What started out as a straightforward project to combine three disparate recruiting websites into one quickly became a dream assignment: inspire the next generation of animation talent by showcasing the creators, the culture, and the craft of one of the world’s most renown, cutting-edge crazy animation studios.
Simple enough, right? This could have been easy – Refresh, combine a few disparate sites, get paid. But that wouldn't have solved the real underlying issues the studio was facing. Nickelodeon was at risk of losing talent & prestige within the highly competitive entertainment industry. Recent management changes had eroded the culture and there was a giant gap between what Nickelodeon was all about culturally and the way it was expressing itself digitally.
All this meant there were bigger opportunities than merely another site redesign. The biggest challenge – How do we reinvigorate the Nickelodeon Animation Studio to retain and attract future talent? New challenge accepted!
Primary research was conducted interviewing people at the studio to surface key insights. Interviewees included Recruiters, Animation Program Attendees, Writing Program Attendees, Artist Program Attendees and Current Show Employees. The competitive sets targeted Disney, Pixar & Cartoon Network, all whom directly reside in or around the Burbank area all competing for the same talent. None of the competition had set the bar very high. Here's what was uncovered.
Insight 1
No one thinks about programs within the studio. They want to work at Nickelodeon.
Insight 2
Competitor studios are very closed off culturally. Nickelodeon shouldn’t be like that.
Insight 3
Nothing is more exciting to aspiring artists than to see their heroes at work (play).
Insight 4
"Nickelodeon is a kid’s funhouse powered by boogers as jet fuel." - actual quote
If that was the character of your company, would you really just list jobs?
New Goal
Inspire Future Creators! (combine websites, sure why not?)
What better way than to inspire future creators than give them a glimpse behind the scenes at the Nickelodeon Animation Studio? The video focuses on creators, amazing talent and culture around the studio.
Nickelodeon needed a fun and creative way to communicate all the different talent fostering programs at the studio. The style is meant to juxtaposition the typical types of animation art coming from the studio to especially stand out. Take a closer look and see if you can find every show reference easter egg throughout the short video.
What better way to inspire future creators than to see current idolized ones in action!? Eric Robles tells us about how storytelling influences the way he designs characters, and how his childhood friends helped create Fanboy & Chum Chum all while sketching a random character pulled from a hat!
Carl was a bit camera shy so we got creative and made him into a puppet.
The new NAS website is a perfect representation of our reinvigorated studio and its ‘creator driven’ philosophy. The site is as beautiful, engaging and fun as our studio and the people who work in it.
- Russel hicks, President of Content Development/Production at Nickelodeon Animation Studio