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We believe the most rewarding work stems from a strong sense of teamwork, collaboration with our clients, and a desire to make something fresh and compelling. Here at MAKE we have a true passion for this work and enjoy all aspects of the creative process from start to finish.

06/23/2026

The best part of the MAKE Thesis Grant isn't announcing the winners. It's hearing what the experience meant to them.

Watch FULL interviews and learn more about the MAKE Thesis Grant here: https://makevisual.com/meet-this-years-make-thesis-grant-winners

Congratulations again to this year's recipients, and thank you for letting us be a small part of your journey. We can't wait to see where your stories take you next.

Here's to supporting the next generation of animators. ❤️

06/18/2026

Fishing games always make it look easy...

Created by Malika Sultansikhova during her internship at MAKE for National Go Fishing Day!!

This piece has so much charm. The animation feels familiar in all the right ways, drawing from classic video game fishing mechanics where the cast holds the possibility of treasure, junk, or King of the Pond. It's a simple idea executed with a lot of personality... aka an extremely cute cat design.

We loved seeing how Malika reeled this one in.

06/17/2026

Meet our 1st-place 2026 MAKE Thesis Grant winners, Le Hang Whalen and Avery Stratton!

Stone Lions Don't Roar is set in a fantastical 16th-century Vietnam where emotions manifest as living creatures, following two sisters as they navigate grief, responsibility, and the burdens they carry.

What stood out to us in selecting Stone Lions Don't Roar as our 1st-place winner wasn't just its incredible visual ambition or craftsmanship, but the deeply personal story at its core. Inspired by Le Hang's own experiences growing up as an older sister and caretaker.

We were also drawn to the team's vision for how they wanted to use the grant, from supporting authentic Vietnamese voice performances to bringing on the Budapest Scoring Orchestra.

That's what the MAKE Thesis Grant is all about: helping talented student filmmakers push their films further, from a student project to collaborating with professionals and taking it that much further... truly bringing the most ambitious stories to life. Stone Lions Don't Roar felt like a perfect example of that.

We can't wait for the film's release. Congratulations again to Le Hang and Avery!

06/10/2026

The season may be over, but there's still one more thing lurking in the diner... Go behind the scenes of Sunny Side Down and meet the artists, writers, directors, and questionable decision-makers responsible for a diner at the edge of a supermassive black hole.

Watch the MAKING of Sunny Side Down NOW. Exclusively on the MAKE Originals YouTube channel.

06/09/2026

Meet Madhava Kinnicutt and Evelyn Dale, the co-directors of "Thiefish" and our 2nd-place 2025 MAKE Thesis Grant winners!

Thiefish follows a thief-for-hire and a struggling fisherman who set out to restore balance to their world.

What stood out to us in selecting Thiefish as our 2nd-place winner wasn't just the film itself or its stunning level of craftsmanship, but the passion behind its creation. Inspired by a love for the natural world, the team created Thiefish to spark conversations about humanity's relationship with nature.

And it's exactly the kind of purpose-driven storytelling the MAKE Thesis Grant was created to support.

As the program continues to grow, we're always interested in connecting with people who care about the future of animation, original storytelling, and helping emerging artists bring ambitious ideas to life.

If you have ideas, questions, or thoughts on how the MAKE Thesis Grant can grow, we're always open to that conversation!

06/04/2026

Short stories deserve a place on the BIG screen. So, we're excited to become a sponsor of Silver Lake Shorts, a Los Angeles-based nonprofit screening series dedicated to spotlighting independent filmmakers!

We're so happy to have met some awesome people who LOVE SHORT STORIES just as much as we do!!!

It's free to submit and free to attend. Silver Lake Shorts has been hosting monthly screenings at the historic El Cid in Silver Lake since 2019.

If you're in LA on August 7th, 2026, join MAKE Originals for a special screening of Sunny Side Down.

06/02/2026

Meet Ryan Koutras, our 3rd-place 2025 MAKE Thesis Grant winner! "Back to Bones" follows a tired Knight and his cowardly Squire who find themselves resurrected as part of an undead army marching toward war. The only problem? They want absolutely nothing to do with it.

Inspired by everything from Courage the Cowardly Dog and Looney Tunes to Monty Python and the Holy Grail, the film balances fantasy adventure, horror-comedy, and absurd humor to prove that cinematic and silly can coexist side by side.

A quick refresher: The MAKE Thesis Grant is an initiative we launched in 2024 to help senior and MFA animation students take their thesis films to the next level through production funding and professional support.

This is just a first look... we've got more winner spotlights, full interviews, and talented student stories on the way.

05/28/2026

Get ready to GO... this new MAKE Original is an ’80s anime cyberpunk-styled short film featuring a heroine who really . Dropping soon, exclusively on YouTube.

05/26/2026

Pulling apart the pipeline from our latest DICK'S Sporting Goods campaign. A spot moving this fast hides all the moving parts underneath that make it feel seamless, so here’s a real look Inside the Card.

From early exploration and look dev to authentic athlete motion capture and all the viewport work in between. It's so awesome to see moments that existed for a second in the final spot get their own spotlight here.

"Setting up authentic sports teams in animation from start to finish was a bit of a sprint. We started with motion capture and asset libraries, but every clip and asset got worked over by artists during the 2 weeks most of the production took place in, to get everything up to the authentic athlete standard we were targeting, and I think we achieved. Extra credit for the team this project rolling with a fresh pipeline and toolset to get there, and in style." — Aaron Dabelow

05/21/2026

Sunny Side Down already had out-of-this-world drinks and enough chaos to make us ask an important question… “What if these beverages existed in real life?”

So we teamed up with SinCityBartender (Jason) to bring the world of the series off-screen and into an actual glass. What started as a creator collab quickly stopped feeling like promo and became a genuine extension of the Sunny Side Down universe itself.

Also, we expected maybe one or two drinks. Jason made SIX fully curated beverages tied to the series. So yeah. Dude rocks... Thank you, Jason, for just getting us.

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