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The Orphanage Closes Its Doors

Orphanage co-founder Stu Maschwitz writes on his blog that the company is suspending operations indefinitely. The company, co-founded with Maschwitz, Scott Stewart and Jonathan Rothbart, has been around for 10 years and spawned a commercial division and animation company.

Maschwitz writes: "It's no accident that our company's name described a place for people, people who may be thrown together, but who ultimately create their own destinies. Scott once described his vision of an orphanage as 'a hundred success stories waiting to happen,' and that is exactly what came to pass inside our offices. We have had the privilege of working with many 'Orphans' over the years, and watching them grow and take on new responsibilities has been the single greatest part of coming to work every day."

The Orphanage provided vfx for films like THE SPIRIT and IRON MAN last year, and had their hand in blockbusters like the HARRY POTTER and PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN.

VARIETY reports that the Los Angeles-based Orphanage Animation Studio will not close. Headed by Genndy Tartakovsky, the studio and Jim Henson Co. are still working on THE POWER OF THE DARK CRYSTAL, their first feature. Maschwitz told VARIETY that while Orphanage Inc. had an ownership stake in OAS, the management of Orphanage no longer has any ownership in the animation studio.

Owners may liquidate or sell, but money is first going to creditors, including employees who have not yet been paid in full.

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