Urchin is a film and animation studio rooted in free/libre tools and culture. Using business practices that promote commonwealth, our mission is to explore the versatile medium of animation independent of commercial pressures that restrict it to genre. Enhancements we develop to the software commons support access to expression – an important tool for art, economic development and social justice. At the same time, our participatory media encourage literacy in the underlying tools and systems that aid or impede expression to influence how we assemble not only in culture, but as a global society.

 

Services

  • Animated shorts, commercials, marketing and informational videos from concept to post-production
  • Code and Development for animation pipelines, special purpose add-ons, or character set-up
  • Design and Illustration for branding, characters, environments and concepts
  • Education, Training or Consulting on CG production and toolset
 

Fateh Slavitsky-Osment - Producer / Screenwriter

Co-Founder of the Urchin libre media group, Fateh works at the juncture of free/open tools and culture to explore new modes of animated and live-action filmmaking. She maintains Urchin’s industrial consultancy and campaigns on behalf of a variety of software freedom issues and projects. Her work with Bassam Kurdali has been supported by grants from private donors, the Robeson Fund for Independent Media, the Massachusetts Arts Council, and substantial crowdfunding.

 

Bassam Kurdali - Creative Director / Pipeline TD

Bassam is a 3D generalist filmmaker whose 2006 short, Elephants Dream, was the first ‘open movie’. It established the viability of libre tools in a production environment and set precedent by offering its source data under a permissive license for learning, remixing and re-use. Bassam is continuing to pursue a model of production that invests in commonwealth. They teach, write and lecture around the world on open production and free software technique. Raised in Damascus, Bassam trained in the United States as an electrical and software engineer.

 

Chris Bishop - Animation Supervisor / Concept Artist

Chris Bishop is an independent multimedia artist and educator from Miami. With a primary focus on animated filmmaking, he specializes in art direction, storyboarding, and character design/performance. His work has screened and received accolades at numerous prominent festivals, including SXSW, Ars Electronica, Tribeca, and SIGGRAPH. Among other Urchinations, he serves as concept artist, animator, and animation supervisor on our current production, Wires for Empathy. Bishop is most interested in experimental approaches to animation that explore topics of social criticism while challenging the limitations of conventional narrative.

 

URCHN
61 Gothic Street
Northampton, Massachusetts
01060

t: +1/ 413/ 512/ 0629
e: click here

©URCHIN 2015