| 9 Story Media Group Inc. | |
| Type: | Subsidiary |
| Former Name: | 9 Story Entertainment (2002–2014) |
| Location: | 23 Fraser Avenue, Toronto, Ontario, Canada[1] |
| Key People: | Vince Commisso (president, CEO) Cathal Gaffney (COO) Angela C. Santomero (2019–2023) (CCO)[2] Neil Court (executive chairman) |
| Num Employees: | 1,100 (2019) |
| Owner: | Scholastic Corporation (2024–present) |
9 Story Media Group Inc. (formerly known as 9 Story Entertainment Inc.) is a Canadian media production, animation studio, and distribution company founded in September 2002 by Vince Commisso, Steve Jarosz, and Blake Tohana.
The company was founded in September 2002 as 9 Story Entertainment by Vince Commisso and Steven Jarosz so Vince could work on Peep and the Big Wide World.
On September 21, 2006, 9 Story launched an international distribution division headed by former Universal Studios executive, Natalie Osborne, known as 9 Story Enterprises.[3]
9 Story produced its first live-action series, Survive This, from 2008 to 2010.
On September 20, 2011, 9 Story Entertainment became the co-producer and distributor of the animated series Arthur. 9 Story would produce the series from seasons 16 to 19.[4] [5]
On April 8, 2013, 9 Story announced that it would acquire the children's and family distribution library of CCI Entertainment;[6] the acquisition was completed on July 24.[7]
On October 10, 2014, 9 Story Entertainment rebranded as 9 Story Media Group, following Neil Court and Zelnick Media Capital becoming majority owners a few months prior.[8] [9]
On August 18, 2015, 9 Story Media Group acquired the Dublin-based animation studio Brown Bag Films.[10] [11]
On October 6, 2015, 9 Story announced an agreement with American toy manufacturer Mattel to relaunch/reboot Barney & Friends and Angelina Ballerina under license from HIT Entertainment for planned releases in 2017, but nothing was heard from them in terms of either production or release since then.[12] [13]
On May 25, 2016, 9 Story acquired the global distribution rights to Garfield and Friends.[14] [15]
On October 21, 2016, 9 Story's distribution arm, 9 Story Enterprises, was rebranded as 9 Story Distribution International and relocated operations from Toronto to Dublin.[16]
On October 15, 2017, 9 Story rebranded its Toronto 2D animation studio after Brown Bag Films, with the Irish studio becoming 9 Story's production arm for both 2D and 3D animation across Dublin, Manchester, and Toronto. At the same time, Brown Bag Films became one of 9 Story's main divisions, alongside 9 Story Distribution International.[17] [18]
On January 12, 2018, 9 Story announced that they had acquired production company, Out of the Blue Enterprises, for an undisclosed amount and rebranded them to 9 Story USA. 9 Story would also acquire the rights to the Colorforms brand.[19] [20]
On May 13, 2018, 9 Story unveiled an updated logo and announced the launch of 9 Story Brands, a consumer products division.[21]
On July 10, 2018, 9 Story acquired the children's and family distribution catalog and development slate of Breakthrough Entertainment.[22] On February 4, 2019, 9 Story announced that they had acquired Bali-based animation studio BASE for an undisclosed amount, and rebranded it after Brown Bag Films.[23] [24]
On April 1, 2019, 9 Story signed a deal with Scholastic Corporation to distribute 230 half hours of programming, which would bring 9 Story's overall content library at the time to 4,000 half hours of programming.[25] In 2022, Vince Commisso was named alongside John Galway as a winner of the Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television's Board of Directors Tribute Award at the 10th Canadian Screen Awards.[26]
On February 5, 2024, 9 Story acquired fellow Canadian company Portfolio Entertainment, including its distribution catalogue, development slates, and production. Portfolio CEO Lisa Olfman became a executive producer at 9 Story, where she will report to Commisso.
On March 12, 2024, Scholastic announced that they would acquire complete economic interest and minority voting rights in 9 Story for $186 million; the transaction closed on June 21st of that year.[27] [28] [29]