Punch Pants
A Ghostbot blog.
Happy Tree Friends Blind Date Boards
In honor of love, Valentine’s Day, and all that good stuff, we are bringing it back with an episode from Happy Tree Friends called Blind Date. We dug up the original storyboards we worked on and you can take a peek right here. Watch what happens when Mole, Lumpy, and Giggles have their own very unique dates. Sometimes love really is blind!     
CTRL+♥+DELETE: Music Video
Happy Holidays from Ghostbot!
CTRL+♥+DELETE Episode 3: Clubbing
Ghostbot named #33 "Fast 100"
 SAN FRANCISCO - November 3, 2011 - Ghostbot announced today its recognition as #33 in San Francisco Business Times' Top 100 Fastest-Growing Private Companies in the Bay Area. Fast 100 is an award for those elite companies that have had the largest revenue growth from 2008 to 2010. Ghostbot experienced a 136.5 percent growth during this period. The companies recognized range from technology and marketing to media and retail. This accredited list is comprised of both young companies with inspiration to grow and expand as well as mature companies that have been able to not only maintain but thrive in a time of economic hardship. As one of the very few companies to represent the creative field, Ghostbot stands out as a respected business made up of passionate people who love what they do. An awards ceremony was held on Thursday, October 27th at the Hilton Hotel in downtown San Francisco. The rankings were published in San Francisco Business Times October 28th edition.
About Ghostbot, Inc.
Ghostbot is an independent animation studio formed in 2004 by Alan Lau, Roque Ballesteros, and Brad Rau in San Francisco, CA. Corrine Wong later joined the principal team as Executive Producer and has been integral in spear-heading a high level production pipeline for the studio. With over 50 years of combined experience in the entertainment sector, Ghostbot brings a unique ability to create compelling design and strong visually story telling. Throughout the history of the company, the studio has come to be recognized as one of the premiere creative forces in the animation industry. Client List: Walt Disney Television, Nickelodeon, Cartoon Network, “Weird” Al Yankovic/Jive/Sony Music, Esurance, Samsung, Hallmark, Electronic Arts, Mattel, Leap Frog, Adobe, Mondo Media, Film Roman/Starz Media, Laika, Wild Brain, Curious Pictures, Kenwood Group, Machinima, Sanzaru Games, ngmoco:), Madhouse, Ubisoft, Crowdstar, Pocket Gems, Metamoki
Internbot - 02 Project: Steampunk Nutcracker
As the first days passed at Ghostbot and I learned the mechanics of Flash, Roque came to me with the concept of a design project. The first thought was both daunting and exciting at the scope of the project among my other classes. Inspired by my Jack and the Beanstalk Cyber Punk/Fantasy designs from my portfolio, Roque came up with a similar project for me to embark on. The project was to pick from a few fairy tales and put it in a different genre. From the Gingerbread man to Three Billy Goats Gruff, one in particular caught my eye.  I chose the Nutcracker. Unbeknownst to Roque, I played both the Nutcracker and Herr Drosselmeyer in two play productions as a child in elementary school! How could I even consider another choice? Now onto the genre choice: Goth, Techno, Aquatic, Pulp Adventure? In the end, I choose Steampunk; something I've never explored in my own free time. Before even grabbing a pencil and paper, Roque asked me to define the archetypes of the cast, giving each three descriptive adjectives for each character. As well as collecting a massive amount of research of both steampunk and nutcracker images. Below is my first set of sketches on the initial concept after getting the go ahead from Roque, along with descriptions of each character. Cast:The Nutcracker: The lead character of the play and the quiet protagonist of the film. He protects Clara from the evil grasp of the Rat King. Created by Herr Drosselmeyer, this mechanical, steam driven, and stalwart hero leads his steam powered army into battle against the ominous Rat King. Nutcracker Army: Loyal and steadfast the mechanical steam army follows their leader to the ends of the earth and back. Clara: A young brilliant woman, who is a mechanical genius, like her Godfather Herr Drosselmeyer. Always interested in her godfather’s work Clara locks herself in her lab tinkering away at new devices… that is until Herr Drosselmeyer stops by on Christmas Eve with a gift. Herr Drosselmeyer: The mysterious and ominous Godfather of Clara. He is a genius mechanic, creating revolutionary designs in steam engineering. He has a mechanical eye that has yet to be explained. Drosselmeyer considers Clara as his protégé. The Rat King: A ruthless tyrant and leader of his pirate crew, he has a long standing feud with the Nutcracker. Nothing would bring him more joy then seeing his head on a pike in his throne room. Hei is half rat with an assortment of mechanical devices replacing limbs and organs. Rat Army: The Rat King’s pirate army is an assortment of ruthless and greedy rats. Scavengers by nature, they replace and enhance their bodies with any assortment of mechanical devices they can get a hold of. 
The Rise of Internbot - 02
Hi everyone my name is Sam Filstrup I'm the intern at Ghostbot. I'm from Concord, California just outside of of San Francisco (Bonus points if you noticed my initials are vaguely similar.).
Like many artists I've spent my head in the books doodling away rather then studying. Which led me to the Academy of Art University in San Francisco where I've been studying as a visual development major with a focus on character design.
Years passed and skills were refined, I've worked tirelessly to bring my skills to the professional level and even though my skills were far greater then before I needed some true work experience under my belt. So I began looking for an internship.
Back in the days of High School I saw this music video of my favorite ska band Five Iron Frenzy, which popped Ghostbot onto my radar. Already aware of there location in the city, I sent out an email. Low and behold by the good graces of the Ghostbot crew I was brought into the studio as their second intern. As the weeks go by I'll be working on cleanup and various other projects, along with a personal project overseen by the Ghostbot crew.
CTRL+♥+DELETE Episode 2: "First Date"
Comic KHHAAAANN
It is difficult to believe that a little over a week ago, the Ghostbot crew was situated in the thick of the madness that is the San Diego Comic Con. One week later, we still haven't truly recovered, but we're doing out best to muddle through our post-comic con lives anyway. The Ghostbot booth this year was sandwiched in-between the towering wall of Sony's setup, and an inexplicable bamboo forest (I would provide insight, but it is, as aforementioned, inexplicable.) We spent all four days running mainly on espresso and granola bars and working the booth with the kind of frenzied adrenaline one usually reserved for life threatening situations. And as exhausted as we were at the end of the con, it was SO. TOTALLY. AWESOME.
Our booth revolved around one central and exciting event: the release of Ghostbot's new web series, CONTROL+HEART+DELETE! We had a giant foam cutout of our main character, Presston, for Comic-conners to take photos with. Presston came complete with animated expressions, which totally kicks, except for the fact that he occasionally ruined photos by blinking... Some other Comic Con highlights included a Nathan Fillion spotting, and seeing the Game of Thrones cast. I even made significant eye contact with Kit Harington (Jon Snow), triggering a wave of emotion somewhere between lovestruck and nausea. We all left the con with some great swag; posters, prints, graphic novels, toys, and even a vial of "Wonderflonium" from a particularly detail oriented Dr. Horrible cosplayer. All in all, we managed to brave the ordeal more or less intact, and with pictures to boot!
Ghostbot at Comic-Con
Come see our latest idea at Comic-Con this Wednesday through Sunday! Date: July 20th – July 24th
Location: San Diego Convention Center in San Diego, California
Booth Number: 4532 We hope to see you there!
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