India-based studio opens in Los Angeles with plans to expand the studio’s 2D and CGI-animated work-for-hire services while developing current and new original IP.
India-based animation studio, Discreet Arts has opened a U.S. office in Burbank, California and has named industry creative veteran, Steven Wendland president. The announcement was made by company founder & CEO Srikanth Pottekula.
Wendland was vice president of animation and head of creative development at Technicolor’s LA office until 2020. He was responsible for developing and overseeing new properties for the company, while working with a development team located in Los Angeles and London. Among the projects developed and produced under his guidance were Mark Drop and Jerry Leibowitz’s Atomic Puppet, as well as Tom Taylor and James Brouwer’s The Deep. He helped develop The Deep toy line with Simba Toys, as well as story editing a series of four-chapter books of “The Deep,” published by Bloomsbury.
Prior to joining Technicolor, Wendland worked at Canada’s Mainframe Entertainment (later Rainmaker Entertainment), where he produced many projects, including direct-to-video movies and animated television series such as Spider-Man – The New Animated Series for Sony and MTV.
With Wendland at the helm of Discreet Arts’ new U.S. location, the studio will focus on the expansion of its 2D and CGI-animated work-for-hire services, for children’s and family content - including film, television, gaming, apps for Android and iOS, and interactive publishing. The newly appointed exec will also be tasked with the development and production of original content, drawing both on current Discreet Arts-owned properties, as well as building a new IP slate.
Over the past ten years Discreet Arts has produced dozens of series and films. Investing in several of the projects, the company has added to its own library of original content. Feature films include Top Cat Begins, Top Cat: The Movie, Ana and Bruno, Monster Island, Guardians of Oz, Norm of the North, and Captain Morten and the Spider Queen. Some of the CG and 2D animated series include Wissper, Marco Polo, Tashi, Sabrina the Teenage Witch, Lalaloopsy, Tarzan and Jane, and Puppy in My Pocket.
“We are extremely proud of the reputation we have built over the years of delivering consistent first-class animation for our clients, and now is the opportune time to further expand our operations by establishing a U.S. presence to build upon our strong relationships and attract new business,” commented Pottekula. “Steven brings years of solid expertise in animation production and creative and possesses all of the tools to drive our growth in our original IP and work-for-hire businesses. We look forward to furthering our commitment to provide creative innovation as we expand to offer U.S. clients a broad range of services.”
“Discreet Arts is known for its focus on substance and reliability, consistently delivering quality animation that has propelled the company’s growth over the past ten years,” added Wendland. “I’m thrilled to join with Srikanth in our new U.S. operation, where we will continue to expand the work-for-hire business by establishing new direct relationships with studios, animation production companies, broadcasters and streamers, and provide a front-end office link to the India studio. And I look forward to building the company’s library of properties with even more ideas and stories of universal appeal.”
Source: Discreet Arts
