Watch the latest episode of The Good Boy now on YouTube!
Kyle and Fed blow off steam in the real world and push the limits of reality. Things get out of hand when Fed offs a guy, leaving Kyle reeling with anger. Cia (a new character) tries to calm down Kyle, but instead he faces his inner demons by taking them out on Fed.
Watch the third episode in The Good Boy series on YouTube now!
Discover the Secrets Behind the System in "The Good Boy" Animated Series
We're thrilled to announce the release of our latest animated series, "The Good Boy." This exciting new production follows the adventures of Fed, a character driven by his curiosity and impulsive nature. Fed's urge to discover what lies behind the crack in the system leads him on a heart-pumping journey filled with potentially illegal activities.
Throughout the series, Fed discovers that some of the rules he's lived by are arbitrary, and his exploration leads him to a greater understanding of the world around him. The animation in "The Good Boy" is top-notch, and the plot is filled with twists and turns that will keep you on the edge of your seat. Whether you're a fan of adventure, suspense, or just a good story, "The Good Boy" has something for everyone.
This latest release is the result of our partnership with South Korean media company CeREELs, and we're proud to bring this exciting animated series to audiences worldwide. So grab your popcorn, sit back, and watch "The Good Boy" on YouTube today!
Introducing Our New Animated Series: "The Good Boy"
Today we release the first episode of our new original series, "The Good Boy." Excitement courses through our veins as we share this project with the world. Our partnership with South Korean media company CeREELs has been a true pleasure, and their expertise has helped bring this story to life.
"The Good Boy" is a gripping tale that will keep you on the edge of your seat. The characters are rich and complex, the plot twists will leave you guessing until the very end. So, do yourself a favor and give it a watch. You can find it on YouTube, the link is provided below. Trust us, you won't regret it.
So sit back, relax and enjoy the ride that is "The Good Boy." We guarantee it will be a wild one.
March Release: Echo Bridge's Animated Musicals for Mature Audiences
Echo Bridge, an animation studio known for pushing the boundaries of animation and storytelling, has announced the release of three new animated musicals set to debut on YouTube in March. These productions are geared towards more mature audiences and are sure to leave a lasting impression.
The first production, "The Good Boy," is an abstract reflection on the modern world. It follows the journey of Kyle Yung Smith, a young man who questions the status quo and the lies he tells himself. The animation and music in this production are visually stunning and emotionally resonant, and the story delves into themes of self-discovery and the search for truth in a world that can often be confusing and uncertain.
The second production, "Chewing Gum," is a tale of a daydreaming girl named Mia and her world of bizarre anxiety after she rips a hole in spacetime. The animation in this production is uniquely imaginative and the music is both haunting and captivating. The story explores themes of mental health, self-expression and the power of imagination.
Finally, "Round One" is a story of two friends, Marcus and Leon, who embark on a journey to become the best amateur boxers in the St Pete area. The animation in this production is both realistic and dynamic, and the music is powerful and uplifting. The story explores themes of friendship, perseverance, and the pursuit of one's dreams.
All three productions are sure to delight audiences with their beautiful animation, catchy music, and thought-provoking stories. Echo Bridge has a proven track record of creating high-quality, entertaining content, and these new musicals are no exception. The studio's use of the web as a platform for these productions also makes them accessible to a wider audience, allowing more people to experience the magic of animation and music. The studio's choice of tackling mature themes in these productions make them stand out and offer a new level of depth and meaning.
So mark your calendars for March and get ready for a mature, thought-provoking and musically-enriching adventure that you won't soon forget. Echo Bridge's new musicals are sure to leave a lasting impression and offer a new perspective on the world we live in.
Happy 13th Anniversary to Echo Bridge: A Leader in Animation Production
Echo Bridge has come a long way since it was founded 13 years ago. It all started with a short film produced in 2008, which marked the beginning of a journey that would lead to the incorporation of the company as a Florida-based studio in 2010. From the very beginning, Echo Bridge has been known for its innovative approach to animation production, and it has consistently produced high-quality content for clients in the entertainment industry.
