DHX Media appoints Amir Nasrabadi as Executive VP & GM of its animation studio
Skwigly
DHX Media has appointed veteran animation industry executive Amir Nasrabadi as Executive Vice President and General Manager of its animation studio in Vancouver, BC. Mr. Nasrabadi will be joining the team in this newly created role effective June 10, 2019, reporting to Josh Scherba, President. As EVP and GM of the Vancouver studio, Mr. Nasrabadi will oversee all animation production at the studio, leading the Vancouver animation team in working closely with DHX Media’s creative, content and brands teams.
As a well-known and respected figure in the animation community, who brings a wealth of industry experience, Amir is an ideal executive to lead the talented team at our Vancouver animation studio. We believe Amir’s history as head of Pixar Canada in Vancouver, as well as his time in management with Illumination, Paramount and Disney will deliver tremendous value to our business. We couldn’t be more delighted that Amir is coming back to Vancouver, and we look forward to welcoming him to the DHX Media team.
-Josh Scherba, President, DHX Media
Vancouver is such a fantastic city for animation and I am thrilled to be joining DHX Media to be part of the exciting work being done at their world-class studio. I hear the studio is a dog-friendly work space as well, so my mini-dachshund Dot will fit right in!
-Amir Nasrabadi
Animation Industry Veteran
Mr. Nasrabadi brings over 20 years’ experience in production, operations, finance and strategy in the animation and visual effects industry, having held senior roles with some of the world’s top production companies and studios. Most recently, Mr. Nasrabadi was EVP of Finance and Operations for Illumination, producers of such global hits as Despicable Me, Minions, The Grinch and Sing. At Illumination, Mr. Nasrabadi led all aspects of operations, IT, finance, planning, competitive and industry analysis, and business development.
Prior to Illumination, Mr. Nasrabadi was SVP of Production at Paramount Animation, and before Paramount, Mr. Nasrabadi worked for 15 years with The Walt Disney Studios, where he was VP Finance and Operations for DisneyToon Studios, and then in 2009, launched and ran Pixar Canada in Vancouver. As VP and General Manager of Pixar Canada, Mr. Nasrabadi oversaw all production and represented the Pixar brand to the creative community, local and provincial government and industry leaders.
Mr. Nasrabadi started his career with Deloitte & Touche in 1993 as a CPA. He holds a BA in Business Economics from the University of California at Santa Barbara.
DHX Media’s Vancouver studio
Dedicated to creating the highest quality animated content that kids love and parents approve, DHX Media’s 75,000 square foot animation studio in Vancouver is a state-of-the-art facility employing approximately 500 2D- and 3D-animation professionals. Located in Vancouver’s Olympic Village, in the vibrant Mt. Pleasant neighbourhood, the five-story facility was custom built by DHX Media and opened in 2017. Staff enjoy a dog-friendly workplace with a rooftop community garden, a common area with billiard table and table tennis, a theatre for screening their work (or movie nights!), a resource library, yoga and bootcamp classes, and daily food truck visits for lunch.
The studio produced over 1,800 minutes of animated content in 2018, including such series as The Deep, Mega Man: Fully Charged, Carmen Sandiego for Netflix, Peabody & Sherman and The Adventures of Rocky & Bullwinkle for DreamWorks, and its first feature film, My Little Pony: The Movie for Hasbro. The studio team is currently hard at work on new Peanuts content for Apple, as well as Chip and Potato for Netflix, Blaze and the Monster Machines for Nickelodeon, and Dorg Van Dango for Nickelodeon with Cartoon Saloon.