33rd ANNUAL TELLY AWARDS

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Ghostbot, Inc. A DOUBLE WINNER IN THE 33rd ANNUAL TELLY AWARDS San Francisco, CA – October 24, 2012 – With nearly 11,000 entries from all 50 states and from numerous countries around the globe, The Telly Awards has named Ghostbot, Inc. as a Silver winner in the 33rd Annual Telly Awards for both “Party in the CIA” and “Dolby: Evolution of Sound”. “Party in the CIA” is an animated music video for Grammy Award-winning singer-songwriter Weird Al Yankovic’s parody of “Party in the U.S.A.” by Miley Cyrus while “Dolby: An Evolution of Sound” is a short film that showcases new advancements that Dolby is making for audio quality on home computers.

“The Telly Awards has a mission to honor the very best in film and video,” said Linda Day, Executive Director of the Telly Awards. “Ghostbot’s accomplishment illustrates their creativity, skill, and dedication to their craft and serves as a testament to great film and video production.” Roque Ballesteros, one of the three founders of Ghostbot goes on to state, “We are really excited and honored to receive two Telly Awards this year. It is great confirmation that the level of excellence we strive for in all our work is being recognized by our industry peers”.

Regarding the selection process, a prestigious judging panel of over 500 accomplished industry professionals, each a past winner of a Silver Telly and a member of The Silver Telly Council, judged the competition, upholding the historical standard of excellence that Telly represents. The Silver Council evaluated entries to recognize distinction in creative work – entries do not compete against each other – rather entries are judged against a high standard of merit. Less than 10% of entries are chosen as Winners of the Silver Telly, our highest honor.

About The Telly Awards: The Telly Awards was founded in 1979 and is the premier award honoring outstanding local, regional, and cable TV commercials and programs, the finest video and film productions, and online commercials, video and films. Winners represent the best work of the most respected advertising agencies, production companies, television stations, cable operators, and corporate video departments in the world. To find out more about the Telly Awards visit www.tellyawards.com.

About Ghostbot, Inc: Formed in 2004 with over 50 years of combined experience in the entertainment sector, the principals of Ghostbot work tirelessly to deliver the highest quality product. Throughout the history of the company, the studio has come to be recognized as one of the premier creative forces in the animation industry.

Please contact Roque Ballesteros at Ghostbot, Inc. for inquiries: ghostbot@ghostbot.com or call 650-993-8234.

Ghostbot's Video Game Reel

We have a new reel! It's a showcase of Ghostbot's work in the video game industry including cinematics, game assets, and animation sequences.

We Moved!

We are delighted to share the news that we moved! Into a bigger office. A much bigger office. As the boxes slowly get unpacked and we fill our bellies with neighboring In 'N Out and Krispy Kreme, we are coming to find our new home quite amazing! Check out some pictures of the move.

Out with the Old Office 

                 

In with the New Office

Happy Tree Friends Blind Date Boards

In honor of love, Valentine’s Day, and all that good stuff, we are bringing it back with an episode from Happy Tree Friends called Blind Date. We dug up the original storyboards we worked on and you can take a peek right here.

Watch what happens when Mole, Lumpy, and Giggles have their own very unique dates. Sometimes love really is blind!

CTRL+♥+DELETE: Music Video

We are proud to announce the official CTRL + ♥ + DELETE Music Video! Watch our pals Penny and Presston enjoy some sweet, wholesome fun in the sun.

The catchy song “Yum Yum ” is written and performed by the super-talented Essence. Be sure to visit her site and enjoy her wide range of lovely music.

Also, be sure to check out the latest episodes of CTRL + ♥ + DELETE episodes on YouTube.

Episode 1: Pilot
Episode 2: First Date
Episode 3: Clubbing

Welcome to CTRL+♥+DELETE. A new independent series created by award-winning animation studio Ghostbot.

http://www.controlheartdelete.com
http://www.ghostbot.com

Happy Holidays from Ghostbot!

CTRL+♥+DELETE Episode 3: Clubbing

PENNY wants to get her groove on, but can PRESSTON keep up? Watch the tragically cute mayhem unfold!

Welcome to CTRL+♥+DELETE. A new independent series created by award-winning animation studio Ghostbot.

http://www.controlheartdelete.com
http://www.ghostbot.com

Ghostbot named #33 "Fast 100"

SAN FRANCISCO - November 3, 2011 - Ghostbot announced today its recognition as #33 in San Francisco Business Times' Top 100 Fastest-Growing Private Companies in the Bay Area. Fast 100 is an award for those elite companies that have had the largest revenue growth from 2008 to 2010. Ghostbot experienced a 136.5 percent growth during this period.

