Ludo Studio Pty. Ltd. is an Australian live-action and animation
production company
A production company, production house or production studio is a studio that creates works in the fields of performing arts, new media art, film, television show, television, radio, comics, interactive arts, video games, websites, music, and video ...
based in
Fortitude Valley
Fortitude Valley (often called "The Valley" by local residents) is an inner suburb of the City of Brisbane, the state capital of Queensland, Australia. In the , Fortitude Valley had a population of 9,708 people. The suburb features two pedestri ...
,
Queensland
Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...
. Founded by
Daley Pearson and Charlie Aspinwall in 2012, it is known for producing the television series ''
Bluey'' (2018), ''
Thou Shalt Not Steal'' (2024), ''
The Strange Chores'' (2019), ''
Robbie Hood'' (2019) and ''
#7DaysLater'' (2013), and also producing the web series ''Doodles'' (2015) and ''
Content'' (2019).
History
Daley Pearson and Charlie Aspinwall founded Ludo Studio in 2012. The company is based in
Fortitude Valley
Fortitude Valley (often called "The Valley" by local residents) is an inner suburb of the City of Brisbane, the state capital of Queensland, Australia. In the , Fortitude Valley had a population of 9,708 people. The suburb features two pedestri ...
,
Queensland
Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...
.
The studio has been at the forefront of development for experimental Australian multimedia series. In 2013, the studio released ''
#7DaysLater'', a multi-platform comedy series, where each episode was created in 7 days from the audience's online pitches.
The series was the first interactive comedy series commissioned by the
Australian Broadcasting Corporation
The Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) is Australia’s principal public service broadcaster. It is funded primarily by grants from the federal government and is administered by a government-appointed board of directors. The ABC is ...
. The series won an
International Emmy
The International Emmy Awards, or International Emmys, are part of the extensive range of Emmy Awards for artistic and technical merit for the television industry. Bestowed by the New York–based International Academy of Television Arts and Sc ...
Award for ''Best Digital Program: Fiction''.
The studio also won a ''Best Kids' Digital Program'' International Emmy in 2017 for their web series ''Doodles''. The series featured animations of drawings submitted by the audience. In 2019, Ludo Studio partnered with ABC to create ''
Content'', Australia’s first-ever
vertical video
A vertical video is a video created either by a camera or computer that is intended for viewing in portrait mode, producing an image that is taller than it is wide. It thus sits in opposition to the multiple horizontal formats normalised by ci ...
series.
In 2016,
Joe Brumm approached the studio with a one-minute
pilot episode
A television pilot (also known as a pilot or a pilot episode and sometimes marketed as a tele-movie) in United Kingdom and United States television, is a standalone episode of a television series that is used to sell a show to a television netwo ...
for his
Children's television series
Children's television series (or children's television shows) are Television show, television programs designed specifically for Child, children. They are typically characterised by easy-going content devoid of sensitive or adult themes and are ...
''
Bluey''.
Pearson and Aspinwall took Brumm's pitch to the
MIPCOM television conference, where they began looking for investors. The ABC offered the studio $20,000 for a revised seven-minute pilot, in preparation for the Asian Animation Summit in late 2017.
The ABC partnered with the
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...
to commissioned the series for an initial, 52-episode run. The series was produced entirely by the studio in
South Brisbane
South Brisbane is an inner southern suburb in the City of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. In the , South Brisbane had a population of 14,292 people.
Geography
South Brisbane is on the southern bank of the Brisbane River, bounded to the nor ...
. After the series launched in 2018, it quickly found global critical and commercial success as it expanded to air in 60 different countries.
In 2024, ''Bluey'' was awarded a special recognition award from the
Australian High Commissioner in London, in acknowledgement of its significant cultural impact in the UK and around the world. Australia House was transformed into "Bluey House" for the occasion, with the building redecorated and official signage temporarily replaced.
Following their ''Bluey'' partnership, ABC commissioned an original animated supernatural comedy, ''
The Strange Chores'', created by Pearson and Aspinwall.