One of the first studios in the industry to adopt a remote work pipeline, Echo Bridge has always been ahead of the curve when it comes to finding new ways to create great animation. This approach has allowed the company to work with some of the biggest names in the industry, including Yuna, Carl Jones, and Saxton Moore. It has also worked with networks such as Cartoon Network, Amazon Studios, and Hulu to produce some of the most popular shows on television.
In 2012, Echo Bridge moved into its own building and was able to house over 20 artists and animators at a time. This allowed the company to take on even more projects and expand its reach in the animation industry. It started producing its own animated shows, such as Sugar and Toys (seasons 1 and 2), and even produced a kids show pilot called "Jaye." In addition to this, Echo Bridge has worked on numerous projects in the anime industry (though we are unable to share details due to non-disclosure agreements).
Despite all of this success, Echo Bridge has never lost sight of its roots. In late 2019, the company returned to its remote work model in order to continue producing high-quality animation for its clients. This approach has allowed the company to remain flexible and adaptable, which has been especially important during the past year with the challenges presented by CV19.
Echo Bridge has also been recognized for its work with numerous awards for its commercial and music video productions. In the coming year, the company is set to release its first wave of original animated web shorts on YouTube in quarter 2. This is a exciting new chapter for the company, and we can't wait to see what the future holds.
Looking to the future, Echo Bridge has big plans in store. In 2021, the company adopted Bitcoin and is now looking to expand its use of cryptocurrency with the adoption of USDC. It is also venturing into the world of NFTs and games, and will be making appearances at The Bitcoin Conference, Game Development Conference, and Miami NFT Week.
As Echo Bridge celebrates its 13th anniversary, we want to take a moment to thank our supporters for their ongoing commitment to our success. We couldn't have come this far without your support, and we look forward to continuing to bring innovative and high-quality animation to audiences around the world. Thank you for joining us on this journey, and we hope you'll continue to be a part of our future.
2022 - Year In Review
2022 was a year like no other, filled with challenges and unexpected twists and turns. Despite the uncertainty, Echo Bridge was able to adapt and thrive, thanks in part to our early adoption of Bitcoin and our focus on remote work.
At the beginning of the year, we made the decision to accept Bitcoin as a form of payment and to pay 50% of our team in Bitcoin. This was a bold move, and we weren't entirely sure how it would pan out. But as it turned out, adopting Bitcoin ended up being a major asset for us as the year progressed.
With global economic issues and the pandemic causing disruptions all around the world, many of our clients in Eastern Europe were impacted. But because we had already embraced remote work and Bitcoin, we were able to continue production without missing a beat.
In addition to adopting bitcoin, we also introduced Clip Studio Paint into our tool set, which has proven to be a valuable asset for our team. We've also had the opportunity to work in the anime industry which uses Clip Studio Paint almost exclusively, and it helped give us a renewed appreciation for classical animation.
Because of our adoption of Bitcoin and Clip Studio Paint, we found ourselves embracing unique opportunities of producing a couple of NFT projects (although we're not allowed to give details on those just yet). Who would have thought?
But perhaps most excitingly, we sold three original IPs that will be released next year. It's always thrilling to see our hard work and creativity come to fruition, and we can't wait for our fans to see what we have in store for them.
As we look back on the past year, it's clear that 2022 was a year of adaptation and resilience. And as we move into the new year, we're proud to be celebrating 13 years in business. Here's to many more years of hard work, innovation, and creativity!
Our first sponsored event!
As we continue our journey to be one of the first independent animation studios in the US to adopt Bitcoin, it’s lead us down some very interesting paths and meeting even more interesting people.
This month, Echo Bridge is happy to announce our sponsorship of the FIRST local Bitcoin only meetup in our area: the Downtown St Pete Bitcoin Meetup.
The meetup is focused on building a local Bitcoin economy by helping individuals and businesses learn more about how to use and accept Bitcoin in their day to day.
Guest speaker will be Andrew Begin of Galoy Money, the team responsible for helping to establish Bitcoin Beach in El Salvador, who will be sharing the lessons learned from helping to build the worlds first circular Bitcoin economy.
