Surfing Giant Studios to Open Canary Islands Animation Studio, Creating 100 Jobs

The Canary Islands are becoming a popular spot for film and TV companies. This is clear with the news that Surfing Giant Studios will open a new animation studio there. The company, which already has a production base in Manchester, UK, since 2022, picked the islands to handle its increasing number of projects, thanks to the tax breaks available.

This new studio is set to open in spring 2026 and will create more than 100 new jobs in animation and production. Surfing Giant Studios expects to hire most of these new employees from the Canary Islands and mainland Spain.

Choosing Tenerife fits with the company's plan to grow its business in Europe. Surfing Giant Studios pointed to the strong tax incentives and the availability of skilled workers in the Canary Islands as key reasons. These factors will help them increase production efficiently and put money back into their teams and projects.

Surfing Giant Studios was founded by producer Jeff “Swampy” Marsh, writer and producer Michael Hodges, and Alcon Entertainment's COO Scott Parish. The company has grown significantly since 2022. Their series "Hey A.J.!", which launched last month on Disney Junior, Disney Channel, and Disney+, has been very popular. It stayed in the daily "top 5" series on Disney+ for over ten days, marking the studio's first long-form series. The company is also working on a new action-adventure series for a major US network, which hasn't been announced yet.

Surfing Giant Studios plans to connect its European operations, linking its Manchester and Canary Islands studios. This setup will allow them to create original content and produce several series at once, using both Toon Boom Harmony and 3D animation techniques. The studio develops projects for different genres and age groups, mainly focusing on high-quality original ideas. The new Canary Islands studio will be a custom-built space designed for teamwork. It will start by focusing on 2D animation, with plans to expand into other formats and platforms later.

Hiring for the new studio will start in the next few weeks. Job openings and applications will only be accepted through the company's official websites. Helen Brown, the studio director, will be in charge of production, hiring, and developing talent at all locations, including Manchester and the Canary Islands.

Pablo Hernández, president of the Canary Islands Special Zone, called Surfing Giant Studios' arrival a major step forward. He said it strengthens the islands' animation industry and helps make it one of the world's top digital arts centers. Hernández highlighted the Canary Islands' remarkable success in this field, growing from almost nothing in 2017 to a leading example in Europe and worldwide.

Surfing Giant Studios now has creative teams in Los Angeles, Manchester, and soon in the Canary Islands. These teams have worked on many famous projects, including "Hey A.J!", "Blade Runner Black Lotus", "Garfield", "Batman", "Phineas and Ferb", "The Simpsons", "King of the Hill", "Harley Quinn", "Pete the Cat", and "SpongeBob SquarePants".