Halifax primarily produces preschool programming, including Discovery Kids' Lunar Jim. © 2005, CBC. All rights reserved.

Over the course of 2007, the two companies' bigwigs met repeatedly to "get our ducks in a row," as Bartleman puts it. "We explored a few things, but kept coming back to the fact that DHX would be a perfect partner for Studio B."

On November 30th a deal was reached, with DHX acquiring all of Studio B's outstanding stock. Once a privately held company, Studio B became part of the publicly traded DHX. "It was the right move for us," Bartleman reflects. "We needed to grow -- we're 20 years old now and we've evolved from a service company to our own indigenous production studio. We're making great hit shows, but there's a lot more to it than making a show. You have to have not just an exploitation strategy, but the legs and power to pull that strategy off. That's why we felt DHX was a great partner." Even though DECODE, Halifax and Studio B all create animated children's programming, Bartleman sees little risk of the companies duplicating each others' efforts. "All three of us make really good, unique products, but none of it steps on each other in the marketplace. We're very much kids 6-12, while DECODE does younger stuff, as well as live action for tweens." (For his part, DECODE's DeNure points out that "we focus a lot on 3D computer animation, going back to Angela Anaconda, and our upcoming Chop Socky Chooks, which we're co-producing with Aardman.") "Halifax is primarily a preschool shop," Bartleman continues. "From an artistic point of view, we thought it was a great fit.

DECODE focuses on 3D computer animation, as seen in its upcoming Chop Socky Chooks, which is a co-production with Aardman. Courtesy of Cartoon Network.

"DECODE will sell most of our products now. Now Blair and I can focus even more on making shows, which we love to do because we're animators and directors, and leave the exploitation of properties to the company I think is the best in the business -- Neil Court and Steve, all those people are fantastic. Blair and I are just so thrilled with it. That's not just the usual blabbity-blah. These guys are just great friends of ours -- we've been hanging out with the DECODE folks for over 10 years. We're getting to know the Halifax people as well. They do interesting things: live action, 22 Minutes, great preschool shows, stop motion. It's terrific because we're filmmakers ourselves and those kinds of things are exciting to look at. It will be interesting to integrate these companies together and get the benefits of it all." (With its in-house Flash studio and its relationship to Asian animation facilities like the Philippines' Top Draw Animation, Studio B will also be in a good position to take on the production of its partner companies' projects.)

"We've got the country covered now, from coast to coast," Bartleman sums up. "Our combined efforts are going to make an interesting company. That's what we're in it for -- to make interesting shows."

Joe Strike is a regular contributor to AWN. His animation articles also appear in the NY Daily News and the New York Press.