Carbon

What Carbon does

Carbon is an independent, privately-held creative production studio headquartered in New York, with additional offices in Chicago and Culver City (Los Angeles). It operates a B2B professional services model selling project-based visual effects, motion graphics, character animation, design, live-action production, CGI, and color grading work to advertising agencies—including named relationships with firms such as Digitas, Mutiny, BBH, and Leo Burnett—and directly to consumer brands, as well as media networks and streaming platforms. Recent work spans campaigns for Google, Nike, Xbox (Microsoft), Verizon, Vizio, Big Ten Conference, HonorHealth, UroLift, Church's Chicken, Pete & Gerry's, FX Networks, Vital Proteins, Ferrara (Nerds), Tillamook, Miller Lite, Poppi, Discover, Takis, SweeTARTS, and Brizo, including two spots in Super Bowl LVIII and the 2024 Clio Silver and Bronze awards for the 'Repeater' animated title film. The company was rebranded in 2023 from carbonvfx.com to heycarbon.com to reflect an expansion beyond pure VFX into a broader creative-services identity.

Its core offering is a full-service creative production stack delivered across design, direction, live-action production, character animation, motion graphics, color grading, CGI, and photoreal VFX, supported by a cloud-based production infrastructure enabling collaboration across the three US offices. Notable technical components include a Houdini/Nuke procedural pipeline for large-scale detailed floral and growth animation, custom mixed-media title sequence construction combining live-action with animated elements, full-environment 3D scanning with super solid camera tracking for compositing, and an AI-assisted design integration that uses generative AI for environment roughing, moodboard creation, and styleframe generation to accelerate early creative iterations. The studio shares its ownership ecosystem with sister editing company Whitehouse Post, enabling an integrated editorial-to-VFX-to-color offering under one roof, with Senior Producer Daisy Schmitt dedicated to cross-studio projects.

Carbon makes money through quote-based professional services engagements with no publicly disclosed pricing, structured around project scope, complexity, and timeline. Go-to-market is enterprise field sales executed directly through three US offices each led by an Executive Producer (Lauren DeFelice in New York, Gretchen Praeger in Chicago, Matt McManus/Matthew McManus in Los Angeles) and channeled through representation partnerships—Stellar Mass for the East Coast and GRGD for the Midwest and West Coast. Revenue is therefore diversified across recurring agency engagements and direct brand work, with no single named customer dominating the disclosed portfolio and no institutional investor, parent company, or external capital structure.

Name

Carbon

Legal name

Carbon

Website

https://heycarbon.com

Company type

Private

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Short description

Carbon is an independent, full-service creative production studio offering visual effects, motion graphics, character animation, CGI, color grading, design, and live-action production to advertising agencies and consumer brands across its New York, Chicago, and Los Angeles offices.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

New York

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices3 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Creative Production Services: Project-based professional services including VFX, animation, design, color grading, and finishing for advertising campaigns. Revenue generated through agency partnerships and direct brand relationships on a per-project basis.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Carbon is a full-service creative production studio that delivers visual effects, motion graphics, character animation, CGI, color grading, design, and live-action production for advertising campaigns and entertainment content. The studio operates as a single-vendor partner from concept and direction through final delivery, serving agencies and consumer brands with end-to-end visual storytelling capabilities.

Product overview

Carbon is an independent creative production studio offering a comprehensive suite of visual storytelling services. The studio's core offerings include visual effects (VFX), motion graphics, character animation, design, CGI, live action production, and color grading. From design, direction, and live action production to character animation, motion graphics, color grading, CGI, and photoreal visual effects, Carbon employs a range of techniques to bring creative concepts to life for commercial and entertainment clients. The studio operates across multiple offices in New York, Chicago, and Los Angeles, and is known for high-end campaigns for major brands including Vizio, Xbox, Nike, Google, and major Super Bowl advertisers.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Visual Effects (VFX)

Quantifiable outcome

• 7.5 million+ views in first three days for Big Ten 'Maps' commercial update
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers20 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

AI capability3 records

Feature5 records

Partnerships

Four partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Stellar MasscoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ Distributor · 1 January 2025Stellar Mass represents Carbon in the East Coast market across design, animation, live-action production, color, and VFX services. Jake Strom founded Stellar Mass and brings extensive industry connections. Carbon serves as the post-production arm of sister company Whitehouse Post, enabling seamless editorial-to-finish pipeline.
• GRGDcoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorGRGD represents Carbon in the Midwest and West Coast markets. Representatives include Jill Reehl, Breanne Pace, Maggie Davis, and Oren Daniels.
• Whitehouse PostcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerWhitehouse Post is Carbon's sister editing company, part of the same creative ecosystem. Carbon and Whitehouse Post frequently collaborate on projects, offering integrated editorial, VFX, color, and finish under one roof. Senior Producer Daisy Schmitt focuses on projects shared between the two companies.
• Cap GunminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCarbon collaborated with Whitehouse and Cap Gun to donate to Oceana (ocean conservation organization) as part of holiday giving program.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• The Mill: The Mill is a globally recognized creative studio offering VFX, design, and content production for advertising agencies and brands — the most direct competitor to Carbon in the premium commercial VFX category, with an overlapping client set including Nike, Google, and major Super Bowl advertisers.
• Framestore: Framestore is a multi-Oscar-winning VFX and creative studio with major advertising and entertainment work; directly comparable to Carbon in offering integrated VFX, character animation, and CGI for premium brand campaigns and Super Bowl-style briefs.
• MPC (Moving Picture Company): MPC is a large VFX and post-production studio serving advertising and feature film clients; comparable to Carbon in offering end-to-end CG, animation, color, and VFX services for major consumer brand campaigns.
• Psyop: Psyop is a boutique creative animation and VFX studio focused on advertising — comparable in scale and offering to Carbon, with a similar emphasis on character animation, CGI, and motion graphics for top-tier brands.
• Buck: Buck is a design-driven animation and interactive studio serving advertising clients with motion graphics, character animation, and CGI — closely comparable to Carbon in offering creative-driven animation services for brand and agency clients.
• Method Studios: Method Studios is a VFX and design company serving the advertising and entertainment industries; comparable to Carbon in offering integrated VFX, CG, design, and finishing for major brand campaigns.
• Elastic: Elastic is a design-driven studio specializing in title sequences, motion graphics, and brand design for film, streaming, and advertising; directly comparable to Carbon's title sequence work (e.g., FX Networks' Social Studies) and motion graphics offering.
• A52: A52 is a commercial VFX and color studio serving advertising agencies and brands; comparable to Carbon in offering integrated VFX and color grading for premium commercial campaigns.
• Sarofsky: Sarofsky is a design-and-animation studio focused on main-title sequences, VFX, and motion graphics for advertising and entertainment; directly comparable to Carbon in title design, character animation, and premium commercial VFX.

Broad incumbents

• Digital Domain: Digital Domain is a large, well-established VFX studio with feature film, advertising, and immersive work; a broader incumbent that overlaps with Carbon in commercial VFX but operates at significantly larger scale across more verticals.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/hey_carbon
• YouTubevimeo.com/heycarbon
• Facebookfacebook.com/heycarbonfb
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/heycarbon
• Instagraminstagram.com/hey.carbon

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles7 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Carbon