived project in the works through a deal with NFT creator Doug’s Toy Boogers.