Blue Zoo and Plug-In Media create Brighton Zoo, a powerful new regional studio designed for a new era of animation.

Brighton Zoo will combine the creative firepower of industry stalwarts Dominic Minns and Juliet Tzabar and their award-winning Brighton team with the resources of Blue Zoo, to create a regional powerhouse of animation.

The idea behind the new Brighton studio is to provide a space outside of London for flexible hybrid working, where artists can get together in an environment where they can produce their best possible work. This sets out to create the best working culture possible, where people are empowered to balance their work and lives, which purposefully aligns with Blue Zoo’s B Corp accreditation. Based in Brighton, a city known for its progressive values, creative outlook and great quality of life, the studio is designed with hybrid workstyles in mind and is looking to attract talent from across the South East.

Blue Zoo and Plug-In have worked together for over 15 years and both studios say they are ‘hugely excited’ to be officially collaborating after having worked on many projects together in the past. Brighton Zoo offers clients exciting production potential with more flexibility in resourcing and scale.

Creative director Dom Minns said: “Having worked closely with Blue Zoo on various projects for over a decade, I couldn’t be more excited about our new venture together. It’s a meeting of minds and shared values, and we look forward to creating some amazing stuff together over the years to come. There are great plans afoot. Watch this space.”

The new studio is already bringing its award-winning expertise to animation and interactive projects, including Supertato (52×5 2D animated series) which is already airing on CBeebies as well as innovative short form pilot for Cartoon Network. It aims to deliver its award-winning multi-platform production capability to many more clients in the coming years, providing regional capacity built on Blue Zoo’s established infrastructure.

With both companies’ track records in producing original, BAFTA-winning IP, Brighton Zoo will also be growing a slate of new multiplatform entertainment to enrich the lives of children and their families and making use of Blue Zoo’s licensing and merchandising arms, as well as Plug-in Media’s specific expertise in creating digital-first IPs, exploited across platforms from broadcast TV to the mobile app stores, YouTube to Spotify.

Follow Brighton Zoo (@Brighton_Zoo) on social media for all the newest work and updates from the new studio.