Toronto-based independent animation company Cuppa Coffee is not for sale. Owner Adam Shaheen reportedly turned down a US$38 million offer from a U.S. and Japan-based broadcast consortium. According to a statement released by Cuppa Coffee, the consortium offered Shaheen a deal which involved expanding the Toronto facility and opening a second studio in Tokyo that would create series animation exclusively for the Asian market. Shaheen responded saying, although the offer was flattering, he was never seriously interested. "How many great, independent, vital and unique companies have you seen purchased by a larger, less intimate corporations in the last few years," queried Shaheen. "And where are they all now?" Cuppa Coffee recently moved into a new state of the art facility in Toronto and signed a deal with the Disney Channel for a 52-episode stop-motion series aimed at preschoolers, which began production in September 2002. Also on Cuppa's slate for 2003: two short films for SESAME STREET; TED'S BED, an original 52 x 11-minute series for Broadway Video; and a 2D and Flash animated pilot for a major U.S. network.
