Swaybox Studios

Swaybox Studios is an independent New Orleans-area animation and visual-effects studio focused on practical puppetry, stop-motion craft and hybrid filmmaking. Founded in 2014 by five creative partners, the studio combines physical performance and fabrication with digital production to create work for feature films, advertising and entertainment.

Its signature proprietary approach, Motion on Motion (Momo) animation, brings together handcrafted puppets, scaled physical sets, practical lighting and live puppeteering with stop-motion timing, CG extensions and real-time Unreal Engine environments. The studio also uses its TiNK digital facial-articulation and replacement system to extend the expressive range of physical characters while retaining the tactile qualities of in-camera assets.

Capabilities

• Full-pipeline animated feature-film and commercial production
• Puppet character design, sculpting and fabrication
• Miniature and full-scale practical set construction
• Puppetry choreography, performance and multi-track capture
• CG modeling, texturing, look development and Unreal Engine rendering
• Visual effects, CG replacement and compositing
• Photogrammetry and physical-to-digital texture mapping

The studio's workflow is designed to integrate practical and digital techniques rather than treating them as separate disciplines. Physical assets can be captured with atmospheric elements such as water and wind, then expanded through virtual environments, set extensions and compositing.

Swaybox gained broad visibility through its 2022 NFL Super Bowl LVI halftime commercial, which featured puppet likenesses of NFL legends. The company is now producing Dynamic Duo, an animated DC feature directed by co-CEO Arthur Mintz and made in collaboration with DC Studios, Warner Bros. Pictures Animation and Matt Reeves' 6th & Idaho. The feature is scheduled for theatrical release on June 30, 2028.

Operating as an independent studio, Swaybox continues to scale its fabrication, performance, CG and rendering capacity for feature production while maintaining a practical, artist-led approach to hybrid animation.