The late-night stress of an overworked agency creative takes on new dimensions with the full-on hallucination of a triple-threat cracker named Crumbles – courtesy of Skin and Bones director Edward Andrews and Tantrum Studio in Toronto.

Tantrum CD/founder Dominik Bochenski: “From the get-go, the top priority was for Crumbles to have a larger-than-life personality. He needed to engage and entertain while at the same time being very authentic and relatable.

“The animation was inspired by many classic and modern performances as well as video references of the singer.

“Photorealism and integration were crucial to placing Crumbles alongside our actress. We wanted to give the sense that she was literally seeing him.

“For the final scene, Crumbles needed to have an emotional range in order to underscore the importance of our message. We needed to feel the anguish in both their eyes. The tone dramatically changed from a fun and lighthearted mood, to one that tugged at the heartstrings.

“At this point, the joke’s over and we needed to convey this is a very serious issue which affects many people not just on the agency side, but on our side of the business as well. I sincerely hope it helps open up a dialogue about a healthier work/life balance.”
 

 
Client: NABS Canada

Agency: Cossette
Chief Creative Officer: Peter Ignazi
Executive Creative Directors: Craig McIntosh, Jaimes Zentil
Creative Directors: Nicole Ellerton, Jacob Greer
Producer: Sarah Moen

Production: Skin & Bones
Director: Edward Andrews
Executive Producer: Liane Thomas
Line Producer: Joan Bell
Director of Photography: Barry Parrell

Animation/VFX: Tantrum Studio
Creative Director: Dominik Bochenski
Animator: Sean McLaughlin
Look Dev/Lighting: Dominik Wojtarowicz
3D Artist: Rogerio Miyagi
Compositors: Davide Di Santo, Dexter Huizenga
Modeler: Bill Davidson
Character Designer: Gina Romo
Senior Colourist: Dominik Bochenski
On Set VFX Supervisor: Dan Ciancone
Producer: Margarita Reynes
Executive Producer: Victoria Holt

Offline Edit: Outsider Editorial
Editor: Chris Murphy
Executive Producer: Kristina Anzlinger
Producer: Kayan Choi
Assistant Editor: Nathan Olszewicki

Audio: Pirate
Music Director: Chris Tait
Producer: Joanne Uyeyama
Composer: Ari Posner
Engineer: Ian Boddy