Allspark (company)
Hasbro Studios, LLC, d/b/a Allspark, is an American production and distribution company located in Burbank, California. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of the American toy and multimedia company Hasbro. Originally just a TV production division, many of its TV shows are based on Hasbro properties and are broadcast on Discovery Family, a joint venture between Hasbro and Discovery, Inc. and on other television networks and multiple media platforms.
Allspark Pictures is Allspark's live action production label, while Allspark Animation is its animation production label. Cake Mix Studio is the company's Rhode Island-based producer of commercials and short form content.
Background
In the early 1980s, when Hasbro began creating animated series based on their properties, they hired Sunbow Productions, who was already producing commercials for them, to create such series as and The Transformers which would by syndicated by Hasbro's Claster Television subsidiary. In May 2008, Hasbro reacquired the animated series based on their properties from Sunbow Productions so that they could create programs in-house.History
Hasbro Studios (2009–2019)
Hasbro Studios was founded in 2009 for TV development, production and distribution, with Stephen J. Davis as president. On October 10, 2010, Hasbro Studios and Discovery Communications relaunched the channel formerly known as Discovery Kids as The Hub. On November 9, 2010, Hasbro Studios signed an agreement with Canadian media company Corus Entertainment to broadcast their productions on YTV and Teletoon. On October 6, 2011, Hasbro Studios signed an agreement with seven US and international airlines, such as Continental Airlines and Qantas, to broadcast shows on their planes. In March 2012, the studio started venturing into foreign co-productions starting with Play-Doh, mixed animation and live action series with Toonmax, part of the Shanghai Media Group.In December 2012, Hasbro transferred all entertainment divisions to Hasbro Studios, including their Los Angeles-based film group, and Cake Mix Studio, the company's Rhode Island-based producer of commercials and short form content. On February 28, 2013, the studio laid off three staffers in its Game & Reality Show Production & Development department, which was moved under vice president Kevin Belinkoff along with the animation department's management and outside creative consultants.
In August 2014, Josh Feldman was appointed as head of development for Hasbro Studios, as he will oversee live-action and TV series. On October 20, the studio announced the new film finance production label Allspark Pictures.
Hasbro Studios released its first non-soundtrack album, Truly Outrageous: A Tribute to Starlight Records, with Legacy Recordings on August 7, 2015. This promotion album for Jem film consisted of remakes of classic Jem TV series songs.
On December 15, 2015, Hasbro Studios and Paramount Pictures have signed a deal to create a five-property movie universe produced by Hasbro's Allspark Pictures and distributed by Paramount Pictures. The properties in this movie-verse are G.I. Joe, Micronauts, ', M.A.S.K. and Rom.
After two attempted films for Stretch Armstrong, the property was picked up by Netflix in January 2016 for a full order as a 26-episode animated series, making it the first deal between the company and the streaming service. By March 2017, Hasbro Studios' executive staff and its animation and toy prototyping teams moved to the Burbank office building. In 2017, Hasbro Studios launched its first franchise through YouTube called '.
On November 3, 2017, Hasbro Studios and Paramount extended their relationship, with an exclusive five year production deal for Allspark Pictures and Allspark Animation to create original and franchise-based films. Both Allspark units were newly formed, with the film unit led by Greg Mooradian and the animation unit led by Meghan McCarthy. Paramount and Hasbro would also work together on TV series.
With the loss of the Jurassic Park license in 2016, Hasbro launched a new dinosaurs based franchise, its second new studio property, with its Chomp Squad animated series on January 6, 2018. On May 1, 2018, Hasbro announced that they were acquiring Power Rangers and other entertainment assets from Saban Capital Group, which was completed on June 12, 2018. At the time, Power Rangers was renewed for three more seasons until 2021, and the animated series Treehouse Detectives had nearly two seasons produced.
Allspark (2019–present)
On March 26, 2019, Stephen Davis announced that Hasbro Studios would be rebranded as "Allspark", named after the fictional artifact featured in the Transformers franchise.On May 7, 2019, Allspark and Boulder Media announced a new feature animation studio. The companies had bid on an old ferry terminal for the studio, but were turned down by the Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council in previous attempts.
Allspark Pictures
Allspark Pictures, formerly Hasbro Films, or Hasbro Film Group, is a film production within Allspark, a subsidiary of Hasbro tasked with developing movies for Hasbro properties.Background
In 1986, ' and ', animated theatrical films based on Hasbro properties, were released. Waddingtons, later purchased by Hasbro in 1994, Clue's US licensee, licensed a Clue film, released in 1985. Hasbro had previously licensed Transformers to DreamWorks for a live action film released in 2007. The Transformers franchise continued solely with Paramount Pictures, the distribution of and acquirer of DreamWorks, with the addition of the G.I. Joe property.Pictures history
Hasbro Films
and Universal Pictures signed an agreement in February 2008 to derive and produce four films from seven Hasbro properties: Battleship, Candy Land, Clue, ', Monopoly, Ouija, and Stretch Armstrong. Hasbro was to pay for all development costs for the films and Universal was supposed to pay $5 million per property not made into films. In May, Bennett Schneir was hired to lead its film division while Hasbro also reacquired animated series based on their properties from Sunbow Productions.By January 2012, all Hasbro properties at Universal — except for Battleship and Ouija — were halted in development. While Hasbro's film division continued to have an office on the Universal lot, Hasbro was able to take the Universal agreement properties to any studio. Universal paid a multimillion-dollar fee instead of the $5 million per property to depart from the agreement.
