Film Roman South

Film Roman, which was located on Hollywood Way near the Bob Hope-Hollywood-Burbank Airport for some years, has moved to the West Valley. But there are also some newer digs, as a press release tells us:

Film Roman has entered into a joint venture with Baja California-based animation facility Boxel Studios to create Film Roman Baja J.V.

Boxel co-founder and creative director Uriel Reyes Botello and co-founder and director Andres Reyes Botello are overseeing day-to-day operations, with Film Roman founder Phil Roman and Film Roman CEO Steve Waterman providing senior management and oversight of the Baja studio.

“The venture’s driving purpose is to execute high-quality, cost-effective animated properties across a broad spectrum of platforms including features, television and new media productions,” Waterman commented in a statement. ...

A lot of animation studios today use Canadian studios. But a Mexican studio? It isn't new. Gamma Studios of Mexico City was used by Jay Ward Productions five-plus decades ago. At the time, most television animation was done in Los Angeles, soup to nuts. Outsourcing to Asia hadn't started yet.

But Jay Ward pioneered the outsourcing of animation to foreign locales. All those Rocky and Bullwinkle shorts, all those Fractured Fairy Tales pieces, they were produced in Mexico City.