Gungnir Launches Animation Studio Aimed At Building A ‘Cartoon Network Of The Digital Era’

Los Angeles publisher Gungnir is expanding into animation with the launch of a new studio that will anchor an in-house YouTube channel the company hopes can grow into “the Cartoon Network of the digital era.”

First reported by Deadline last week, the move is part of Gungnir’s broader plan to build a vertically integrated ecosystem spanning original animation, publishing, and direct fan engagement.

The newly formed Gungnir Animation Studio will develop original series and feature projects for the Gungnir Animation Network, a YouTube-native channel aimed at animation and genre audiences. According to the company, the network will take inspiration from legacy curators like Cartoon Network, while embracing digital-first formats and direct-to-fan distribution more typical of today’s animation landscape.

The studio is being launched by Gungnir founder and CEO Matthew Medney alongside producer Rosa Tran (Anomalisa, Robot Chicken), writer Eric W. Phillips (For All Mankind, The Umbrella Academy), and VFX supervisor and executive producer Wayne Brinton (Deadpool, Game of Thrones). Together, the group brings experience from stop-motion, live-action visual effects, and genre storytelling.

An advisory board has also been assembled, including Gotham Group founder and CEO Ellen Goldsmith-Vein, Adventure Time producer Curtis Lelash, former CAA agent Barry Kotler, Inkwell Technology Studios co-founder and CEO Oliver Luckett, investor Kathy Schlein, and Final Space creator Olan Rogers.

Tran described the effort as ambitious but necessary. “Building a network and being able to guide stories and shows for fans is a once-in-a-lifetime endeavor that we will not take lightly,” she told Deadline.

Medney framed the studio as a challenge to traditional animation pipelines. “Our mission is nothing short of tearing up the old playbook and building the Cartoon Network of the digital era,” he said.

Phillips, who is also adapting Gungnir’s sci-fi novel Wild North for television, said the appeal lies in creative freedom: “Writing bold, original, fan-forward stories on a boundless platform is what every genre writer dreams of.”

Gungnir Animation operates under Gungnir Publishing, which maintains a strategic partnership with Macmillan Publishers that allows its IP to move across books, animation, merchandise, and live events.