Canada’s Sinking Ship Entertainment is prepping a new series called Dino Dex, which will extend its popular Dino franchise even further. 

Production started last week on a first season of 13 episodes aimed at four- to seven-year-olds. The show was greenlit by Prime Video, Amazon Kids+ and TVOKids. Shaw Rocket Fund supported the production and Canada’s TFO and Knowledge Network have pre-bought the series.

Dino Dex revolves around a nine-year-old boy who follows in the footsteps of previous protagonists Dan, Trek and Dana in studying prehistoric creatures with his trusty gadgets and friends. But in contrast to his sister Dana, who mainly solves problems with science, Dex will approach his paleontological passion with a more artistic eye. Each episode will see him reimagine how the dinos could have looked, as well as exploring geology concepts courtesy of his best friend and neighbor Kayla. 

Created by Sinking Ship partner J.J. Johnson, Dino Dex is the latest iteration in the company’s dino-focused live-action hybrid TV franchise. The series are all set in a world where dinosaurs freely roam present-day Earth, with a young paleontologist-in-training adventuring along with them. 

The Toronto-based studio has built a very successful business around this format, starting with Dino Dan for TVOKids and Nickelodeon in 2008, and following up with Dino Dan: Trek’s Adventures in 2013 (also for Nick and TVOKids) and Dino Dana in 2017 (Prime Video and TVOKids). Sinking Ship also launched a companion movie for Dino Dana in 2020. 

Over the years, these shows have aired in more than 200 countries, proving the franchise’s longevity and the global appetite for a new spinoff. The newest installment, Dino Dana, continues to sell well all around the world, including recent deals with Japan’s NHK (March) and Youku in China (May).

Updated July 10, 2023 at 2:30 pm