Cinesite Acquires Sausage Party Animator Nitrogen Studios

Cinesite said it has acquired Vancouver's Nitrogen Studios Canada, the animation studio behind last year's R-rated food-fest Sausage Party. Terms of the deal were undisclosed.

"This acquisition delivers to our group the same capacity in Vancouver that we already have in Montreal, both for VFX and feature animation," said Cinesite Studios Group CEO Antony Hunt in a prepared statement. "The creative team [at Nitrogen] are experienced and talented. They animated Thomas and Friends, one of the world's leading pre-school brands, and are now seeing great success with their recent work on Guillermo del Toro's Trollhunters."

Also currently in process at Nitrogen is the CG feature Arkie, which is being produced by Passion Pictures Australia, the company said. Meanwhile, Cinesite is developing a feature animation project with the Harold Lloyd estate that will adapt some of the silent comedian's films as animated features.