He co-founded Nelvana, a Canadian based animation and entertainment studio in 1971 with partners Patrick Loubert and Clive A. Smith producing numerous cartoons that established Nelvana as a leader in the industry including Little Bear, Franklin, Babar, Max & Ruby, The Magic School Bus, Care Bears, The Adventures of Tintin, Inspector Gadget, Droids and Ewoks, among many, many others.
After Corus Entertainment's acquisition of Nelvana, Hirsh became the CEO of Cookie Jar Group, which created numerous highly popular children's shows, among them Arthur, Johnny Test, and Strawberry Shortcake.
[1] When Cookie Jar was acquired by DHX Media (now WildBrain) Hirsh became the Executive Chairman of the company, the largest supplier of kids programming to online streaming services as well as a leader in production and licensing and merchandising for children.
Hirsh transferred to York University's Glendon College in the fall of 1966 where he met his future business partners Jack Christie and Patrick Loubert.
Hirsh's first feature film co-directed and co-produced with Jack Christie, Voulez Vous Coucher Avec God?
One episode of Drop-In was based on the history of the Canadian Whites, inspiring Hirsh to learn more about the comics published during the Second World War.
In 1971, Hirsh, Loubert and Clive A. Smith found Nelvana Limited, a new company with a focus on animation and a goal of creating a Canadian studio.
In 1983, Nelvana released its first animated movie Rock & Rule featuring original music by Debbie Harry, Lou Reed, Iggy Pop, Cheap Trick and Earth, Wind and Fire.
In 1987 Hirsh acquired the rights for Babar from The Clifford Ross Company and produced 65 half hours for HBO, CBC and broadcasters around the world.
Together with Ross, Nelvana licensed merchandising for Babar and celebrated the event with a party that featured an elephant on the mezzanine floor at FAO Schwartz in New York City.
Working with great comedians Nelvana produced the animated versions of Roseanne Barr's Little Rosey and Jim Carrey's Ace Ventura Pet Detective.
[15] In April 1998, Nelvana entered into an agreement with ITV franchise Scottish Television to co-produce these new series and hold distribution rights to them in the United Kingdom.
[18] The programs that formed the PBS Kids Bookworm Bunch were all based on children's books: Corduroy (by Don Freeman), Elliot Moose (by Andrea Beck), Timothy Goes to School (by Rosemary Wells), Seven Little Monsters (by Maurice Sendak), George Shrinks (by William Joyce), and Marvin the Tap-Dancing Horse (by Betty and Michael Paraskevas).
In addition, Nelvana produced two Monday to Friday series for the PBS network: Bill Joyce's George Shrinks and Jan and Stan's Berenstain Bears.
Hirsh worked on Max & Ruby, based on books by Rosemary Wells, a preschool series about brother and sister bunnies.
[20] After winning an auction in 2004, Hirsh and former Nelvana President Toper Taylor working with Toronto Dominion Private Equity Partners (now Birch Hill) and Omers acquired CINAR for more than $190 million.
Hirsh began developing Doodlebops with co-creator Carl Lennox after agreeing to do a music show with Head of CBC Kids Cheryl Hassan.
With the support of Disney, Hirsh and Taylor were successful in bringing Feld Entertainment in to organize a musical tour of the show's characters across the U.S. and Canada.
Hirsh facilitated settling a lawsuit between Cinar and Caillou's author and illustrator, Christine L'Heureux and Helene Desputeaux.
[30] Season 6 of Johnny Test was produced by Cookie Jar under the auspices of DHX Media after the merger, and the studio officially closed down after said series concluded its run on December 25, 2014.
[31] In 2017 after seeing success in streaming, Hirsh and Taylor negotiated a deal with YouTube for their SVOD (Subscription Video on Demand) service and launched ten channels in multiple languages across their platform.
Together with Michael Donovan and Steven DeNure, Hirsh focused on building a proprietary cartoon business on YouTube using the company's vast library.
As the child of two Holocaust survivors, Hirsh visited Auschwitz in 2015 on the suggestion of Eli Rubenstein to celebrate the 70th Anniversary of the camp's liberation.
For their work on shows including Beetlejuice, Babar, Little Bear, Rupert, Franklin, Rolie Polie Olie and The Adventures of Tintin, Hirsh and his colleagues have received awards such as Daytime Emmys and Geminis.