Meet squeeze studio
Jim Mccauley talks artistic creativity with Québec City’s little Pixar, Squeeze Studio
Behind the scenes at Québec City’s little Pixar
Founded upon a vision of creating a little Pixar in Québec City, Canada, Squeeze is a studio that knows its limits and uses them to its advantage. “Our vision was simple,” says co-founder and producer, Denis Doré. “We wanted to benefit from Québec City’s talent to create a studio specialised in 3D character animation. We knew that we couldn’t excel in everything, but if we chose a niche, we could compete with the best studios in the world.”
Denis had his work cut out from the start. “Patrick and I launched Squeeze with only one business deal signed,” he explains. “We then had four months to find another project to be able to pay the five employees that we had just hired!”
The gamble paid off, though, and Squeeze has moved up from producing video game trailers and TV ads to creating its own animated series, Cracké, which Denis cooked up alongside co-founder Patrick Beaulieu. “We gave life to the main character and developed his paranoid personality,” says Denis. “Patrick created the visual identity; I put words on his images.” “My role was to create a special world, with a film look but on TV, with an old school animation style that would be unique to Squeeze,” continues Patrick. As Cracké’s creative director, he then had to share this vision with the team. “The experience was wonderful, full of creative freedom, with a team bursting with ideas!”
The artistic creativity demonstrated in Cracké is key to Squeeze’s ethos. “In an era where there are many studios and plenty of artists out there, where technology is available to everyone, creativity is the foundation of all our projects,” Patrick tells us. “Everyone at Squeeze can be creative and bring ideas. Squeeze is an artist studio supported by production and technology.” It’s this creative focus that makes Squeeze a great place to work for artists and animators, as animation director Daniel Huertas explains. “I wanted to work in an environment 100 per cent driven by the quality of animation and with no performance limits. The ‘wow’ moment would be the day I worked from 8am until 5pm without even realising it, because I was enjoying my job so much – and I still like it as much now!” Daniel worked mostly as a 3D character
Creativity is the foundation of all our projects… Everyone at Squeeze can be creative and bring ideas
Patrick Beaulieu , creative director and co-founder, Squeeze
animator on Cracké, developing the expression sheet and sharing tips for animation styles and facial performance with the team, and he’d recommend Squeeze as a great place to work for any animator who wants to up their game. “At Squeeze, our environment is driven by the quality of animation,” he says. “So if you are an animator who wants to be challenged every single day and reach your maximum as an artist, then this is the place to work!”
Having a great working environment is absolutely vital for Squeeze, says production director Emmanuel Laurent. “For me, the most important things at work are a good project, a good laugh and some challenges,” he explains, “If you have that, you have a nice place to work.” Emmanuel recognises that everyone at Squeeze has a part to play in the creative process. “Everybody is part of the team. And in a team, everyone is important.” Currently working on the second season of Cracké, as well as getting ready for some animated feature films, Emmanuel is prepared for a busy time ahead. “It’s a very busy month, year… decade!” he enthuses, and he’s not alone in that view.
“If Squeeze’s first four years have been marked by tremendous growth, from five to 50 employees, 2016 will even be crazier,” says Denis. “Our challenge is to recruit the best talents and to implement best practices to move our major projects forward while maintaining our quality standard and our culture. Growing while keeping our unique identity!”
To learn more about Squeeze and see more of the studio’s work, visit www. squeezestudio.com.