Rick Mischel, former Sony Pictures Animation producer, has been appointed as chief executive officer of Bardel Entertainment.

In his new role, Mischel will develop a new business strategy for the Vancouver-based animation service provider by exploring new opportunities.

“Rick is an incredibly talented leader who has impressive track records,” says Iginio Straffi, founder and president of Rainbow Group, which owns Bardel Entertainment. “The potential for growth of Bardel Entertainment is enormous, but it requires a future-focused leader with the recognized depth and breadth of experience to manage the opportunities and challenges of a multi-platform, multi-studio world.”

Before Sony and Bardel, Mischel was the former executive vice president of Technicolor, founder and president of Reach Games and chief executive officer of Mainframe Entertainment.

“This is an exciting opportunity to lead a group of gifted animation artists with a proven track record of delivering the highest quality animation for some of the biggest intellectual properties in television and film,” says Mischel. “I look forward to continuing that history of surpassing client expectations, and working together with the global resources of Rainbow to take the company in new, innovative directions.”