Curious Pictures

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Type Private
Industry Television, film, commercials, animation, digital, videogames and VFX
Founded 1978 (as Stowmar Enterprises)
1981 (as Broadcast Arts)
1993 (as Curious Pictures)
Headquarters Washington, D.C. (1981-1985)
San Francisco, California (1996-2000)
New York, New York (1985-)
Los Angeles, CA (2008-)
Key people Jan Korbelin, Managing Partner
Marina Grasic, Managing Partner
Camille Geier, SVP/Head of Studio
Vadim Turchin, VFX/CG Supervisor
Owner(s) Independent (1981-1994)
Harmony Pictures (1994-1999)
Intelefim (1999-2002)
Independent (2002-)
Employees 60
Divisions TV, Film, Games, Commercials
Website www.curiouspictures.com

Curious Pictures (rendered curious?ictures) is an American animation studio and multi-media company set in New York City and Los Angeles that creates and produces television programs, commercials, animation and videogames for audiences worldwide.

Contents

History [edit]

After working on I Go Pogo, Steve Oakes and Peter Rosentheal began their career creating a small studio in the nation's capitol. In 1981 they co-founded Broadcast Arts and tackled the company's first assignment - a series of network IDs for a new music television channel. These IDs became instant classics and set the standard for the network's irreverent humor. This success established the fledgling studio and brought in projects for HBO, Showtime, Cinemax, CBS, ABC, and more - a move to New York City seemed the next logical step.

In the next few years, the company produced several hundred commercials, constantly weaving together multiple animation and special effects techniques for projects for Budweiser, Pillsbury, Kool-Aid, Wendy's, French's, Hasbro, Canon and Hudson[disambiguation needed]. In addition to the commercial work, the studio was the animation studio for the first season of "Pee-Wee's Playhouse".

In 1990, Becky Wible, Robert Niosi and Nicholas Judy of Broadcast Arts went and created 1-80-1 Productions, making the studio own it and do less stop-motion.

To continue the evolution of mixed-media, filmmaking and commercials, Broadcast Arts became Curious Pictures in 1993.

Having worked together for several years, the team of now five partners – Susan Holden, Steve Oakes, David Starr, Peter Rosentheal and Richard Winkler- continued producing TV commercials, with the intention of expanding to television programming, toy production, and other ventures. And expand they did! In 1994 the Curious team set up shop in their 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. Gradually, five directors became a dozen and by 1995 Curious was producing upwards of 100 commercial projects annually. The production of Mo Willems’ "The Offbeats" in 1996 for Nickelodeon, marked Curious’ expansion into the TV business and in 1998, "A Little Curious" for HBO became the company’s first half-hour series (the latter shorts also aired separately during commercials), followed soon after by the next Mo Willems creation, "Sheep in the Big City" for Cartoon Network.

From 1995-1999, an office was maintained in San Francisco to support the company’s diversification into cel animation.

Curious has come a long way from its first spot for MTV in 1981; today with more than 50 brand-name clients, over 1,000 commercials, and an extensive record of relationships with leading advertising agencies and broadcasters worldwide, this small entertainment company is proof that a little curiosity goes a long way.

Filmography [edit]

TV Shows [edit]

TV Films and Specials [edit]

Commercials [edit]

Video Games [edit]

Shorts [edit]

Clients [edit]

External links [edit]

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