Top Animation Exec will relocate from Los Angeles to Ottawa

Leading Director Brings Legendary Vision and Extensive Industry Experience

VANCOUVER, Sept. 24, 2019 /PRNewswire/ - Atomic Cartoons is pleased to announce that LA-based animation director David Gerhard has joined the studio. Known as one of the most innovative creative directors in the animation industry, Gerhard will be moving from LA to lead Atomic's rapidly expanding Ottawa team as Studio Creative Director. In his new role, Gerhard will be overseeing teams working on projects for NBCUniversal.

"We are ecstatic to welcome the incredibly talented David Gerhard to the role of Studio Creative Director at our Ottawa production hub," said Jennifer Twiner McCarron, Chief Executive Officer, Thunderbird Entertainment and Atomic Cartoons. "David's immense talent will continue to lift and push our studio's creative and his presence in Ottawa will offer mentorship and inspiration to both Atomic and the entire Ottawa animation community."

Gerhard will report directly to Vancouver-based, Supervising Producer Joel Bradley, who echoes Twiner McCarron's sentiments, adding: "David is a disruptor, who successfully blends new technology with traditional animation to produce cutting edge content and stories."

Most recently, Gerhard served as Creative Director of Alternative Media for Nickelodeon Animation.  He was also part of the creative leadership team that developed the virtual reality experience for Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and directed Nickelodeon's first Live 2D Animation stream for Facebook, titled "Loudhouse Live." Prior to his work in the Alternative Media, he served as Animation Director for Nickelodeon, where he consulted on the feature Invader Zim: Enter the Florpus, directed the series Breadwinners and supervised on a range of other projects. Before joining Nickelodeon, Gerhard held roles at Titmouse, Cartoon Network and Warner Bros. Entertainment.

Atomic's Ottawa production hub officially opened its doors in December 2018.   By June 2020, the studio anticipates it will employ 150 people. Combined with their teams in Vancouver and Los Angeles, Atomic Cartoons employs more than 600 artists and production staff.

Thunderbird Entertainment Group Inc.
Thunderbird Entertainment Group (TSXV:TBRD) is a Vancouver-based global multi-platform entertainment company with offices in Vancouver, Los Angeles, Toronto, Ottawa and London (UK). Thunderbird creates award-winning scripted, unscripted and animated programming for the world's leading digital platforms, as well as Canadian and international broadcasters. Thunderbird's vision is to produce high quality, socially responsible content that makes the world a better place. The company develops, produces and distributes animated, factual and scripted content through its various divisions: Kids and Family Division (Atomic Cartoons), Factual Division (Great Pacific Media), and Scripted Division (Thunderbird Productions). Thunderbird also has a division based in the United Kingdom dedicated to establishing partnerships with production companies to develop the Company's intellectual property (IP) and growth in key international territories. Thunderbird is on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram at @tbirdent. For more information, visit: www.thunderbird.tv.

Thunderbird's Kids and Family Division
Atomic Cartoons is the Kids and Family Division of Thunderbird Entertainment Group Inc. Recognized internationally as one of the leading animation studios in North America, Atomic employs 600 artists in Vancouver and Ottawa. Since its founding more than 20 years ago, Atomic has worked with partners such as Marvel Animation, Netflix, Disney, Cartoon Network, Warner Bros., Lego, Mattel, Spin Master and Nelvana to name a few. Atomic's productions include the Emmy-award winning Beat Bugs, the upcoming Disney+ series 101 Dalmatian Street, the upcoming Netflix series Hello Ninja, the just premiered Netflix series The Last Kids on Earth, in addition to Counterfeit Cat, Minecraft Mini Series, Marvel's Avengers Assemble, Max & Ruby and LEGO Jurassic World: The Secret Exhibit.  For more information, visit: http://atomiccartoons.com.

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SOURCE Thunderbird Entertainment Group Inc.