Throughout San Diego Comic Con I’ve held interviews at the top of booths, in air-conditioned press rooms at the Hilton Bayfront, and on the con floor. But I’ve never had an interview in an RV…until now. Titmouse Inc, the animation studio behind shows like Star Trek: Lower Decks and The Venture Bros, held interviews in an RV decked out with airbrushed art. Inside, there was a cooler with energy drinks (which this writer sorely needed), along with an entire sink full of snacks.
Reclining on a comfy couch, I chatted with Titmouse founder Chris Prynoski and chief creative officer Antonio Canobbio. Prynoski sadly couldn’t attend due to having contracted Covid, but was more than happy to talk about the origins of his company. “It kind of happened by accident,” he said when I asked him about founding Titmouse. He’d originally started up the company to sell T-shirts. “I kept getting freelance animation and it just made sense to run it through the company. We still sell T-shirts, too!”
Canobbio, as chief creative officer, says he deals with “picture” or making sure each project reaches its potential. “You come to us with a show, you either have a vision or you don’t…let’s say you need a vision, how do we squeeze the best juice out of that? How do we make sure the picture is up to par to what we set out to do?”
The project that Titmouse is perhaps best known for is The Legend of Vox Machina, Prime Video’s adaptation of Critical Role’s hit campaign. Neither Prynoski nor Canobbio imagined it would have exploded in popularity; Prynoski had worked with Critical Role’s Sam Riegel on other projects and when Riegel told him about Critical Role, the duo worked with Travis Willingham to develop a pilot that didn’t take off. “We pitched it round to every network and we only got one bite, but it would have been a very low-budget show. We would have to make it like Aqua Teen Hunger Force or something…and they didn’t want to do that. And I think that was the right move.”
Willingham and Riegel eventually put forth the idea of a Kickstarter, which Prynoski didn’t recommend. “I tell everybody ‘no’ when they want to do a Kickstarter campaign for a project because it takes so much time and costs so much money,” he said. The Vox Machina Kickstarter did end up smashing records, and the networks that had turned down their initial pitch came calling back. Prynoski went with Prime because “they gave us a lot of tail.”
Titmouse is also working on Tales of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and both men are shocked at the work that went into making it. “It looks incredible,” Canobbio gushed. “We have to tell animators to stay on schedule and budget – they love it so much. We really, really over delivered on this one,” Prynoski added. Given Titmouse’s resume, they’re bound to show up next year with new animated projects – and I hope they bring the RV back, snack-filled sink and all.
This interview was edited for clarity.
You must be logged in to post a comment Login