KRAKN Animation Announced
This looks like an interesting creation as there are some solid players involved.
Montreal, Québec, CANADA and Glendale, CA, USA: June 23, 2021 – Digital Dimension Entertainment Group (DDEG) and Lex+Otis have formed a joint venture studio, KRAKN Animation, with locations in Montreal and Los Angeles.
Headed by Louis-Simon Menard, CEO & President of DDEG, and Jay Oliva, Founder & CEO of Lex+Otis, who serve as Co-Owners, KRAKN will provide pre-production and animation services that feed the market’s appetite for premiere real time 2D and 3D series and features.
“Our mutual passion for immersive and engaging storytelling, and desire for doing things differently is what unites us,” says Menard. “DDEG’s Meduzarts Animation has been collaborating with Lex+Otis on several noteworthy projects for years. The creation of an integrated animation studio became a natural next step for both companies.”
Digital Dimension’s Meduzarts Animation studio has recently been collaborating with Oliva and The Stone Quarry Animation on Netflix’s Army of the Dead: Lost Vegas. The series, which features an all-star cast including Joe Manganiello, Dave Bautista, Omari Hardwick, Ana de la Reguera, Christian Slater, Ella Purnell and more, serves as a prequel to Snyder’s Netflix Original zombie heist action film Army of the Dead. Army of the Dead: Lost Vegas is Executive Produced by Deborah Snyder, Zack Snyder, Wesley Coller, from The Stone Quarry, alongside Jay Oliva and Shay Hatten. The two studios are also collaborating on Snyder’s recently announced take on Norse mythology for the streamer, Twilight of the Gods.
“I’ve long been an admirer of Digital Dimension Entertainment Group and their groundbreaking work as one of the top animation studios in the world, so the opportunity to collaborate and finally be part of a studio together with them is a dream come true,” Oliva explained. “Both creatively and technologically, Lex+Otis and Digital Dimension strive to push animation to its limits, and both studios have filled their rosters with some of the finest animation talent in the world. Further, both studios rank among the best in the business, in particular with regard to real-time 3D animation. Pooling our mutual talents and visionary approaches will truly bring the best of both worlds to KRAKN.”
Fresh off the launch of Netflix’s worldwide anime hit series Trese, Lex+Otis (L+O) continues to move forward at lightspeed on several new series for the streaming service and in development of two dozen additional projects. Among the upcoming, already-announced Netflix series from Lex+Otis is the star-studded Ark: The Animated Series, featuring the voices of Russell Crowe, Elliot Page, Vin Diesel, Malcolm McDowell, Michelle Yeoh, David Tennant, Jeffrey Wright, Gerard Butler, Karl Urban and more.
Meduzarts Animation specializes in content for mature audiences, collaborating with clients such as Netflix, Legendary Entertainment, WB Games, Ubisoft, Electronic Arts, Activision Blizzard, Bethesda Softworks. Franchises the studio has worked on include Spider-Man, Mortal Kombat, The Elder Scrolls, Tom Clancy’s Rainbow 6, Avatar, Lord of the Rings, Assassin’s Creed, Far Cry, Dawn of War, Star Wars, to name a few.
About Digital Dimension Entertainment Group
A winner of six Emmy® Awards and four Visual Effects Society Awards, the Digital Dimension Entertainment Group is headquartered in Montreal. Employing 200 people, its creative productions have been broadcast around the world for more than 25 years. Its studios include Meduzarts Animation, Saturday Animation and KRAKN Animation, each of which is set to release new series in the upcoming months, including several original brands currently in development.
About Lex+Otis
Lex+Otis (L+O) maximizes current and next-generation techniques to develop and produce cutting edge animation for television, film, video games, virtual reality, mobile and more. Led by Founder and CEO Jay Oliva, the burgeoning boutique studio boasts an impressive roster of established and emerging production talent focused on creating unique, immersive stories to inspire, educate and entertain across multiple platforms. L+O’s roster of clients/partners features Netflix, CMON, Wild Card, SideShow Collectibles and The Stone Quarry. The studio currently has seeral Netflix Anime originals in production and development, including Trese, a Filipino mythology-based supernatural series that launched on June 11, 2021, and the star-studded Ark: The Animated Series, as well as several yet-to-be-announced series. In addition, L+O is presently in development on more than two dozen original concepts, toplined by an animated dark fantasy series based on Sideshow’s popular Court of the Dead franchise. For more information, please visit lexandotis.com.
About the Author
gareth Syndicated movie & game critic, writer, author and frequent radio guest. His work has appeared in over 60 publications worldwide and he is the creator of the rising entertainment site and publication “Skewed and Reviewed”. He has three books of film, game reviews and interviews published and is a well-received and in demand speaker on the convention circuit. Gareth has appeared in movies and is a regular guest on a top-rated Seattle morning show. He has also appeared briefly in films such as “Prefountaine”, “Postal”. “Far Cry”. and others. Gareth is also an in-demand speaker at several conventions and has conducted popular panels for over two decades.
