We're heading to LightBox Expo 2026! 🎨 A few days surrounded by incredible artists, animation, illustration, and people who are just as obsessed with making cool stuff as we are! Yeah... we're pretty excited. 🙂 The MAKE team will be there to meet fellow creatives, reconnect with friends, discover new talent, and get inspired by all the amazing work happening in our industry. If you're attending, we'd love to say hello! Whether you're a freelance artist, director, potential collaborator, or just want to nerd out about animation... let's connect. We're attending as both MAKE and MAKE Originals, so for the first time, if you want to chat with us about commercials and brand films that's on the menu. Who's going to LightBox this year? Drop a comment or send us a message! hashtag#LightBoxExpo hashtag#LBX2026 hashtag#Animation hashtag#Artists hashtag#MAKE

Want to know what it’s actually like to make a commercial inside an animation studio? This is your chance. 👀 The MAKE Commercial Workshop is back! Over two semesters, selected students team up to concept, design, and animate a polished 15-second spec commercial, working from a professional-style brief and going through the studio pipeline with mentorship and feedback from MAKE artists along the way. What you’ll walk away with: ★ Direct mentorship and feedback from MAKE artists ★ A polished, industry-level piece for your portfolio ★ A better understanding of your own creative strengths (and what it takes to make great work as a team) ★ New connections with artists, mentors, and fellow animators Open to junior, senior BA animation students worldwide. Info + Application: makevisual.com/make-commerci… 📅 Applications Close: OCTOBER 11th, 2026, 12AM ET Come MAKE something great with us. #MAKE #CommercialAnimationWorkshop #AnimationWorkshop #AnimationStudents #Animation

OH YEAH... Fruit Riot x Kool-Aid is officially a thing. 🍇 To help launch their new Tropical Punch Sour Grapes, we created a very serious influencer podcast about sour snacks... ...which naturally ends with the Kool-Aid Man bursting through the wall! We got to use the actual Kool-Aid Man suit, practical foam bricks, and one of the most classic entrances in advertising history. Sometimes the best VFX is just letting a giant pitcher smash through a wall. 🙂 #FruitRiot #KoolAid #CPG #MAKE #influencers

Attention all senior year animation students… The 2026 MAKE Thesis Grant is now open for applications! Find all the info and application steps here: makevisual.com/thesis-grant-… We're so proud of what is becoming an annual tradition, and even more proud of the amazing filmmakers pitching and creating such amazing films. Applications are open until November 4th. #MAKEThesisGrant #AnimationStudents #StudentGrant #AnimationFunding

For GoGo squeeZ Loudmouths, the idea was already wonderfully ridiculous. So the job wasn’t to rein it in. It was to see how far we could push it. Every FRUITZ started with character. Who are they? How do they move? And how loud can loud actually get when the voice behind it is a kid? From early designs and expression tests to animation, comedic timing, and even 3D printing these little weirdos into the real world, every part of the process added another layer of personality. Because the fun of a weird idea is finding all the ways to make it even weirder. #GoGoSqeeze #CreativeStudio #MAKE

ALERT. Wild Blue Skies is officially out in the world!! Making this trailer was pretty much everything we love about game work. Taking a world people are about to spend hours inside and figuring out how to make its characters and visual language hit in under a minute outside the game. It’s the best. Plus, it’s packed with personality, a clear creative vision, and we had so much room to push the craft. Hand-drawn animation, stylized 3D, cel shading, tasty smears, and our entire 2D team loved every bit of it. To the Wild Blue crew, big congrats on your launch! And to anyone else sitting on a very cool game world that needs an equally cool introduction... hi. ;) 👉 Play now on Steam: balor.gg/wbsSTEAM 👉 Play now on PlayStation 5: balor.gg/wbsPS5 👉 Play now on XBOX Series X|S: balor.gg/wbsXBOX #CreativeStudio #GameTrailer #GameRelease #MAKE

Helllllo MAKE Directors!!! Would ya look at this talented crew. This is a pretty damn exciting new chapter for us. It's been a long time coming, and now that it’s actually happening, we’re very ready to see what kind of wild and ridiculously cool work comes out of it. Which is kinda the whole point. LET’S GOOOOO. If you're interested in applying, please fill out our form: lnkd.in/gqSryv7Z We'd love to see your work! #CreativeStudio #CreativeDirectors #MAKE

There's no need for arms, legs, or a face. You just need the sour. Poof... SPK CHEWS. These kids really do keep us on our toes, from hopping on the latest trends to finding new ways to reinvent the candy. We love their willingness to try something new and the excitement of seeing how fans respond. We're very happy to be part of the creative team that helps make it happen. We'll share a behind-the-scenes look at how this one came together soon. #SocialCreative #Animation #MAKE

Working with @A_Chesworth again on An Incident at the Dancing Badger made us revisit one of our favorites. So, in honor of that, here's the Palm Springs International ShortFest opener. Making good work just has a way of bringing people back together. Original Credits: Producer: Danny Robashkin Director / Lead Animator: Andrew Chesworth Voices: John Olive Elise Langer Nicholas Mrozinski Music: Steve Horner - Horner Music Animation Production Team: Justin Weber Aaron Quist Alec Mueller Jordan Hill Ben Bury Niklas Norman Joe Kim

Three years as a @LightBoxExpo Platinum Sponsor. MAKE invests in this GROWING community because they're just as invested in us !! This partnership has led to creative collaborations, meaningful relationships, and countless conversations with artists who remind us why we do what we do. This partnership has always been about more than a booth at an expo. It's about giving back, learning, and really growing alongside the community we're happy to be a part of. So see you all there, and ya can't miss us because we've got that glowing neon sign. #LightBoxExpo #LBX2026 #AnimationCommunity #MAKEOriginals

