Emmy-Winning ‘Rick And Morty’ Executive Producer And Former Sony Exec Rick Mischel Launches New Canadian Studio

Veteran producer Rick Mischel has purchased Canada’s Yeti Farm Creative animation studio and will re-launch the outfit under the new label Artists Animation Studio.

Based in Kelowna, British Columbia, approximately four and a half hours east of Vancouver by car, the new studio will set up shop inside the former Yeti Farm facility and offer full-scale animation services, focusing primarily on 2d Harmony and hand-drawn animation services for productions aimed at audiences of all ages.

Mischel is an industry veteran with more than three decades of experience. From 2018-2022, he served as CEO of Bardel Entertainment, where he was part of a team that won an Emmy for Rick and Morty. Before that, he was an executive producer at Sony Pictures Animation, where he worked on the Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs and Hotel Transylvania animated tv series. He was also part of the team that launched Sony Pictures Imageworks in Vancouver, the studio behind the Oscar-winning Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse and popular features from the Hotel Transylvania and The Smurfs franchises. Mischel has also put in shifts at Technicolor, Mainframe Entertainment, and The Harvey Entertainment Company.

In a release, Mischel said:

Artists Animation Studio reflects my mission to deliver a full suite of animation services, driven by artists who are committed to creative excellence and client satisfaction. Todd and Ashley have built a top-tier animation studio, which provides us with a solid platform to further expand our service capabilities.

Yeti Farm co-founder Todd Ramsay (Hotel Transylvania: The Series, Angry Birds) will serve as head of animation at Artists Animation Studio. Fellow Yeti co-founder Ashley Ramsay is leaving the company to “pursue new opportunities,” according to Deadline.

Other appointments include Dan Christmas (Agent Elvis, Invincible), who joins as a supervising producer, and Rachel Bepple (My Little Pony, Frog and Toad), who will be a producer for the studio.

Of the early appointments, Mischel explained:

I look forward to working together with Todd, Dan, and Rachel, all whose work I have admired over the years, as well as the amazing creative talent based in Kelowna and British Columbia as we continue to grow the studio’s roster and range of projects globally.