The companies recognized range from technology and marketing to media and retail. This accredited list is comprised of both young companies with inspiration to grow and expand as well as mature companies that have been able to not only maintain but thrive in a time of economic hardship. As one of the very few companies to represent the creative field, Ghostbot stands out as a respected business made up of passionate people who love what they do.

An awards ceremony was held on Thursday, October 27th at the Hilton Hotel in downtown San Francisco. The rankings were published in San Francisco Business Times October 28th edition.

About Ghostbot, Inc.

Ghostbot is an independent animation studio formed in 2004 by Alan Lau, Roque Ballesteros, and Brad Rau in San Francisco, CA. Corrine Wong later joined the principal team as Executive Producer and has been integral in spear-heading a high level production pipeline for the studio. With over 50 years of combined experience in the entertainment sector, Ghostbot brings a unique ability to create compelling design and strong visually story telling. Throughout the history of the company, the studio has come to be recognized as one of the premiere creative forces in the animation industry.

Client List: Walt Disney Television, Nickelodeon, Cartoon Network, “Weird” Al Yankovic/Jive/Sony Music, Esurance, Samsung, Hallmark, Electronic Arts, Mattel, Leap Frog, Adobe, Mondo Media, Film Roman/Starz Media, Laika, Wild Brain, Curious Pictures, Kenwood Group, Machinima, Sanzaru Games, ngmoco:), Madhouse, Ubisoft, Crowdstar, Pocket Gems, Metamoki

Internbot - 02 Project: Steampunk Nutcracker

As the first days passed at Ghostbot and I learned the mechanics of Flash, Roque came to me with the concept of a design project. The first thought was both daunting and exciting at the scope of the project among my other classes.

Inspired by my Jack and the Beanstalk Cyber Punk/Fantasy designs from my portfolio, Roque came up with a similar project for me to embark on. The project was to pick from a few fairy tales and put it in a different genre. From the Gingerbread man to Three Billy Goats Gruff, one in particular caught my eye.



I chose the Nutcracker. Unbeknownst to Roque, I played both the Nutcracker and Herr Drosselmeyer in two play productions as a child in elementary school! How could I even consider another choice?

Now onto the genre choice: Goth, Techno, Aquatic, Pulp Adventure? In the end, I choose Steampunk; something I've never explored in my own free time. Before even grabbing a pencil and paper, Roque asked me to define the archetypes of the cast, giving each three descriptive adjectives for each character. As well as collecting a massive amount of research of both steampunk and nutcracker images.

Below is my first set of sketches on the initial concept after getting the go ahead from Roque, along with descriptions of each character.

Cast:

The Nutcracker: The lead character of the play and the quiet protagonist of the film. He protects Clara from the evil grasp of the Rat King. Created by Herr Drosselmeyer, this mechanical, steam driven, and stalwart hero leads his steam powered army into battle against the ominous Rat King.

Nutcracker Army: Loyal and steadfast the mechanical steam army follows their leader to the ends of the earth and back.

Clara: A young brilliant woman, who is a mechanical genius, like her Godfather Herr Drosselmeyer. Always interested in her godfather’s work Clara locks herself in her lab tinkering away at new devices… that is until Herr Drosselmeyer stops by on Christmas Eve with a gift.

Herr Drosselmeyer: The mysterious and ominous Godfather of Clara. He is a genius mechanic, creating revolutionary designs in steam engineering. He has a mechanical eye that has yet to be explained. Drosselmeyer considers Clara as his protégé.

The Rat King: A ruthless tyrant and leader of his pirate crew, he has a long standing feud with the Nutcracker. Nothing would bring him more joy then seeing his head on a pike in his throne room. Hei is half rat with an assortment of mechanical devices replacing limbs and organs.

Rat Army: The Rat King’s pirate army is an assortment of ruthless and greedy rats. Scavengers by nature, they replace and enhance their bodies with any assortment of mechanical devices they can get a hold of.

The Rise of Internbot - 02

Hi everyone my name is Sam Filstrup I'm the intern at Ghostbot. I'm from Concord, California just outside of of San Francisco (Bonus points if you noticed my initials are vaguely similar.).

Like many artists I've spent my head in the books doodling away rather then studying. Which led me to the Academy of Art University in San Francisco where I've been studying as a visual development major with a focus on character design.

Years passed and skills were refined, I've worked tirelessly to bring my skills to the professional level and even though my skills were far greater then before I needed some true work experience under my belt. So I began looking for an internship.

Back in the days of High School I saw this music video of my favorite ska band Five Iron Frenzy, which popped Ghostbot onto my radar. Already aware of there location in the city, I sent out an email. Low and behold by the good graces of the Ghostbot crew I was brought into the studio as their second intern. As the weeks go by I'll be working on cleanup and various other projects, along with a personal project overseen by the Ghostbot crew.