CHRLX (formerly known as Charlex until 2014) is an American animation studio based in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

that produces

animation Animation is a filmmaking technique whereby still images are manipulated to create moving images. In traditional animation, images are drawn or painted by hand on transparent celluloid sheets to be photographed and exhibited on film. Animati ...

primarily for

commercials A television advertisement (also called a commercial, spot, break, advert, or ad) is a span of television programming produced and paid for by an organization. It conveys a message promoting, and aiming to market, a product, service or idea. ...

History

Charlie Levi and

Alex Weil Alex Weil (July 31, 1951 – April 17, 2019) was the founder and executive creative director of the New York City based digital design and production studio CHRLX, Charlex (now CHRLX), which he founded alongside Charlie Levi (the company's name is ...

founded Charlex (with the name being a portmanteau of their first names) in 1979 "with $1,600 and a phone" to support their rock band and to work on commercials. When the band folded, Levi and Weil began working at Charlex full-time. In 1981, Charlex began producing an innovative weekly TV-ad campaign for the

National Enquirer The ''National Enquirer'' is an American tabloid newspaper. Founded in 1926, the newspaper has undergone a number of changes over the years. The ''National Enquirer'' openly acknowledges that it pays Source (journalism), sources for tips (chec ...

, and in 1984, they created

The Cars The Cars were an American Rock music, rock band formed in Boston in 1976. Emerging from the New wave music, new wave Subculture, scene in the late 1970s, they consisted of Ric Ocasek (rhythm guitar), Benjamin Orr (bass guitar), Elliot Easton (l ...

' " You Might Think" music video, for which they were awarded the "Video of the Year" –the very first winner– at the 1984 MTV Video Music Awards. Both projects helped Charlex get more work throughout the 1980s, including network IDs for the Fred/Alan agency, commercials, and opening titles for various programs. In 1986 Charlex produced the groundbreaking Cherry Coke ad that featured multiple composited layers of digital video which was a technical tour de force at the time. In 1998, Charlex started using CHRLX as an alternative name for the company (removing the vowels from their name); the Charlex name was slowly phased out until 2014, although it is still CHRLX's legal name. In 2006, Charlex's short film ''

One Rat Short One Rat Short is a short digital animation, written and directed by Alex Weil. It was awarded a Best of Show award at the SIGGRAPH 2006 Computer Animation Festival. External links One Rat Short at IMDB
(interview with Weil at NewEnglandFilm ...

'' received a Best of Show award at the

SIGGRAPH SIGGRAPH (Special Interest Group on Computer Graphics and Interactive Techniques) is an annual conference centered around computer graphics organized by ACM, starting in 1974 in Boulder, CO. The main conference has always been held in North ...

2006 Computer Animation Festival. CHRLX's co-founder Alex Weil died in 2019, but CHRLX continues to operate under the leadership of Chris Byrnes.

Filmography

Short films

*''Inner Tube'' (backgrounds and electronic effects; 1987) *''

'' (2006) *''Amarelinha'' (associate producer; 2007) *''ShapeShifter'' (2010)

Music videos

– "You Might Think" (1984) *

– "Heartbreak City" (transitional links; 1984) *

Yes Yes or YES may refer to: * An affirmative particle in the English language; see yes and no Education * YES Prep Public Schools, Houston, Texas, US * Young Eisner Scholars, in Los Angeles, New York City, Chicago, and Appalachia, US * Young Ep ...

– '' 9012Live'' (1985)

Television/film

*''

Saturday Night Live ''Saturday Night Live'' (''SNL'') is an American Late night television in the United States, late-night live television, live sketch comedy variety show created by Lorne Michaels and developed by Michaels and Dick Ebersol that airs on NBC. The ...

'' (opening titles; 1984) *'' Mr. Wizard's World'' (opening titles; 1985) *''

National Geographic Explorer ''National Geographic Explorer'' (or simply ''Explorer'') is an American documentary television series that originally premiered on Nickelodeon on April 7, 1985, after having been produced as a less costly and intensive alternative to PBS's '' ...

'' (opening titles; 1990) *''

The Howard Stern Show ''The Howard Stern Show'' is an American radio show hosted by Howard Stern that gained wide recognition when it was radio syndication, nationally syndicated on terrestrial radio from WINS-FM, WXRK in New York City, between 1986 and 2005. The sho ...

'' (show opening; 1990) *''

The Honeymooners ''The Honeymooners'' is an American television sitcom that originally aired from 1955 to 1956, created by and starring Jackie Gleason, and based on a recurring comedy sketch of the same name that had been part of Gleason's variety show. It f ...