It's National Intern Day, time to show you our cool newbs! Could this get any cuter or be any more accurate?!? ❤️ Created by: Matthew Lei Feat. Vivian Osness, Jason Stephen, Wonjun Gye, Angie Koh & Eli Palleschi

Some promises take a little longer to brew up something special. Meet the next MAKE Original: An Incident at the Dancing Badger, directed by @A_Chesworth. Back in 2024, we partnered with Flash Fiction Magazine to launch a Flash Fiction Writing Contest with one promise to the writers out there: the winning story wouldn't just take home first place, we'd adapt it into an animated short film. Well, it's happening and in the most epic way possible. Since then, Mike Irving's winning story has become a hand-drawn animated passion project. Andrew has spent his evenings and weekends directing the film alongside the team at MAKE. We truly can't wait to show you more. Huge thank you to everyone who's making this film happen. POSTER CREDITS: Final Paint - @mobblele Thumbnail - Hee Yun Kim Animation - Jason Stephen Art Direction - @A_Chesworth #MAKEOriginals #Animation #2DAnimation #HandDrawnAnimation #IndependentAnimation

It's National Tequila Day! And this project was an animatic, clean and go. Love it when that happens. The client was into our first pass of this papier-mâché-inspired art style and ran with it. Fun when you can read a client's vision through a deck and get it right on the first go. Best feeling in the world. And if that's not tequila-worthy, we don't know what is. Cheers. #NationalTequilaDay #Animation #CreativeStudio

Teamed up with Day One Agency for this Chipotle Mexican Grill social campaign, combo'ing FIFA fever with a favorite Chipotle inside joke: those "water" cups are rarely just for water. 🍋👀 Fans had the chance to score one of 100,000 promotional codes, and every code was claimed. The people were thirsty and hungry. Definitely a fun and timely CTA to be a part of, and we love the joke (reality) that Chipotle sees all and plays around with it. #SocialCampaign #WorldCup #FIFA #CreativeSocial

Unlike other lottery campaigns, Wisconsin Lottery Fast Play is designed to evolve over time, which challenged us to think beyond a single deliverable. The campaign was designed to be flexible, from the motion design to the modular visual system. The spot's quick pacing and energetic storytelling were designed to mirror the anticipation and excitement of the Fast Play experience. Projects like this are all about thinking beyond launch day. We're designing to make future updates easier for our clients and building creative that can keep working long after it goes live. #LotteryAdvertising #BehindTheScenes #Animation #MotionDesign

Sunny Side Down has gone global. The series is now available in eight different languages on @makeoriginals YouTube. Making the series more accessible has always been an important part of growing the MAKE Originals community. We couldn't be happier to welcome even more viewers to pull up a seat at the diner. THIS CALLS FOR A RE-WATCH (or a first watch if you live under a rock) 👉 youtube.com/@makeoriginals #SunnySideDown #MAKEOriginals #Animation #IndieAnimation

Wisconsin Lottery's Fast Play delivers instant wins !! And the campaign needed to deliver that same winning feeling. With the Fast Play game lineup changing throughout the year, we couldn't build the spot around a single game. So we designed an evergreen campaign with built-in flexibility, making all future updates seamless while keeping the excitement of Fast Play front and center. The best part of this project was designing not just for the launch, but for every update that would follow. #CampaignDesign #MotionDesign #LotteryAdvertising

𝗖𝗮𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗜𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗽𝗲𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗗𝗶𝗿𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘀: We’re looking to partner with directors with a focus on animation and VFX! If you have vision, taste, and the know-how to ship a spot from start to finish... you know how to tango with the beast that is commercial production. This is for you. 𝗜𝗺𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗮𝗻𝘁 𝗻𝗼𝘁𝗲𝘀: • Remote partnership (not in-house, although travel may be required). • Have a unique style and approach. • Bring a holistic view to the project. • Can be solo director or a Duo. • Cannot be currently represented. We'd love to connect if this sparks your interest. 𝗔𝗽𝗽𝗹𝘆 𝗛𝗲𝗿𝗲: makevisual.com/Independent-D… If you have any questions, thoughts, or comments, please share below. AND/OR, please tag your favorite Independent Directors below! #CreativeDirector #AnimationCareer #CreativeCommunity #MAKE

For this latest MAKE Original, we were inspired by classic '80s anime. We wanted it to feel nostalgic while still feeling fresh and exciting. Introducing "Gotta Go!" As always with MAKE Originals, we wanted to play with contrasting elements, starting with the style and ending with the classic unexpected, well, "ending." We love creating expectations and then subverting them. Hope we made ya laugh. ;) Just as importantly, Gotta Go! marks a first for MAKE Originals. Instead of asking you to leave your current/favorite platform to go watch on YouTube, we're embracing short-form storytelling by releasing the complete film natively across YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, and TikTok. This is our first exploration of this world. Let us know if you want to see more!! #Anime #Animation #Cyberpunk #MAKEOriginals #ShortFilm

If you didn't know... well now you do! We have a store, AND we just put out some cool tees and totes, as the folks in the studio so lovingly showcase. Please support our little indie projects! We had a lot of fun with this, as you can probably tell. When the season wrapped, it just felt necessary to make merch commemorating every Sunny Side Down episode. Check it out: store.makeoriginals.com/coll… #SunnySideDown #MAKEOriginals #Animation #IndieAnimation #AnimationStudio