At Nick

At Nick yesterday, I had occasion to talk to an artist about Robot & Monster, the new Nickelodeon show that premeiered over the weekend ...

"The company put back the premiere date, and most of the crew was put on layoff ... But we've got a bunch of new scripts for a second season, and several of them in animatics, so we're in good shape if the company greenlights a new season. The show was premiered a few days ago but I haven't heard about ratings numbers yet. We're hoping for a pickup." ...

Elsewhere in the Nick building, the SpongeBob crew is winding up its series work, and people are readying to depart for another part of beautiful Burbank where they will commence work on the next SpongeBob SquarePants theatrical feature, slated for release in 2014.

"Most of the crew will go over in waves. The first artists go over the end of the month, but some won't swing over until almost the end of the year." ...

The first theatrical outing for SB collected a worldwide gross of more than $140 million. This isn't huge when you compare it to other animated features, but when your budget is $30 million, the profits wrapped inside $140 mill is considerable.