From the release:

After spending over 20 years leading creative at renowned companies like Charlex, Digital Kitchen, and Nike’s Brand Design, Creative Director Ryan Dunn is venturing out on his own, launching the soon-to-be game-changing multidisciplinary collective, Dunnwell.

With headquarters in Chicago and an operational hub in New York City, Dunnwell is uniquely positioned to serve a diverse client base with a global perspective—one that puts storytelling first and style second.

The studio is launching with an impressive roster of internationally recognized directors and artists. Their collective expertise spans commercials, TV, feature films, digital experiences, and brand storytelling across various mediums, including CG animation, 2D/cel animation, motion graphics, stop-motion, VFX, creative live-action, and immersive media. Dunnwell is built on a foundation of collaboration and artistic integrity, crafting platform-agnostic content through a globally distributed team.

Dunn honed his craft in design, motion graphics, and animation at studios like Blind and Digital Kitchen before moving to Nike as an Art Director in Brand Design. After years leading creative at Vitamin Pictures, Ladies & Gentlemen, and Charlex, Dunn recognized the time was right to open his own operation. “It became clear that building my own studio was the best way to take my work, vision, and ambition to the next level. The industry is changing rapidly, and I want to be part of this new frontier and all the potential it holds for new ways of telling brand and character stories.”

Dunnwell’s diverse offerings require a strong focus on production strategy. “Every job is unique in its needs,” Dunn continues, “and we’re positioned like a team of ninjas who can deploy a full CG pipeline for one client and a live-action-meets-cel-animation production for the next. It takes strong direction and creative vision to move between mediums, but at Dunnwell, we put stories and ideas ahead of technique—so the further into any given collaboration we journey, the more confident we can be in delivering something great, regardless of the tools used.”

From Chicago to Paris, Berlin to Tokyo, with stops in Belfast, Los Angeles, Brussels, and New York, Dunnwell’s team reflects a truly global reach. The highly established roster includes, among others: illustration extraordinaire and character designer Bruno Mangyoku; high-end visual effects artist Danil Krivoruchko (AKA Myshli); blockbuster film character designer Max Kostenko; world-class creative director and graphic designer Sebastian Onufszak; CG directing maestro Paul McMahon (AKA The Rusted Pixel); five-quadrant and animation director Anne Calandre; and sculptor, fabricator, and stop-motion animator Taili Wu (AKA Monster Shaper), who has worked with Dunn for over a decade since his Charlex days.

“I was so lucky to have worked with Ryan at Charlex since 2011,” Wu says. “Imagine a life where you are absorbing inspiration, warmth, and positivity all day. I can never get tired of that creativity and passion. It’s been a dream to collaborate with Ryan again.”

Dunn explains his studio’s approach: “When ‘storytelling’ is the word we pin to the wall as our organizing principle, it’s only natural to want to find as many ways to tell those stories as possible. Advertising is a story business; a product launch for a new laptop, basketball shoe, or cereal flavor seeks a memorable visual hook or metaphor that makes you want to buy it. Story is everywhere. Long-form storytelling—episodic television, films, short films, webisodes, title design, social media initiatives, video game promotion—all involve a narrative thread that pulls the audience in closer. We want to pursue storytelling in all its forms: short, long, whatever.”

The launch of Dunnwell marks the beginning of an exciting new chapter for Ryan Dunn and his team. With an eye toward bold creative risks and meaningful collaborations, the studio is already developing new projects across advertising, branded content, and original storytelling.