Artificial intelligence powered animation studio Toonstar on Thursday unveiled a multi-year partnership with News Corp (NWSA.O)-owned HarperCollins to produce a slate of original animated series based on select titles from the book publisher.
The partnership aims to expand access to HarperCollins' literary catalog through digital-first animation.
The first project in development under the deal is "Friendship List", based on Lisa Greenwald's popular series for tweens about friendship, self-discovery and the challenges of growing up.
A graphic novel inspired by the Toonstar series will be published by HarperAlley, the graphic novel imprint of HarperCollins.
Los Angeles-based Toonstar was founded by former Disney (DIS.N) and Warner Bros. executives John Attanasio and Luisa Huang to build a new pipeline of direct-to-consumer animated IP.
HarperCollins, which is part of News Corp's book publishing segment, saw revenue rise 6% to $633 million in the second quarter.
The company has a print and digital catalog of more than 250,000 titles and publishes about 10,000 new books every year in 16 languages, according to its website.