Anniversary Special'' (video restoration; 1990) *''Real Mature'' (opening sequence; 1991) *'' TNT 100% Weird'' (opening sequence; 1992) *''

Nickelodeon Nickelodeon (nicknamed Nick) is an American pay television channel and the flagship property of the Nickelodeon Group, a sub-division of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. Launched on April 1, 1979, as the first ca ...

Home Video'' (opening titles; 1993) *''

David Blaine David Blaine (born David Blaine White; April 4, 1973) is an American magician, mentalist, and Endurance art, endurance performer. Born in New York City, Blaine became interested in magic at a very young age. He gained prominence in 1997, when h ...

: Magic Man'' (opening graphics; 1998) *'' On the Run'' (credit sequence design; 1999) *''

: Frozen in Time'' (opening graphics; 2000) *'' Capturing the Friedmans'' (visual effects; 2003) *'' Maniac'' ("Windmills" animation; 2018)

Commercials

American Express American Express Company or Amex is an American bank holding company and multinational financial services corporation that specializes in payment card industry, payment cards. It is headquartered at 200 Vesey Street, also known as American Expr ...

American International Group American International Group, Inc. (AIG) is an American multinational finance and insurance corporation with operations in more than 80 countries and jurisdictions. As of 2023, AIG employed 25,200 people. The company operates through three core ...

* AOL *

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* Avis * Bass Weejuns * Bausch & Lomb * Blue Bonnet Butter Blend *

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* Bubble Yum *

Budweiser Budweiser () is an American-style pale lager, a brand of Belgian company AB InBev. Introduced in 1876 by Carl Conrad & Co. of St. Louis, Missouri, Budweiser has become a large selling beer company in the United States. Budweiser is a filte ...

Campbell Soup Company The Campbell's Company (doing business as Campbell's and formerly known as the Campbell Soup Company) is an American company, most closely associated with its flagship canned soup products. The classic red-and-white can design used by many Campbe ...

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* Centrum *

Charles Schwab Corporation The Charles Schwab Corporation is an American multinational Financial institution, financial services company. It offers banking, commercial banking, investing and related services including consulting, and wealth management advisory services ...

Cinemax Cinemax is an American pay television network owned by Home Box Office, Inc., a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. Launched on August 1, 1980, as a "maxi-pay" service to complement the offerings of its sister premium network, HBO (Home Box ...

* Cingular * Clairol *

Coca-Cola Coca-Cola, or Coke, is a cola soft drink manufactured by the Coca-Cola Company. In 2013, Coke products were sold in over 200 countries and territories worldwide, with consumers drinking more than 1.8 billion company beverage servings ...

* Crest * Dannon * David Yurman *

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DirecTV DirecTV, LLC is an American Multichannel television in the United States, multichannel video programming distributor based in El Segundo, California. Originally launched on June 17, 1994, its primary service is a digital Satellite television, s ...

Dodge Dodge is an American brand of automobiles and a division of Stellantis, based in Auburn Hills, Michigan. Dodge vehicles have historically included performance cars, and for much of its existence, Dodge was Chrysler's mid-priced brand above P ...

* Dole Food Company * Dr. Scholl's *

Dunkin' Donuts DD IP Holder LLC, doing business as Dunkin', and originally Dunkin' Donuts, is an American multinational coffee and doughnut company, as well as a quick service restaurant. It was founded by Bill Rosenberg in Quincy, Massachusetts, in 19 ...

E-Trade E*TRADE is an investment brokerage and electronic trading platform that operates as a subsidiary of Morgan Stanley. History In 1982, physicist William A. Porter and Bernard A. Newcomb founded TradePlus in Palo Alto, California, with $15,00 ...

Fidelity Investments Fidelity Investments, formerly known as Fidelity Management & Research (FMR), owned by FMR LLC and headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts, provides financial services. Established in 1946, the company is one of the largest asset managers in the ...

* Fila *

Ford Motor Company Ford Motor Company (commonly known as Ford) is an American multinational corporation, multinational automobile manufacturer headquartered in Dearborn, Michigan, United States. It was founded by Henry Ford and incorporated on June 16, 1903. T ...

General Electric General Electric Company (GE) was an American Multinational corporation, multinational Conglomerate (company), conglomerate founded in 1892, incorporated in the New York (state), state of New York and headquartered in Boston. Over the year ...

General Mills General Mills, Inc. is an American multinational corporation, multinational manufacturer and marketer of branded ultra-processed consumer foods sold through retail stores. Founded on the banks of the Mississippi River at Saint Anthony Falls in ...

* Georgia Lottery *

Gillette Gillette is an American brand of safety razors and other personal care products including shaving supplies, owned by the multi-national corporation Procter & Gamble (P&G). Based in Boston, Massachusetts, United States, it was owned by The Gil ...