Purchase Bitcoin at one of the local Bitcoin ATMs or at the Meetup and get ready to use your Bitcoin to buy food and/or drinks on site!
Hope to see you there.
Click here to register.
Our latest work for 100 Thieves
Vinny Hacker is the latest eSport player to join the 100 Thieves team and to make that announcement, we were commissioned by 100 Thieves to help produce animation for the campaign promo!
We're Hiring!
And we're hiring all across the board on various projects here at Echo Bridge. Most of our new productions are based within the cryptocurrency industry, so if you've got a love for all things crypto and Bitcoin, then we'd love to hear from you.
Check out our current listings here.
Intern at Echo Bridge!
We’re really excited to announce that our internship program is back!
Learn
We’re bringing back our workshops and lessons for those who intern with us.
We’ll go over tools and techniques, brief history of animation, learn about pipelines and production methods. We’ve also got a small workshop which teaches interns about Bitcoin. This special program will teach interns the ins and outs of cryptocurrency from learning how to earn it, how to self-custody their funds, and how it can be applied to their careers.
Do
In addition to these workshops and lessons, interns will get the opportunity to get some hands on experience working on some of our original and commercial projects. All of these experiences can be added to your resume and credit.
Grow
We’re working diligently to make a program that helps inters to develop the skills needed to work in the new digital economy.
Apply
Our internship enrollment is open between February 28, 2022 to March 28, 2022.
Apply online by filling in the form here, or you can send a link to your portfolio and resume at interns(at)echo-bridge(dot)com.
A Quick Bitcoin Guide
Since we adopted Bitcoin into our business in 2021, more and more people have been asking us about it.
As one of the first animation studios to adopt Bitcoin, we thought it beneficial to put together a quick guide on Bitcoin, from its origin story, the Lightning Network, and of course how to use Bitcoin which you can find right here.
Are we, at Echo Bridge, a little obsessed with Bitcoin?
Yes.
Yes we are.
It’s still early days, but in the long run we believe it’s one of the best financial tools in the market today which can help the global animation industry for the better.
Prostokvashino!
Just before the end of the year, we had the opportunity to produce animation on the hit Russian children’s show Prostokvashino which you can watch on Союзмультфильм (“Union Cartoon”) YouTube channel.
Our first production was a Christmas special, and this year we’ve had the pleasure of producing a few more cartoon episodes.
We’re happy to include Prostokvashino to our children’s animation portfolio and looking to add more to the roster this year.
Your Attention Please
We’re really happy to share one of our latest projects done in associate with the Mad Twiinz for Hulu!
Our episode of “Your Attention Please” airs February 3, 2022!
Learn more about Your Attention Please here.
How to Price a Project In Bitcoin
Illustration by Esteban Valdez
You’re interested in using Bitcoin to pay for a project, but you’r not sure where to start.
It’s a lot easier than you think and we’ll show you how.
The two ways to use Bitcoin
From our experience, we’ve found (for the time being) two ways to interact with Bitcoin. You can use it either as a payment platform or as the medium of exchange.
As a payment platform
You treat Bitcoin similar to PayPal, Venmo, Cash App or any other payment platform to send funds.
In fact, it’s much simpler, faster, private, more secure and accessible than the payment platforms mentioned above.
All you and the party you’re doing business with need are Bitcoin wallets.
From there, once you’ve received your invoice, you simply send your coins to the specified wallet address (make sure you verify), set your transaction fee, send it and your done.
The receiving party will get the funds — depending on your transaction fee within minutes or seconds if you’re using the Lightning Network — and then it will be up to the receiving party as to whether they want to exchange it for fiat currency or hold it as Bitcoin.
As a medium of exchange
Now this is where it gets interesting…
Instead of doing the above where you have the set price in fiat then use Bitcoin as the payment platform, you set the price of goods and services in Bitcoin and you settle the payment in Bitcoin.
How to set the price in Bitcoin
Finding the price point is rather simple; you take the fiat price of the good or service you’re looking to obtain and divide it by the price of Bitcoin.
