Bread and Butter

I've spent a lot of time on this blog talking about our designs and original concepts but here are some examples of what what we actually spend most of our time doing. Doing service storyboards is what butters our bread. This type of work is not the most creative thing we do but it is very good training. It forces you to be very fast and efficent. At HoC we are not satisfied with normal way storyboards are done. Our boards are all digital. We work with a Wacom tablet and Alias's Sketchbook Pro. It takes quite a bit of effort to get used to working this way but once your used to it there is no going back. We a confident that this is the future for storyboarding.

Our friends

Max in the dreaming.

Some good news. While building a business you make friends with your clients and hopefully they will come back because of the quality of your work. One of our clients that continue to support us is Nelvana. We are storyboarding on a new show called Grossology. Thanks to Judy Leung and Matt Ferguson. While I'm on the topic I like to thank Brad Booker from Reel FX and Andy Knight from Red Rover. We have also just completed the boards for a music video for Billie Mintz.

Openness

From The Dreaming.

This is a question from a visitor, Stefano Di Lollo, that is worth sharing.

Dear HoC, I've been following your blog for quite some time now. From what I can see from your website, it looks like you have a great team of talent, and a great work environment to inspire creativity. Your list of clients and portfolio is impressive. I've read about the hard times that your studio is experiencing at the moment on your blog. Now, I know you have plenty on your mind right now, and the last thing you probably need or have time to read is someone giving you their 2 cents. But, since I can't ever keep my opinion to myself---I'll type the rest anyways. >>> I was just wondering the following: Is it a good idea to publicly report your studio's current problems on your blog? Clients (existing ones and potential ones) have easy access to this info, and may get scared off by the studio's instability. Just some food for thought. Good luck, I wish you guys all the best. I'd love to work with a team such as yours.

And my answer. Hi Stefano,

I'm glad that you like our work. We try hard to define ourselves in an industry full of mediocrity.

Your question is a very good one and I have put much thought into it. A similar question that I often get asked is 'am I not afraid of people stealing your development ideas'? My answer to these questions may be irrational but it is a the core of how I run my studio. We are always willing to let our pants down. We feel that the transparency of our studio endears people to want to work with us as clients and employees. Sometimes that openness is positive and sometime negative but what is important is that the creative spirit does not flourish well under secrecy. This may be the downfall of HoC but if I want the studio to reflect my values instead of being a money making entity It has to be this way.

-Ricardo

Turning the Corner

This is from Roboyo.

The only good thing about hard times is that it can't last forever. Over the last couple of weeks the studio has hit rock bottom. We lost most of our contracts, had to layoff most of our talent, the bank account is almost completely drained and the tax man is knocking. I had to question myself on the viability of this studio. Fortunately my cousin, a successful businessman, assured me that if people are calling you to do work then you ARE a viable business. I re-examined the business and though there is some restucturing that must be done I can see a clearer direction for us. With a little luck and no more major hickups we should be fine.

Service vs. Original Content

In The Dreaming the preferred means of transportation is scarab beetle.

In running a small studio the bills have to be paid. This is done by taking on service work which means doing work for other studios. Sometimes the work is fun but it is often tedious. If you do enough service work, a studio can make a lot of money especially if it is a large feature project. It is also lucrative to do commercials if your studio can handle the hectic pace of advertising. The problem is that if a studio is to grow over the long term they need to own their ideas. But how do you develop properties while your busy trying to make money to keep the studio a float? It's tough but if you keep in mind what the goal is, spending the extra time and cash to produce original content doesn't seem to hurt as much.

Website update

WEBSITE Update: here is a sample of two pages from the first comic book issue "The Incredibles", drawn by Ricardo, "Man of the House". There are a couple pgs per issue displayed on our website (totaling 4 pairs). Please check them out at the studio's website: www.coolhouse.ca

Kate

Christmas Card

Next year I propose a Christmas card where I'm featured more prominently. Fans of my face may have noticed it's conspicuous absence from this years House of Cool Christmas card. I am currently representing House of Cool interests south of the border, and I worry I have been excommunicated by my Canadian collegues. You will be happy to know that I still cheer for the Maple Leafs & Canucks, despise baseball, crave Tim Hortons, and use the word "eh?" at the end of every sentence.

House of the Cool is the greatest place I've ever worked in my life, but don't think I won't burn the mother down if I'm left off next years Christmas card! (actually I really just want to be represented in any drawing by the amazing Robin Joseph...Easter's coming up...maybe me as a rabbit?)

Miss you guys!

Cal

No smile, Work now.

This is Robin sitting at his desk with a wall of designs behind him. His entire workspace revolves around artwork as does his life.

Secret to success

I have no idea, so instead look at these character designs for one of our television projects called Roboyo.

Studio vs. Self

This is a tv show idea called Dog Tags about a WWII canine unit. This image was by Cory Wilson.

