Pipsqueak Films owner and creative force, Mike Blum
Pipsqueak Films is a boutique animation production company specializing in producing high quality entertainment at below market costs. We scour the globe to find and nurture talented artists and production companies in order to keep budgets on screen.
And for studios looking to step up their work, our consulting services can help you reach the highest levels of artistic and technical excellence. Whether you need help with story, improving production quality, scaling your production pipeline, or training your staff, our 16 years of feature and TV animation experience can help you achieve your goals. Our clients include studios in the U.S., Romania, Nepal and India.
Owned and operated by Mike Blum, an Emmy nominated and award winning filmmaker, our completed projects include the animated series, THE ADVENTURES OF BAXTER & MCGUIRE (Comedy Central), and the CG shorts, THE ZIT (PBS) and OIL & VINEGAR. We have also sold and developed an original segment for Walt Disney Toon Studio’s direct to DVD release, MICKEY’S TWICE UPON A CHRISTMAS. Our films have been distributed around the world, competed in over 200 film festivals ranging from Sundance to Annecy to South by Southwest and have won more than a dozen international awards. Mr. Blum is also a sought after speaker and has lectured and taught around the world at such places as SIGGRAPH (3 times), Australian Effects and Animation Festival, Sedona Film Festival, IndieLisboa Film Festival, Slamdance, and the Asia Business Matching for Creative Economy Conference.
Our current projects include the feature film, BELOW, and the horror/comedy, DEADFELLAS.
Before devoting his energies full time to his company, Mr. Blum worked for over 11 years in senior level positions at Walt Disney Animation Studios. His varied experiences include a nearly 2 year stint as a supervisor on Disney’s version of TOY STORY 3, overseeing and coordinating all aspects of technical process management and development for Walt Disney’s Circle 7 studio, reviewing and recommending artistic hires, setting up training courses for new artists, leading a staff of 17 engineers that developed some of the most innovative and artist-friendly animation production tools in the industry, and providing strategic direction for over 70 people. He has extensive hands on experience of the entire animation production pipeline — from story and editorial, through asset production, shot production and post.
Mr. Blum also co-owns and operates Red Shift Films where he is producing the feature, EVERY LITTLE THING, a finalist in the Tribeca Film Festival screenwriting competition that stars Anna Gunn (Breaking Bad, Deadwood) and THE PLAYBACK SINGER (shooting in Spring 2011).