When Jesse Davidge and Jonathan Busby graduated from the Classical Animation and Maya programs at VFS (the latter would soon evolve into today’s Digital Character Animation) they both took a pretty well-journeyed career path, working for big local studios like Studio B, EA, and Bardel.

A few years on, Jesse and Jon wanted something a little different. They wanted chances to work on smaller, more diverse projects – to build their own relationships with clients and see their work all the way through from concept to completion.

That resulted in the founding of Blatant Studios, a new Vancouver-based production studio specializing in animation and motion graphics. Jesse and Jon form two-thirds of the operation. “Blatant began as a way to brand our after-hours commercial work,” Jesse says. “Eventually, it became a full-time company.”

Blatant now boasts a splashy website and a nice track record of pro work, and, as Jon explains, it’s not the kind of thing you start on a whim. “Starting a studio is not an overnight venture. It takes years of networking, knowledge of production, and building a client base. It’s a 24/7 commitment.”

The two are putting their full range of animation, directing, and producing skills to use on an array of interesting projects – like this spot for Sprint/NASCAR, produced in collaboration with San Francisco’s Gunshop. Even more recently, they were approached by Tribal DDB to produce two videos for the Opening and Closing Ceremonies at the Winter Olympic Games. They had about 3 weeks. Like a lot of homegrown talent involved in the many facets of the Games, it brought a whole new level of exposure. “The thought of having millions of people see our work definitely energized us to do what was needed to see the project realized,” says Jesse. The second of the two videos was projected on the floor of B.C. Place during the Closing Ceremonies.

We’ll leave you with a video for the Canadian singer-songwriter Dan Mangan that Blatant did. It was released earlier this year, and it’s pretty awesome.

To see all their latest work, check out the Blatant Studios website at blatantstudios.com.