Kappa Studios switches to Adobe workflow to create Cartoon Network’s Annoying Orange series

PVC by Meagan Keene

In November 2011, Cartoon Network announced it was bringing the web series, Annoying Orange, to its programming lineup. The show, which debuted a year ago, is a television adaptation of the amazingly popular web series. Produced by 14th Hour Productions, Annoying Orange is a very offbeat, quirky animated comedy series. Kappa Studios, located in Burbank CA, switched from Avid to an Adobe workflow, including Adobe Premiere Pro, to tackle all the visual effects, compositing, off-line, initial on-line pre builds, and audio for this show. Kappa President Paul Long sat down with us to talk about working on this technically complicated, multi-dimensional, and fast-paced show.

Adobe: Can you tell us a little more about the TV series?
Long: Annoying Orange stars a playful yet mouthy orange that pesters an apple and other fruit characters with puns and jokes. Its offbeat humor and style has drawn more than one billion hits on YouTube at last count. Dane Boedigheimer, creator of the web series, co-created the television series with Tom Sheppard (Emmy Award-winning writer for Pinky and the Brain). Conrad Vernon (director of Madagascar 3 and Monsters vs. Aliens) serves as executive producer for the series along with Gary Binkow and Dan Weinstein. Boedigheimer is the voice of Orange as well as several other characters. Joining him are seasoned talents Felicia Day (Clash of the Titans), Harland Williams (Dumb and Dumber), Phil LaMarr (Family Guy), and cameo appearances by William Shatner, James Caan, and others. Leading the Kappa digital compositing team is Patrick Murphy (Harry Potter, Clash of the Titans, Avatar, Superman Returns).

Adobe: Why was Kappa chosen to cover all the diverse roles on the project?
Long: The producers chose Kappa because we could give them more value and control by being a full-service, post-production facility featuring complete picture and sound packages, VFX, Dolby-certified dubbing stage, digital file management, close-caption transcription, RED camera department, and a CGI graphics department. In addition to being able to deliver a high-quality finished product, doing everything under one roof helps us create the show inexpensively. We’re even doing all of the foreign language translations. read more...