Streaming's boom-and-bust cycle hit animators hard. It's not the first time
LOS ANGELES — Developing an animated show takes time. When Tze Chun pitched his "Gremlins" prequel series about five years ago, it was for an "unnamed Warner streaming service."
"I think it was [one of] the first things that they bought, so that gives you an idea of how long we've been working on this," said Chun, showrunner and executive producer of the "Gremlins: Secrets of the Mogwai," which premiered last month on Max.
Even that was "very quick in animation time," added executive producer Brendan Hay.
The same can't be said for streaming itself. In the four years since the first reports that a "Gremlins" prequel had been greenlighted, that "unnamed streaming service" was given a name, launched, acquired in a mega media merger and relaunched with a brand new name and catalog — with a slimmed-down animation portfolio.
A number of other streaming platforms launched during the same period, including , , Peacock, and the rebranded , joining a field of direct-to-consumer video offerings that already included stalwarts Netflix,
