Method Animation (formerly Method Films) is a French animation studio owned by Mediawan through its Kids & Family division founded in 1998 by Aton Soumache. The studio produces CGI and 2D animated shows. It came together in 2014 as the culmination of a merger of Dimitri Rassam's Chapter 2 and Alexis Vonarb's Onyx Films.[1][2][3] In 2018, Mediawan (which was founded by Xavier Niel, Matthieu Pigasse and Pierre-Antoine Capton in 2015) obtained a majority stake in Method Animation through its acquisition of ON Kids & Family and ON Entertainment.[4]
History
In 1996 while during the production of Christian Volckman’s short Maaz, producer Aton Soumache and Alexis Vonarb launched his own production company dedicated to short films and feature films named Onyx Films.
Two years later in 1998, Aton Soucmache and Alexis Vonarb entered the TV business by launching Method Animation which was known as Method Films at that time.
In December 1999, It was announced that Method Films had teamed up with Paris-based animation studio Millimages to launch a new stop-motion animation joint-venture studio based in Paris which would be named Gimmick. The new animation studio will work on Method Films in-house projects along with Millimages' works and would work on co-productions as well as outside clients such as TV adverts. Their first programme related to the partnership was Skyland.[5]
In August 2006 Method Films and its CG animation production company Onyx Films announced that they've partnered a joint venture with Indian animation and visual effects company DQ Entertainment to produce its feature films.[6]
In January 2014, it was announced that Method Animation along with Onyx Films and drama film producer Chapter 2 announced that they had merged together by their founders Aton Soumache and Dimitri Rassam to form a new leading animation and film audiovisual production group named ON Entertainment with the new company launching its focus on their animated series and feature films along with live-action films. Method Animation and Onyx Films along with film production company Chapter 2 became labels of the new production and audiovisual group with Method Animation became ON Entertainment's animation label under their ON Kids & Family division with film production house Chapter 2 became ON's film production label.[7][8][9]
In September 2016, Method Animation's parent company ON Entertainment announced that they've established an North American animation studio based in Montréal, Canada named ON Animation Studios Montréal to increase their film production.[10][11]
In December 2017, it was announced that a European-based French special-acquisition company named Mediawan was in exclusive talks to buy a majority stake of ON Entertainment along with ON Kids & Family and their labels Method Animation and film production house Chapter 2 for about €50 million.[12][13][14] A year later in June 2018, Mediawan announced that they've completed their acquisition of a majority stake in ON Entertainment and renamed it ON Kids & Family after their division with Chapter 2 split from ON and moved under Mediawan's portfolio.[15]
In April 2019 one year after Mediawan's acquisition of ON Entertainment and their division ON Kids & Family, ON Kids & Family and their parent company Mediawan announced that they've established a partnership with world-renowned French producer, illustrator and author Joann Sfar to develop the author's works into film and television adaptations with the acquisition of a majority stake in Joann Sfar's animation production company Nice Pictures and had it placed under ON Kids & Family.[16]
In June 2020, ON Kids & Family and it's parent company Mediawan announced that they've rebranded their Joann Sfar's Paris-based production company Nice Pictures as their mini-studio to Magical Society with Veteran animation producer and founder of Method Animation and producer Aton Soumache and award-winning publisher Joann Sfar heading the rebranded company.[17]
In February 2021, ON Kids & Family announced that they've expanded their TV state into preschool television series and has partnered with Chinese toy manufacturer and global media company Alpha Group Co. Ltd to jointly develop ON's first preschool animated series named Petronix Defenders with Alpha Group develop toys made for the show and will distribute the show in Asia-Pacific and MENA while Mediawan's distribution arm Mediawan Rights will distribute the show worldwide elsewhere.[18]
In June 2022, when ON Kids & Family's parent company Mediawan announced that they're bringing all of their kids and family activities and ramping up their youth entertainment content, it was announced that Mediawan had rebranded ON Kids & Family and relaunching it as a new division under the Mediawan name which was renamed Mediawan Kids & Family with Method Animation, Magical Society and ON Classics becoming part of the newly renamed division. Mediawan Kids & Family and their parent company Mediawan also announced that they've launched two new production labels which was traditional animation production studio Somewhere Animation and live-action studio Elliot Studio along with Mediawan Kids & Family launching their own distribution division that will handle all of their original live action and animated productions along with third-party programmes.[19][20][21] Three days later in that same month, Method Animation and their parent Mediawan Kids & Family announced that they've joined forces with Miraculous creator Thomas Astruc, Shibuya Productions and Japanese animation studio Tezuka Productions to reboot Osamu Tezuka's best-selling manga series Astro Boy into a new CGI half-hour animated series which will be named Astro Boy Reboot.[22]
In December 2022, Method Animation along with their parent Mediawan Kids & Family announced that they have hired Katell France the founder of her animation studio Onikiri as Chief Content Officer and Managing Director of the Method Animation label.[23]
In February 2023, Mediawan Kids & Family along with their parent company Mediawan had announced that they've acquired a majority stake in Bristol-based British scripted and animation production company Wildseed Studios, marking Mediawan's youth entertainment division Mediawan Kids & Family's first international acquisition with Wildseed Studios becoming part of Mediawan Kids & Family as their own production label.[24]
^"2016 César Awards Full Winners List". Hollywood Reporter. 26 February 2016. Archived from the original on 11 October 2016. Retrieved 6 December 2017.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
^"Zak Storm brewing at MIPCOM". TBIvision. 9 October 2014. Ben 10 creator Man of Action conceived the 39x30mins show, with Zagtoon, Method Animation and eOne Family attached as coproducers.
