becoming frustrated," says Kalina. "Now we use cineSync and we can flip panels in real time with no lag. That's something we couldn't do five years ago!"
Going to Nerdland
Alongside many short films, commercials, video game cinematics – and quite a lot else – Titmouse also recently launched into its very first independent feature film: Nerdland.
Directed by Chris Prynoski, Nerdland is an adult animated satire about Hollywood and the depraved lengths some will go to attain celebrity. It features some top-tier talent too, with Andrew Kevin Walker of Seven fame on writing duties, and voice work by Paul Rudd and Patton Oswalt.
Nerdland commenced as an independent in-house project, worked on in between TV commitments, in a piece-by-piece fashion.
"At Titmouse we often have projects starting and stopping in several cities simultaneous-ly,” explains Kalina. “When we'd wrap a TV series in New York City with a month between projects, the available team would jump on Nerdland. Then a team in L.A. would become available and they'd take on a few sequences. When we had locked the entire story reel and needed crew fast, we sought out freelancers and animators working from home in France, Belgium, New Zealand, and Canada."
cineSync was used by the Los Angeles team and the freelance artists elsewhere to keep the project on point. It came in particularly helpful for Prynoski, who was often traveling on Titmouse business.
"Chris used cineSync to review footage while he was
out of town," says Kalina. "He even put together a 'travel studio' with a Wacom Companion, and would review footage from his hotel room. That really helped keep everything on track for what was, at times, quite a piecemeal project!"
Animated advantage
Beyond a theatrical release of Nerdland, Titmouse is working on a full season of Niko and the Sword of Light, as well as Son of Zorn, a live-action/animated hybrid for Fox. The imaginatively titled Brad Neely's Harg Nallin Sclopio Peepio will also air on Adult Swim this summer, keeping Titmouse more than busy alongside many of the smaller projects it has on the go.
And another big focus for Titmouse? Virtual reality. "We’re always trying to figure out new and interesting ways to bring comedy and cartoon storytelling into the interactive world," says Prynoski. "We want to use VR to make the viewer’s
eyes bleed from amazement…not just from staring into hot LCD screens one inch away from their pupils.”
However you frame it, Titmouse is one prolific studio,
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