In the heart of West London, where the vibrant streets of Portobello Road buzz with energy, a creative force was born amidst the challenges of a global pandemic. Myth Studio, founded by seasoned animator James Finlay, quickly became a beacon of innovation in the animation industry. Under the strategic leadership of Jimmy Gordon, the Business Partnerships Director, Myth Studio has transformed from a small start-up into a trusted partner for major brands like Budweiser and ITV.
In this insightful interview, Jimmy shares the journey of Myth Studio, their unique creative processes, and how they continue to push the boundaries of what's possible in animation. From overcoming the constraints of tight deadlines to embracing the potential of AI, Myth Studio’s story is one of resilience, creativity, and the relentless pursuit of excellence.
How was your company born and where are you based?
Myth was born in the midst of the pandemic. After a long career as an animator, James Finlay founded the studio in order to meet the demands of his clients. The studio is based in West London close to Portobello Road.
Which was the first huge success that you can remember?
We were approached to create a film for Budweiser to be used alongside their entry to Cannes 2022 for Creative Business Transformation.
We had just 7 days to turn the film around, Budweiser were awarded a silver and it started a long running partnership with Revolt.
What’s the biggest opportunity for you and your company in the next year?
After hiring a new producer who previously worked at Netflix, we’re now looking for opportunities to create longer form content and get involved with bigger scale productions.
Can you explain your team’s creative process? What makes it unique?
With AI becoming such a prominent force in the creative industry, we invest in researching and experimenting with new tools, pipelines and workflows so our clients can benefit from the exciting new developments.
How does your team remain inspired and motivated?
We’re always working on our own scripts, ideas and explorations; we encourage everyone to contribute their own ideas, focusing on their passions outside of work and creating something they’ve always wanted to make.
How has COVID-19 affected your company?
For us, COVID-19 actually had a positive impact on the business. The demand for animation rose due to the lack of the ability to produce live film.
It also meant that from our outset, we had a big focus on online collaboration and our operations. This enabled us to build a great foundation for growth from day one.
Which agencies do you gain inspiration from? Do you have any heroes in the industry?
We love the work of Buck, Ordinary Folk, Blinkink and shout out to our favourites at Squint/Opera.
What is one tip that you would give to other agencies looking to grow?
Get out there and build relationships. Networking and forging friendships is essential to making it in this industry.
People want to do business with people they enjoy working with and spending time with, so going for coffee and dropping by others’ studios is a great way to expand your network, and ultimately, client base. But you also make a lot of great friends on the way.
How do you go about finding new clients/business? (Pitching, work with retainers, etc.)
We’re a very collaborative team and we’ve found that partnering with other agencies has been hugely beneficial for us. We are able to work with amazing creative and advertising agencies across the UK and a wide variety of different brands. Repeat business is a huge driver for us, and thankfully we see a lot of our partners returning to work with us again.
Can you share a defining moment in your company's journey that shaped its identity or direction?
Creating ITV’s Euro 2024 title sequence has been a huge success for us.
How do you foster a culture of innovation and experimentation within your team?
The team trusts that their ideas will be listened to and respected by everyone else - this trust and acceptance is key to experimenting.
We love to hear what each person takes inspiration from and often use this as a launchpad to ask more questions into what styles we could try next, and research new techniques for animating in 2d and 3d.
What measures do you take to ensure diversity and inclusion are prioritised within your company?
At Myth, we like to value intuition and talent above “experience”. We give opportunities to those that we see a real eye for design through their showreel and example works.
Can you describe a project that challenged your team creatively and how you overcame any obstacles?
Most commonly a creative challenge is because of a misunderstanding of the expectations and the reality - this can come in as early as the brief stage, or it can develop as the project evolves.
Any creative challenge can be overcome with a bit more breathing time: so we’ve overcome obstacles by keeping the client in touch with what to expect when, and going from there!
How do you balance maintaining your company's unique creative voice while meeting the diverse needs of clients?
Maintaining your unique voice is achieved through pitching a vision and advising. Sometimes it can be tempting to just ‘tick off’ the notes, but adding an extra something and thinking outside the box when it comes to the creative process can really help maintain your unique voice.
Can you share a memorable client success story that exemplifies your company's approach and impact?
Our work this year for the ITV Sport Euro intro was a true testament to our collaborative approach design and our forward thinking to technology. It was our biggest project to date, mixing a multitude of different animation techniques and styles.
We built a diverse team and pipeline to enable us to seamlessly collaborate these different skills together. We also utilised new technologies, such as a software which uses AI to allow us to take 2D assets/images and create 3D renders, enabling us to build 3D assets quicker and cheaper than traditional methods.
In what ways do you invest in the professional development and growth of your team members?
We have invested in a lot of training resources which every team member gains access to. We also schedule out time for our designers to get stuck into courses that pique their interest.
We hold weekly ‘tech talk’ sessions where we discuss new emerging technologies, softwares and design approaches and team members take it in turns hosting and talking through something cool they want to share with the team.
