Curious Pictures
 | |
| Public | |
| Industry | Television, film, commercials, animation, digital, video games and VFX |
| Founded |
1978 (as Stowmar Enterprises) 1981 (as Broadcast Arts) 1993 (as Curious Pictures) |
| Defunct |
1981 (as Stowmar Enterprises) 1993 (as Broadcast Arts) 2014 (as Curious Pictures) |
| Headquarters |
Washington, D.C. (1981–1985) San Francisco, California (1996–2000) New York, New York (1985–2014) Los Angeles, CA (2008–2014) |
Key people |
Jan Korbelin, Managing Partner Marina Grasic, Managing Partner Camille Geier, SVP/Head of Studio Vadim Turchin, VFX/CG Supervisor |
| Owner |
Independent (1981–1994, 2002–2014) Harmony Pictures (1994–1999) Intelefim (1999–2002) |
Number of employees | 60 |
| Divisions | TV, Film, Games, Commercials |
Curious Pictures (rendered curious?ictures) is an American animation studio and multi-media company set in New York City and Los Angeles that created and produced television programs, commercials, animation and video games.
History
Having worked together for several years at the animation studio Broadcast Arts (Bud Bowl, Pee-Wee's Playhouse), the team of four founding partners in 1993 – Susan Holden, Steve Oakes, David Starr, and Richard Winkler - continued producing TV commercials, with the intention of expanding to television programming, toy production, and other ventures. In 1994 the company expanded into a 25,000 square-foot studio in lower Manhattan, fully equipping it with a cel and a computer animation department, a shooting stage with two motion control camera systems, a prop and model shop and digital editing rooms. By 1995 Curious was producing upwards of 100 commercial projects annually. The 1996 production of Mo Willems' "The Offbeats" for Nickelodeon's animated sketch show KaBlam!, marked Curious’ first non-advertising television project. In 1998, A Little Curious for HBO became the company’s first half-hour series, followed soon after by another Willems project, Sheep in the Big City for Cartoon Network. Other TV animated products included Codename: Kids Next Door, created by Tom Warburton, for seven seasons on Cartoon Network and Little Einsteins for the Disney Channel and Team Umizoomi for Nickelodeon.
From 1995 to 1999, an office was maintained in San Francisco to support the company’s expansion into cel animation.
Filmography
Television shows
- Pee-wee's Playhouse (1986)
- Vandemonium Plus (1987)
- The Off-Beats (1996–1999)
- Elmo's World (1998–2009)
- A Little Curious (1999–2000)
- Sheep in the Big City (2000–2002)
- Hey Joel (2002)
- Codename: Kids Next Door (2002–2008)
- The Wrong Coast (2004)
- Little Einsteins (2005–2009)
- Team Umizoomi (2010–2015)
- NFL Rush Zone: Guardians of the Core (2010–2011)
- Eureka: Do You See What I See (animation scenes only; 2011)
TV films and specials
- An Off-Beats Valentine's (1999)
- My Scene: Jammin in Jamaica (2003)
- My Scene: Masquerade Madness (2004)
- My Scene Goes Hollywood : The Movie (2005)
- PollyWorld (2006)
- Barbie Diaries (2006)
- Codename: Kids Next Door: "Operation Z.E.R.O" (2006)
- The Grim Adventures of the Kids Next Door (2007; co-produced with Cartoon Network Studios and a.k.a. Cartoon)
- Codename: Kids Next Door: "Operation: I.N.T.E.R.V.I.E.W.S." (2008)
Shorts
- "Foil Man", by Chris Gilligan (assisting only; 1995)
- "The Louie 'n Louie Show", by Gary Baseman (1996)
- "Cartoon Network Shorties" (1998)