Canadian Lawyer

24 S E P T E M B E R 2 0 1 7 w w w . C A N A D I A N L a w y e r m a g . c o m ichael Donovan, executive chairman of Halifax-based DHX Media Ltd., describes himself as a workaholic. "I have no vices; therefore, I have no choice but to work hard," he says with his dry sense of humour. "I've played only one game of golf in my life." Through his hard work, DHX has grown to be the largest owner and distributor of children's animated video content outside of the Hollywood studios. A one-year stint as a lawyer morphed into a film and television producing career for which Donovan has received more than 40 awards, including an Oscar. In 2016, he was named EY Entrepreneur of the Year for Canada, in recognition of his vision and determination as a company builder. This year, he was inducted into the Nova Scotia Business Hall of Fame. But at 64, the Maritime entertainment mogul is not ready to rest on his laurels. He gave up his CEO title in favour of executive chairman in 2014 — "this has meant I work twice as hard for lower pay" — shifting to more of a strategic focus and less of an operational role. But the deal-making continues. At the end of June, DHX closed a US$345-million purchase of the rights to Peanuts and Strawberry Shortcake. "We do believe we should try to provide fam- ilies and children with programs of value," says Donovan. "Peanuts is perfectly aligned with that." It was DHX's largest acquisition — you can't buy the rights to Charlie Brown for peanuts, after all — and the last one for the foreseeable future. "We are big enough, for the time being, in library size," he says. A month earlier, DHX announced a deal with iQIYI, one of China's most popu- lar video-streaming platforms, to launch the first two seasons of the new Teletubbies series in that country. Previously, DHX had licensed children's programming to Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba Group for its video-on-demand service. Donovan complains of rampant copyright violation in China, "seemingly with the encourage- ment and support of the government. But we are forming relations with partners that are in a position to reduce the thievery." Born in Antigonish, N.S., Donovan earned an LLB in 1977 from Dalhousie University in Halifax. He articled with Dal- housie Legal Aid and then with the firm of Burchell McAdam LLP. "They hired a few of the article clerks but not me, so I found myself unemployed. But various bits of work came to me, and I was soon running a quasi-sole practice out of my apartment." Then his older brother Paul, who worked in filmmaking in the U.K., moved back to Canada and asked Donovan to raise money for a film project. This became the priority in his legal practice and then his full-time career. The Donovan duo spent the late 1970s and early 1980s mak- C R O S S E X A M I N E D HELEN TANSEY A youthful success Michael Donovan's decision to produce children's shows at DHX was a big bet that paid off By Sheldon Gordon M

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