Cartuna is a Brooklyn-based animation production company that has made animated TV shows for Syfy, Comedy Central, and Facebook Watch. The company has producers, all of which have their own unique style.
History The company was founded in May 2015 in Bushwick, Brooklyn by James Belfer and Adam Belfer, viewing a perceived gap in the market for adult animation for digital and mobile audiences that they could fill. The Studio would produce the animation for the documentary film NUTS! in 2016, which won a Special Jury prize at the Sundance Film Festival. Later, the company would expand into making animated series releasing the web series like Dogs in A Park. This is the website of the co-creator of the series. In 2018, the company would increase production making the shows Human Kind Of and Liverspots and Astronots for Facebook Watch and Alan & Elle for IFC. In 2019, the company would release its first feature, titled Film Tux and Fanny. More recently, Cartuna partnered with Syfy to produce shows for its TZGZ block, specifically Science! in 2019 and Magical Girl Friendship Squad in 2020, along with the associated pilot series released the same year, Magical Girl Friendship Squad: Origins. Cartuna would also be responsible for work on Loafy, a series of animated shorts which aired on Comedy Central.
In September 2020, in an interview, Kelsey Stephanides, creator of Magical Girl Friendship Squad, argued that her show would have been "totally different" if another studio produced it. Cartuna worked with over 100 artists on the series. The animation was done on Adobe Animate, the backgrounds done in Adobe Photoshop, and character design done in both. Five years earlier, while in school at New York University, studying Media, Culture and Communications, Stephanides, a fan of the magical girl genre, came up with the idea for the show and was convinced by Belfer, a professor at the same school, to pitch it to Cartuna. After that, production on the series began, meant to be a "short-form pitch to networks," and it was pitched around for years until 2019, when SYFY picked it up, wanting to reboot it, polish it more, and have longer episodes, leading to the creation of the main show, Magical Girl Friendship Squad, itself.
Also in September 2020, Cartuna picked a new Senior-Vice President named Mike Flavin, who formerly worked at Gunpowder & Sky, an independent studio owned by WarnerMedia. Belfer was quoted as saying that they were "doubling down" on development, adding that animation is a medium, rather than a genre, and noted Flavin's experience "from live-action development," allowing them to expand adult animation in the future.
In November 2020 it was announced that Cartuna would be collaborating with Doing Things Media on a IGTV series titled Office Fire.
In 2024, Cartuna launched a Blu-ray distribution label focused on animation, puppetry, DIY art, and alt-comedy. Films titles released are NUTS!, Adam Green's Aladdin and Hundreds of Beavers.
In 2025, Cartuna made their first all-rights acquisition with the title Dead Lover. They had also acquired the upcoming anime film Tamala 2030: A Punk Cat in Dark with Deaf Crocodile.
Films YearFilmDistributorDirector(s)FestivalsAccolades2016NUTS!Amazon StudiosPenny Lane2016 Sundance Film Festival (premiere), Annecy International Animated Film Festival, Ottawa International Animation Festival, International Film Festival Rotterdam2016 Sundance Film Festival Special Jury PrizeJust Add Water: The Story of the Amazing Live Sea-Monkeys (short)CNN, Great Big StoryPenny Lane2019Tux and FannyAlbert Birney2019 Ottawa International Animation Festival (premiere)The New Yorker Best Movies of 2019Under Covers (short)Michaela Olsen2019 Sundance Film Festival (premiere), Ottawa International Animation Festival, AFI Film FestivalNellie Bly Makes the News (short)Reveal NewsPenny Lane2020BlackheadsEmily Ann Hoffman2020 South by Southwest2021Strawberry MansionMusic Box FilmsAlbert Birney, Kentucker Audley2021 Sundance Film Festival (premiere)2022Eyeballs in the DarknessAlbert Birney 2024AJ Goes to the Dog ParkDoppelganger ReleasingToby Jones2024 Fargo Film Festival (premiere)Boys Go to JupiterCartuna, Irony Point Julian Glander 2024 Tribeca Festival (premiere)2025OBEXOscilloscope LaboratoriesAlbert Birney2025 Sundance Film Festival (premiere)2026MoonfishDaniel Zvereff83rd Venice Film Festival (premiere)TBDThe Adventures of DrunkyAaron Augenblick
Television YearSeriesNetworkCreator(s)Accolades2017Dogs In A ParkComcast Watchable, IFCDaniel Shepard Keith Shepard2018Human Kind OfFacebook WatchDiana McCorryAnnie Award for Best Animated Television Production, New York Comic ConLiverspots and AstronotsFacebook WatchNate Milton, Rob BohnNew York Comic ConTammy's Tiny Tea TimePeter Gulsvig2018 Sundance Film Festival (premiere)Alan & ElleIFC2018Museum of Human HistoryTopic StudiosDaniel Shepard2019How 8chan Became The Worst Place on The InternetHBO, Vice News TonightElle ReeveScience!SyfyNeal Holman2020Magical Girl Friendship Squad: OriginsSyfyKelsey StephanidesMagical Girl Friendship SquadSyfyKelsey StephanidesDesus & MeroShowtimeDesus Nice, The Kid MeroLoafyComedy CentralBobby MoynihanThe Tonight Show Starring Jimmy FallonNBCOffice FireIGTVDoing Things Media2021Office Ladies Animated SeriesComedy CentralJenna Fischer, Angela KinseyZiweShowtimeZiwe FumudohWinner Winner Dinner DinnerSnap OriginalsFreeman Freeman 2026 Pop Culture Jeopardy! (Season 2 Opening Titles)NetflixMerv Griffin
Music videos YearArtistsSongLabel2016Mustard, Nicki Minaj, JeremihDon't Hurt MeRoc Nation2020Rotimi, WaleIn My BedEMPIREPreme, Popcaan, DavidoComfortableEMPIRE2024Will Smith, Joyner Lucas TANTRUM
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