WeAnimate 2025-06-03 | wam#0062

We spoke with Josephine Jerris Margolis last year, just as momentum around the series was building. Since then, the show has premiered in the UK on Milkshake, with a U.S. debut planned for later this autumn.

If you’ve had your ear to the ground, you may have noticed the buzz around Mint. The Copenhagen studio is busy producing a new animated series for Nickelodeon, has opened a second office in London, and is growing rapidly. For those who have thought of Mint as an advertising agency, this new trajectory may be surprising. But, according to Mint producer Josephine Jerris Margolis, all this growth is a natural progression of the company’s vision and aspiration. In fact, Mint leverages their insights and experience as an agency in order to develop original content and new projects. We recently spoke with Josephine to learn more about her, Mint, and their big plans for the future. 

Courtesy of NICKELODEON AND MILKSHAKE!

WA: What was it like to transition from commissioned work to original projects?

JJM: Well, I come from the entertainment background, and some of our team members have a more commercial background, but the combination of those things can really give us an advantage. We want to leverage the knowledge we have from the agency side, since we know what kids actually like, what they are interested in, and how best to communicate with them. On the studio side, we know that story is always the most important thing, and we do projects that we are really passionate about and that we really believe in, rather than just getting things done. So we have the strengths of both aspects, and I think that’s what makes us unique compared to other studios – we bridge a gap, approaching commercial projects with the same passion as an art project.

In order to go to work every day and be energized, and fight for your idea, and support your project, you have to believe in it – there has to be a spark. So we are always looking for projects that offer something different, or interesting, or a chance to explore something new, whether it’s in the concept or the story or the way we produce it.

 

– Josephine Jerris Margolis

We always approach things in this kind of commercial way – we’ll never be a studio that makes super arty projects. That’s not in our DNA, but we’ll do the best commercial projects we can do, with the same energy as if it were our own art project.

WA: What was it like for you personally to start producing animation?

JJM: At Mint, we sometimes have ideas that we’ve never done before, but we go ahead and do it anyway and learn everything we can along the way, and you can’t create content for kids without creating animation. On the studio side, we had successful live action shows, but our core audience remains kids and youth. We really wanted to get into animation, but it seemed like such a beast to start. Of course, there are some things that are the same as live action, but it’s an entirely different thing to create, and so much more production-heavy.

For me, it was a bit overwhelming at first. I actually really like animation, because my favorite part of production is the planning: I love the part where you have an idea, and then you make a plan for how you actually execute it. That’s the fun thing for me, and it’s so central to the animation process. In live action, of course you plan ahead, but once you’re on set, anything can happen. But of course you can’t do that in animation – you can’t just start and then decide to change it completely. It’s fun to be part of a process that’s so pre-production heavy. Of course, once you get past that, it’s still the same things that matter: you’re still trying to find the best way to get your story out into the world, and be true to the heart of the story.

I also had no idea how much animation talent we have here in Denmark, and it’s just so great to see. The animation community has a really collaborative mindset, which is incredibly helpful for a producer. Especially when you are new to it, having a team that is just excited and enthusiastic and eager to work and do their best is simply amazing. I met some incredible Danish producers and production people who helped guide and support us along the way. People were so eager and willing to help, and gave us such a warm welcome. It seems like the animation community is really interested in supporting the project, without a lot of egos or competitiveness, and very committed to supporting each other and the industry here in Denmark.

Animation is a long process, and it’s easy to burn people out. Production is often a really tough environment, and sometimes it seems like it actually doesn’t need to be that hard on people – that people are just choosing to perpetuate an unhealthy system. It becomes a kind of badge of honor, and people are proud of it instead of changing it. Instead, we want people to want to come to work every day, and we feel like that happiness translates into the final product. We have the best team, and I’m so happy that we can work so closely together, and I want to keep it that way.

 

– Josephine Jerris Margolis

Courtesy of NICKELODEON AND MILKSHAKE!

WA: Tell us about the new series!

JJM: The show is called Tim Rex in Space, and it’s about a dinosaur named Tim. He has a big brother named Tommy and a little sister Tia and his mom and dad. They live on this little asteroid in space, in a town called Rumbleton that’s made of small asteroids, and they just go and explore space and be kid dinosaurs. It is kind of crazy funny, but also rooted in those home and family stories that kids can really relate to.

Our audience is pre-school, 3-5 years old. It will premiere in early 2025 on Milkshake! in the UK, and globally on Nick International later in the year. We’ve almost finished the first episode and it’s just so great, and I can’t wait for when it’s final final and delivered. It’s really great seeing it come to life and all come together.

I recently found our first pitch, and it’s amazing to see how far it’s come. We developed the idea for Tim Rex in a really collaborative way, because we believe that at Mint everyone can have a good idea. We just get everyone in a room and brainstorm, or sometimes someone comes up with an idea, but we work together to develop the ideas and combine them with our insights about audiences and go from there.

WA: What has it been like working with Nickelodeon?

JJM: We first pitched Tim Rex to a different broadcaster, and we were told that it didn’t have international appeal and they turned it down. We thought that was fine, because it was our first project and pitch and we wanted the learning experience, so we were happy to go back and try again. But that same week we pitched it to Nickelodeon, and they came back and said that it was great, and they really wanted to work on it with us. So I think we were lucky to have the right people looking at the project at the right time.

We started developing the project with Milkshake! and with Nick International, and then Nick US also came on board.  There’s been a lot going on at Nickelodeon, and there have been a lot of changes, but our personal experience has only been that they are excited about the project and want to move it forward, so that has been great. We feel like it’s really been built up internally and they’ve brought more people on board who are excited about it, so I feel very lucky.

WA: What’s next for Mint?

JJM: We’re at a place where we feel like it’s time to go big or go home, which is perhaps not very Danish. I think sometimes in Denmark we kind of hide ourselves and stay modest, and don’t aim for big success. Danish projects always want to start small, and it’s absolutely amazing what Nordic producers can do with a small budget. But at Mint we really want to think from the beginning about big global projects with the appropriate budgets, and then infusing it with our Nordic mentality and way of telling stories.

We have recently opened an office in London, because our focus is on international projects and content, and we felt that London would be a good location to work from. We have an amazing talent pool here in Denmark, but there is also a ton of talent in the UK, and a lot of agency clients and our production partners, so it makes sense for us.

We are super happy to have Charlotte Raben as our new Head of Sales, so all the things we have been quietly working on, she will start to pitch and take to different markets and festivals. Tim Rex is at the front of our international aspirations, but we really want more global animation projects, and we are ambitious, so we want to move in that direction. These big ideas are really what excite and motivate us, and having well-financed projects also helps us keep a happy, stable team that wants to grow with us.

In the coming months, Mint will be sharing more about their new direction and new projects. Look for Tim Rex on a channel near you in 2025, and expect to see even more from Josephine and Mint in the future!

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