EXCLUSIVE: L.A.’s Surfing Giant Studios is opening its second European animation facility, this time in Spain’s Canary Islands.
The new production hub is located in the Santa Cruz region of Tenerife, the largest of the Canary Islands, and will open in the spring of this year.
The facility is expected to create more than 100 jobs in animation and production on the island. Recruitment is expected to begin in coming weeks.
The Canary Islands have developed into a strong option for international productions, with sizeable local tax credits and an ecosystem of experienced production workers.
The Tenerife base comes after the 2022 launch of a hub in Manchester, UK. Surfing Giant has been structuring its European plan as a connected network of bases capable of developing original shows and supporting multiple others.
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Both the Tenerife and Manchester offices will operate under Head of Studio Helen Brown, who leads on production, recruitment and talent development.
Since 2022, Surfing Giant has hired more 100 artists, as its pushed into both IP development and service work, and it is gearing up for another Disney series, this time in the action-adventure space. The company has a slate of projects across genres in development, and the Tenerife base will initially focus on 2D animation.
Surfing Giant Studios is a co-venture between Alcon Entertainment, Sleeping Giant Media and Santa Monica-based Surfer Jack Studios. The company’s first long-form show, Hey A.J.! debuted on Disney Jr. and Disney+ last month.
Announced in August last year, Disney Jr. family comedy series Hey A.J.! will feature Amari McCoy as lead character A.J, an imaginative girl who uses her imagination to make ordinary moments magical. It is based on a children’s book from former American football player Martellus Bennett, who also stars alongside Jhené Aiko, Juliet Donenfeld, Innocent Ekakitie and David Mitchell.
Scott Parish, xo-CEO of Surfing Giant Studios and COO of Alcon Entertainment, said: “The Canary Islands provide strong tax incentives and an experienced talent base, which allows us to scale production efficiently and reinvest directly into our teams and projects. Tenerife is a strategic extension of our European operation.”
Michael Hodges, Surfing Giant Studios’ other co-CEO, added: “We’ve established a solid foundation in Manchester delivering series work while developing our own IP. Expanding into Tenerife gives us the capacity to grow both sides of the business and support more productions at once.”