I just wanted to take a moment to write an introduction about Portland Studios:
About 3 years ago, I started writing down some thoughts about the possibility of starting a media company with a group of friends. At first, the concept began as sort of way to combine a wide variety of disciplines under the roof of one freelancing group. We wanted to be a place where publishing, web design, animation, illustration, and film could all be developed under one roof.
A group of us (about 10) began meeting on Saturday mornings to read articles on business, on art philosophy, and about media---and begin to hammer out the manner and the means that we could develop the company.
Eventually, the realization and growing understanding came over me and the others that the company would have to be one that was focused on doing one thing or a few things very well, rather than trying to be an all-encompassing freelance emporium. That kind of business would simply be unwieldy and ineffective.
We decided to focus our efforts on developing an illustration and animation studio.
Why "Portland"? I've always been interested in moving out West. Particularly a growing urban area. (For more thoughts on urban ministry, listen to the MP3 sermons by Tim Keller on www.redeemer2.com.)
A church planter named Tom McDonald was sent out from Heritage Bible Church in Greenville, SC to start a church in Portland, OR. I feel that eventually I would like to be able work with him in some way in that field---whether directly or indirectly. Ultimately, I see the company making Portland, Oregon its base of operations.
On April 2, 2003 Portland Studios was officially incorporated with three equal directors holding the shares--me (Brannon McAllister), Justin Gerard, and Michael Collins.
Since then, Jamin Jantz has come on board to represent artists to our clients. Currently, we are primarily focusing on develop an awareness for Justin Gerard--A great new talent.
We've been doing illustration work for clients including Jackson-Dawson Communications, VantagePoint, Quarasan/McGraw-Hill, The Leslie Agency/The Martin Luther King Center, CreativeBeast, BJU Press, Riggs Creative, Design Labs, and several other clients.
We would like begin working on a freelance basis with several larger animation studios (Blue Sky, Warner Bros., Disney for example) to provide conceptual development art for their films. The possibility for this kind of work is coming.
We hope Portland Studios will provide some great art and animation to many clients. On a personal level, I hope to be able to bring the Gospel to bear on all I do in this business. Our mission and philosophy speak for themselves. There is so much potential.
I'll be writing more about the business again soon.
Posted by at December 28, 2003 10:05 PM | TrackBack