Flying Bark Productions Pty. Ltd. (formerly known as Yoram Gross Film Studios, Yoram Gross-Village Roadshow and Yoram Gross-EM.TV) is an Australian animation studio and entertainment company that is a subsidiary of Belgian production company Studio 100. The studio acts as a full-service production facility across feature films, television, and an assorted range of digital content. The studio was established by Yoram and Sandra Gross in 1967 as Yoram Gross Film Studios, and its stake was acquired by Australian media group Village Roadshow in 1996 before their stake was sold to German media & entertainment company EM.TV & Merchandising.
History In January 1996, Yoram Gross Film Studios announced they had established a partnership with Australian media group Village Roadshow, with the interest of Yoram Gross Film Studios being sold to them under their motion picture production division Village Roadshow Pictures. The company was later renamed to Yoram Gross-Village Roadshow, with Greg Coote, producer and founder of Village Roadshow's American division Village Roadshow Pictures, and Graham Burke, Village Roadshow's president & CEO, joining the renamed Australian animation studio's board. The studio agreed to produce ten animated series with Village Roadshow's television division. One year later, in October 1997, Yoram Gross-Village Roadshow made a co-production pact with Europe-based German production and distribution company EM.TV & Merchandising AG, with whom they jointly handled television productions. Following this successful partnership, and with Village Roadshow seeking an exit from television production, EM.TV & Merchandising bought out Village Roadshow's interest in Yoram Gross-Village Roadshow in 1999, renaming the company to Yoram Gross-EM.TV. EM.TV was also now distributing the animation studio's programmes worldwide. By December 1999, Yoram Gross-EM.TV launched their own in-house licensing division named YG-EM Licensing to handle their own productions including EM.TV's co-production alongside their Junior programming catalogue.
In March 2004, Yoram Gross-EM.TV expanded into the American production services by joining forces with American production outfit Coote/Hayes Productions (aka Village Roadshow Pictures Television), in order to establish a Los-Angleses based American production subsidiary that handles the Australian animation studio's programming in the United States and Latin America, entitled Yoram Gross USA. This new American production subsidiary signed a home video deal with Miramax to distribute Yoram Gross-EM.TV's series Flipper & Lopaka on DVD for a July release, while Edward Olson had been named president of Yoram Gross USA to oversee distribution of the studios library in those countries.
On November 15, 2004, Yoram Gross-EM.TV had appointed Guy Gross, son of Yoram Gross-EM.TV founder Yoram Gross & film composer, previously directed the company's Australian/French series Old Tom and composed all of Yoram Gross-EM.TV's animated series, as producer and director for all of the production projects of the Australian entertainment studio.
In January 2006, seven years after their acquisition of 50% of Yoram Gross EM.TV, EM.TV & Merchandising announced their full acquisition of the remaining 50% stake of Yoram Gross EM.TV from its founders Yoram and Sandra Gross under their entertainment division EM. Entertainment, giving EM.Entertainment full control of the Australian animation and production group. By October 2006 following EM.Entertainment's acquisition of the remaining 50% stake in Yoram Gross-EM.TV ten months prior, Yoram Gross EM.TV announced a restructuring and rebranding of the company as Flying Bark Productions, alongside its distribution division Yoram Gross Distribution, which was renamed to Flying Bark Distribution as the rebranded company would start planning to expand its portfolio into the adult-animated and children's genre.
In February 2007, a year after the rebranding of Yoram Gross-EM.TV to Flying Bark Productions, the company announced that its managing director Geoff Watson had depatured the Australia animation production company after 10 years with Canadian producer Michael Hefferon had assumed the role of MD while Geoff Watson would continue to lead Flying Bark Productions' New Zealand film & TV audio production subsidiary Trackdown Digital via MD.
In May 2007, Flying Bark Productions' parent EM.TV announced its planning to exit the children's entertainment business through the sale of its Australian animation studio Flying Bark Productions including Yoram Gross' programming catalogue such as Blinky Bill, and its parent EM.Entertainment GmbH. One year later, in May 2008, Indian media conglomerate Zee Telefilms entered a bid to acquire Flying Bark Productions and EM.Entertainment GmbH, the German kids & family entertainment division of EM.Sport Media for $100 million. But on the 30th of that month, Belgian children's production company Studio 100 had acquired Australian animation studio Flying Bark Productions, including the Yoram Gross programming library such as Blinky Bill, and its parent EM.Entertainment GmBH, the children's entertainment division of EM.Sport Media AG announced that they have exited the children's entertainment & animation business with them had sold Flying Bark Productions alongside EM's entertainment division for €41 million in order for EM.Sport Media to focus on their expanded sport activities as EM.Sport Media exited the animation & youth entertainment business, with Flying Bark Productions became Studio 100's in-house Australian animation subsidiary marking Studio 100's first animation studio outside of Belgium while the latter's German distribution Studio 100 Media assuming Flying Bark's catalogue & would distribute the studio's future programming state.
