Steamroller Animation Receives Epic Megagrant
STEAMROLLER ANIMATION RECEIVES EPIC MEGAGRANT TO ASSIST IN THE PRODUCTION OF SPICE FRONTIER, AN ANIMATED SERIES POWERED BY UNREAL ENGINE 5.
The Central Florida-based animation studio will utilize Epic Games’ Unreal Engine to bring Spice Frontier, an animated episodic to life. Steamroller will also provide valuable feedback to the Unreal Engine team to help further develop technology and real-time pipeline tools to enhance the creation of linear content in Unreal.
MT. DORA, FLORIDA – OCTOBER 24, 2022 – Steamroller Animation has received an Epic MegaGrant from Epic Games. The MegaGrant will be used to support the production of Spice Frontier using Epic’s Unreal Engine. As a collaborative value add, Steamroller will also share feedback as they develop their animation pipeline to the Unreal Engine team to help develop new technology and innovation for animation and pipeline tools within Unreal Engine 5, the latest version of Epic’s cutting-edge real-time 3D tool.
Unreal Engine is notably utilized by many of the top-selling games on the planet – as well as for virtual production, motion pictures and more – and it will be adapted to build Steamroller’s first self-produced IP animated episodic, Spice Frontier.
Aaron Gilman, CEO of Steamroller Animation expressed this about the Epic MegaGrant: "We're beyond excited for this opportunity and to be welcomed as Epic MegaGrants recipients. Creating this type of linear content using Unreal Engine will help us immensely in expediting the production of Spice Frontier and other pieces of IP that we have in the works as a studio. As we develop robust pipeline tools for an animated show, we plan to share our learnings with the Unreal Engine team, so that our discoveries will be of tremendous value to not only the production quality of the show, but help to assist animators and improve the pipeline for all teams. We’re very excited to be a part of developing efficient and cost-effective storytelling for the industry as a whole.”
“Using Epic Games’ Unreal Engine primarily for an animated series will truly help streamline our production and allow for a one-stop shop software solution,” Jalil Sadool, Steamroller Chief Creative Officer. Jalil adds “With the use of Unreal, a growing studio like Steamroller Animation can tell complex and engaging stories while alleviating the potential for increasing debts.”
Steamroller is currently in the process of aligning potential distribution partners for Spice Frontier and other exciting IP projects happening at the studio.
View the award winning Spice Frontier short below:
ABOUT STEAMROLLER ANIMATION. Touching the heart and soul of our audiences by creating and telling remarkable stories is what we live to do. Our team of inspired artists, character, creature and facial animators not only bring our own vibrant stories to life, we also have the privilege of partnering with some of the largest gaming and film studios on the planet to do the same for them. On the gaming side, we’ve had the privilege to work with some of the largest studios on the planet including Blizzard, Insomniac, Guerrilla Games, Epic Games, Riot Games, and more. Our creature, character, and facial animation work can be seen in countless major motion pictures through some of our industry partnerships with Wētā FX, Framestore, and DNEG.