The animation studio Los Angeles brands hire when the video has to sell, not premiere.
Los Angeles premiered the first American animated feature in 1937 and still sets the standard for the craft. Your customers watch that standard every night. As an animation studio Los Angeles companies brief remotely, we bring it to the videos that have to explain, sell and convert: 2D animation, motion graphics, 3D, anime and explainer video, scripted, voiced and scored in-house, with explainer video pricing published upfront.
Explainer pricing published in full. Everything else quoted within 24 hours. No Burbank rent in your quote. 1,000+ videos delivered, 10+ years in production.
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beautifully.
All animation. One studio.
beautifully.
All animation. One studio.
Our Work
Work from an animation studio Los Angeles teams can review frame by frame.
In a city where so much of your audience works in film, television or games, a reused stock character gets noticed in seconds. Every frame from this animation studio Los Angeles marketers brief is drawn, designed and animated for that one client. No stock assets, no recycled characters, no template packs that turn up in another brand's video. For city-specific detail, see our 2D animation services in Los Angeles guide and our page on explainer video production for Los Angeles startups.
Bitzer AG, industrial corporate explainer
Enter Tech, educational series
Bee-Bot, character animation series
Industries We Serve
Los Angeles makes more than movies
Entertainment, streaming and games marketing
The feature and television studios that make the content sit in Burbank, Glendale and Culver City. The marketing around that content is a separate brief with a separate budget: key art brought to life, title sequences, social cut-downs, launch trailers and patch-note explainers for live games. Riot Games, founded in Santa Monica in 2006 and headquartered in West Los Angeles, is one example of a games publisher that grew up here.
This is the hardest audience any animation studio Los Angeles entertainment marketers hire will face, because the viewers work in the same craft. They notice a lazy in-between or a character drifting off model. We cast the format to the property: hand-drawn 2D or motion graphics for trailers and title work, and our anime for Los Angeles game and streaming brands when the audience grew up on Japanese animation.
Ports, trade and logistics
The Port of Los Angeles is the busiest port in the United States by container volume. It sits in San Pedro Bay, in the San Pedro and Wilmington neighbourhoods, about 20 miles south of downtown, and together with the neighbouring Port of Long Beach it forms the 10th-busiest port complex in the world.
Logistics briefs reaching an animation studio Los Angeles shippers use are almost always about movement through a system nobody can film in one shot: a container moving from vessel to rail, or a customs declaration clearing. Animation compresses a week of movement into fifteen seconds and shows the whole network at once. We build these in 3D animation when the equipment matters and in motion graphics when the data does.
Aerospace, space and defence technology
El Segundo is home to Los Angeles Air Force Base, headquarters of the US Space Force's Space Systems Command, which runs research, development and acquisition of military space systems.
The brief here is translation. A satellite constellation, a launch sequence or a ground station architecture has to make sense to an investor, a recruit or a non-technical buyer in under two minutes. Briefs sent to an animation studio Los Angeles aerospace teams commission also come with an extra reader: the client's own legal and export-control reviewers. We set every script up for that review from the first draft.
Fashion, beauty and DTC consumer brands
The Fashion District is a 107-block district in downtown Los Angeles with more than 4,000 independently owned retail and wholesale businesses.
Consumer briefs move fast and live on paid social. One launch usually needs a hero film plus six, fifteen and thirty second cuts in vertical and square, an ingredient or fabric explainer that does not sound like a lab report, and sometimes a mascot that can carry a whole campaign. An animation studio Los Angeles consumer brands hire has to keep the look consistent across every one of those cuts. Character-led work runs through our 2D animation services in Los Angeles; product-led work usually runs through motion graphics or 3D.
What We Produce
Five formats, one Los Angeles animation partner
2D animation
Custom characters, environments and fluid motion, for audiences who know what good character animation looks like. It carries a story and a product at once, which is why it is the format an animation studio Los Angeles consumer and entertainment clients ask for first. See our 2D animation studio, or the Los Angeles 2D animation guide.
Most requestedMotion graphics
Animated icons, kinetic typography, charts, title cards and interface walkthroughs. The right choice for freight data, satellite orbits, app features and launch countdowns, and for any subject where clarity beats character. More on our motion graphics services.
Best for dataExplainer video
A complete 60 to 90 second piece built to make a product understood in one viewing. Script, voiceover, animation and sound design included, with the price published rather than quoted; see explainer video pricing for both plans. An explainer takes 3 to 4 weeks from approved brief to final file. Read about our explainer video production process, or the Los Angeles explainer page for SaaS and fintech teams.
