9 Story Media Group Inc. (formerly known as 9 Story Entertainment) is a Canadian children's media production company and international distributor founded by Vincent "Vince" Commisso, Steve Jarosz, and Blake Tohana on September 1, 2002, and headquartered in

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the anch ...

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central C ...

History

As 9 Story Entertainment (2002–2014)

The company was founded on September 1, 2002, as 9 Story Entertainment by Vincent "Vince" Commisso and Steven Jarosz. On September 21, 2006, 9 Story launched an international distribution division headed by former

Universal Studios Universal Pictures (legally Universal City Studios LLC, also known as Universal Studios, or simply Universal; common metonym: Uni, and formerly named Universal Film Manufacturing Company and Universal-International Pictures Inc.) is an Americ ...

executive, Natalie Osborne, known as 9 Story Enterprises. 9 Story produced its first live-action series, ''

Survive This ''Survive This'' is a Canadian reality television show in which eight teenagers with limited survival skills training are taken into a forest and confronted with a number of survival challenges to test their skills and perseverance. The series a ...

'', from 2008 to 2010. On September 20, 2011, 9 Story Entertainment became the co-producer and distributor of WGBH children's series ''

Arthur Arthur is a common male given name of Brythonic origin. Its popularity derives from it being the name of the legendary hero King Arthur. The etymology is disputed. It may derive from the Celtic ''Artos'' meaning “Bear”. Another theory, more wi ...

''. 9 Story would produce the series from seasons 16 to 19. On April 8, 2013, 9 Story announced that it would acquire the children's and family distribution library of CCI Entertainment (formerly Cambium Productions and Catalyst Entertainment); the acquisition was completed on July 24.

As 9 Story Media Group (2014–present)

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. On August 18, 2015, 9 Story Media Group acquired the

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of the Wicklow Mountains range. At the 2016 c ...

-based animation studio Brown Bag Films. On October 6, 2015, 9 Story announced an agreement with American toy manufacturer

Mattel Mattel, Inc. ( ) is an American multinational toy manufacturing and entertainment company founded in January 1945 and headquartered in El Segundo, California. The company has presence in 35 countries and territories and sells products in more ...

to relaunch/reboot ''

Barney & Friends ''Barney & Friends'' is an American children's television series targeted at young children aged 2–7, created by Sheryl Leach. The series premiered on PBS on April 6, 1992. The series features the title character Barney, a purple anthropomo ...

'' and ''

Angelina Ballerina ''Angelina Ballerina'' is a children's book series by author Katharine Holabird and illustrator Helen Craig about a fictional mouse (full name Angelina Jeanette Mouseling) who is training to become a ballerina. The first book in the series was ...

'' under license from

HIT Entertainment HIT Entertainment Limited (commonly written as HiT) was a British-American entertainment company founded in 1982 as Henson International Television, the international distribution arm of The Jim Henson Company, by Jim Henson, Peter Orton, and Sop ...

for planned releases in 2017, but nothing was heard from them in terms of either production or release since then. On May 25, 2016, 9 Story acquired the global distribution rights to ''

Garfield and Friends ''Garfield and Friends'' is an American animated television series based on the comic strip ''Garfield'' by Jim Davis. The show aired on CBS as part of its Saturday morning children's lineup from September 17, 1988 to December 10, 1994. The sho ...

''. Following the acquisition of Paws, Inc. by

Viacom Viacom, an abbreviation of Video and Audio Communications, may refer to: * Viacom (1952–2006), a former American media conglomerate * Viacom (2005–2019), a former company spun off from the original Viacom * Viacom18, a joint venture between Par ...

in 2019, 9 Story's distribution license was terminated. The series is now distributed through

Nickelodeon Nickelodeon (often shortened to Nick) is an American pay television channel which launched on April 1, 1979, as the first cable channel for children. It is run by Paramount Global through its networks division's Kids and Family Group. It ...

