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Animation & VFX Boutique Galaxy 61 Re-Launches

Galaxy 61 celebrates its 10th anniversary with a re-branding and a new website showcasing the company’s capabilities that are tailored to animation and VFX-driven projects with big ideas and small budgets.

Galaxy 61 owner and creative director, Doug Johnson, has announced that his award-winning design-driven boutique marked its 10th anniversary this month with the re-launch of the company as he takes its business model to the next level with the addition of editorial, 3D for print, audio and finishing services. The re-structuring redefines the company as a high-end animation and visual effects house, which now offers clients the option to take advantage of its full-service, concept through completion capabilities.  A new website, showcasing its evolved brand and Galaxy 61’s new 2014 Show Reel, was also unveiled this week to coincide with the re-launch.

“The response to the re-tooling of the company has been very enthusiastic,” adds Johnson. “Clients who previously only thought of us as an animation house have been pleasantly surprised that we can handle all of their post-production needs, and, at the same time, deliver great work that fits their budgets. And potential clients who were fans of our animation and visual effects work, but looking for a company that could bring that same level of quality to editorial and finishing – are discovering that they we now have the capabilities to provide them with the best of both worlds, all under one roof.”

In addition to integrating a comprehensive roster of editorial, audio and finishing services, Galaxy 61 has also upped its game with a newly installed 88-core render farm, servers, and 4X Gigabit network, which enables much faster turnaround times for complex projects rendered using Mental Ray and VRay for Maya.  It also dramatically increases bandwidth for computing multiple simultaneous liquid simulations, enabling them to efficiently execute complex fluid-based visual effects.

Over the last decade Galaxy 61 has earned a reputation as a high-end, cost effective creative shop that a growing list of agencies, brands and networks have come to rely upon for concepting, storyboarding and designing content that taps into Johnson’s creative vision. Johnson brings a mastery of a myriad of skills that include crafting 2D and 3D animation, character animation, visual FX and motion graphics to live action integration,  fluid simulations and stereoscopic 3D  - along with the ability to effectively helm a handpicked team of talent and guide their collective artistry as they bring his vision to life. 

Galaxy 61 continues to attract an eclectic mix of broadcast, digital and film works that runs the gamut - from commercials, show intros, broadcast IDs, event media, original content, shorts, and 3D for print, to mobile apps and interactive media. The expanded roster of services allows Johnson and his team to follow a project’s creative thread, and his vision, through every phase of the production.

“As accomplished as Galaxy 61 is as an innovative, budget-conscious design, animation and VFX resource, there’s an untapped reservoir of companies that want to work with a high-end design firm that can also provide them with the convenience and cost-effectiveness of a full-service pipeline,” says Johnson. “Now Galaxy 61 can offer them the same caliber of services at the back end of a project.  Meeting the demands of that target market is what the re-structuring of Galaxy 61 is all about.”

Galaxy 61’s full-service offerings have already attracted some inspired projects in both the national and regional arenas. Recent work includes the show intro for VH1’s 2014 season of ‘The Fabulous Life,’ Nick at Nite’s FX-driven promo package ‘Game On,’ ‘Anti-Schlub,’ a comedy-driven broadcast commercial for Van Heusen,  Disney XD broadcast IDs (‘Shadow Puppets,’ ‘Hockey’), an installation video for Arrow Shirts' 'Pitti Uomo' menswear conference, (which Galaxy 61 took from concept through editorial to finished presentation,) ‘Rise of The Geeks,’ an interactive app for EE Times, as well as the concepting, scripting, character animation, and finishing for Johnson’s quirky mini-series ‘Ten Seconds of Hell.’ 

Source: Galaxy 61

Jennifer Wolfe's picture

Formerly Editor-in-Chief of Animation World Network, Jennifer Wolfe has worked in the Media & Entertainment industry as a writer and PR professional since 2003.