We are a pioneering animation studio with a rich 35-year history of making anything move.

Our Portland creative team is globally known for our ability to develop characters in narrative environments for iconic brands like M&M’S, Supercell’s Boom Beach, Planters, Apple, ESPN, Target and Honey Nut Cheerios. We have collaborated with advertising agencies Goodby, Silverstein & Partners, Wieden+Kennedy, TBWA\CHIAT\DAY, Leo Burnett and BBDO (and many others...) on hundreds of spots – many of which earned big awards and are part of advertising lore.

History Lesson

HouseSpecial is helmed by long-standing industry leaders Kirk Kelley (CCO), Alvaro Cubillas (COO), Julie Ragland (EP and Head of Marketing) and Zilpha Yost (Head of Production). The bonding mission of this guiding team and of our in-house directors, producers, artists and makers is to push strong creative through all the phases of production all under one roof – from initial design to preproduction to animation to creative editorial and finally to Flame finish.

Until July 2014, HouseSpecial was known as LAIKA/house. Our House was built on a long and illustrious history rooted in Will Vinton Studios (The PJs, The California Raisins, Dominos ‘Noid). In 2003, Will Vinton Studios changed hands and was acquired by Phil Knight (Nike founder) and re-branded as LAIKA in 2005. LAIKA/house was the iconic commercial arm of LAIKA through 2014 until we spun off (with LAIKA’s blessing) to create our independent studio.

Read the official press release.

In The News

“It’s a community here,” explains Kirk Kelley, chief creative officer of studio HouseSpecial

and animation director for the upcoming short “Brim Broome Boulevard.”
Variety - Jan. 26, 2024

Uncrustables Launches in Canada with Adorable Spot Starring 2 New Lovable Characters
LBB - Sept. 5, 2023

Super Bowl commercials, from Adam Driver(s) to M&M candies; the hits and the misses
NPR - Feb. 13, 2023

General Mills and Reese’s top list of January’s most effective ads in the US
The Drum - Feb. 3, 2023

Digital Trends Wins Digiday Content Marketing Award for Collaboration With HouseSpecial

PORTLAND, Ore., May 2, 2019 — Digital Trends, the world’s largest independent tech publisher, has been honored with the Digiday Content Marketing Award for Best Agency/Client Collaboration. The award is for last year’s annual Holiday Gift Guide, for which Digital Trends teamed up with animation studio HouseSpecial to tell the story of holiday giving through scenes in playful miniature.

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Digital Trends and Award-Winning Creative Studio HouseSpecial have teamed up on the Tiniest Holiday Gift Guide

PORTLAND, Ore., November 28, 2018 -- Digital Trends, the world’s largest independent tech publisher, has partnered with animation studio HouseSpecial to produce their annual holiday gift guide, this time telling a gift-giving story in elaborate miniature scenes. The feature will showcase gift ideas for tech lovers, hand selected by the editorial staff at Digital Trends.

The visual stories created for the gift guide use human-sized everyday objects and tiny character models. Leading the team is HouseSpecial Director/Art Director Gee Staughton, whose stop-motion work includes the awarding-winning Chipotle short, “Back to the Start,” and campaigns for Planters, Travel Portland, noosa and Dish Network.

“This is our big showpiece for the year," says Alana Wolfman, Director of Production at Digital Trends, "and we always want to come up with creative ways to tell the Holiday story. We knew the juxtaposition between miniatures and life-sized gadgets would make this execution unique."

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Cole Haan Introduces ZERØGRAND with Stitchlite™ Wool and Partners with HouseSpecial To Bring the Idea To Life

“We are absolutely thrilled to introduce the ZERØGRAND with Stitchlite™ Wool,“ said David Maddocks, Chief Marketing Officer & General Manager of Business Development at Cole Haan. “To make an even bigger splash, we have chosen to collaborate on an animated video to bring the idea to life in a way that showcases our personality and sense of humor. This is one of those projects that makes you enjoy the work you do and the people with whom you work.”

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HouseSpecial signs Mike Orsini for East Coast representation

Animation studio HouseSpecial has signed Mike Orsini’s No Relation for representation on the East Coast. A sales rep with Uncle Lefty since 2012, Mike created the No Relation imprint under Uncle Lefty’s banner in 2017 to expand his roster of directors, artists, designers, food specialists, digital creators and technologists.

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