NEW YORK CITY & SILICON VALLEY — Longtime creative partners Elliot Lim and Aaron Kemnitzer are once again joining forces to launch Bullpen (www.bullpen.tv), a bi-coastal design and animation studio that’s dedicated to providing a hands-on, narrative-driven approach. Lim and Kemnitzer combine to offer more than 25 years of experience in the motion design industry. After first meeting at Digital Kitchen, the two became fast friends, collaborating off and on ever since. The have gone on to work with many leading post production and animation studios, including Buck, Psyop, Gentlemen Scholar, Hornet and Not to Scale. With Bullpen, the team is now looking to create a new kind of studio defined by its leaner model and hands-on approach – flexible, agile and adaptable to clients’ shifting needs.
Photo (L-R): Lim and Kemnitzer
“Working in the industry, we have learned a lot about the dos and don’ts of servicing projects and clients,” explains Kemnitzer. “That’s why for everything we take on, the client is always assured that both principals of the company, Elliot and I, are fully dedicated to the project. This is unlike other studios where you might be passed to freelancers or less-experienced creatives within the company. Also, our lower overhead allows us to be competitive while still remaining nimble enough to expand for bigger projects.”
The new model is already attracting clients, including HP, Amazon and Charles Schwab. Bullpen is also releasing several new projects and animations created especially for the launch. Consisting of a mix of illustrative 2D and 3D short films - from an overweight bumble bee to a factory that produces the alphabet - each piece purposefully plays with different looks, tones and rhythms to show the breadth and impact of well-crafted design. These shorts all culminate in a text-driven animated video in celebration of the concept of “style,” using a host of techniques to demonstrate how distinct visual elements play a vital role in conveying emotion, shifting expectations and telling a story.
According to Lim, this film perfectly encapsulates what sets them apart. “We’re capable of a lot of different styles,” he explains. “We’re flexible. When you look at these brand films, you can see that diversity of techniques and our love for using style to tell a good story.”