Nelvana Studios VP Athena Georgaklis, a long-time kids content champion at Corus Entertainment, is leaving on July 26 as a wave of layoffs plays out at the Canadian media company. All development work at Nelvana has also been paused for the next year, although productions that are already underway will continue to move forward.  

A spokesperson for Corus has confirmed that there were a few other cuts made related to the development hiatus, but declined to share further details. 

Georgaklis has been with Corus for more than 20 years, joining its kidsnet Teletoon back in 1997. She played a key part in developing and producing popular series such as 6Teen, Atomic Betty and Totally Drama Island, and was named head of development for Nelvana in 2016, with a remit to lead rights acquisitions and development for the studio’s original content. In February 2023, Georgaklis was promoted again to VP of Nelvana Studios. 

Well-known and widely respected in the global market as a kids content tastemaker and a generous collaborator, Georgaklis has spearheaded series such as Millie Magnificent (presold to several international broadcasters), Agent Binky: Pets of the Universe (Treehouse and Discovery Kids LatAm) and the short film The Most Magnificent Thing. She also helped move the animation studio into live action with Lambur Productions’ Hardy Boys series that Hulu and Corus-owned YTV ordered in 2019. 

Corus is on a course to “aggressively cut costs” so it can bounce back after a difficult quarter. The company has reported that its Q3 2024 revenue was down by 16% to just over US$240 million compared to the same period last year. Company executives cite the US writers/actors strikes and a steep advertising downturn triggered by general economic uncertainty as factors contributing to its poor financial results. 

During a Q3 earnings call on Monday, Corus co-CEOs Troy Reeb and John Gossling outlined plans to reduce spending, including eliminating 300 employees by the end of August—after previously cutting 500 positions earlier in the year. Corus also intends to halt the operation of two legacy AM radio stations, shut down the Oprah Winfrey Network, and not renew Big Brother Canada after 12 seasons. 

The cuts to its kids business may have been in the works for a while. Last month, Reeb shared that because the CRTC (Canada’s media regulator) allowed Corus to reduce the amount of money that it’s required to spend on developing “programs of national interest” (Canadian-focused long-form documentaries, dramas, comedies and award shows) from 8.5% to 5% of the previous year’s gross revenues, it could now spend more on reality TV—at the expense of producing less scripted kids content.