For example:
If a 45 second commercial costs 50,000 USD, you divide the fiat price by the price of Bitcoin (which at the time of writing is 36,302.41 USD), the price in Bitcoin comes to 1.37731903 BTC, or round it up to1.4 BTC to include transaction fees and make the accounting a lot simpler.
Now you have a rough estimate of what it will cost in terms of Bitcoin.
Step 1 - Negotiate the Exchange Rate
You and the party you are doing business with should come to a fair and reasonable exchange rate.
An example would be both parties agree that a 36,000 USD price point (302.41 USD below market) for Bitcoin is a fair exchange rate, it would be reflected in agreement as such.
Step 2 - Lock in the rate
In the event the project costs 50,000 USD, with a 36,000 USD per Bitcoin exchange rate, the agreed upon price for the goods or services would be 1.4 BTC.
Now, in order for this to work the price of goods and services on the side of the merchant/service provider would also need to be priced in Bitcoin rather than fiat, and some of the contractors, vendors, freelancers and other merchants involved would accept the Bitcoin rate as well.
Pricing the goods and services in Bitcoin locks in the rate and removes volatility.
Step 3 - Pay in Bitcoin
Paying with Bitcoin is as simple as sending a text.
You’ll receive an invoice which contains a QR code and a Bitcoin wallet address.
Scan, pay and done.
The benefits of using Bitcoin
Let’s look at the pros and cons of using Bitcoin as the medium of exchange and see if it makes sense to do so.
Remember, we’ve set the price in Bitcoin and not fiat.
The pros
If you got in early and you’ve seen massive price appreciation and want to use your Bitcoin; now you can.
When you price something in Bitcoin you’ve removed the volatility as what you’re transacting in is the currency itself.
You can transact with Bitcoin anywhere, anytime, with anyone in the world fast, securely and privately and knowing that there is cash finality in minutes not days, weeks or months.
If you’re transacting with the Lightning Network, you can send and settle payments in seconds.
If you didn’t get in early and want to get into the Bitcoin ecosystem, 50% or 80% price drops are a great way to get Bitcoin on sale.
The cons
Funds are immutable, meaning once sent there’s no reversing the transaction.
You accidentally send it to the wrong address, it could be gone forever.
You are fully responsible for your coins; there is no customer service or 1-800 to call if something goes wrong.
Finding places to use Bitcoin directly are few, but not far between as the numbers of merchants and retailers are growing.
Creating a Win-Win transaction
For the producer, accepting Bitcoin as payment is a way of getting a renewed sense of value to the goods and services they provide.
For the customer, you’re looking for value and it causes you to seek out those businesses who you believe will do their best to provide you with quality goods and services that you’re paying for.
Why use Bitcoin?
What gives something value isn’t the fiat price, rather, what we believe the value that something should be.
Yes, hodlin’ is a great way to save, no one is arguing against that, but in addition to being saved, as bitcoin gets used more and more the value of a bitcoin grows more and more over time.
There will ever only be 21 million bitcoin (or 2,100,000,000,000,000 satoshis) and those who transact with Bitcoin realize it and have the tend to be more mindful of where they put there money; businesses know this and need to compete to earn it.
Plus, as an early adopter of this emerging asset; you automatically get cool-kids points for doing it.
In conclusion
It’s a radical idea, probably ahead of its time… or is it?
We live in the digital age, connected globally through the internet; it only makes sense for us to conduct business in a manner that reflects the times we live in and to bring the concept of fair and true value to what we do.
If anything, hopefully this article got you to see the potential.
But before you go…
Get 12% off when you pay in Bitcoin!
To celebrate our 12th anniversary and for a limited time we’re offering a 12% discount on projects that are paid for in Bitcoin.
Contact us to learn more.
12 Years of Animation
January 2022 marks the 12th anniversary of Echo Bridge!
The best way to sum it all up… It’s humbling. From a scrappy start up working late nights, to a full blown operation working late nights, to a virtual company working late nights, there’s one thing that’s consistent: we’re going.
The late nights not so much. With each production we find ways to streamline our pipeline to make it as efficient and effective as possible so that we don’t have to spend all day cranking, rather, we get to focus on what matters the most in producing quality work so we can enjoy what we do a little bit longer.
