This 2019 file photo shows characters Sir Lionel Frost, from left; Mr. Link and Adelina Fortnight from the movie ”Missing Link,” made by Laika Studios of Hillsboro.

Laika, Phil Knight’s Hillsboro movie production house, said Monday that it will fund construction of a stop-motion animation studio at a historically Black college in Maryland.

Bowie State University will upgrade its existing green screen studio to accommodate stop-motion, an old-fashioned form of animation that involves manipulating puppets one frame at a time to simulate motion. Laika said its relationship with Bowie State started as a pathway toward student internships, then expanded to provide a facility for students to do their own work.

“We are looking at this partnership to be an internship and career pipeline that can help diversify the animation industry, which has been a traditionally underrepresented sector when it comes to the voices of people of color, women, LGBTQ and other communities,” Tewodross Melchishua Williams, chair of BSU’s Department of Fine & Performing Arts, said in a statement.

Laika is run by Knight’s son, Travis Knight, a veteran Oregon animator. The studio has made five stop-motion films, all of them nominated for an Oscar for best animated feature. Laika’s most recent movie, 2019′s “Missing Link,” won the Golden Globe award in that category.

Laika did not say how much it will donate to fund the new facility in Maryland. The studio laid off 56 employees last summer, citing the risks inherent in working indoors during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Oregon company hasn’t said what its next production will be or when it plans to release the film. Last month, Laika hired longtime animation industry executive Ian Sheppard as its new development head.