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Nickelodeon Celebrates Grand Opening of West Coast Complex with Special Event

On Wednesday, January 11, 2017, Nickelodeon held a ribbon cutting ceremony that officially opened the doors to its newly expanded building in Burbank, CA, and of course Celeb Secrets was there to celebrate the special day!

An over 200,000 square-foot, state-of-the-art, sustainable complex now houses over 700 Nickelodeon employees and over 20 show productions, including the biggest hits in kids’ programming such as The Loud House, Spongebob SquarePants, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and more.

The building is five stories tall with each floor a different color. This reflects the brand’s style and sensibility, outfitted with art and installations to inspire and support creativity and a collaborative community.

We had the opportunity to tour each of the floors, and absolutely LOVED the freedom this network gives their employees, embodying a space for artists. Each floor included a number of chalkboard walls for artists to display their work, write notes, or brainstorm ideas. The ceilings of each floor had cloud lighting, a type of reduced lighting that let’s the artists look at their art in a different way. In addition, the space is a free for all, eliminating corner offices, having communal spaces, and having employees create their own artistic neighborhood, with the freedom of decorating and creating their own space.

Nickelodeon Animation Studio, Burbank, CA. Photo: Bruce Damonte/NICKELODEON© 2016 Viacom International, Inc. All Rights Reserved

“It’s a place to step out of what they do for a living and try something new for themselves. A place to expand their creativity”, SVP of Animation Production, David Steinberg said in a press release.

Two of the floors have a “Maker’s Labs;” a special space for artists to come release some steam or to experiment with their art. The “Maker’s Labs” were created especially for artists to have fun either in the Traditional Room (filled with stop-motion capabilities and animation discs, and old school paint) or the Digital Room, (where you can scan in your drawings and make it come to life with the latest animation software).

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The whole reason for this building is not only to bring everyone together under one roof, but also to showcase the huge accomplishments of Nickelodeon from the early Nick days to the present. This was showcased by the new 23,000 square-foot courtyard serving as a connection point between the new and original building, while itself serving as an outdoor work and meeting area with full A/V capabilities and an art installation site. There will be banners displayed outside representing every live-action and animation show in current production, as well as wire sculptures of present shows like Henry Danger and many classic favorites from the 90’s like Clarissa Explains It All.

Additional features of Nick’s newly expanded complex include a screening room, three voiceover studios, a Cafe, Indoor/Outoor Connection, a fitness room and Zen gardens, a music room, a game room, an arcade, and an art gallery/archive of several Nickelodeon shows.

“Our new complex now signals our increased commitment to giving our creators and employees the very best environment and resources to be successful”, said Cyma Zarghami, President, Nickelodeon Group. We couldn’t agree with her more. The network actually surveyed employees to create an environment specifically for them. This new building is everything you embody for an artist, a place where you don’t want to be at home.

“A building is not a building, when you look forward to coming to work more than being at home. It becomes a home”, shared Butch Hartman, Creator and EP of Bunsen is the Beast and The Fairly OddParents.

This new opening is a significant moment for Nickelodeon, creating a new era of creative excellence that will only come along with even more success for the network.

Jack Griffo from The Thundermans, Thomas Kuc, Benjamin Flores Jr., Cree Cicchino and Madisyn Shipman from Game Shakers attend the Ribbon Cutting Ceremony to celebrate the Grand Opening of Nickelodeon’s State-of-the-Art Complex on January 11, 2017 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Charley Gallay/Getty Images for Nickelodeon)

Celeb Secrets had the opportunity to catch up with the cast of Game Shakers to hear about their thoughts on the new Nick complex! In our Q&A below, Cree Cicchino, Madisyn Shipman, Thomas Kuc, and Benjamin Flores, Jr reveal their favorite part of the complex and their favorite activities.

Keep up with Nickelodeon and its new space by following them on Twitter at @NickelodeonTV.

Celeb Secrets: We’re here at the grand opening of the new Nickelodeon studios, how do you think this new facility will impact the ever-growing network?

Thomas Kuc: “I just think that we’re going to have a lot more fun because we’re going to go to the facility like everyday! We can go to the gym, go to the meditation room, etc…”

Celeb Secrets: Are you guys big on physical activity?

Thomas Kuc: “Yeah! I do gymnastics like 24/7…”

Benjamin Flores Jr.: “Taekwondo and I also workout a lot too.”

Cree Cicchino: “I do dance, I’ve been a dancer since I was four.”

Madisyn Shipman and Cree Cicchino, Jack Griffo, and Thomas Kuc and Benjamin Flores Jr. attend the Ribbon Cutting Ceremony to celebrate the Grand Opening of Nickelodeon’s State-of-the-Art Complex on January 11, 2017 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Charley Gallay/Getty Images for Nickelodeon)

Celeb Secrets: Have you’ve seen the new space? What’s your favorite part about the building?

Cree Cicchino: “I really like the art gallery, I think it’s really great that the employees get to share their work. We have over 50 Nickelodeon artists that have their artwork in here so it’s really great. Very beautiful!”

Thomas Kuc: “Like Cree was saying, the art room looks really cool, but other than that probably the kitchen, which is a really cool area. It has food — I mean everyone loves food and there’s this scenery room with this statue of a Nickelodeon character, the meditation room.”

Madisyn Shipman: “My favorite would have to be the room with the little clay sculptures and magazines from old shows. It’s really cool.”

Benjamin Flores Jr.: “My favorite room is the meditation room, which is what Thomas was talking about. There’s this big 400lb animation character which is pretty awesome.”

Madisyn Shipman: “There’s also the fitness room where you can work out if you bring your workout gear!”

Celeb Secrets: There is a room where creators can draw — do you guys do any drawings?

Thomas Kuc: “Here and there; Benjamin is a really good cartoon drawer. I used to draw when I was little.”

Cree Cicchino: “I like to say I do, but like not really. I think it’s fun, though! I’d really like to work on it. I used to watercolor, I had this phase where all I would do is watercolor galaxies.”

Madisyn Shipman: “I am not an artist in the sense of like painting and everything, but I do play instruments. So that’s like art in a different form. I play the guitar, ukulele, keyboard, bass, and I sing.”

Benjamin Flores Jr.: (to Madisyn) “you should be an instrument yourself!”

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