Published pricingAnime animation
Genuine Japanese anime visual language, drawn frame by frame: dramatic composition, expressive characters, cinematic camera work. It is what games publishers and streaming marketers ask an animation studio Los Angeles side for when the audience will spot a filter instantly. Quoted per finished minute on the brief. See our anime animation studio and the Los Angeles anime page.
Specialist work3D animation
Product visualisation, technical assemblies and photorealistic rendering. This is the format aerospace teams, terminal technology firms and beauty brands ask an animation studio Los Angeles side for most, because it shows the inside of things a camera cannot reach. A separate production pipeline, so it is always quoted individually and scheduled per project. See 3D animation.
Custom quoteWhy Magic Motion Studio
Why brands pick a remote Los Angeles animation studio partner
Explainer pricing published, no quote wall
Both explainer plans and every inclusion are listed on the explainer pricing page. Everything else is quoted on the brief within 24 hours, so you know whether we are in range before a call.
Commercial animation is the whole job
Your project should not fill the gap between two bigger entertainment contracts. As an animation studio Los Angeles brands book for commercial work only, we never bump your video for a show.
A specialist team, not one generalist
A strategist writes the script, an art director sets the visual language, animators handle the motion and a sound designer mixes original audio. Four disciplines, four specialists.
No Los Angeles rent in your quote
We have no office in Los Angeles, and we say so on the page. A studio paying for space in Burbank, Culver City or Santa Monica has to carry that cost somewhere, and it is usually inside your number. As an animation studio Los Angeles clients reach remotely, we put that money into the frames instead.
You own everything on delivery
Full ownership transfers on final payment, with no licensing or renewal fees and no limit on where it runs. Editable source files are included on the Pro explainer plan.
Reviews that fit a Pacific time day
Every stage is shared as a review link with written feedback rounds, so your team reviews when it suits Los Angeles hours rather than ours. Nobody has to cross the 405 for a meeting about a storyboard.
From brief to broadcast-ready in 5 steps.
Every project follows a structured five-phase workflow developed over 10+ years of production. Each phase has defined deliverables and a client approval gate, so you are never left waiting or guessing. It is also why working with an animation studio Los Angeles teams never meet in person feels no different from working with one on the next block.
Strategy and Script
We define the messaging first: your audience, the one message that drives action, the tone, and the call to action. Then we write the full production script. A weak script produces a weak video regardless of animation quality.
Art Direction and Storyboard
Our art director sets the visual style guide, then produces a full storyboard showing every scene, camera angle and transition. You approve the visual story before any animation begins, which removes expensive revisions later.
Voiceover Recording
Runs in parallel with art direction, not after it. You choose from three to five professional voice samples matched to your brief. Recorded in a treated studio and delivered as a broadcast-quality WAV that becomes the timing track.
Animation Production
Every scene built from scratch, frame by frame or rigged depending on the style. Lip sync on every speaking character and motion curves adjusted by hand. A senior animator checks each scene against the storyboard.
Sound Design and Final Delivery
Licensed music, sound effects timed to motion, and mastering to broadcast loudness. You receive four cuts on the same day: 16:9 MP4, 16:9 MOV, 1:1 square and 9:16 vertical. Full commercial rights transfer on payment.
Pricing
What animation in Los Angeles actually costs
Most studios will not give you a number without a discovery call. Asking an animation studio Los Angeles side what a video costs should not require a meeting. Explainer video pricing is published in full, both plans, factor by factor, so you can budget before you speak to anyone. 2D character work, motion graphics, 3D and anime are quoted on the brief within 24 hours.
| Option | What is included |
|---|---|
| Explainer, Standard | One complete 60 second animated explainer. Script, storyboard, custom animation, professional voiceover, sound design and revisions, all included. |
| Explainer, Pro | Everything in Standard, plus 60 to 90 second runtime, five revision rounds, social resizes, cutdowns, animated GIFs, still images and source files. |
| 2D, motion graphics and anime | Quoted on the brief within 24 hours. Anime is quoted per finished minute. The schedule comes with the quote. |
| 3D animation | Quoted per project because 3D runs on a separate rendering pipeline with different cost drivers. |
Nothing is added later. No licensing fees, no renewal fees, no charge for the files you already paid to have made. The full factor by factor breakdown is on our explainer video pricing page.
See explainer pricingHave a brief already? Get it scoped.
Send it to the animation studio Los Angeles teams brief remotely and get a fixed price and a schedule, usually within 24 hours.
