Chromosome, in voluntary bankruptcy

Although the contest is initially for continuity, its administrators recognize that the purpose is to sell the different assets, since it has not been possible to sell the productive unit as a whole, and above all to find investors.

The Catalan producer Chromosome, a benchmark in animation with the success of the series The three twins, and in documentary with projects such as Bicycle, Spoon, Apple… It has been declared in voluntary bankruptcy by Commercial Court 7 of Barcelona headed by Judge Raúl García Orejudo.

According to publication The Vanguard, this production company, and its subsidiary Digital 360, have declared a joint liability of more than 6 million euros and although the contest is initially for continuity, its administrators recognize that the purpose is to sell the different assets, since it has not been possible to sell the production unit as a whole, and above all to find investors who will assume the continuity of the most advanced ongoing projects, such as the film The Three Twins and the documentary Bajari about Gypsy Barcelona.

As reported by La Vanguardia, Cromosoma has already stopped operating and has laid off the entire staff, which exceeded 30 people, especially concentrated in Digital 360, the factory that was in charge of physically creating the drawings and editing and post-production of the films.

Sources close to the company have acknowledged to La Vanguardia that the Cromosoma crisis has been precipitated after the death of its founder, Oriol Ivern, this summer. The firm was already in trouble due to the high structural expenses of its subsidiary, the debt assumed to launch and equip it in 2007, and the drop in income caused by the reduction in television investment and piracy, which reduced sales by almost 50%, but it also did not have a management team that could take over from its founder.

Now one of the main tasks for the bankruptcy administrator will be to set a value for assets as complex as their audiovisual productions and their respective rights.