The pair had previously attempted to pitch the series in 2013. The series began to air on
ABC ME
ABC Entertains is an Australian free-to-air television channel owned by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. It was launched on 4 December 2009 as a children's channel called ABC3. It was rebranded on 19 September 2016 to ABC ME. It rebra ...
for
Halloween
Halloween, or Hallowe'en (less commonly known as Allhalloween, All Hallows' Eve, or All Saints' Eve), is a celebration geography of Halloween, observed in many countries on 31 October, the eve of the Western Christianity, Western Christian f ...
in 2019.
Australian filmmaker
Dylan River has partnered with Ludo Studio to bring two of his projects to the screen. In 2019, the studio produced ''
Robbie Hood'', River's reimagining of the
Robin Hood
Robin Hood is a legendary noble outlaw, heroic outlaw originally depicted in English folklore and subsequently featured in literature, theatre, and cinema. According to legend, he was a highly skilled archer and swordsman. In some versions o ...
narrative in contemporary
Alice Springs
Alice Springs () is a town in the Northern Territory, Australia; it is the third-largest settlement after Darwin, Northern Territory, Darwin and Palmerston, Northern Territory, Palmerston. The name Alice Springs was given by surveyor William ...
. The series follows Robbie, a 13-year-old
Indigenous Australian
Indigenous Australians are people with familial heritage from, or recognised membership of, the various ethnic groups living within the territory of contemporary Australia prior to History of Australia (1788–1850), British colonisation. The ...
as he traverses his neighbourhood and evades the local police. In 2024,
Stan released River and Ludo Studio's series ''
Thou Shalt Not Steal'', following a pair of teenagers as they are chased across the desert by a sex worker and fraudulent preacher.
At the 2019
Screen Producers Australia
Screen Producers Australia (SPA), formerly the Screen Producers' Association of Australia (SPAA) and earlier names, is a national organisation representing film production businesses, emerging producers, service providers and screen industry supp ...
Awards, Ludo Studio won Media Super Production Business of the Year.
The award recognises a business that has produced an "outstanding body of work" and made a significant contribution to the progression of the Australian screen industry over the previous 12 months. The studio also took home Animated Series Production of the Year for ''Bluey'', Online Series Production of the Year for ''Robbie Hood'' and the Screen Business Export Award for ''Bluey''.
Ludo Studio was voted one of the
Time 100 Most Influential Companies in 2024.
The studio partnered with
ACMI in 2024 to create a $10,000 animation residency for an emerging Australian animator or animation team. The program was only open to people with up to two professional credits, with the intent of developing their projects for the local & international market.
Screen Australia
Screen Australia is the Australian Federal Government's key funding body for the Australian screen production industry, created under the ''Screen Australia Act 2008''. From 1 July 2008 Screen Australia took over the functions of its predecess ...
awarded the studio story development funding in 2024 for a new animated series, ''Willy''. Set in 2003, the series follows the sexual awakening of a 15-year-old boy in a rural Australian town.
In 2024, Ludo Studio announced the production of a ''Bluey'' feature film in partnership with
BBC Studios
BBC Studios Limited is a British content company. It is a commercial subsidiary of the BBC that was formed in April 2018 through the merger of the BBC's commercial production arm and the BBC's commercial international distribution arm, BBC Wor ...
and
The Walt Disney Company
The Walt Disney Company, commonly referred to as simply Disney, is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was founded on October 16 ...
.
The project is the studio's first
feature film
A feature film or feature-length film (often abbreviated to feature), also called a theatrical film, is a film (Film, motion picture, "movie" or simply “picture”) with a running time long enough to be considered the principal or sole present ...
.
Filmography
Films
Television and web series
References
External links
* {{Official website, www.ludostudio.com.au
Mass media companies established in 2012
Television production companies of Australia
Entertainment companies established in 2012
Australian companies established in 2012
Film production companies of Australia
Australian animation studios
Companies based in Brisbane