On 31 January 2012, it was announced that Columbia Pictures, Happy Madison, and Adam Sandler were in final negotiations to develop the Candy Land film. In February, Stretch Armstrong was set up with Relativity Media. In October, Hasbro signed a three picture co-production two-year deal which includes a first look provision with Emmett/Furla for Monopoly, Action Man, and Hungry Hungry Hippos, with Envision Entertainment's partners Stepan Martisoyan and Remington Chase as co-financiers. In December, Hasbro transferred the feature films division into Hasbro Studios along with its other short film division. By October 10, 2013, Relativity and Hasbro had removed the Stretch Armstrong movie from their schedules.
Hasbro filed suit against Sweetpea Entertainment and Warner Bros. on May 12, 2013 regarding the announced Dungeons & Dragons movie based on Chainmail. Hasbro had asserted that rights had reverted to Hasbro, while Sweetpea felt they had the rights under a 1994 agreement with TSR. Hasbro had reportedly just agreed to license D&D movie rights to Universal. On August 3, 2015, Warner Bros. announced that they will be developing a Dungeons & Dragons movie as a resolution to the lawsuit. The film will be based on the Forgotten Realms campaign world with Courtney Solomon and Roy Lee producing, David Leslie Johnson writing the screenplay, and produced by Sweetpea Entertainment and Allspark Pictures.
In January 2014, Hasbro announced a franchise film deal with 20th Century Fox for ' by its subsidiary Wizards of the Coast. In October 2014, the studio announced its film self-finance/co-finance label Allspark Pictures with its first existing project Jem and the Holograms, along with '.
Hasbro's first original film project, Hacker Camp, was assigned to writer Tripper Clancy in February 2015. By July 2015, the Monopoly satire film with Emmett/Furla was set aside with Hasbro announcing that Lionsgate will distribute a Monopoly film with Andrew Niccol writing the film as a family-friendly action adventure film co-financed and produced by Lionsgate and Hasbro's Allspark Pictures.
Films' parent unit, Hasbro Studios, on December 15, 2015 agreed with Paramount Pictures to a deal creating a five-property movie universe by financing unit Allspark Pictures and distributed by Paramount Pictures. The properties in this movie-verse are G.I. Joe, Micronauts, ', M.A.S.K. and Rom. A writers’ room was organized to develop a "creative roadmap". On April 21, 2016, The Hollywood Reporter has reported that Michael Chabon, Brian K. Vaughan, Nicole Perlman, Lindsey Beer, Cheo Coker, John Francis Daley & Jonathan Goldstein, Joe Robert Cole, Jeff Pinkner, Nicole Riegel and Geneva Robertson has joined the writers room.
On November 4, 2016, The Weinstein Company has announced that a Furby movie is in development as a live action/CG-animated movie produced under the TWC-Dimension label.
After two attempts to purchase or merge with a filmed entertainment company, DreamWorks Animation and Lionsgate, fell apart due to pricing differences, Hasbro Studios moved to create a full-fledged movie studio. Thus in October 2017, the company hired Greg Mooradian, currently working at Fox 2000, as president of Allspark Pictures starting January 2018. Variety's sources also indicated that the company was looking for financing for a while in the hundred million dollars range. By November 2017, a five-year exclusive distribution and production pact was signed between Hasbro and Paramount Pictures for Allspark Pictures and Allspark Animation films. Plus Meghan McCarthy was promoted to head up for Allspark Animation.
Filmography
Television series
Animated television series
Animated web series
Live-action television series
Live-action game shows
Films and specials
Discography
Non-sound track albums| Title | U.S. release date | Length | Composer | Label |
| Truly Outrageous: A Tribute to Starlight Records | Legacy Recordings | |||
| A Pony Kind of Christmas | | 27:45 37:44 | Legacy Recordings |
Feature-length films
| Title | Production by | Year | Budget | Box office | Note |
| Transformers | $150 million | $709.7 million | |||
| ' | $200 million | $836.3 million | |||
| ' | $175 million | $302.5 million | |||
| ' | $195 million | $1.12 billion | |||
| Battleship | $209–220 million | $303 million | |||
| ' | $155 million | $375.7 million | |||
| ' | $210 million | $1.104 billion | |||
| Ouija | $5 million | $103.6 million | |||
| Jem and the Holograms | $5 million | $2.3 million | |||
| ' | $9–12 million | $81.7 million | |||
| ' | $217 million | $605.4 million | |||
| ' | Allspark Pictures DHX Media Lionsgate | $6.5 million | $60.3 million | ||
| Bumblebee | $100–137 million | $468 million |