Like a Photon Creative is scaling its family animation model into a seven-feature pipeline, with Sola Media handling international sales across the slate. The Australian studio unveiled the plans ahead of the American Film Market.
Production finance for the films comes from Elevate Production Finance and Alceon Entertainment Partners. Maslow Entertainment has taken Australia-New Zealand rights. The companies said the lineup could generate up to 1,000 jobs across Australia and Ireland.
The first title
The first feature, Familiar, is an in-house original structured as a treaty co-production with Ireland’s Elephant Goldfish. Production is scheduled to begin in March 2027. The story is set at Ironclaw Academy, where animal companions of sorcerers undergo messy training; its lead is a young cat named Josie.
Like a Photon CEO Kristen Souvlis positioned the slate around repeat family viewing and broad appeal. “Families keep coming back to our films, and we’re focused on making projects that deserve that trust,” she said.
Direct-to-consumer before theatrical
The part most relevant to entertainment marketers is the studio’s extras strategy. Each of the seven features will be paired with short-form direct-to-consumer material built from footage that will not appear in the films themselves. That material will be bundled with the movies and distributed across online and social platforms.
Sola Media’s Solveig Langeland described this as “creating awareness and marketing momentum long before the films reach cinemas.” For media planners, it functions as a long-lead owned audience play: family content can begin collecting views, data and social engagement while a film is still in production or post.
Why the slate has a proof point
The announcement follows The Pout-Pout Fish, which Sola also sold internationally. The adaptation opened at No. 9 at the U.S. box office, is the fourth highest-grossing Australian film of 2026 so far, hit No. 1 on Amazon Prime Kids and reached No. 6 among all Prime viewers. Maslow released it in Australian cinemas on Jan. 1, while Viva Kids handled the U.S. release on March 20.
That track record gives the seven-film plan a clearer benchmark than a typical slate announcement:
- Seven new animated features with international sales handled by Sola Media.
- Up to 1,000 jobs expected across Australia and Ireland.
- Short-form DTC content attached to every feature before release.
- Next release The Neverending Pillow Fort is due in early 2027.
The studio has made 10 3D animated features for worldwide theatrical release since 2017, including Combat Wombat, The Sloth Lane and The Lost Tiger. It also created the Sanctuary City multiverse for Universal Content Group.
What to watch next
In another long-term pipeline move, Like a Photon has joined Screen Queensland’s Escalate: Feature Focus Writers Initiative. Six Queensland-based screenwriters will each write a script for a possible 3D animated feature from studio-supplied concepts, with writers’ rooms starting in February 2027.
For international distributors and platform buyers, the slate is effectively a family-content pipeline with pre-built social assets. The test will be whether that DTC layer translates into theatrical openings and streaming demand across seven titles, not just one.
Source: Variety
