9 Story Media Group (formerly known as 9 Story Entertainment) is a Canadianmedia production, animation studio, and distribution company founded in September 2002 by Vince Commisso and Steven Jarosz.
History
As 9 Story Entertainment
The company was founded in September 2002 as 9 Story Entertainment by Vince Commisso (an ex-Nelvana producer) and Steven Jarosz so Commisso would be able to work on Peep and the Big Wide World. On September 21, 2006, 9 Story launched an international distribution division headed by former Universal Studios executive, Natalie Osborne, known as 9 Story Enterprises.
9 Story produced its first live-action series, Survive This, from 2008 until 2010, but ran for two years. On September 20, 2011, 9 Story Entertainment became the co-producer and distributor of the animated series Arthur, replacing WildBrain's predecessor. 9 Story would produce the series from seasons 16 to 19. On April 8, 2013, 9 Story announced that it would acquire the kids & family distribution library of CCI Entertainment; the acquisition was completed on July 24.
As 9 Story Media Group
Logo used from 2014 to 2018
On October 10, 2014, 9 Story Entertainment changed its name to 9 Story Media Group with Neil Court and Zelnick Media Capital becoming majority owners of the company a few months prior. On August 18, 2015, 9 Story Media Group acquired the Dublin-based animation studio Brown Bag Films.
On October 6, 2015, 9 Story announced an agreement with U.S.-based toy manufacturer Mattel to relaunch/reboot Barney & Friends and Angelina Ballerina under license from HIT Entertainment for planned releases in 2017, but nothing was heard from them in terms of either production or release since then. On May 25, 2016, 9 Story acquired the global distribution rights to Garfield and Friends.
On October 21, 2016, 9 Story's distribution arm, 9 Story Enterprises, was rebranded as 9 Story Distribution International and moved operations from Toronto to Dublin. On October 15, 2017, 9 Story rebranded its Toronto 2D animation studio after Brown Bag Films, with the Ireland studio becoming 9 Story's production branch for both 2D and 3D animation across Dublin, Manchester, and Toronto. At the same time, Brown Bag Films became one of 9 Story's main divisions, alongside 9 Story Distribution International.
On January 12, 2018, 9 Story announced that they had acquired production company, Out of the Blue Enterprises, for an undisclosed amount and rebranded them to 9 Story USA. 9 Story also acquired the rights to the Colorforms brand as part of its purchase with its founder and CEO, Angela C. Santomero joining the company to run its New York offices prior to her promotion as chief creative officer for 9 Story on June 18th of that year. She would exit the company in 2022.. On May 13, 2018, 9 Story unveiled an updated logo and announced the launch of 9 Story Brands, a consumer products division.
On July 10, 2018, 9 Story acquired the kids & family distribution catalog and development slate of Breakthrough Entertainment. On February 4, 2019, 9 Story announced that they had acquired Bali-based animation studio BASE for an undisclosed amount, and rebranded it as Brown Bag Films. On April 1, 2019, 9 Story signed a deal with Scholastic to distribute its library, consisting of 230 half hours of programming, which would bring 9 Story's overall content library at the time to 4,000 half hours of programming. In 2022, Commisso and John Galway won the Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television's Board of Directors Tribute Award at the 10th Canadian Screen Awards.
On February 5, 2024, 9 Story acquired the assets of Portfolio Entertainment, another company in Toronto, including its distribution catalogue, development slates, and production. Portfolio co-founder and CEO Lisa Olfman became an executive producer at 9 Story, where she will report to Commisso. On March 12, 2024, Scholastic announced that they would acquire complete economic interest and minority voting rights in 9 Story for $186 million; the transaction closed on June 21, 2024.
