S4 Studios
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S4 Studios, LLC is a multidisciplinary broadcast design, animation and visual effects studio, founded in 1999 by Geoffrey Kater and Dale Hendrickson, augmented two years later by Larry Le Francis. The company is named after a highly-sensitive and purportedly extraterrestrial alien research complex located within the super-secret U.S. government base Area 51. Kater, a futurist designer, came from Saban Entertainment. Le Francis was an animation series producer at Klasky Csupo, Inc. and Nickelodeon. Hendrickson designed some 2,000 characters for Fox-TV’s The Simpsons during his seven years as the series’ Character Design Supervisor. He left S4 Studios in 2006. Originally located in Van Nuys, California, the company relocated to Hollywood, California in 2004.
[edit] History
S4 Studios’ first major project in 1999 was The Groovenians, a one-off half-hour 3D animated special for Cartoon Network based on characters created by Kenny Scharf and featuring music from DEVO and the B-52s. While the project did not go to series, it did lead to other long-form projects, including Wild Animal Baby, a series of six mixed-media 3D/Flash animation and live action direct to video children’s specials for the National Wildlife Foundation, co produced with Korea’s SunWoo Entertainment.
In 2001, Sony Consumer Electronics of America hired S4 Studios to produce a series of Flash-animated webisodes to cross-promote Twisted Metal:Black (often referred to as TM:B), the PlayStation 2 incarnation of the Twisted Metal series of car combat video games. This led to further diversification, and in 2002, the company began to work in concert with trailer houses such as Aspect Ratio and The Cimarron Group to provide visual effects shots for trailers. In 2006, a niche-marketed division, S4 VFX, was formed to produce MPAA-certified fixes such as object removal and replacement within trailers to accommodate a wide release of PG-rated motion pictures in American cinemas.
In 2007, S4 Studios established themselves in the emerging HDTV market, creating a series of original branding campaigns for NBC Universal’s Emerging Networks division, including launches for Chiller Network, Sleuth, and Universal HD, the division’s umbrella network.
In 2006, S4 Studios partner Geoffrey Kater wrote and illustrated a pair of companion books, Design First for 3D Artists, through Wordware Publishing, and the Design First for 3D Sketchbook.
[edit] External links
[1] Official S4 Studios website
[2] Design First website
[edit] Sources and References
[3] William Vaughan of NewTek Interviews Geoffrey Kater, S4 Studios
[4] Animation Industry Database
[5] S4 Studios on Spike TV
[6] Paramount Pictures News
[7] Geoffrey Kater at 2007 Los Angeles Animation Festival
[8] 3D World Magazine
[9] Review of Design First for 3D Artists
[10] Review of Design First for 3D Artists
[11] TM Alliance