In February 2014, Flying Bark Productions announced that former head of ABC children's content & Sticky Pictures' co-founder Tim Brooke-Hunt (who was Flying Bark's former executive producer & director of the company via its former name Yoram Gross Studios) had returned to the Australian entertainment company as the president and will lead Flying Bark's future development state, meanwhile he also joined Flying Bark's parent Studio 100 as advisor of its board.
In December 2019, Flying Bark Productions announced their plans to open a Los Angeles branch in early 2020, appointing American storyboarder/director Ian Graham as Chief Creative Director of the LA studio.
In late-March 2022, Flying Bark Productions increased its adult-animated state with the establishment of its new production arm After Bark, dedicated to adult animated programmes along with scripted and unscripted projects for mature audiences, with Amy Noble and Kate Andrew becoming CCO and head of legal & business affairs of the new production subsidiary. A year later on May 2, 2023, after Flying Bark Productions had established its adult animated-based production arm After Bark, Flying Bark Productions had hired former Nickelodeon Australia director of television Hugh Baldwin to head its production arm After Bark as executive producer of development.
In June 2024, Flying Bark Productions expanded its production operations into Europe with the opening of a Madrid-based animation studio, marking Flying Bark Productions' first entry into the European and Spanish animation production markets; and partnered with Spanish animation studio supervisor Ramon Giráldez to head the new Spanish animation studio.
Filmography Flying Bark Productions feature films Title Release date Distributor Notes Gumnutz: A Juicy Tale 24 December 2007 FFC Australia co-production with Bix Pix Productions and ABC Studios Santa's Apprentice 24 November 2010 Gaumont co-production with Gaumont Alphanim, Cartoon Saloon and Avril Stark Entertainment The Woodlies Movie 23 February 2013 Seven NetworkUniversum Film (Germany) co-production with Studio 100 Media, Seven Network, ZDF and Telegael Maya the Bee 2014 StudioCanalUniversum Film (Germany) also known as Maya the Bee Movieco-production with Studio 100 Film, Screen Australia, ZDF and Buzz Studios Blinky Bill the Movie 17 September 2015 StudioCanal co-production with Telegael, Screen Australia, Screen NSW and Assemblage Entertainment Maya the Bee: The Honey Games 1 April 2018 (Germany)26 July 2018 (Australia) StudioCanalUniversum Film (Germany) Sequel to Maya the Bee Movieco-production with Studio 100 Film, Screen Australia, Buzz Studios and Fish Blowing Bubbles 100% Wolf 29 May 2020 Studio 100 Film co-production with Studio 100 Film, Screen Australia, Screenwest, Lotterywest, Create NSW, Siamese and De-Fi Media Maya the Bee: The Golden Orb 7 January 2021 StudioCanal co-production with Studio 100 Film, Studio 100 Media, Studio Isar Animation and Studio B Animation Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Movie 5 August 2022 Netflix Animations services onlyproduced by Nickelodeon Movies Mia and Me: The Hero of Centopia 26 May 2022 (Germany)27 October 2022 (Australia) Icon Film DistributionConstantin Film (Germany) co-production with Studio 100 Film, Studio 100 Media, Studio Isar Animation, Constantin Film and Studio B Animation 200% Wolf 8 August 2024 StudioCanalAtlantika Films (Spain) Sequel to 100% Wolfco-production with Studio 100 Film, Screen Australia, Screenwest, Lotterywest, Siamese and Atlantika Films Avatar Aang: The Last Airbender 25 July 2026 Paramount+ Animation services onlyproduced by Paramount Pictures, Nickelodeon Movies and Avatar Studios Zac Power 7 January 2027 (Australia/New Zealand) Paramount Pictures (Australia/New Zealand)Studio 100 Film (International) co-production with Cheeky Little Media, Pixel Zoo Animation Studios, and Australian Children's Television Foundation
TV series