Red Knuckles
- Open roles
- 2
- Founded
- 2014
- Employees
- 1-10
- Offices
- 3
About Red Knuckles
Red Knuckles is an independent animation and visual effects production studio working across advertising, music videos, live entertainment, games and narrative filmmaking. Publicly established in early 2014 following earlier art-direction collaborations, the studio combines character-led creative development with full-service animation production. Its work spans 2D, 3D, 2.5D and mixed stop-motion and CGI techniques.
The studio develops both photorealistic and stylized characters, including creatures and original CG personalities. Its production capabilities extend from concept art, visual development and storyboarding through modelling, rigging, texturing, animation, lighting, rendering and compositing. Character design and art direction connect its commercial work with its longer-form storytelling projects.
Commercial and entertainment production
Red Knuckles produces cinematic advertising, game launch spots and promotional animation, alongside music and live-event visuals. Its gaming work includes animation for Riot Games projects and productions associated with Ubisoft and Sony. Commercial projects include recurring character animation for Old Speckled Hen and animation for McDonald’s.
Its live-entertainment work includes large-scale animation for stadium LED screens, bringing character performances and visual sequences into concert environments. These productions sit alongside shorter advertising and promotional assignments, reflecting a practice that works across screen formats and presentation contexts.
Original stories and longer formats
Alongside commissioned production, Red Knuckles develops original intellectual property, television series, short films, features and pitching packages. Its narrative work includes animation production for stylized shorts and an animated holiday special, with creative approaches adapted to each project’s visual language.
The studio maintains an international production presence across the United Kingdom, Portugal and Brazil. A distributed production pipeline supports collaboration across these hubs, while its London facility provides an established base for animation production. This operating structure accommodates both a small permanent team and larger project-based productions.
More about Red Knuckles
Founders and leadership
- Creative Directors Rick Thiele (Ricardo Thiele) and Mario Ucci (Mario Ucci Netto) co-founded the studio. Both have served as directors of its UK legal entity since 25 January 2013.
- Rick Thiele is identified as Creative Director and Executive Producer. Pedro Lino joined as Head of Production and Executive Producer; he is not identified as a co-founder.
- Malu Marquez is identified as an Executive Producer.
Production model
The report describes a permanent core of 2–10 staff, expanding to more than 40 project-based freelance artists and technical directors during production cycles. Production capacity and project staffing therefore differ substantially from the permanent employee count.
Recognition
- The report attributes two Emmy Awards and a BAFTA Children's Craft award to The Velveteen Rabbit, the 2023 special directed by Rick Thiele. These are production awards rather than independently specified studio awards; award years are not supplied.
- Project Literacy received the Cannes Lions Health Grand Prix and a Gold Lion for Animation, according to the report.
Corporate history
An affiliated development vehicle, RED KNUCKLES DEVELOPMENT LTD, was incorporated on 4 September 2019 and dissolved on 30 March 2021. It shared the studio's founding directors and was distinct from the continuing operating company.
Notable credits
11 creditsOffices
Where Red Knuckles is based
- London, England, United Kingdom
London offices
HeadquartersAbout this office
**Office** Status: active Headquarters Address: 66 Paul Street, London, EC2A 4NE Overall headquarters, with a 40+ seat production facility in East London. The published address is the current registered office; the report does not establish it as the production facility's street address. --- **Office** Status: inactive / historical Address: 70 Wapping Wall, London Historical creative premises. No opening or closure year is established.
- Avenida Pedroso de Morais, 103 – Pinheiros, São Paulo, BrazilSão Paulo, Brazil
São Paulo office
South American production hub associated with Executive Producer Malu Marquez and co-founder Mario Ucci Netto.
- Lisbon, Portugal
Lisbon office
European production hub directly managed by Executive Producer and Head of Production Pedro Lino.
Open roles
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