The latest news from your buddies at Buddy System Studios!

Blogging at the speed of stop-motion.

Wednesday, December 31, 2008

December EOTM - Cho Dong-Wook

Cho is what we like to call an overachiever.  Devoted family man.  Master compositor.  Revered Teacher.


If only Cho knew that he didn't need to do all that stuff.  He would've been awarded this month's EOM for simply providing us with yummy Korean Cho Snacks™!

Friday, December 26, 2008

Liz's Ukulele contest entry!

This is Liz Harvatine's entry into the 2008 Bushman World Ukulele Video Contest, shot at Buddy.  If you listen closely, you can hear Harv seducing you on background vocals!  The animation is stop-motion cut-out puppets animated on glass.



Designing with Linnea
Great work, Liz!

Tuesday, December 23, 2008

Happy Holidays!!


Proof you can rock the beard-with-knit-holiday-sweater look and still look REALLY cool.

Monday, December 22, 2008

Guitar Hero Wraps!

Buddy System Studio's best looking director (Ethan Marak) has just finished shooting his Guitar Hero spot!  What happens when the Nintendo DS meets Rock and Roll?  Find out HERE!

Sunday, November 30, 2008

November EOTM - Rick O'Brien

Big Buddy congrats to our November Employee of the Month, Rick O'brien!  Rick is 100% man, yet has the gentle touch of a fine artist.  His contributions to the Rise Against music video and our upcoming downshooter project have been unmatched!


Wednesday, November 19, 2008

Rising Against Gravity

We had the pleasure of creating a miniature world for an upcoming music video for the band Rise Against.  Lots of hard work was poured into this project in a short amount of time, thanks to everyone for all their hard work!

UPDATE!
Check out the finished video HERE.

Saturday, November 1, 2008

1st Annual BUDDY BALL!!

The 1st Annual Buddy Ball was a success!!  We've opened up our studio doors to celebrate the greatest holiday in October, Halloween.  Towner dressed up as a one of America's greatest heroes, Harv as the Butcher of Burbank (A Green Bay Packer), and Jenny was none other than Sexy Stay Puft.  Here are a couple snaps from the event!


Thursday, October 30, 2008

October EOTM - John Sumner

Congratulations to our October Employee of the Month, John Sumner!  Not only is John one of our go-to puppet guys, but he's also the best cake-maker East of Lankershim Blvd!  Pictured are two of John's greatest creations:  The Buddy Ball Cake and Gunnar Sumner.


Sunday, October 12, 2008

Bird-eating birdhouses...WTF?

We started working on some bizarre stop-motion elements for an upcoming Modest Mouse music video!


We have no idea what's going on here... but we like it!

Tuesday, September 30, 2008

September EOTM - Ethan Marak

High-fives to September's Employee of the Month, Ethan Marak!  Thanks to his mad skillz, we erected a stop-motion studio in record time.

Tuesday, September 16, 2008

WCS Shoot

We're getting the gang back together!  Buddy has teamed up with David H. Brooks yet again to bust out a little stop-mo magic.  The project is based on the popular "Worst Case Scenario" books.  Best case scenario is we get through this...

Sunday, August 31, 2008

August EOTM - Todd Wuschnig

Congratulations to the biggest, best, bald realtor Buddy has even known!  Todd helped us find our new studio home in North Hollywood, and for that, we are thankful.

Saturday, August 30, 2008

The Buddy Bungalow!

Buddy System Studios has found a new home!!  We couldn't be more thankful for the months we spent in our previous studio, but it was time for us to spread our wings a little.  Can't wait to get all settled in and start making more animagic!

Wednesday, July 30, 2008

EOTM July - Soleus

Words can't express how Soleus has changed our lives.  Though beautiful, summer in the San Fernando Valley can become a bit...hot.  And when you have a world class animation studio that's already smokin', look out!  Insert the Iceman.  Thank you Soleus for keepin' your cool when things heat up.

Tuesday, July 29, 2008

Play with your food!

Proving to the world that we eat plenty of fruit here at Buddy Systems, we just wrapped on a music video for the Nick Jr. show "Yo Gabba Gabba!"  The video, titled Fruit Song, airs as part of the Green Episode.  Thanks to all the nice folk at Nick for their support, and to the band YMCK for providing the awesome tune!

Monday, June 30, 2008

June EOTM... and our new Fortress On Wheels!

Congratulations to David J. Candelaria on becoming the Employee of the Month for June.  Besides his amazing work on the Emerald Nuts commercial, David helped restore our classic '73 Winnebago into a state-of-the-art office!  Does this make us cooler?  No.

Stabone and Lilly, just hangin'.
Demolition begins!
Buddy-blue seems like the right color!
Pretending to be productive in our new office.

Friday, May 30, 2008

May EOTM - Jenny Towner

Congratulations to Jenny Towner on grabbing the May Employee of the Month Award!  As the photo depicts, her hard work and dedication to her craft is unmatched.  Wonder if this guy is jealous yet.

Saturday, May 24, 2008

Dig, Dug, Done!

We just finished a PSA for 811- Call Before You Dig.  This found-object adventure stars a peanut shaped Dig Dug who scurries around in the sand while trying to avoid vegetable monsters.  Unfortunately, he forgets to call before he does it, and digs himself a fresh grave.  Oh, and eat more vegetables kids!


 Watch it HERE:

Saturday, May 10, 2008

Emerald Nuts Spot Done!

We've been toiling away in our humble studio, working on a pretty cool commercial for Emerald Nuts.  It features a couple squirrels welcoming a French squirrel to their neighborhood be giving him a box of off-brand nuts.  Spoiler alert: he doesn't like them.


You can watch it HERE:

Thanks to our hard working team for making this spot shine!

Wednesday, April 30, 2008

April EOTM - Glenn Campbell

Congratulations to Glenn Campbell on a well deserved Employee of the Month award!  Glenn helped with the massive amount of post magic on the ESPN project.  He also has a great smile.  And told heart-warming stories about Yanni concerts.

Thursday, April 24, 2008

Where's the Beef?! - Soulja vs. LeBron

Here's a little sumthin' sumthin' we did for Interscope.



UPDATE:  This vid has just passed 1,000,000 hits!

How can anyone have beef with this?

 Click HERE if you're too young to get the "Where's the Beef?" reference.

Monday, April 14, 2008

The Wonderful World of Dr. Steel

We've had the honor of collaborating with the multi-talented madman, DR. STEEL, on a number of projects.  Most recently some of our handiwork can be found in the Dr. Steel Show webisodes!



Also, you will be able to see more animated madness in the upcoming music video for "Childhood (Don't) A Go-Go"

To enjoy more of the splendor that is Dr. Steel, visit his website!!

Sunday, March 30, 2008

March EOTM - Drumbone (R.I.P.)

Congratulations to Drumbone, the star of the ESPN project.  Although he's just a drumstick with with a short shirt, he's got more balls than most of us will ever have... or ever want to have.


Here is a special poem...written by a special guy...to celebrate how special Drumbone really was...


Friday, March 28, 2008

ESPN viral project wraps!

To celebrate, the crew piled into the Winnebago and we headed into the belly of K.Town for Korean BBQ and Karaoke!  Is the 'bago actually road-worthy, you ask?  Not really, but that's just how we roll at Buddy...
...caution to the wind, livin' on the edge.

A couple glimpses at the viral ESPN project!