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Studio Spotlight
Clockwise from top left: Naked Mole Rat, Disney Junior Ready for Preschool, Action Pack, Corn & Peg.
Fantastic at 15! OddBot founder Chris Hamilton discusses the history and bright new chapter of his creative animation shop. By Ramin Zahed
O
ver the past 15 years, Los Angelesbased OddBot Inc. has been one of the best-kept secrets of the animation community. Founded by animation veteran Chris Hamilton in 2006, the boutique studio has been delivering top-notch animation for shows such as Muppet Babies, Phineas and Ferb, Club Penguin and Star Darlings. We caught up with Hamilton to find out about some of the hot original shows that the studio has in the pipeline and learn more about the beginnings of the studio as it celebrates its sweet 15th birthday. “In the beginning, I didn’t set out to fulfill some life-long dream of running my own animation house. I found myself in a place of crazy circumstances that ultimately led to me taking a walk down this path. I haven’t shared the story of our studio’s origins with many people,” he says.
‘I love watching footage and spotting everyone’s thumbprints all over the shows we produce.This collaborative spirit is also shared with our partner studios, our vendors and clients. Bottom line: We’re making cartoons and our goal is to have a blast doing it!’ — Chris Hamilton, OddBot Studio founder, president & creative director
Hamilton says he bounced from a few independently owned animation studios in L.A between 2001 and 2005, getting his start as a Flash clean-up artist and ultimately landing as a creative director for a small indie studio. “There we produced a Flash-animated series along with many digital 2D preschool shorts,” he notes. “At this studio, I built the animation pipeline, staffed the crew, trained new artists and oversaw all creative, production logistics
and client relations. I also built a friendship, trust and a wonderful working relationship with our network executives.”
Keeping the Dream Alive However, halfway through the production of one of the network series, the owner of the studio told Hamilton that he couldn’t afford to finish the project and had to let everyone go. “I didn’t know what to do, so that night I
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november 21
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