We’ve come to know Sara Esteban and Martí Montañola for their brilliant stop motion animation – the details, the depth, and the profound creativity that make each of their imagined worlds feel so alive. But before they came into our orbit, Sara and Martí were studying animation in Barcelona, where they met as students and laid the foundation for what would eventually become their own animation studio, Crankub, aptly named after their first short film.
Since joining the Tongal community in 2018, they’ve made stop motion magic for SYFY, Starbucks, Heineken, and more. They were also one of eight studios that worked with Universal Pictures to recreate iconic scenes from Back to the Future, in celebration of the film’s 35th anniversary. We caught up with Sara and Martí to find out how they navigated building their own studio, what advice they’d give to animators just starting out, and what’s next for Crankub Animation Studio – no doubt, we’ll be tuning in!
Meet Sara Esteban and Martí Montañola
What drew you to stop motion in the first place?
We both like to draw, build things, make sculptures and sets, and of course we love animation. Stop motion brings all those things together, so it was the perfect technique for us.
When you find an opportunity that excites you, how do you approach the pitch process?
We start by brainstorming to find an idea that works for the project. Then we look for references of styles that we like, and finally we make sketches or some quick storyboard of the idea. We like to see the ideas drawn to see if they will work or not. From there it's easier for us to continue developing the idea and start making a treatment for the pitch.
What is your favorite project you've worked on?
Our favorite project was a short film about a witch making a potion that we made for Halloween. We had recently done the studio and we took time to work exclusively on that short. We tested ourselves because we did it in a very short time – about a month and a half – but the result was quite good, so that motivated us a lot to keep going on and thinking about new projects.
Crankub Halloween Story!
What are some challenges you had to navigate while building your own studio?
Stop motion is a technique that requires many materials (cameras, lighting equipment, construction material for puppets and backgrounds) and you have to know a little about everything – not only animation, but also lighting, photography, sound, etc. We came from an animation school where we had at our disposal all the materials and a whole team of teachers and classmates who could help and advise us at any time. So at the beginning, we had to do everything ourselves and try to get the best result with the things we had. It was also difficult for us to start to find commissions or people who were willing to pay for our animations. In that aspect Tongal was a great help!
What's your advice for animators just starting out?
Animate a lot with what you have and share your work on the internet. It is also important to have a good reel to send to the studios if you want to be an animator.
What's next for Crankub Animation Studio?
We always like to have personal projects on the way. We have a short film in an early stage of pre-production and we want to make animations for Halloween and Christmas again.
'Alien in the Barn' for Universal Pictures (celebrating 35 years of Back to the Future)
What is your favorite movie?
We like a lot of movies, and neither of us has a favorite one, but we love Pixar, Laika and Aardman movies.
Which animators do you look up to?
Masters like Glen Keane, Peter Lord, Richard Williams ... but there is also a huge community of amazing animators that we follow on social media. The list is endless!
What tool or equipment could you not live without?
The camera.
What is your dream project?
Making a feature film would be awesome!
