MK12

MK12

MK12 Studios logo
Type	Private
Industry	Advertising, film production
Genre	Motion graphics, Animation
Founded	1999
Headquarters	Kansas City, Missouri, USA
Products	Commercials, Motion graphics
Number of employees	8
Website	http://www.MK12.com/

MK12 Studios is a filmmaking and design collective with over a dozen award-winning short films to its credit. Their approach to filmmaking and animation is experimental and holistic, blending live action, traditional and CGI animation, nostalgic influence and new technologies to define their own unique brand of storytelling.

History

MK12 was established in Kansas City, Missouri, in 1999 by art school students Jed Carter, Timmy Fisher, Matt Fraction, and Ben Radatz, and later joined by Shaun Hamontree and computer guru Chad Perry. Originally founded as a means to produce original content, MK12 has since lent its talents to many commercial ventures, including title sequence and UI design for films like Quantum of Solace and Stranger Than Fiction, music videos for Common, Jack White and Alicia Keys, and animated cutscenes and vignettes for video games like Rock Band: Beatles & Green Day editions and documentaries like Particle Fever, which earned them a Cinema Eye Award for Outstanding Graphic Design in 2015. In 2014, MK12 joined forces with New York-based production company, Rabbit.

Nominations

• Grammy Award (2009) for Best Short Form Music Video for their collaborative video for “Another Way to Die” by Jack White and Alicia Keys
• South by Southwest (2015) as finalists in the Excellence in TItle Design Award for their 2014 Semi-Permanent opening titles
• MTV Video Music Awards (2005) Nomination: Best Hip Hop Video, Common "Go"

Selected awards

• Cinema Eye Honors (2014) for Outstanding Achievement in Graphic Design or Animation for “Particle Fever”
• Art of the Title for Semi-Permanent '14 Titles: Top Ten Title Sequences of 2014
• Mile High Horror Film Festival, "Most Innovative Short Film" awarded to MK12's "Follow the Sun!"
• Miami Short Film Festival, "Best Experimental film" award for "TELEPHONEME"
• 2002 Adobe Systems Online Film Festival, "Best Animated Film": "Untitled:002:Infinity"
• 2001 Rockstar Games, "Best Short Film": "Terrible Cosmic Death"

Selected exhibitions

• 2014 Salon 94, the Bowery NY: Beauty in Danger
• 2014 Pluk de Nacht Open Air Film Festival, The Netherlands: Follow the Sun!
• 2014 University of North Carolina, Charlotte: group exhibition Icarus: Powers of Ten
• 2013 Art Basel, Miami: Beauty in Danger
• 2012 Fantastic Fest: Follow the Sun!
• 2012 Vimeo Awards: Follow the Sun!
• 2012 Slamdance Film Festival: Follow the Sun!
• 2011 Walker Art Center, Minneapolis: Graphic Design: Now in Production (title sequence exhibition component): Stranger than Fiction, The Kite Runner
• 2011 Type in Motion: Museum für Gestaltung, Zürich (Zurich Design Museum): Sleeping Beauty, Diesel, Levi's, Stranger than Fiction, The Kite Runner
• 2011 Telluride Horror Show: Follow the Sun!
• 2011 Universal Studios Halloween Horror Nights: Follow the Sun!
• 2011 Prix Ars Electronica Animation Festival, Linz, Austria: TELEPHONEME (best-of compilation from '10)
• 2010 Ars Electronica Animation Festival, Linz, Austria: TELEPHONEME
• 2010 Zurich Film Festival: TELEPHONEME
• 2010 Slamdance Film Festival: TELEPHONEME
• 2010 Atlantic Film Festival: TELEPHONEME
• 2010 Museum für Gestaltung, Zürich (Zurich Design Museum), multiple works
• 2009 Anima Mundi, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil: one short film "History of America"
• 2008 International Amsterdam Film Festival: one short film "History of America"
• 2008 Sundance Film Festival: one short film "History of America"
• 2007 Montreal World Film Festival: one short film "History of America"
• 2005 OneDotZero film festival: two short films: "UltraloveNinja" and "4D Softcore Sweater Porn"
• 2005 The Epsten Gallery: Kansas City, MO: work retrospective
• 2005 Art in General, New York City, NY: collaborative exhibition with Brian Alfred, a NY-based painter
• 2004 Art Basel, Miami, Florida: group exhibition, curated by the Paragraph Gallery (Kansas City, MO)
• 2004 RESFest, international: one short film: "Funkstorung" music video
• 2003 Sundance Online Film Festival: one short film "UltraloveNinja"
• 2003 RESFest, international: two short films: "The Faint" music video, "Macho Box"
• 2002 Adobe Online Short Film Festival, international: one short film: "Untitled:002:Infinity"
• 2000 RESFest, international: one short film: "Untitled:002:Infinity"
• 2000 Toronto International Film Festival: one short film: "Terrible Cosmic Death"
• 2000 Sci-Fi Channel: one short film: "Terrible Cosmic Death"
• 2000 New York Animation Festival, New York, NY: one short film: "Terrible Cosmic Death"

External links

• Official website
• Follow The Sun
• Telephoneme
• History Of America
• MK12 at the Internet Movie Database
• 2008 MK12 interview with Jon Niccum
• Quantum of Solace Title Sequence Case Study with Art of the Title

official OG's of Mo-G.