To produce a TV series, a studio usually deficit-finances the project, counting on future revenue from commercials, streaming, and/or from merchandising. And so it becomes necessary to call as much attention as possible to the products, to build a fan base and encourage purchases. To that end, “press junkets” are held where journalists meet the executives, creatives and actors involved, interview them, participate in photo ops, and publicize. Each junket is different, each tailored to the franchise.

MGA Entertainment’s newest production is Armorsaurs, an action-packed live action-animation hybrid series that premiered last October on Disney XD, and as of today (February 18, 2026), began streaming on Disney Plus. The first season encompasses 13 episodes. An additional season of 13 episodes starts filming this April in South Korea.

The company invited journalists to its Chatsworth, California headquarters for its press event on February 5. It became apparent that they, and the publicists, had pulled all the stops for the presentation. At the door, an automated display of Ajax the T-Rex gnashed its teeth in greeting visitors. Inside, we walked along a corridor styled like the futuristic halls of the Armorsaur Initiative Program, and into a room resembling the pilots’ lounge. Actor Andrew Russell, who plays field operations scientist Dr. Chandler, greeted us and engaged in Q&A with producer Kevin Yi and fellow thespians Jailen Bates (Liam Roberts, scientist and pilot-partner to Ajax), Jacob Makabi (T.J. Shirazi, pilot-partner to Cobalt the Triceratops), Sade Louise (Prisca Silva, partner to Pulse the Velociraptor), Derrick Kwak (Joon Park, who rides Velox the Pteranodon), Avianna Mynhier (Paloma Silva, partner of Blaze the Velociraptor), and series director David Feiss.

The publicists directed us to a room where Armorsaurs apparel adorned the walls, and a showcase featured Cobalt about to be fitted with its armor.

In the next room, MGA Entertainment Vice President, Brand Marketing, Greg Mitchell, demonstrated a vast array of Armorsaurs models and action figures, featuring how their trademark armor fits. The first wave of merchandise is set to reach stores this March.

Then we engaged in interviews. The following is my talk with Greg Mitchell, with actors Jailen Bates and Andrew Russell joining the conversation.

Bob Miller: So, Greg, if you remember Toy Story from Pixar, they actually used the CG models of the characters to translate directly into the toy manufacturing. Was that done for this project?

Greg Mitchell: Very groundbreaking for its time. You’re absolutely right. I think between Pixar and Mattel that was a first, because previously to all of that, you had studios being late with assets, giving them films or maybe letting them take pictures of a maquette. So it revolutionized toy making. Since then, with a lot of productions and a lot of digital productions, that CAD file- to-toy CAD file has become a pretty common thing. Naturally, there’s considerations for the toys that are different than what these guys are used to experiencing on screen. But yeah, there’s definitely some production efficiencies there that help out a lot. Daewon has done an amazing job with the VFX and the visuals. We were definitely able to benefit from that for sure.

Miller: How did you get involved in the project?

Mitchell: Funnily enough, I interviewed for the job in this beautiful build-out of a room. I worked at a different company [Jazwares, LLC] doing really cool stuff over there. I’d worked at MGA once before, about five years ago, very briefly before I got another calling. They called me back and said, “We’re launching something new, exciting, and unique. Come and take a look at it, tell us what you think.”

I was like, “I don’t know. Leave me at my current job.” 

Long story short, I came here, interviewed in this very room, saw what was cooking, saw your guys’ early edited footage. 

“Check this out. They literally just shot this three weeks ago. They’re in Korea.” 

I was like, “What!” And I took the job in a heartbeat. I’ve been in Toys since roughly about 2004. Nickelodeon, SpongeBob. Go, Diego, Go. Dora the Explorer. Then got deeply entrenched in collectors and boys’ action. Power Rangers, Pokémon, WWE, AEW. Now I get to bring all my creative and intellectual juices to this fine franchise. It’s so good.

Miller: For the actors, did you audition separately or as an ensemble?

Andrew Russell: Separate.

Jailen Bates: Each of us auditioned separately. Yeah. Then we all came together and it worked out.