Buyer's Guide
How to choose an animation studio in Los Angeles, including us
Search for an animation studio Los Angeles wide and you will find three very different kinds of business on the same results page.
Feature and TV studios
The names in the map pack, in Burbank, Glendale and Culver City. Built for series and films, with schedules to match. Brand briefs are not their focus.
Commercial boutiques
Design-led shops serving agencies and national campaigns. Excellent work, priced for it, and rarely willing to state a number before a call.
Remote production studios
Teams like ours, producing for Los Angeles without an office there. Feature-level craft on a brand budget, with explainer prices you can check first.
Whichever kind you shortlist, ask every candidate for the same six things before you sign. Compare the answers, not the showreels.
- Two or three examples from your own industry, not the general reel.
- A fixed-price proposal in writing, with every inclusion listed.
- A written schedule, stage by stage.
- Revision rounds per stage, and what counts as a change order.
- Ownership of the final video and the source files, stated in the contract.
- Who is assigned: the names and roles doing the work.
For explainer briefs, our Los Angeles explainer video buyer's guide goes deeper.
Will you show me the price before a call?
An animation studio Los Angeles buyers approach that will not state a range until it has qualified your budget is pricing you, not the project.
Red flag
"Contact us for a quote", a wait, a discovery call, then a number that was never in your range.
Where we stand
Both explainer plans published in full. Every other format quoted on the brief within 24 hours.
Who owns the files when it is finished?
Ask directly, and ask specifically whether editable source files are included. Plenty of studios retain the project files and charge an export fee later if you want the video changed.
Red flag
Ownership is not mentioned in the proposal, or source files appear as an upsell.
Where we stand
Full ownership on delivery. No licensing or renewal fees. Source files on the Pro plan.
Is voiceover and sound design inside the price?
This is where cheap quotes hide. Professional voiceover casting, direction and recording, plus sound design and a music mix, often appear later as separate line items. A quote without them is not a cheaper video, it is an incomplete one.
Red flag
Audio listed as "optional" or "client supplied" anywhere in the scope.
Where we stand
Included at both plan levels. Script, voiceover, sound design and music.
How many revision rounds, and what happens after?
Unlimited revisions is either untrue or priced in somewhere you cannot see. A fixed number of rounds at each stage, with a stated rate beyond them, is the honest structure.
Red flag
"Unlimited revisions" with no definition anywhere of what counts as one.
Where we stand
Fixed rounds at every stage. Scope changes are flagged before they are billed, never after.
Have you worked in my sector before?
This matters in Los Angeles because the sectors are so far apart. A games publisher, a port software company, an aerospace start-up and a skincare brand each carry their own vocabulary, audience expectations and review process. An animation studio Los Angeles side learning your sector on your budget will take longer and get it wrong more often. Ask to see two projects from your own industry, not the general reel.
Red flag
Every example shown is from a different industry to yours.
Where we stand
1,000+ videos delivered across entertainment, logistics, technology, consumer brands and more.
Can I see the script and storyboard before animation?
Any animation studio Los Angeles companies hire that animates before you approve a storyboard is setting up an expensive argument. Approval gates protect you far more than they protect the studio, because they are the only point in the process where changes are still cheap.
Red flag
The first thing you are shown is a near-finished animation.
Where we stand
Script, then storyboard and style frames, both approved before a single frame is animated.
Los Angeles Animation Heritage
A century of American animation, made in Los Angeles
1923
Disney Brothers Cartoon Studio founded, working from a garage in Los Feliz
1937
Snow White premieres at the Carthay Circle Theatre, the first cel animated feature film
1960
The Flintstones, the first animated series in prime time, from a Los Angeles studio
Animation history made in Los Angeles
Six milestones that explain why an animation studio Los Angeles buyers hire is held to a higher bar.
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs
Disney, 1937
Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck
Warner Bros., Termite Terrace era
The Flintstones
Hanna-Barbera, 1960
CalArts and classroom A113
Incorporated 1961
The Animation Guild
IATSE Local 839, since 1952
The Annie Awards
ASIFA-Hollywood, since 1972
On 16 October 1923, Walt and Roy Disney founded the Disney Brothers Cartoon Studio in Los Angeles, working at first out of a garage on Kingswell Avenue in Los Feliz. In 1940 the studio, today Walt Disney Animation Studios, moved to a purpose-built lot on Buena Vista Street in Burbank. Between those dates, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs premiered at the Carthay Circle Theatre on 21 December 1937, the first animated feature film produced in the United States and the first cel animated feature film.
