The Robertson Building

In a tenant profile on Cuppa Coffee Animation (Suite 400) from the December 1996/January 1997 issue of the 401 Richmond Update the company was celebrating its recent success measured as "eight full-time staff with up to twenty-five on board during peak production periods." Since then, Cuppa Coffee has grown to a whopping 250 people that create unique, playful, and cutting edge animation for the likes of Disney and the BBC, as well as their own in-house productions of programs like Bruno for Nickleodeon (a playful monkey that helps pre-school age children learn the basics).

Founded by Owner and Executive Producer Adam Shaheen - an illustrator from England who founded the company in 1992 - Cuppa has become the largest stop-motion animation company in North America (and possibly the world). This unprecendented growth necessitated a move from their home at 401 Richmond to a new one at 215 Spadina, a 40,000 square foot space that includes production studios, set and puppet building facilities, and plenty of space for the staff to collaborate and innovate. "We like how the old nature of the building has been maintained, with Margie's flair for contemporary design thrown at it. The flavour of the building suits our personality - eclectic art and design with a professional business feel."

We had a chance to speak with Adam before he headed off to the Broadcast Design Association Awards in New York, and he explained how surprised he is by what Cuppa has become. "Every year I'd say, that's enough and then I'd find us taking on more projects and things just kept growing. I didn't wake up one morning and say 'I want to build the biggest stop-motion animation company in the world,' I never had any great passion or desire to do that. I have always been passsionate about what we do and dedicated to creating great work, and when you create a good product it will attract interest."

For Adam, one of the great benefits of their success is the freedom to invest time and money in more creatively fulfilling activities like creating their own "properties" (shows created and produced in-house) while continuing to be a "work for hire" studio.

Cuppa's specialty is stop-motion animation, which involves building puppets and sets, which are then moved frame to frame to create the action. There are no courses that teach this kind of animation, which requires quite specialized artistic skills and talents, so each year the animation company trains a number of artists, some of which would have struggled to find an outlet for their talents. "A true committment to the art of the business is central to Cuppa's accomplishments - the development of the company is driven by a passion for art, design, and animation, not the bottom line."

As Adam explained, "the essence of Cuppa Coffee is an excitement about creating animation, not a push to make mone in TV. When you come to the table with some unique and special ideas, when you're risk takers in terms of visual and creative work, you grown naturally."

Cuppa Coffee's future will likely hold much of the same energy, growth, and creativity that's characterized the company so far. It is also likely to gain even more accolades - like the nine awards Cuppa brought home from the Broadcast Design Awards just before this article was published! It's clear that Adam remains dedicated to sticking his neck out to do exciting and experimental projects: "this is a really nice place to be. When you're getting started, you spend so much time and energy struggling for recognition. Now that we're established, it makes it so much easier for us to get things made" and getting things made is what it's all about.

You can learn more about Cuppa Coffee and watch their award winning reels and episodes of Bruno at:
www.cuppacoffee.com