What do I find interesting about an animation studio that I can't do on my own as an animator? There is a certain thing that you can only get in a studio environment that can't be replicated by yourself. And there is something even more special that happens if you happen to have your own studio. I feel that the special thing is the piece of yourself that you are willing to freely give away. What I mean is that when someone works on their own project by themselves they have fully invested all of their artistic craft into the film. This is wonderful but the vision has not been affected by outside forces. It is pure and intact but completely limited by the creator's imagination. No part of this vision is given out for interpretation. In a studio environment the vision is an amorphous thing. It starts of as a seed but through the inputs of all the people working on it, it grows into something that was totally unrealized by it's original creator. This is the magic to me. Every person gives a piece of themselves. Now if you do one of these projects and you own the studio the project will evolve but you also feel the people evolve also. The studio itself becomes that thing you strive for in your pursuit of artistic satisfaction.

Going Broke

In The Dreaming there are number of animal characters. This one is called Miss Angela.

As a hazard to any small business, running out of money is always a problem. We are in a constant search of our next job and trying to out run the hounds of bankruptcy. In the past two years the studio has had three times when we could have gone broke but we were able to claw our way out every time. We are actually in the middle of one of those crises now. All business sense would say that a company should cut their loses as soon as possible so that you don't get into too much debt then fight another day. Smart advise. Unfortunately I am an artist with a passion for what I do and I cannot let go so easily. I truly believe that if you are tenacious and smart you can over come a trivial thing like running out of money.

"H" to the "O" to da' "C"

This is Wes and I am the only non-artist to date at House of Cool (HoC)-- hence no drawing but instead a picture of me driving over what I think is a skunk or some other smelly rodent.

I'm involved in the business end with Ricki-C... It's always amazing how many different hats you have to wear when running any business, let alone a creative business such as this one. At times you have to be an accountant, the next, a marketing extraordinaire, a minute afterward, you're a contract negotiator and somehow a tax credit specialist at the same time. Finally, "poof!" You are now back to being a finely tuned artist... My hats off to Ricardo in cutting his Afro to fit all his hats.

Being surrounded by "creatives" is quite infectious; life is easier to live when you are laughing all the time. The HoC peeps certainly want to make the world laugh. Its been great to be a by-stander and sometimes the butt-end of the comedic daily jokes that happen here at HoC... most of them to dirty to mention.

Time will tell where the future will take us but what time has already given us is many memorable moments.

Mr. W

Me!Me!Me!

This is a quick digital sketch of this year's Oscar night.

My name is Normand Lemay. I'm a storyboard artist at House of Cool. I was born in Quebec City. Yes, that means I'm French Canadian. I studied Graphic Design in my part of the country and then worked for a bit more than a year as an Art Director in an Advertising Studio in Montreal. I still do advertising storyboards in my spare time. I always wanted to work in animation so I packed my bags and left Montreal to study for three years at Sheridan College, in Classical Animation. After I graduated, I worked for a few months in various animation studios in Toronto to finally be a part of House of Cool. I've quickly adopted the digital tablet for most of my work. Check out my blog!

Who I Am

This is a digital painting by Robin Joseph for The Dreaming.

I've had some comments about who I am. I've considered this blog a House of Cool studio blog but if people want this thing to be a little more personal I will oblige.

My name is Ricardo Curtis. I was born in Kingston, Jamaica but I grew up in Toronto, Canada. I studied classical animation at Sheridan College in Oakville, Canada. I've worked in feature animation for most of my career but I've spent some time working in television also. I've been an animator, supervising animator, designer and storyboard artist at studio such as Warner Bros., DreamWorks and Pixar. I moved back to Canada over three years ago with my wife and had a son and started House of Cool. I am currently the head of story on Horton Hears a Who at Blue Sky while still supervising operations at House of Cool.

I'll let everyone else at House of Cool write up their own bios.

The Family Thing

Another piece from The Dreaming.

We've had some comments about how we balance the pressures of running a studio and having a family. This is how my wife answered the question.
I will speak for myself and leave it up to Ricardo to share how he balances family and work. As for me, I stay at home with our toddler and it is the hardest job I have ever done!!! When I have freelance to do, I have my mother look after our kid for a few hours a couple of times a week while I do some work (also some weekends), depending on its degree of importance. It is not easy to tune out family of your mind and concentrate on work, the theory is simple, the practical aspects of it are extremely different. But most of the time I live unhealthily by working after he goes to bed, late at night and into the morning for a few days at a time. It might be a different story with more kids, though. The key for me is to decide when to work around family or make the latter fit around work. A constant prioritization and a good, supportive partner are key. Hope this helps!
Kate

From my perspective, there was a time in my life when career and animation was the most overpowering factors in my life. I lived animation. Everything I talked about was animation. All my friends worked in animation. Then I started to noticed that many people who spent all their time thinking about animation, were no happier than people who spent more time living life (especially Europeans). I decided that in my career there must be balance. I have not done any overtime for many years. I also do not expect anyone who I supervise or work for me to do any overtime. Even though I run a business and there are many responsibilities, they all must happen within a certain defined time. If you allow yourself to let work-time absorb into family time suddenly work will know no bounds. Now that I have consciously limited when I am allowed to work it has become habit. I now find the idea of doing overtime to be repugnant. "Ricardos don't do overtime'". This doesn't mean I don't think about animation when I am not working. I love the art form so my wife and I often talk about it because we enjoy it.

I believe that I will continue to adjust my priorities as I age. It is possible that the studio will require more time than I am willing to give it. At that point I will either delegate responsibility to others or limit the amount of work that the studio accepts.