Russell: It’s so many elements floating around in the universe that somehow magically get formed into one cohesive thing. All of a sudden, there’s hundreds of talented individuals all coming together to make this magic happen. 

Miller: So you didn’t find out until you actually were on the set that you had the chemistry among the cast?

Bates: It was honestly a gamble, but—

Russell: I think it always kind of is.

Bates: It always kind of is.

Russell: It’s rare that you get to jump into a project where you know everybody. So this was a circumstance where we knew no one. None of us knew anybody. And it was a remarkable thing and still a remarkable thing that we all just get along so well. It’s kind of crazy. We all went to dinner together. We sang karaoke together. We filmed together. We had such a great time.

Bates: We moved as a unit. It was definitely a family dynamic when we were out there filming. It was important that we had each other’s backs, for sure.

Miller: Yeah. Well, now you two play leaders in the show. [Also, Russell led the Q&A on stage.] Did that feeling carry through the actual filming? Just like Lorne Greene in Battlestar Galactica led the cast. Did that happen on the set of Armorsaurs?

Bates: Well, honestly, what’s so unique and lovely about Armorsaurs is how much we’re dependent on the ensemble and each other as the main driving factor of what gets our missions done and what drives the show forward. Honestly, we helped lift each other up on set to create the dynamic that you see on screen. And on set, too, we were all having a great time and I don’t think any of us were like, “Oh, you need to move. You better…” We knew what we had to do.

Russell: Yeah, I agree. I think it’s an ongoing theme throughout the show that nobody can do everything by themselves. Everybody brings their own thing to the table. On and off set, there were many moments where we would help each other out in whatever way we can. Not only do we have these pilots bonding with their dinosaurs in the show, we’re bonding outside of the show in real life and in ways that we just did not expect. We became a family.

Bates: Truly. It’s really cool.

Miller: And you were filming in South Korea?

Bates: Yes, three months.

Russell: If anybody goes back, gotta get barbecue.

Bates: Barbecue. Karaoke. There’s a few places you gotta hit.

Russell: Coffee. You got lots of coffee, great coffee.

Bates: So many great things in Korea that we just became regulars at so many places.

Russell: Yes.

Mitchell: First time I had honey on a pizza was in South Korea and I was like, “What is this?” Now it’s so common, but five years ago I was like, “What is this?”

Bates: Yeah. The food is—

Mitchell: The food is so good.

Russell: Yeah, food is phenomenal.

Mitchell: We just ate our way through the entire country.

A publicist wants us to wrap the interview, so I ask the final question.

Miller: What do you guys know now that you wish you had known when you began your career?

Russell: Patience will take you a long way. I think at the beginning of my career, I was just so impatient. I was so eager for things to happen. Because of that, that led for me to just really get in my own way. But the second I just started being patient and understanding that things will come and things will happen the way that they’re supposed to happen, the second things started to happen. So, patience.

Bates: That’s great. I wish I could have told myself that the industry doesn’t define your talent. I think being a young actor, auditioning and not getting the role really takes a toll on who you think you are and your identity. Knowing that that rejection isn’t about or doesn’t degrade your work or your talent would have been helpful at that age. But now I know.

Miller: Excellent. And you, Greg?

Mitchell: It’s all about the people. You can have the best job in the world with salary and benefits and the cool project, whatever, it doesn’t mean anything if you don’t have good people around you. If you have good people around you, it means that the hard times aren’t as hard, the good times are better. You take a lot of risk in that because people sometimes take new jobs and move around. It’s like falling in love or adopting a pet. You know it’s going to end one way or the other someday, but you take that leap of faith. Good people make good projects. We have that bond amongst me and my team here too, and I hope it comes through in the toys. It comes through on the screen with you guys for sure. That’s what it’s all about. It’s about people and being good to each other.

Miller: That sounds like the theme of the show.

Mitchell: Yeah. Funny how that all works.

Special thanks to Jamie Falkowitz-Tancredi and Melissa Hufjay of Falkowitz PR.