LOS ANGELES, June 12, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — The Jim Henson Company, an established leader in innovative and iconic entertainment, and The Operating Room, a Los Angeles based independent animation production company, are teaming up to develop a new CG/live- action hybrid series Adrenaline Lemmings, created by Alex Orrelle (Klaus, The Incredibles, Space Jam: A New Legacy), David M. Israel (Dynasty, 3rd Rock from the Sun, About a Boy), and Oded Turgeman (Summer Memories, Hawkmaster).
Adrenaline Lemmings features four high-octane, stunt-loving Alaskan Lemmings who accidentally crash-land in the big city. While training for an X-Games-style competition where their danger-defying skills could earn them a trip back home, they learn to thrive in this unfamiliar environment and embrace its unusual animal society. The series is based on animated shorts by Alex Orrelle and J. P. Vine (Ron’s Gone Wrong, Inside Out, The Good Dinosaur).
“We here at The Jim Henson Company have a special affinity for wild, subversive, and hilarious animal characters that both resonate with kid audiences and inspire them to leap outside their comfort zones to embrace new experiences,” said Halle Stanford, President of Television at The Jim Henson Company. “Adrenaline Lemmings allows us to branch out in older kids’ animation with an exciting live action/CG hybrid look and do ‘daring’ physical character comedy for kids, in the tradition of some of our company’s best-known productions.”
“It was a childhood dream of mine to work with The Jim Henson Company, and as an adult it has been a goal of mine to work with Halle Stanford and her team. I’m so happy that the Lemmings have made it happen. I believe that our band of radical Lemmings will reach the hearts of kids all over the world,” said Turgeman, who is also President of The Operating Room. “We are thrilled to collaborate with The Jim Henson Company on Adrenaline Lemmings and look forward to turning these daring and quirky characters into a successful franchise together,” added Roby Freireich, Founder and Partner of The Operating Room.
Adrenaline Lemmings is a co-production of The Jim Henson Company and The Operating Room, with Lisa Henson and Halle Stanford executive producing for The Jim Henson Company, and Oded Turgeman and Roby Freireich for The Operating Room. The series is being developed for episodic television by Emmy and Golden Globe winner David M. Israel and Oded Turgeman.
About The Jim Henson Company
The Jim Henson Company has remained an established leader in family entertainment for over 65 years and is recognized as an innovator in puppetry, animatronics, and digital animation. The Company’s most recent credits include the Oscar®-winning Guillermo Del Toro’s Pinocchio for Netflix, the Emmy®-winning Fraggle Rock: Back to the Rock for Apple TV+, and the feature film The Portable Door for MGM+. The Company is currently in post-production on a new reimagining of Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day starring Eva Longoria and Cheech Marin for Disney+. Other television credits include Slumberkins, Harriet the Spy and Fraggle Rock: Rock On, all for Apple TV+, Word Party for Netflix, Earth to Ned for Disney+, and the Emmy-winning Netflix Original series The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance. Other TV productions include Dinosaur Train (PBS), Splash and Bubbles (PBS), Sid the Science Kid (PBS), and Julie’s Greenroom (Netflix), as well as Fraggle Rock, The Storyteller, and the sci-fi series Farscape. Feature film credits include The Star (Sony Pictures Animation), Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day (Disney), and the ground-breaking fantasy classics The Dark Crystal, and Labyrinth.
With additional locations in New York and London, The Jim Henson Company is headquartered in Los Angeles on the historic Charlie Chaplin lot, complete with soundstage and post- production facilities. The Company is home to Jim Henson’s Creature Shop™, a pre-eminent character-building and visual effects group with international film, television, theme park and advertising clients, as well as Henson Recording Studios, one of the music industry’s top recording facilities known for its world-class blend of state-of-the-art and vintage equipment. The Company’s Henson Alternative credits include the feature film The Happytime Murders, and the popular live puppet improvisational show Puppet-Up! – Uncensored.
About The Operating Room
The Operating Room is a production company specializing in developing animated projects with franchise and licensing potential. We are passionate about bringing great stories and compelling characters to audiences worldwide. The company’s diverse slate includes projects for kids, families and adults. Our current projects include Hawkmaster which is being developed at FOX with the Oscar-winning director of PIXAR’s Brave, Mark Andrews; Stuffed, a kids’ adventure series based on a popular web comic by Erik McCurdy; and several other animated projects. The company was founded in 2007 by Oded Turgeman and Roby Freireich.
Oded Turgeman currently has several projects in development as President and Partner of the Operating Room, including Hawkmaster at FOX, where he is Executive Producer and collaborating with Oscar-winning Director of PIXAR’s Brave, Mark Andrews; and Polarizers at Epic Story Media, which he created as well as is producing. He most recently Executive Produced Summer Memories with Wild Brain. Prior to his work at The Operating Room, Oded graduated from the AFI Directors Program. He is represented by manager Ryan Saul at The Cartel.
Roby Freireich is a Partner and Managing Director at The Operating Room. He is a successful entrepreneur with decades of business experience. At The Operating Room, he is the chief deal maker and has been responsible for closing deals with both entertainment industry giants and talented creatives. Roby is also attached to produce many of The Operating Room’s projects. He is a founding partner in a stealth feature-focused animation studio venture based in Northern California, as well. Prior to his work at The Operating Room, Roby founded and built a global manufacturing and distribution company which became one of the fasting growing private companies in the US; with offices in Southern California, Hong Kong, and China. His customers included some of America’s largest retailers and major customers in over 40 countries worldwide. Roby received his MBA from the University of Southern California, and his undergraduate computer science degree from the University of California, Santa Barbara.
David M. Israel is an Emmy and Golden Globe winning television Writer/Producer/Showrunner who wrote and produced the dark comedies Dynasty for CW/Netflix for 4 seasons and UnREAL for Lifetime/Hulu for 2 seasons. Before that, he wrote and produced the half-hour comedies About a Boy, 3rd Rock from the Sun, Grounded for Life and The Tracy Morgan Show, which he co-created and was Co-Showrunner. Before that, he was a Writer/Producer/Editor for Major League Baseball Productions in NY. He is a Partner and EVP Content at The Operating Room. David is a graduate of Syracuse University.
For more information, please visit www.theoperatingroom.com
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SOURCE The Jim Henson Company