Echo Bridge is continuing to evolve and grow. We’re learning new things a long the way. We’re working with brand new partners in brand new places. We’re jumping into new ventures and technologies that no one else explored just yet. We have a lot of optimism for the future and we’re looking to continue to grow, not just in number and size, but as a company and industry leader.
Our goal is to be the best in the business. Creatively, financially, and in how we produce animation.
Here’s to 12 years and many more.
Cheers!
Happy New Year!
Illustration by Esteban Valdez
Hey friends,
Happy New Year! We’ve got lots to cover.
Our next short film
Illustration by Esteban Valdez
We finished development on our short film, ATOM.
We’re putting together our budget and production schedule and presently setting up the project to begin pre-production this month.
The short film run time is 22 minutes with the goal of completing animation by the end of the year.
The reason for the long time line is to (a) allow us the flexibility to produce around current productions and (b) because, like every thing we do, we’re giving it our all to apply as much quality into the project as we can.
We’re looking at creating a platform were we can share inside updates on the project, but more on that later.
Focusing on the few
Over the last couple of years, we’ve created over 40 animated projects and all of them are in various phases of development.
That being said, it’s also important to know that out of the 40, not every project will see the light.
In fact, there are already some projects that’ve gone out back, if you catch our drift.
The current system and models for development in just about every studio is to develop as much content as possible, tackling every genre, every audience group, looking for ways to adapt any and all established properties to have anything at the ready should a potential prospect comes a calling.
The idea behind the model is to get to failure as fast as possible, because not every project is going to sell, and the faster you fail, the faster you can get to the profitable project, and if you can get to the project faster, and turn the project out quicker, you put the project out to market quicker and start capturing as much revenue as possible.
The results are poor at best; just look at the current state of the market today and over the last 2 years.
What we’ve decided to do is to focus on the best ideas we have and bring them to their natural fruition.
This goes in complete antithesis of our peers, but we believe that low time preference projects, meaning a project which has adequate time to develop and mature, are going to be the projects that are worthy of note.
We’re looking to produce the best animation and that doesn’t necessarily mean the most.
Going back to our roots
Echo Bridge is 12 years old, and many of the things we were frustrated with in the animation industry when we started are still present today only bigger and getting bigger by the day.
The focus is to get back to quality productions that carry with them meaning, integrity and craftsmanship; forget the sugar and toys.
Focus on the work
We started off as a remote/virtual company, and in a virtual setting what mattered the most to us was the work.
The physical office, while it had its time, wasn’t the place to do that due to many factors like traffic, parking, and other things beyond our control.
So we cut the things that weren’t working in order to make room for the things that do.
One of those things is blogging, and our return to writing frequently.
Something else that we’re looking at doing is starting our podcast called “Animate This.”
The podcasting plan is going to revolve around various topics of interest, from the state of animation industry, career advice, market outlook, and of course what we’re doing in the Bitcoin space.
Bitcoin, we went all in
The future is decentralized and with it comes a new system of interactivity, not just in finance, but in how we use the internet as a whole.
It’s still very early, but we see the changes coming and want to get on the ground floor as the building rises.
We started off by accepting bitcoin as payment for productions, then towards the end of the year, we made the announcement that we had started to pay individuals in Bitcoin if they wanted too.
We learned a lot during the later half of 2021, and with all that we’ve learned, we’re looking to bring it to the forefront in 2022.
Option to price in Bitcoin
Clients who want to pay with Bitcoin but are nervous about the volatility, now have the option to have our services priced in Bitcoin.
What this means is that rather than focusing on the exchange rates between fiat currency and Bitcoin; projects priced in bitcoin stay in bitcoin, regardless of fiat fluctuation, ergo adding a layer of stability and certainty.
We started off with a 5% discount on productions who paid in Bitcoin, and now we’re bumping it to a full 10% discount in 2022.
Using the Lightning Network
The Lightning Network is a second layer payment solution built with and on top of Bitcoin which offers immediate transaction payments and privacy for basically zero cost.
For our employees, contractors and vendors who want to be paid faster, without the hassle of bank fees or delays, can now do so via the Lightning Network.
