By: Kelly Townsend

Thunderbird Entertainment is implementing some cost-saving measures, including the elimination of a small number of roles across the company and reductions to travel and entertainment expenses, following a Q1 revenue decline that it attributes to external economic factors like the Writers Guild of America strike.

The layoffs will have a minimal impact on the company’s Atomic Cartoons animation studio, which had 22 projects in production in Q1, including CoComelon Lane for Moonbug/Netflix, Marvel’s Spidey and His Friends for Disney Junior and My Little Pony: Make Your Mark for eOne/Hasbro. And projections for fiscal 2024 as a whole are on track for double-digit earnings growth, says Thunderbird CEO and chair Jennifer Twiner McCarron (pictured).

Thunderbird mentioned the cost-saving measures in its Q1 2024 financial outlook (released November 29), which reported a 23% year-over-year revenue decrease for the quarter, from US$32.1 million in Q1 2023 to US$24.7 million this year. The drop was attributed to a reduction in IP deliveries, which was partially offset by service production revenue.

In a statement, McCarron said the company “was put to the test by external pressures that broadly impacted the industry and our business, especially in light of the writers’ strike that, despite not directly affecting our animation division, exerted a negative influence across the sector.”

Thunderbird completed a strategic review during its previous fiscal year, which determined that the company is in a good position to be acquired. Twiner McCarron previously told investors that any exploration of a sale would likely take place in the 2024 calendar year.

A version of this story originally appeared in Kidscreen Daily‘s sister publication Playback Daily.