Montreal’s Tonic DNA Acquires Ngenious Studio

Montreal-based Tonic DNA has acquired Ngenious Studio, all of its IP assets, and has appointed Ngenious founder Éric Gervais-Després as its new head of R&D and pipeline development.

According to Tonic, this acquisition is part of a larger strategy at the company to better position itself in a marketplace that is increasingly interested in mixed 2d/3d animation. It will also allow the company to develope techniques and technology for future productions, both in film/series and advertising.

Tonic will look to benefit from Gervais-Després’ experience gained over decades of animation and vfx work on major global productions including Leap!, Gnomeo & Juliet, 300, and Fantastic Four (2005), as well as his years at Walt Disney Feature Animation.

Acquisition details:

• Ngenious Studio productions include Felix and the Hidden Treasure and Troll: The Tale of a Tail, and the company recently collaborated on Katak: The Brave Beluga, the highest-grossing Quebec-produced film of 2023.
• Ngenius has its own state-of-the-art GPU rendering farm which will now be at Tonic’s disposal.
• Gervais-Després is a key figure in the Quebec animation industry. He spent many years at Walt Disney Feature Animation in the 1990s-2000s before returning to Canada, where he participated in numerous local and international productions. In 2016, he founded Ngenious with Benoit Parent.
• Said Gervais-Després in a release: “Tonic DNA is the ultimate studio for fusing techniques at the highest level. I’m thrilled to join this studio and combine my love for 2D and 3D, discovering together new techniques to astonish the animation world, and create mind-blowing visuals like never before.”
• Tonic DNA general manager François Sansregret added: “Tonic DNA is particularly excited and thrilled about the addition of Eric and his studio infrastructure to our current teams. Lots of fun to come.”