. On October 21, 2016, 9 Story's distribution arm, 9 Story Enterprises, was rebranded as 9 Story Distribution International and relocated operations from

to Dublin. On October 15, 2017, 9 Story rebranded its Toronto

2D animation Traditional animation (or classical animation, cel animation, or hand-drawn animation) is an animation technique in which each frame is drawn by hand. The technique was the dominant form of animation in cinema until computer animation. Proc ...

studio after Brown Bag Films, with the Irish studio becoming 9 Story's production arm for both 2D and 3D animation across Dublin,

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

, and Toronto. At the same time, Brown Bag Films became one of 9 Story's main divisions, alongside 9 Story Distribution International. On January 12, 2018, 9 Story announced that they had acquired ''

Blue's Clues ''Blue's Clues'' is an American live-action/animated children's television series, created by Angela C. Santomero, Todd Kessler, and Traci Paige Johnson, that premiered on Nickelodeon as part of its Nick Jr. block on September 8, 1996, and ...

'' production company, 9 Story USA, 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. On May 13, 2018, 9 Story unveiled an updated logo and announced the launch of 9 Story Brands, a consumer products division. On July 10, 2018, 9 Story acquired the children's and family distribution catalog and development slate of Breakthrough Entertainment. 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. 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. In 2022, Vincent Commisso was named alongside John Galway (producer), John Galway as a winner of the Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television's Board of Directors Tribute Award at the 10th Canadian Screen Awards.

Programming and co-productions

Current

*''Blue's Clues & You!'' (2019–present) *''Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood'' (2012–present) *''Hello, Jack! The Kindness Show'' (2022–present) *''Karma's World'' (2021–present) *''Luo Bao Bei'' (2018) *''Nature Cat'' (2015–2021; seasons 1–3) *''Rosie's Rules'' (2022–present) *''Wild Kratts'' (2011–present) *''Xavier Riddle and the Secret Museum'' (2019–present) *''Becca's Bunch'' (2018)

Former/Other

*''3 Amigonauts'' (2017) *''Almost Naked Animals'' (2011–2013) *''

'' (2006–2022; seasons 10–25) *''Best Ed'' (2008–2009) *''Cache Craze'' (2013–2014) *''Caillou'' (2006-2008; season 4) *''Camp Lakebottom'' (2013–2017) *''Clifford the Big Red Dog (2019 TV series), Clifford the Big Red Dog'' (2019–2021) *''Creative Galaxy'' (2013–2019) *''Fugget About It'' (2012–2016) *''Furze World Wonders'' (2017) *''Futz!'' (2007) *''Get Rolling with Otis'' (2021) *''Harriet the Spy: Blog Wars'' (2010) (made-for-TV movie) *''If the World Were a Village'' (2005) *''Jacob Two-Two (TV series), Jacob Two-Two'' (2005–2006; season 5; distributed by Nelvana) *''Let's Go Luna!'' (2018–2022) *''The Magic School Bus Rides Again'' (2017–2020) *''Max & Ruby'' (2006–2013; seasons 3–5; distributed by Nelvana) *''Mischief City'' (2005) *''My Friend Rabbit'' (2007–2008) *''Numb Chucks'' (2014–2016) *''Nerds and Monsters'' (2014–2016) *''Peep and the Big Wide World'' (2003–2007, 2009-2011) *''Peg + Cat'' (2013–2018) *''Pound Puppies (2010 TV series), Pound Puppies'' (2010; season 1, episodes 1–7) *''Postcards from Buster'' (2006–2012; seasons 2–4) *''Skyland'' (2005–2007) *''The Stanley Dynamic'' (2015–2017) *''

'' (2008–2010) *''Top Wing'' (2017–2020) *''Wibbly Pig'' (2009–2010)

References

External links

* * {{Authority control Canadian animation studios Companies based in Toronto Mass media companies established in 2002 Television production companies of Canada Film production companies of Canada 2002 establishments in Ontario Canadian companies established in 2002