New social platforms in the works
One of those places that we’re looking at will be our new group (or “tribe”) will be on Sphinx.
Sphinx is a self-hosted social application (similar to Telegram, Instagram, and other social platforms) built on the Bitcoin/Lightning Network.
If you have Bitcoin, and using a Lightning wallet, when we go live, you can join us by simply copying/pasting our address or scanning the QR code in the very near future.
We’ll be attending the Bitcoin Conference in Miami this year (April), so if you want to meet up and learn more about Echo Bridge, you can do so in Miami.
Lots of big stuff happening!
Stay tuned.
Hype Tracks
Over the summer we had the pleasure of work with the infamous gaming lifestyle company 100 Thieves on a live-streaming music channel called Hype Tracks.
Hype Tracks is a DMCA-free music streaming channel for creators to use during their streaming sessions for free.
Check it out here!
Paid In Bitcoin
Happy to announce we paid out in Bitcoin!
Over the summer, we made an announcement that we would be accepting Bitcoin as a payment method for our production services. The news was met with a lot of curiosity from our clients, partners and vendors. We made the decision to publicly announce Bitcoin acceptance after a couple of projects had opted to pay with it earlier on. We were very excited.
Then, in November, we made the announcement that we’d start issuing payment in Bitcoin to our employees, contractors and vendors who wanted to accept it as their payment.
Today, we’re happy to share the news of our first payments made to those individuals using Bitcoin.
Our experience
The process is very straightforward. Exchanged dollars for bitcoin, then store it in a wallet. In our case, it’s using an institutional custodian for our holdings via multi-signatures, then the payments were sent out to the payee’s bitcoin wallet directly. Some opted for on-chain (meaning the original 10+ minutes of bitcoin processing) and others opted for Lightning payments (Lightning Network is a second layer solution to make payments faster with incredibly small fees).
The overall process was faster and more secure than a bank-to-bank transfer or a PayPal payment.
To manage the volatility
We made it a plan to make regular weekly exchanges (known as dollar cost averaging) in order to take advantages of dips in market price. Some weeks we bought more bitcoin, other weeks less, and while the dollar price may fluctuate, because you’re making regular exchanges, you’re managing the risk more effectively than exchanging everything all at once.
Future plans
We’re going to continue with this program throughout December and into the first quarter of 2022. We will also continue to maintain and grow our Bitcoin holdings on the balance sheet indefinitely.
Our short film, ATOM, will have its production budget priced in Bitcoin.
Starting in January, we’ll have prices for our services available in Bitcoin as well.
These are very exciting times for us as we continue to venture into the crypto space. We’re also happy to continue to be one of the first independent animation studios to continue to explore and innovate in the crypto space with the goal of helping to transform the way our industry conducts business all across the board.
Kamikaze: Trial by Fire
Hey Everyone!
In 2019-2020 we worked on this project based off of the popular comic “Kamikaze” and it recently won the Best Short at Georgia Film Festival!
It was a fun challenge to create a short spin off of the original Kamikaze comic storyline that could also be a stand alone.
"Kamikaze: Trial by Fire" is available for streaming and download on #gumroad!
First Independent Animation Studio to Go Bitcoin
Last year, we made a decision to plug Echo Bridge into the Bitcoin network.
We spent a year learning as much as we could about Bitcoin as a monetary network, a payment system and a store of value, holding it as a treasury asset, in addition to some of the technical aspects behind the asset from mining, handling a node, setting up a server and point of sale payment systems in order to accept Bitcoin as a means of payment.
This past summer, we announced that Echo Bridge now accepts Bitcoin payments for its production services work which has been met with a lot of interest from many of our clients.
We’re now happy to announce that Echo Bridge will be able to pay its employees, contractors and vendors in Bitcoin starting December of 2021.
Echo Bridge is a global studio, working with people from around the world, and Bitcoin being a global payment network just makes sense for us. We believe that Bitcoin is not only a great store of value, but a potentially great way to do business with each other as we’re able to exchange value for value.
We’re all excited about this new opportunity and look forward to working with you in the cryptoverse.