While the madcap adventures of loveable blue heeler Bluey has turned the Queensland cartoon character into a global superstar, another home-grown animation powerhouse is also taking Hollywood by storm.
"Creative hurricanes" Kristen Souvlis and Nadine Bates have built the only female-led and owned animation studio in the country, with every frame carefully crafted in Brisbane.
They are rubbing shoulders with the likes of Disney, Sesame Street and Universal Studios, and have graced the cover of the US-based trade bible, Screen Magazine.
Screen Queensland affectionately calls the duo "Brisbane's DreamWorks" after helping guide the former children's television producers to international success.
Beavering away in a humble inner-city studio, Like a Photon Creative (LAPC) has produced $52 million worth of films in the past eight years.
Chances are your kids have watched some of them, such as fantasy story Scary Girl — starring Sam Neill and The Newsreader's Anna Torv — either in cinemas or via streaming services.
Or they may have followed the Tales From Sanctuary City franchise, with the likes of Australian star David Wenham morphing into an evil tech genius while Logie winner Debra Mailman helps turn a wombat into a superhero.
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Now, the duo's latest creation — The Sloth Lane — is about to hit cinemas Australia-wide before rolling out in another 40 countries.
It premiered at "the pre-Oscars of animation", the prestigious Annecy Film Festival in France, in June — a great honour since, each year, some selections go on to compete for an Oscar.
LAPC's Aussie families of animated animals, from rebellious possums to adorable quokkas, have already amassed millions of fans worldwide.
In Poland, their first movie, The Wishmas Tree, hit number two at the box office during the COVID pandemic.
But despite their cinematic success, the women at helm of the bumper line-up seem to fly under the radar in their hometown.
From kids' TV to global success
Ms Souvlis and Ms Bates forged their path after working on Channel Ten's now-axed program Totally Wild, producing and writing with big dreams to pioneer a new wave of children's television.
They pitched a show about two lovable balloon donkeys with superhero ambitions to Disney Australia.
The media conglomerate loved Balloon Barnyard and commissioned a 26-episode series that aired in 2017.
"We looked at each other and said, 'What to we do now?' and the man from Disney said, 'Well, we give you a big bag of money and you make us a series'," Ms Bates said through laughter.
"It was life-changing. If somebody asks about the one moment in your life where you go 'this will never be the same again', it was that day."
Not long after, the company was selected to be one of only 16 around the world to pitch for Sesame Street.
It led to another win, with the duo rubbing shoulders with Elmo and Cookie Monster.
"We were the first female producer and writer team to work with Sesame Street USA and the first company in Australia to work with their letters and numbers segments," Ms Souvlis said.
"That was such a huge deal to get so early on and I don't think we quite reflected on that at the time.
"We were just two people pitching our hearts out and demonstrating how passionate we were about the industry and creating good stuff on-screen for kids.
"That has always been our driving force really, moulding young minds and putting kindness, empathy and tolerance out to the world through our content."
Tough ride to the top
Next came a $5 million capital raising, but this is no fairytale story.
Ms Souvlis said "it is really tough" to find success in film, with only 3 per cent of women in the industry receiving capital globally.
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"It is a sobering statistic and it should not be the case," she said.
"If you have that power imbalance at the top — where it is generally white cis-gendered men making decisions, because that is how our society has been structured for a very long time — it is really hard to get people to take a chance on something they don't quite identify with.
"We did have some amazing supporters in the 'angel' space [offering financial backing] when we were starting out, and we continue to have that.
"However, I have a dent in the brick wall outside my house from the amount of times I have banged my head against it and just said, 'Why, why are we doing this to ourselves, our families?'
"It has been really tricky to secure anything, from meetings to casts to money to everything you can think of, everything is 87-cents-in-the-dollar harder."
However Ms Bates, who is a former teacher, said the company was now experiencing a "pinch me moment" where their hard work was finally paying off.
"I'm the first to acknowledge the incredible luck we've had and we have been championed by so many incredible people, particularly women in our industry," she said.
"But it has been it has been a hard slog.
"We had to be at every market — the American Film Market, Kidscreen — turn up to hold court, and we really had to captivate people because we knew that we had a tiny little amount of time to make people remember us.
"Out of sight is out of mind in our industry, so we would make those moments count, and thankfully they did."
Bluey paved the way
The producers also credit some of their success to Australia's favourite family, The Heelers — and their madcap adventures — for paving the way for a new wave of down under animators.
"Bluey has done incredible things for the Queensland industry and really engendered that trust with content that is coming from Brisbane," Ms Souvlis said.
"We are starting to see a similar uptick in people trusting our stories and coming to us in the feature film space."
The duo's also been humbled by Screen Queensland's unfaltering support, with Ms Souvlis calling them a "huge supporter" who "saw that tenacity and grit in us early on and were a massive part of our success".
It was Screen Queensland chief creative officer Belinda Burns who gave them the nickname "Brisbane's DreamWorks", putting a local spin on the Hollywood animation giant behind Shrek and Kung Fu Panda.
"They are an amazing success story, two dynamic female producers who have become a powerhouse," Dr Burns said.
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Their work balances fun fables about courage, empathy and hope, with the odd bit of toilet humour that encourages young viewers to laugh out loud.
Beyond that, Dr Burns said the "savvy" businesswomen are "really good at pitching projects all around the world to international buyers".
"They are very well connected and that is what it takes to get those projects up and running — they are unstoppable," she said.
"It's proof that, while you need to know people in LA and probably have to travel [there], you don't have to live in LA to make it. You can make it right here from Queensland."
Nickelodeon veteran Cyma Zarghami, who founded her own studio in the US, knows all about the hard yards women in the industry need to put in.
"The travel, time zones, financial conversions and just plain proximity make what LAPC have accomplished, very impressive," she said of the "creative hurricanes".
"The work they are able to deliver is exceptional. They completely understand the value of good storytelling and the economies that are created by working as efficiently as they do."
Giving back to next generation
The team employ over 80 people per feature film and have 15 full-time staff.
Among them is emerging animator, 22-year-old Anna Kubat, who is bursting with pride.
"It is something I have always dreamed of since I was a little kid, to see my name on the big screen in the credits — even as an assistant, it is amazing," she said.
"I had always presumed Hollywood is the ultimate success story, that is where you need to be, that is where it is happening. But really, it is all happening on our doorstep here in Queensland, especially In Brisbane.
"There is an amazing the level of talent here and it is much nicer than going all the way to Hollywood."
The production house is paying it forward by taking on Queensland animation graduates and offering internships, just like Bluey's creators at Ludo Studio.
Ms Bates, who sits on several industry advisory panels and is a regular judge for the Emmy awards, has a 10-year vision.
"I would like to think that we are still mentoring other incredible creators coming up through Brisbane."
"I would like to think that we have created a sustainable business model in the sense that not only are we financing and creating our own shows, but perhaps we have several offshoots where we are doing so for other emerging creatives.
"Potentially also having our own distribution arm — who's to say, maybe world domination?" she adds, laughing.
Ms Souvlis, who was a co-recipient of QUT's Outstanding Entrepreneurial Alumni last year, said it was still easy "to get impostor syndrome" in this industry.
"So to be called something like the DreamWorks or Pixar of Brisbane is such a testament to our ability to tell beautiful global stories, is really heartwarming," she said.
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