* Grey Goose * HA! TV Comedy Network * Häagen-Dazs *

Hanna-Barbera Hanna-Barbera Cartoons, Inc. ( ; formerly known as H-B Enterprises, Hanna-Barbera Productions, Inc. and H-B Production Co.), simply and commonly known as Hanna-Barbera, was an American animation studio and production company, which was acti ...

* Hannaford *

Hasbro Hasbro, Inc. (; a syllabic abbreviation of its original name, Hassenfeld Brothers) is an American multinational corporation, multinational toy manufacturing and entertainment holding company founded on December 6, 1923 by Henry, Hillel and Herma ...

href="http://totallyjem.jemmagic.com/jemhasbrolicensing.html" TotallyJem! * HealthCare.gov *

Healthy Choice Healthy Choice is the name of a brand of refrigerated and frozen foods owned by ConAgra Foods. ConAgra sells a broad array of dishes through its Healthy Choice brand, including frozen dinners, side dishes, cold cuts and other meats, canned soups, ...

The Hershey Company The Hershey Company, often called just Hershey or Hershey's, is an American multinational corporation, multinational confectionery company headquartered in Hershey, Pennsylvania, which is also home to Hersheypark and Hershey's Chocolate World. T ...

Holiday Inn Holiday Inn by IHG is a chain of hotels based in Atlanta, Georgia and a brand of IHG Hotels & Resorts. The chain was founded in 1952 by Kemmons Wilson (1913–2003), who opened the first location in Memphis, Tennessee. The chain was a division ...

Honeycomb A honeycomb is a mass of Triangular prismatic honeycomb#Hexagonal prismatic honeycomb, hexagonal prismatic cells built from beeswax by honey bees in their beehive, nests to contain their brood (eggs, larvae, and pupae) and stores of honey and pol ...

* HTC *

IBM International Business Machines Corporation (using the trademark IBM), nicknamed Big Blue, is an American Multinational corporation, multinational technology company headquartered in Armonk, New York, and present in over 175 countries. It is ...

* Jarritos *

JCPenney Penney OpCo LLC , Trade name, doing business as JCPenney (colloquially Penney's and abbreviated JCP) is an American department store chain store, chain with 649 stores across 49 U.S. states and Puerto Rico. It is managed as part of the Catalys ...

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* JEM * Ken's Foods *

Kodak The Eastman Kodak Company, referred to simply as Kodak (), is an American public company that produces various products related to its historic basis in film photography. The company is headquartered in Rochester, New York, and is incorporated i ...

Kohl's Kohl's Corporation (Kohl's is stylized in all caps) is an American department store retail chain store, chain. currently has 1,165 locations, operating stores in every U.S. state except Hawaii. The company was founded by Polish immigrant Maxwe ...

* Kotex * Krylon * Lifetime * Lucent * M&M's *

Maryland Lottery The Maryland Lottery and Gaming Control Agency (MLGCA) is an independent agency of the Maryland government. The MLGCA operates the Maryland Lottery and serves as regulator for Maryland's casino and sports wagering programs and a number of ancill ...

* Maxell * Milk-Bone *

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MSNBC MSNBC is an American cable news channel owned by the NBCUniversal News Group division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. Launched on July 15, 1996, and headquartered at 30 Rockefeller Plaza in Manhattan, the channel primarily broadcasts r ...

* Myers Rum Video Network *

* Nexium * Nextel Communications * NFL *

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* Nickelodeon Studios * Nike, Inc. *North Texas Municipal Water District * Ocean Spray * Pizza Hut * Polaroid *

Procter & Gamble The Procter & Gamble Company (P&G) is an American multinational consumer goods corporation headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio. It was founded in 1837 by William Procter and James Gamble. It specializes in a wide range of personal health/con ...

Ralph Lauren Corporation Ralph Lauren Corporation is an American publicly traded fashion and lifestyle brand founded in 1967 by Ralph Lauren in New York City. The company markets products in apparel, home, accessories, and fragrances, and is most known for its flagsh ...

* Revlon * Ribena * Rite Aid * The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company *Seagram's Escapes * Seton Healthcare Family *

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* Subway *

Toshiba is a Japanese multinational electronics company headquartered in Minato, Tokyo. Its diversified products and services include power, industrial and social infrastructure systems, elevators and escalators, electronic components, semiconductors ...

REGZA *

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* Visa Inc. * White Mountain Cooler * WCVB-TV * WTTG-TV * Zale Corporation * Ziploc

External links

References

American animation studios Mass media companies established in 1979 Privately held companies based in New York City 1979 establishments in New York City {{animation-studio-stub