Duck Studios

Duck Studios

Industry	Advertising, Animation studio, Production Company
Predecessor	Duck Soup Studios (1991-2003) Duck Soup Produckions (1986-1991)
Founded	1972
Headquarters	Los Angeles, California, United States of America
Key people	Mariko Y. Chouinard (President) Roger Chouinard (Co-founder) Mark Medernach (Executive Producer) Kunimi Terada (Vice President)
Products	Television commercials, Short films
Website	www.duckstudios.com

Duck Studios (styled DUCK Studios) is a production studio based in Los Angeles, California. The studio focuses primarily on producing television advertisements, mainly animated ones. It also produces music videos, short films and web content. Duck offers a wide range of services, including live action and integration, character design, film title design, 2D and 3D animation, digital compositing, digital/traditional ink & paint.^[1] The studio was co-founded by Roger Chouinard.

Notable works

• McDonald's - TV commercials for Leo Burnett. In September 2010, DUCK produced a new, stylized fantasy campaign for the fast food restaurant chain. The spots were directed by Screen Novelties and Kompost.^[2]
• Twinkle Twinkle Little Flake - In November 2009, Duck co-founder Roger Chouinard illustrated a children's Christmas book written by Mike Reiss and published by Harper Collins. New York-based department store Saks Fifth Avenue used Chouinard's illustrations as part of the store's annual Christmas window displays.^[3]
• Rubbuds - original short film. This is a short animated comedy film created by Jan Chen in 2009 about animated condoms.^[4]
• Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa - Main Title Designs. In 2008, Duck director Jamie Caliri created the main titles for DreamWorks Animation's feature film.^[5]
• Mickey's PhilharMagic - In 2003, director Jamie Caliri worked with Duck Soup and Walt Disney Feature Animation to create a sequence featuring characters from The Lion King.
• Wild About Safety with Timon and Pumbaa - An ongoing series of original, animated direct-to-video specials produced by DUCK in conjunction with Disney Educational Productions (part of The Walt Disney Company).^[6] The specials showcase Disney heritage characters Timon and Pumbaa from The Lion King teaching kids about safety and environmentality. Six DVDs have been produced to date.^[7]
• The United States of Tara Main Title Designs. In 2008, Duck director Jamie Caliri created the main titles for Showtime's The United States of Tara. Caliri used stop-motion animation for the main titles.^[8]
• Kiss a Girl performed by Keith Urban - In 2008, Duck director Richard Borge produced the animation and mixed media in this music video for Australian country singer Keith Urban. Another pair of Duck directors named Yellowshed provided art direction for the music video's opening.^[9]

Awards

• Won the 36th Annual Annie Award for Best Animated Television Commercial for United Airlines Heart directed by Jamie Caliri.^[10]
• Won the 34th Annual Annie Award for Best Animated Television Commercial for United Airlines Dragon directed by Jamie Caliri.^[11]
• Won the 2010 Rising Star Award at the Canada International Film Festival for Rubbuds, directed by Jan Chen.^[12]
• Won the 2009 Emmy for Best Main Title Design for The United States of Tara ^[13]
• Won the 2009 Clio Award (Silver) for Television Animation for United Airlines "Sea Orchestra" directed by The Blackheart Gang.^[14]
• Won the 2009 Best Animated short film at the Naperville Independent Film Festival for Rubbuds, directed by Jan Chen.^[12]
• Won the 2010 Best Animation at Las Vegas International Film Festival for Rubbuds, directed by Jan Chen.^[12]
• Won the 22nd Annual Annie Award (1994) for Best Animated Television Commercial for Sax Man.^[15]

Roster of directors

• Jamie Caliri
• Lane Nakamura^[16]
• Jan Chen
• Screen Novelties
• Kompost
• Nina Paley
• Golden Lucky^[17]
• Brooke Keesling^[18]
• Docter Twins^[19]
• Monkmus^[20]
• Richard Borge
• Yellowshed
• Ben & Julia Studio^[21]
• The Blackheart Gang aka Shy the Sun^[14]

References

1. "DUCK Studios Completes Comedy Spots For Weinerschnitzel". AWN. 2008-05-14. Retrieved 2011-08-10.
2. "DUCK Serves Up New McDonald's Campaign". Dexigner. 2010-09-25. Retrieved 2011-08-10.
3. http://www.fxmogul.com/articles/ViewArticle.aspx?ArticleName=Duck_draws_Saks_book
4. Rubbuds at the Internet Movie Database
5. "DUCK Designs Titles for 'Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa', Staff". Videography.com. 2008-12-03. Retrieved 2011-08-10.
6. Wild About Safety at the Internet Movie Database
7. "Wild About Safety DVD Description| Safety Smart | Disney Educational Productions |Disney.com". Dep.disney.go.com. Retrieved 2011-08-10.
8. Remco Vlaanderen (2009-07-28). "Forget the Film, Watch the Titles - Jamie Caliri interview title sequence". Watchthetitles.com. Retrieved 2011-08-10.
9. "Kiss A Girl | studio's filmfest". Studiofilmfest.com. 2009-06-22. Retrieved 2011-08-10.
10. Kilday, Gregg (2009-02-01). "Kung Fu Panda sweeps Annie Awards". Reuters. Retrieved 2011-08-10.
11. "Legacy - 34th Annual". Annie Awards. Retrieved 2011-08-10.
12. 2010 Rising Star Award Winners, Canada International Film Festival
13. "Duck's Jamie Caliri earns Emmy for Title Design". Cgarena.com. 2009-09-14. Retrieved 2011-08-10.
14. "United Airlines "Sea Orchestra"". The Blackheart Gang. Retrieved 2011-08-16.
15. "Legacy - 22nd Annual". Annie Awards. Retrieved 2011-08-10.
16. TRUST COLLECTIVE September 15th, 2008 (2008-09-15). "DUCK Brings New Character To Life For Cox Communications | The Briefing Room". Blog.digitalcontentproducer.com. Retrieved 2011-08-10.
17. "Duck Inks Golden Lucky". Studio Daily. 2009-07-28. Retrieved 2011-08-10.
18. "The Official Boobie Girl Website-Brooke's Bio". Boobiegirl.com. Retrieved 2011-08-10.
19. "Duck Studios' hot dog cravings hit the screen - News - Digital Arts". Digitalartsonline.co.uk. 2008-08-26. Retrieved 2011-08-10.
20. "Duck Hires Animation Director Monkmus". Studio Daily. 2008-11-10. Retrieved 2011-08-10.
21. "DUCK Signs Ben & Julia". TRUST. Retrieved 2011-08-16.

External links

• Duck Studios - official page
• Duck Studios LA's channel on YouTube
• Rubbuds - official website