Albuquerque-based animation shop Bandelier EFX might have been a Madison Avenue ad agency had it not been for World War II. Instead, it’s one of the oldest animation and effects houses in the country, according to owner/president Allan Stevens
The shop was founded in ’53 by Robert Stevens, Allan’s father, who began his career in the New York ad scene at N.W. Ayer & Partners, among other agencies. But when the U.S. entered WWII, he enlisted in the Air Force and soon found himself stationed in New Mexico.
As unlikely as it might have seemed, Albuquerque turned out to be a good roost, according to the younger Stevens, who took over the family business when his father retired in ’74 (Robert Stevens has since died). "During the war and after he got out, [my father] had an agency here in Albuquerque," he says. But as it happened, television came along and with it a need for TV and commercial production. "In the early days of black and white and television’s inception, Albuquerque was one of the first markets in broadcasting," claims Stevens. His father saw an opportunity and formed Bandelier Films.
Flash forward to ’99. Bandelier Films is now Bandelier EFX-"We changed the name to be a little more contemporary," says Stevens-and inside the 12,000-square-foot studio, he added, four computer stations run "pretty much non-stop." The 10-person staff (which can swell to 25 depending on freelance support) produces a variety of animation styles-2- and 3-D, cel animation, rotoscope, combination animation/live action, stop motion and CGI-for a variety of national and regional clients including AT&T, Vlasic Pickles, Milky Way, McDonald’s, Sprint, Maverik Stores, Texaco, Kodak, Santa Barbara Bank & Trust and Budweiser.
"I think our forte has been regional, but a lot of the national shops have looked at us because we probably cost a third to a half less [than] our competition in New York and Los Angeles," says Stevens. More often, Bandelier will animate spots for both regional and national clients in out-of-state areas. For example, Bandelier is currently at work on two :30s-"Taking Care of My Baby" and "Los Padres"-for Mobil via Zubi Advertising, Coral Gables, Fla., which handles the petroleum giant’s Hispanic advertising.
In the past year, Bandelier’s work has included Budweiser’s "Hispanic Scholarship Fund," a :15 via Lopita, Ileona, Howie, San Juan, Puerto Rico; "Golf Balls After Dark," a client-direct :30 for Putt-Putt Golf Courses of America out of Fayetteville, N.C., J.C. Penney’s "After Christmas Sale," a :30 for Cartel Creativo, San Antonio; and "First Thanksgiving," a :30 for Vlasic Pickles and J.Brown/ LMC Group, Stamford, Conn. And in addition to the aforementioned Mobil assignment, last month Bandelier began work on a Mazalt/Programa :60 for San Juan-based Paradiso Films.
Stevens does most of the directing himself, but will occasionally bring in an outside director for certain live-action sequences. "If it involves some specialty," he says, "like humor or tabletop or something that would require a little more sophistication, we sometimes bring in [an outside] director, but that’s unusual."
The Outsiders
One such outsider Stevens regularly relies on for live-action/animation jobs is freelance director Dan FitzGerald, a veteran of the New York, Los Angeles and Chicago production/effects world who relocated to Santa Fe a few years ago. In addition to working for Bandelier, FitzGerald served as CGI designer and production illustrator on the IMAX films Everest and Dolphins (set for release next year), which are produced by MacGillivray Freeman Films, Los Angeles. Prior to settling in Santa Fe, FitzGerald was an executive producer and effects supervisor at a variety of production shops, including The Lacy Company, Los Angeles.
"The thing that’s nice," says FitzGerald, "is that unlike New York and Los Angeles [where] the concepts are generally cast in stone, the ideas that come to New Mexico, in many cases are not refined. There might be a concept. We’re given the ability to then develop the concept, the storyboards, and design and fashion the commercial from beginning to end. From a creative point of view, that’s much more satisfying."
Also satisfying are the more than 100 industry awards the shop has garnered over the years, including numerous ADDYs, a New York Art Directors’ Club Award, and a USA International "Golden Eagle." The company has also picked up three Clio honors-two were awarded for a pair of Dayton-Hudson department store spots via Grey North, Minneapolis; a third was awarded for a State of Alabama spot out of Luckie & Forney (now Luckie & Company), Birmingham, Ala. The shop was also nominated for a Daytime Emmy for its animation of Harry the Fat Bear Spy, a half-hour special narrated by Bob Keeshan, a.k.a Captain Kangaroo.
In looking to the future of his company, Stevens says his focus is on consolidation. In the past, he often traveled to Hollywood, where he maintains a small office and employs technical facilities such as Editel/LA and Encore, Hollywood and Santa Monica, for post work. But now, he says, the commute is becoming a thing of the past. "What’s happening, at least in our end of the industry," he says, "is that you can do a lot more in-house when it comes to posting, because of the programs and the hardware that are available. It used to be that we were in Santa Monica all the time, and now we’re finding that a lot of that work can be done in-house on the computer."
