Chiefs and Chefs

They say that the hardest intangible quality for a company to keep is its culture; the ability to instill in a team a level of intensity and work ethic matched by none other. Culture is probably our greatest strength at HoC – We make no quo’s about where we are going, how we are going to get there and what’s in it for all of us. I believe knowing these big picture questions gives everyone at HoC a stake not just to be the best creative they can be but to contribute and add to the dynamics that make House of Cool... well, House of Cool. In the small time that our team has been working together it’s clear that “too many Chiefs and not enough Indians,” don’t apply here. We are not “too many Chefs and not enough Cooks” but rather “many Chefs who really love to cook.” And while sometimes it feels we need to cook a lot, it'll all make us better Chefs in the end =)
Culture is solving “real” problems and coming up with innovative ways to not only personally develop but expand as a whole, team, and unit.
I’m sure Ricki C would agree… together we’ll have a lot to offer and this is only the beginning.

Philosophy 101 done.
Can’t doodle so here’s some pic’s from my crib: Summer vs. Winter - Bring back patio season!

Time to get back to work.

Branched.

Sketches...

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a.

music box

Samuel L. as Jules & Mace

Ezekiel 25:17--"The path of the righteous man is beset on all sides by the inequities of the selfish and the tyranny of evil men. Blessed is he who, in the name of charity and good will, shepherds the weak through the valley of the darkness. For he is truly his brother's keeper and the finder of lost children. And I will strike down upon thee with great vengeance and furious anger those who attempt to poison and destroy my brothers. And you will know I am the Lord when I lay my vengeance upon you." BANG! BANG!

Pimp my Ride!

BANG!

Hello, I'm Lubomir and have generously been accepted into the Cool Household. As an initial offering I present you with a man of many insecurities, the false salvation of which lay in his gun.

Peace :)

YAMADA-MA-DOO!

still killing time

rough bot

Just wasting time before a story pitch...

shake it

Not much to say here. Just emptying my brain on the Cintiq.

first post...

Hey I'm also one of the 3 new Andrews working here; here's an Andrew Shek at work...

Big Cheese and his steed...

Ghost Rider Moses (Michaelangelo Remix)

Inspired by Steve's awesome post.
Here is my Ghost Rider Moses.
Branch!

booger monster

After fighting the monster for a few weeks, I've recently been handed a Grossology (Nelvana) script titled "FrankenBooger". Love is the air...

thought of the day:

I was at drawingboard.org, and they had this thread titled 'Ghost Rider Moses'. A bunch of people did some quick cartoons about 'what if Moses was given the powers of Ghost Rider'. I thought they were funny so this is my version.

Grazing....

Hi, I'm one of the 3 Andrews working at House of Cool .....here's a zebra!

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Dreams.

Dream Big.
Dream Often.

The Branch.

The Juggling Act

A little doodle I did.

Over the last couple of years the biggest problem with the studio has been trying to attract enough work to stay alive. Over the last few months we have been able to stabilize the studio but now we are faced with a new problem. Too many projects, not enough talent. I wish that I had a couple of Robins and a few more Norms. Luckily we have been able to snag some really good talent but there never seems to be enough. It's a good problem to have I guess.

While they sleep, we are working…

They say the first three years of running a business is always the toughest. If you can stomach the marginal highs and the “can we keep the lights on” lows, the moment an opportunity arises to do something great… I’m sure anyone at HoC will tell you, “its all worth it.” We had to do what any other business has to endure: keep innovating to be the best that we can in our field, instill trust in our clients that we will do the job better then anyone else, and develop a culture and freedom in which a team can thrive in.

Achieving any one of these can be a daunting task but what makes everything possible; what makes everything worth it… House of Cool has great people who simply want to do great things. Our foundation is built on developing the skills of exceptional artists and providing an opportunity to showcase all of our work… together. We’ve got amazing HoC “veterans” like Normand Lemay, Cal Brunker, Robin Joseph and, of course, Ricki-C. And with the thanks to our clients, we now have an opportunity to expand our team to continue innovating, creating, and expanding our horizons.

I think the best way to describe the studio right now is, “while they sleep, we are working.” The new year has brought some exciting projects and with a little “sweat equity,” I’m sure it’ll be “all worth it.”

Thanks to everyone at HoC (old and new) for pullin’ up the sleeves and grinding it out.

2007

This will be a big year for HoC! I figure if I make a positive statement like this I can influence fate. We have started this year with a bang. The studio has grown by five and will grow by few more by the end of the month. Welcome Alexandra, Andrew, Andrew, Andrew and Myrthus.

We also rang in the year with three new contracts and a positive balance-sheet. If anyone would have told me earlier last year that we would be cash flow positive by the end of the year I would have told them they were insane. You can never really predict this running a business thing.