DHX Media in Halifax to produce new Inspector Gadget

Yo! Gabba Gabba and Caillou are names many parents of young children have become familiar with and are some of the most popular productions from Halifax based DHXMedia, celebrating a banner 2014.

In fact, only Steven Spielbergs DreamWorks studios owns more kids programs, but DHX got its start with more adult fare, with DHX co-founder Michael Donovan winning an Oscar for the documentary Bowling for Columbine.

Donovan says he discovered theres fun and profit in animation.

"When I started going into children's [programming]," recalls Donovan, "it was like off, off Broadway. It was only about three or fourper cent of the audience. It was nothing broadcasters took seriously. But it has become much more meaningful because with the change to digital delivery, things that are old can be seen equally with things that are new . And children's stuff never ages, so it never gets old."

Video on demand and online streaming has given old shows like the Teletubbies and Inspector Gadget new life. At DHX in Halifax, Gadget is getting a 3D makeover for the Teletoon network.

Now owns Family Channel

Turner Broadcasting will export it to Asia and Latin America. Five shows including a top secret pilot for a toy company have tripled the Halifax workforce, making recruitment a challenge according to Phil Stamp,vice-president in charge of the Halifax DHX studio.

"You have to simultaneously attract people to the province as well as grow the pool of available pool here," he said. "But that what we have managed to do in last two years to get us where we are now."

Last summer, DHX bought Family Channel, which could bring in $75 million next year. DHX, a publicly traded company on the TSX that has seen its share price double in the past year,also bought another animation company in Vancouver that helped boost the value of the company and shouldnt impact the East Coast studio.

"Two years ago in Halifax we were at between 50 and 60 employees," recalls Stamp. "Now we are in the vicinity of 170. So the studio has nearly tripled in size and more than tripled in its production capacity."

Donovan, a successful film producer and serial entrepreneur who also serves on the board of the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design,says the fact the company is making kids shows out of England, Vancouver and Toronto doesn't make Halifax vulnerable to a future shift in production.

"Our goal is to have more and more animated shows done in Halifax and in Nova Scotia generally," he said. "With the universities and the creative culture, I believe we have an advantage, so we intend to expand."