Creative production studio Carbon announces the promotion of Phil Linturn and Liam Chapple to partnership roles. The pair joined Carbon in 2016 and have been a driving force in growing the company to the esteemed shop it is today with 70 employees, expanded offerings, and award-winning work.
“I was lucky enough to be invited to help set up the Chicago branch of Carbon in 2016, as Creative Director,” says Chapple. “Along with Phil we added a range of disciplines to the company, including creative direction and development, 3D animation and VFX, color grading, design and live action direction. This led to a fairly rapid evolution of the company from being an almost entirely Flame based finishing house, to a company who can offer everything between creative concept development and shoot production, through to delivery.”
“Carbon was primarily a finish arm to Whitehouse editorial when I joined,” adds Linturn. “My experiences in Europe had shown that companies like Carbon needed a blend of creative and technical skillsets to survive the changes happening within the industry. We launched the Chicago studio immediately with the ability to direct our own work, supported by world class CGI, VFX and design. In recent years these have been the bedrock of our offering, and will only continue to expand.”
Linturn has remained in Chicago and in 2019 his role expanded to Managing Director, making him responsible for overseeing the New York and Los Angeles offices as well as Chicago, as his role shifted to longer-term strategic planning for the company. “Carbon has grown significantly by traditional metrics like staff footprint, revenue and output, but we focused right from the outset on growing our own ambition, setting bold creative targets, and focusing on attracting the best talent in the market. I’m personally most proud of these achievements as these are fundamental to the success of everything else.”
In 2019 Chapple relocated to Carbon’s New York office as Executive Creative Director where he has directed a steady stream of work for top clients including American Express, EA Sports and Verizon. “Since becoming ECD in 2019 and moving to the East Coast, we’ve seen the studios expand both here and in Los Angeles, in all areas of the industry. Due to this change in direction and expansion, my role has evolved to find much more focus on overseeing our team of CD’s, helping with pitching and acting as a sounding board throughout the process. I’ve also moved my focus to recruitment in all areas of the company, including the search for talented producers, EPs and other roles outside of the ‘artist’ sphere.”
Carbon highlights from the pair’s time include a Clio for Best Title Design on FanDuel’s ‘Make Moments More‘, a Super Bowl spot for Porsche (directed by Wayne McClammy and listed in Adweek’s top 10 Super Bowl ads), and a multi-award winning OFFF Title Film directed by Carbon’s Ian Bradley. Most recently, the studio received a One Show Gold Pencil, an ANDY’s Gold Statue and a Gold LIA for the film.
Looking ahead, Linturn and Chapple look forward to continuing to grow the studio with more hires, nurturing a creative space, and making great work. Linturn sums it up succinctly. “We simply want to be making the most creative work for partners who value excellent craft and bold ideas. If we can do that in a respectful and mutually-rewarding environment then I’d say we’ve succeeded.”