Veteran Executive Fred Seibert Launches Animation Production Company Fredfilms
Six months after stepping down from Frederator, the animation company he founded in 1997, Fred Seibert has launched another namesake venture: Fredfilms. The new production company will develop long- and short-form animated series for linear tv and streaming.
Fredfilms has struck a first-look deal with VIS Kids, ViacomCBS Networks International’s new children’s content division. VIS Kids was set up to create content for ViacomCBS brands and platforms, like the streaming service Paramount+, as well as third parties. Details of Fredfilms’ slate will be announced in coming weeks.
Casey Gonzalez, a former writer and producer Crunchyroll and graphic novel editor, has been appointed development director at Fredfilms. Sarah Kessler joins as manager of development.
Seibert is a veteran animation producer and executive with an unusual career trajectory. Coming from a background in music producing and branding/marketing — he helped launch MTV and relaunch Nickelodeon — he was hired as president of Hanna-Barbera Cartoons in 1992. There, and later at Frederator Studios, he ran influential shorts incubator programs that spawned many hit series, among them Adventure Time, The Powerpuff Girls, Dexter’s Laboratory, The Fairly Oddparents, and Fanboy & Chum Chum.
As Channel Frederator Network, Seibert later developed a network of online channels centered on animation, whose key success has been in the aggregation of other people’s content.
In 2016, Frederator was bought by Canada’s Rainmaker Entertainment, and folded into a new company, Wow! Unlimited Media. Seibert resigned as chief creative officer of Wow and CEO of Frederator last August. He will remain executive producer of two Frederator series, Castlevania and Bee & Puppycat.
Announcing his new venture, Seibert said:
Animation is having yet another golden age, driven, as always, by new technologies. The rise of streaming platforms has given animation studios a whole new landscape to have their innovative voices and stories told. And the success that many projects are finding in streaming, both adult and kid targeted series, has re-opened the eyes of executives at linear networks to invest in animation. With that said, I thought now was the perfect time to set up a new production company in which I can focus 100% of my energies on what I truly love to do: nurture fresh talent and emerging voices, and help bring to life amazing, cutting-edge animation.
