TORONTO—Nolia Studios, a new AI-native film studio has launched under the leadership of award-winning filmmaker Bob Gaudette and veteran TV producer and creative director Kirk Hipkiss.
The launch follows the international success of Gaudette’s short film “A Face Only a Mother Could Love,” which has emerged as one of the most recognized AI films of the year. The eight-minute film earned the $50,000 Grand Prix at the 2026 Runway AI Festival, Best Picture at the OMNI International Film Festival, Best AI Film at the New York International Film Awards and the David Harold Blackwell Award for AI & Emerging Technology Film at The Eudaimonia Project Film Festival. It was also named a finalist at the 2026 Reply AI Film Festival in Venice.
Building on that momentum, Nolia Studios has been established as a dedicated, slate-driven production company focused on original intellectual property across film, television and emerging formats. The company formalizes a creative partnership that has been developing over the past year between Gaudette and Hipkiss through AI-driven film and broadcast projects.
Nolia Studios is currently developing a slate of original projects spanning short-form, feature and serialized content. Among these is “The Little Cloud Thief,” an animated property in development for both feature and episodic adaptation.
The launch of Nolia Studios is supported by Hipkiss’ broader production infrastructure through Radical Point Media, an established animation, visual effects, motion graphics and generative AI studio. The company is currently delivering CG and AI-driven production work for major broadcasters and platforms, including projects for Netflix, Warner Bros. Discovery and A+E Global Media, while continuing to support original IP development alongside client productions.
More information is available on the studio’s website.
