Boat Rocker Studios has officially greenlit Nano Runners, a brand-new 26-episode, 11-minute action-adventure animated series targeted at children ages six and up. Created by Matthew Fernandes, co-founder of Industrial Brothers, the high-stakes project represents a significant milestone for the Canadian production landscape: it is the first fully financed animated series independently funded by Boat Rocker Studios. The company plans to introduce the ambitious property to international buyers at the upcoming MIPCOM market alongside its recently announced fully financed unscripted slate.
Currently entering its early production phase, Nano Runners is scheduled for a worldwide release in late 2027. Boat Rocker will retain global distribution rights while concurrently overseeing comprehensive franchise development and global consumer products merchandising. The project brings together a seasoned creative team known for producing hit children’s television, marrying Fernandes’s signature world-building style with Boat Rocker’s robust production and commercial framework.
Synopsis and Creative Premise
The narrative of Nano Runners follows teenage fugitives Kai and Jade as they navigate an extraordinary and perilous new existence. After malicious machines destroy their home planet, the pair manage to escape, ultimately crash-landing on Earth. The catch, however, completely upends their scale of survival: upon arrival, Kai and Jade find themselves shrunk down to a size smaller than ordinary bugs.
Against this microscopic backdrop, mundane terrestrial environments transform into treacherous, life-threatening landscapes. Ordinary raindrops strike with the devastating impact of falling bombs, while common garden beetles loom over them with the terrifying presence of giant kaiju. Despite these immense environmental hazards, Kai and Jade embark on a high-stakes mission to locate a lost colony of their displaced people. Their perilous search takes on even greater urgency when they discover that the very machines responsible for destroying their homeworld have tracked them to Earth, intent on stripping the planet bare of its resources.
To bring this imaginative premise to life, veteran writer and story editor Craig Martin—whose extensive credits include Inspector Gadget—has spearheaded the scripting process. The creative vision is further supported by an elite group of executive producers. Boat Rocker co-founders Ivan Schneeberg and David Fortier, recognized for their work on projects like Dino Ranch: Island Explorers, are joined by Jon Rutherford, Boat Rocker’s president of global content and rights, who has previously overseen hits such as A Tale Dark & Grimm. On the Industrial Brothers side, co-creator Matthew Fernandes and Tammy Semen, whose credits include Daniel Spellbound, round out the executive production team.
Corporate Evolution and Strategic Partnership
The greenlighting of Nano Runners is deeply intertwined with the evolving corporate strategy of Boat Rocker. The Toronto-based studio has established a stellar reputation in the global children’s entertainment sector through a diverse catalog of successful series, including Dino Ranch, Daniel Spellbound, Remy & Boo, and Top Wing. For Boat Rocker, Nano Runners has long functioned as a cherished passion project, reflecting a shared creative vision cultivated over nearly a decade.
The institutional relationship between Boat Rocker and Industrial Brothers spans many years. Boat Rocker initially held a minority equity stake in Industrial Brothers for nearly a decade. That foundational relationship deepened significantly in August 2025, when Boat Rocker acquired a majority stake in Industrial Brothers as part of a broader corporate restructuring that saw Boat Rocker return to private ownership.
This transition to a private entity allowed the studio to pivot its operational focus sharply toward intellectual property (IP) development, full ownership, and long-term franchise value generation. Nano Runners serves as the direct realization of this refocused corporate mandate, embodying the type of high-concept, creator-driven property the studio intends to champion moving forward.
Executive Perspectives and Industry Implications
Reflecting on the strategic importance of the greenlight, Jon Rutherford emphasized the alignment between the studio’s new trajectory and the creative DNA of Industrial Brothers.
"It’s been a little over a year since Boat Rocker Studios returned to private ownership and refocused our strategy on IP development and ownership," stated Rutherford. "This project, from the immensely talented mind of Matt Fernandes, is exactly the type of project we want to be investing in. We’re excited to combine the ingenuity and creativity of Matt and Industrial Brothers, with Boat Rocker’s best-in-class production, distribution and franchise management expertise to present something wholly unique to the marketplace at MIPCOM."
The decision by Boat Rocker to fully finance an animated series of this magnitude signals a notable shift in current children’s media financing models. In an era where traditional broadcast pre-sales and complex co-production financing structures have become increasingly difficult to secure amid shifting media landscapes and platform contractions, fully financing a proprietary IP demonstrates robust financial health and a high degree of confidence in the global commercial viability of the property.
Furthermore, by retaining 100 percent of the underlying rights, Boat Rocker positions itself to maximize downstream revenue across multiple verticals, including global broadcast syndication, streaming licensing, digital engagement, and extensive consumer products programs ranging from toys to interactive gaming.
Production Timeline and Market Outlook
As the production team ramps up activities in Toronto, anticipation is building for the property’s official debut on the international stage at MIPCOM. While early production milestones are currently being met, the lengthy pipeline required for high-quality children’s animation places the official premiere squarely in the late 2027 window.
Industry analysts will be closely watching how Nano Runners performs at the market, viewing it as a bellwether for the success of independently financed animated action-adventure properties in a post-consolidation television market. With a seasoned crew, a high-concept narrative blending survival elements with sci-fi themes, and the full weight of a vertically integrated studio behind it, Nano Runners stands poised to carve out a distinctive footprint in the global children’s entertainment market when it finally hits screens in 2027.
