Vancouver-based animation manufacturing pioneer Mainframe Studios is celebrating its thirtieth anniversary in 2023, having grown over the previous three a long time into a world toon powerhouse bringing each authentic content material and reveals for main gamers like Mattel, Sony, Spin Grasp, Hasbro, DreamWorks, Netflix and YouTube to the display screen.
“With our 30-year observe report of Mainframe Studios producing a few of the most iconic animated properties, we method day-after-day like a startup — difficult ourselves to ship new and thrilling inventive innovation to each venture we undertake,” says Michael Hefferon, President & Chief Inventive Officer at Mainframe Studios.
Government Vice President Kim Dent Wilder provides, “As we have a good time our thirtieth anniversary, we’re happy with the influence that Mainframe Studios has had on serving to to form the animation business, together with being a catalyst for a lot of studios began over time whose founders are Mainframe alumni.”
Colleagues shared in toasting the studio’s success. “In a enterprise the place belief is constructed over time, Mainframe’s longevity is a testomony to the studio’s high quality of labor and its partnership method with shoppers,” says Andy Heyward, Chairman & CEO Genius Manufacturers Worldwide. And Michael Hirsh, CEO Wow Limitless Media, notes, “As somebody who has a historical past of constructing legacy corporations, Mainframe Studios has uniquely positioned itself to proceed this wonderful observe report for the subsequent 30 years.”
Based in 1993, Mainframe was a trailblazer from day one, creating and producing the very first fully-CG TV sequence, ReBoot, in 1994. This was adopted by Spider-Man: The New Animated Sequence for MTV, the primary large-scale, toon-shaded CG sequence. Most not too long ago, Mainframe’s ReBoot: The Guardian Code marked one other milestone because the studio’s first live-action manufacturing and the primary TV sequence to make use of the Unreal recreation engine, delivering in 4K.
By way of all of it, Mainframe Studios has strived to steadiness its inventive imaginative and prescient with the state of expertise, whereas pushing the boundaries of each to carry participating new tales to life. In whole, the studio has produced properly over 1,000 half-hour episodes for tv, 70-plus lengthy type initiatives that embody three theatrical function movies, in addition to content material for large manufacturers reminiscent of Barbie, Octonauts, Madagascar and CoComelon. Not too long ago, Octonauts & The Ring of Fireplace received an Emmy Award for Excellent Sound Mixing & Sound Enhancing in 2022.
“Our relationship with Mainframe has spanned a number of sequence and specials over five-plus. They proceed to be collaborative companions in producing top of the range animation and serving to to construct our manufacturers. We look ahead to our continued work collectively,” feedback Joe D’Ambrosia, EVP & Normal Supervisor, Sony Footage Tv -Youngsters.
Mainframe’s dedication to a creative-driven method has helped nurture a virtually 25-year relationship (over 60 initiatives) with Mattel. Thus far, the studio has delivered quite a few Barbie titles, together with films, sequence, shorts, the Barbie Vlog and debut interactive journey, Barbie: Epic Street Journey. In 2001, Mainframe Studios was the primary to make use of motion-capture expertise for animation and constructed their very own state-of-the-art mo-cap theater.
“Collaborating with Mainframe over time to offer followers of the enduring Barbie model with extremely entertaining, animated content material has been a real pleasure,” says Christopher Keenan, SVP Inventive & Government Producer at Mattel Tv. “With a number of of our newest initiatives, together with Barbie: Epic Street Journey and Barbie Mermaid Energy rating impressively on international streaming platforms, we’re proud to be working with Mainframe and to be celebrating our relationship of almost 30 years.”
Mainframe’s different notable accomplishments embody: being added to the Smithsonian’s Innovation Assortment for creating the primary CG animated TV sequence, ReBoot (1994); producing the primary non-theatrical animated function, Casper’s Haunted Christmas; launching a relationship with Silvergate Media (now Sony Footage Tv – Youngsters) with three feature-length productions: Octonauts and the Caves of Sac Actun, Octonauts & the Nice Barrier Reef and Octonauts & The Ring of Fireplace; together with producing the Madagascar: A Little Wild sequence for DreamWorks Animation and Group Zenko Go, the studio’s first co-production with DreamWorks Animation.
Unique content material within the ReBoot custom a continues to be a studio mainstay. In 2012, the Mainframe produced Escape from Planet Earth, a theatrical function movie developed in-house that went on to do $75 million in worldwide field workplace, and adopted that success with the Ratchet & Clank function movie launched in 2016. On the sequence aspect, Mainframe created and produced ReBoot: The Guardian Code and Group Zenko Go, each Netflix Unique Sequence, and not too long ago launched its first 2D authentic sequence, The Guava Juice Present, produced with YouTube Originals.
Mainframe is at present producing The EggVenturers in partnership with GoldieBlox for YouTube, together with Coyote & The WildAways, working with Coyote Peterson, whose Courageous Wilderness YouTube channel has 20 million subscribers.
For extra data on Mainframe Studios, please go to mainframe.ca.
