People on the Move: Toon2Tango Appoints Alice Burden Creative Producer, Ryan Stasyshyn Named Head of Rodeo FX Toronto & More

Kids and family entertainment venture Toon2Tango, a Leonine Animation Studios company, announced that Alice Burden has joined its team as Creative Producer. She will be responsible for steering and driving forward the studio’s strategic and creative direction, focusing on storytelling and creative development. “We are thrilled to welcome Alice on board. Having worked with her on previous projects already, we are impressed by her exceptional creative insight, dedication and operational acumen, a combination which will be instrumental and invaluable as we elevate our work and grow our original slates,” said Jo Daris, CCO & Producer.

“I’ve been lucky enough to work with the Toon2Tango team in the past and am a huge admirer of the brand portfolio and the company vision and values,” said Burden. “It’s an exciting time to come on board as Creative Producer with so many fantastic projects and partnerships in the works, and an opportunity to bring together all the parts of the children’s storytelling business that I love — from books to screen to toys!”

With a lifelong passion for children’s storytelling that started with an MA in Children’s Literature, Burden has built an extensive career in the entertainment industry spanning 25 years. She has held global roles in children’s publishing, broadcast, production and licensing for many household name companies including ITV, BBC Studios, Pan Macmillan, and The Walker Books Group. Most recently she was Acquisitions Director at Spin Master Entertainment bringing multiple projects into the Spin Master IP stable including the recent Netflix hit Unicorn Academy.

Rodeo FX announced the appointment of Ryan Stasyshyn as the new Head of its Toronto office and its offering of visual effects, animation and creative services. Bringing a wealth of experience, leadership and a commitment to fostering artistic excellence, Stasyshyn has been part of the production teams for noteworthy recent projects such as WandaVision, HBO’s Watchmen, John Wick: Chapter 4, The Handmaid’s Tale, 1923 and Priscilla.

Throughout his career, Stasyshyn gained invaluable on-set experience serving as the Head of Production, Head of Operations, and Managing Director. His tenures at various high-profile studios gave him a deep understanding of virtual production, an affinity for leadership roles that challenge the status quo and a contagious enthusiasm. Well known in the Toronto community, Stasyshyn has worked with several of the biggest local studios including Intelligent Creature, Monsters Aliens Robots Zombie and Maverick VFX.

“With Ryan stepping in as Head, we aim to grant the Toronto studio greater autonomy, enabling it to lead its own projects while supporting our headquarters and our other studios with their global initiative,” said Sebastien Moreau, President and Founder of Rodeo FX.

Animation & VFX studio Cinesite is expanding its immersive capabilities, announcing the appointment of Adipat Virdi as Executive Director, XR (Global). Virdi will drive Cinesite’s XR strategy, foster collaboration across the company’s global studios, and explore new opportunities for XR applications in entertainment, fashion, the automobile industry and beyond. The division was launched in January 2024, and the studio’s immersive work has been recognized with a number of awards including VES and THEA honors.

Virdi brings over two decades of experience to the new post. He has a background in ​​experience design and immersive storytelling, skills which he has brought to projects for a wide range of major brands and organizations such as BBC, Sony, Netflix, Virgin Atlantic, HSBC, Cosworth, Harbour Immersive, NASA, Charlotte Tilbury, Balenciaga, Lamborghini, Nike, IoC, Real Madrid and PagoNXT amongst others. Virdi specializes in developing immersive storytelling frameworks for both social and commercial impact. He joins Cinesite from Facebook (Meta), where he was the Global Creative Product Lead for Immersive, spearheading the Emerging Platforms team’s exploration of VR/XR and immersive experiences.

More Animation, VFX & Licensing Moves:

• CosmoBlue Media welcomes Tanuka Roy as General Manager of the Canadian office, lending her 20 years of experience in digital products and channels to the company’s expanding reach and growing portfolio.
• CosmoBlue Media earlier this month appointed Levent Gültan as the new CEO of family entertainment groups Macademia, Da Vinci and Azoomee.
• Miraculous Corp appointed industry veteran Roz Nowicki as Global Head of Consumer Products – Miraculous. The company is a recently formed joint venture of Mediawan and Miraculous creator ZAG.
• The Yard VFX in London tapped 15-year industry vet Ben Owen as Studio Manager of the recently launched office. Owen has previously worked for multinational studios including Framestore, MPC, DNEG and One of Us.
• IDW Publishing hired on two key roles for the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (TMNT) comics line: Editor-in-Chief Bobby Curnow and Senior Editor Andy Khouri.