In the 1930s, a small building on the Warner Bros. Sunset lot in Hollywood, nicknamed Termite Terrace, housed Tex Avery's unit with Bob Clampett and Chuck Jones, and the creators of that era introduced Daffy Duck, Elmer Fudd, Bugs Bunny and Tweety. In 1957 William Hanna and Joseph Barbera founded Hanna-Barbera in Los Angeles, and The Flintstones premiered on ABC in 1960 as the first animated series airing in prime time.
The craft also trains here. CalArts was incorporated in 1961, with Walt and Roy O. Disney among its founders, and its character animation programme was founded in classroom A113. The Animation Guild, now headquartered in Burbank, has represented animation workers since 1952, and ASIFA-Hollywood has presented the Annie Awards since 1972. California's Film and Television Tax Credit now covers animated features for the first time in the programme's history, and the Governor's office announced the first animated awards in April 2026.
LA audiences grew up on feature animation. That is the bar your brand video is judged against, whether you are a port software company or a skincare launch.
Areas We Serve
An animation studio Los Angeles wide, and across Southern California
Los Angeles neighbourhoods
Greater Los Angeles and Southern California
Common Questions
Hiring an animation studio in Los Angeles, answered
Still have a question after this? Email info@magicmotionstudio.com and we reply within 24 hours.
Explainer video pricing is published in full on our explainer video pricing page, both plans, factor by factor, so you can budget without a call. Every other format, 2D, motion graphics, 3D and anime, is quoted on the brief within 24 hours.
A studio with a lot in Burbank or an office in Culver City carries that rent in every number it sends. An animation studio Los Angeles brands hire remotely does not, so more of the budget ends up on screen.
No, and we will not pretend otherwise. Animation is made, reviewed and delivered on screens, so a Los Angeles address adds rent to your quote without adding anything to the video. As an animation studio Los Angeles brands work with remotely, we produce every format on the same terms as a local studio.
Because most of the famous animation studios in Los Angeles are built for series and films, and brand work is not their focus. The pull toward entertainment is getting stronger: California's Film and Television Tax Credit was expanded to include animated features for the first time in its history, and the Governor's office announced the first animated awards in April 2026. That gives senior animation talent in the region more feature work to choose from.
A product launch, a port software demo or a satellite explainer needs an animation studio Los Angeles marketers can book for commercial work alone, not one filling a gap between seasons.
Four sectors shape most of the briefs an animation studio Los Angeles side receives: entertainment, streaming and games marketing; ports, trade and logistics around San Pedro, Wilmington and Long Beach; aerospace and space technology in El Segundo and the South Bay; and fashion, beauty and direct-to-consumer brands. Each briefs very differently. SaaS and fintech explainer work is covered on our Los Angeles explainer video production page.
Yes. We run a dedicated anime pipeline with genuine hand-drawn production, not a filter applied to vector artwork, and it is quoted per finished minute on the brief. It suits LA games and streaming audiences raised on Japanese animation. The full detail is on our anime for Los Angeles game and streaming brands page.
We write expecting one. Every aerospace or defence script is set up for the client's own legal and export-control reviewers: diagrams stay at the level of detail the client has already approved for public release, and anything that reads like a performance claim is flagged while it is still words on a page, when changing it costs nothing.
Your reviewers make the decisions. We do not offer compliance advice; we hand them a clean, clearly marked script so their review is quick.
Discovery and script come first, then storyboard and style frames, then animation with voiceover and sound design, then revisions and delivery. Clients of this animation studio Los Angeles side approve each stage before the next begins, which is how the price stays fixed. An explainer video takes 3 to 4 weeks from approved brief to final file. 2D character work, motion graphics, 3D and anime are scheduled per project, and the schedule comes with your quote.
You own the video in full on delivery. No licensing fees, no annual renewal, no restriction on running it as a paid ad or in any territory. Editable source files are included on the Pro explainer plan.
Pricing does not change by location. Santa Monica, Downtown, Pasadena, Long Beach or Sherman Oaks, anywhere in LA County or Southern California, the work costs the same. This animation studio Los Angeles clients brief from the Westside or the Valley charges every one of them identically.
Free quote, no obligation
Book a Los Angeles animation studio call without the LA overhead
If you are weighing a studio with a Burbank or Culver City address against a remote team, send us the brief first. This animation studio Los Angeles brands brief from Hollywood to Long Beach comes back within 24 hours with a scope, a schedule and a fixed price. If we are not the right fit for your project, we will tell you that instead.