Dozens of Tongal artists around the world united to help develop, animate, and market the groundbreaking movie, which was directed by Oscar-winner Morgan Neville. It's the first time a theatrical film has been made in collaboration with a creator platform.
We're incredibly proud of our entire creator community, who continue to redefine expectations of what's possible when talent meets opportunity. Here's a rundown of what six of the many Tongal creatives who worked on the film contributed to this pioneering project.
In March 2020, Tongal was approached to help bring Pharrell's vision for Piece by Piece, a LEGO-animated biopic, to life.
Maggie Condol and Jeff Capili, a husband and wife team called CC Pixels, were the first of many Tongal Creators to collaborate on the groundbreaking project — producing the two-and-a-half minute proof of concept which was greenlit by Universal Pictures.
Tongal then went into feature film development with partners Focus Features, the LEGO Group, Neville’s company Tremolo Productions, Pharrell's creative collective i am OTHER, and Pure Imagination Studios.
Self-taught animators CC Pixels have been working on Tongal to produce content for more than a decade, including many successful collaborations with LEGO.
“We had a lot of fun turning their vision into LEGO," says Jeff. "We’re thrilled to have been part of the early stages of Piece by Piece and are incredibly grateful to Tongal for the opportunity.”
One of our creators, Amir Qurbani, was featured in TIME Magazine on the eve of the film's release, highlighting his inspiring story and role in this first-of-its-kind collaboration.
Amir was born a refugee, and left school at nine years old when his family fled Iran for Indonesia as they escaped discrimination and sought a safer life.
Inspired by his love of LEGO, he taught himself animation online, and is now using those talents find work on the Tongal platform — including contributing 400 character designs to Piece by Piece. He also designed the Louis Vuitton-inspired camouflage suit that Pharrell's minifigure wears in the movie's official poster.
“I am now hopeful that my skills and creativity can help me build a better life for me and my family,” Amir, 19, says.
Fresh from studying architecture at college, Nicolas Carlier joined Tongal in February to pitch his take for a new animated LEGO logo.
Just eight months later, his creation is screening in theaters around the world before Piece by Piece.
Not only that, but his work was so admired by all partners on the movie that he was also hired to design the film's main logo, render the movie poster, and build LEGO versions of logos for Focus Features, Tremolo Productions, i am Other, and Universal Pictures.
Nicolas says, "Combining my long-standing passion and building experience with LEGO, along with my professional background in 3D visualization, I had so much fun working on this amazing animated movie. I am proud to be part of it. A big thank you to the Tongal team for this incredible opportunity!"
When he pitched for his first Tongal project from his bedroom in Warsaw, Poland, in 2021, Kamil Janko was a student with a passion for LEGO and a raw talent for computer animation.
Now, just three years later, his newly-minted animation studio MegaSpaceFighter Productions enjoys pride of place in the Piece by Piece credits.
Kamil designed many of the sets which appear in the movie — from Pharrell's high school to his beach house, and even six whole blocks of New York City — bringing the superstar's world to life in LEGO animation.
"We were responsible for recreating many iconic locations in Pharrell's life in LEGO," Kamil, 28, says.
“Before I discovered Tongal, I was a student making stop-motion LEGO films for YouTube as a hobby. Tongal gave me my first paid job and now — three years later — I have my own animation business.”
Susan Bin produced the concept art for the background and set designs in the film as we began to bring Pharrell's world to life on screen.
"I am so glad to have been a part of this film," says Susan. "I can't wait for the world to see a movie that believes in happiness and to share my work from it! Thank you to Tongal and the entire team."
Paco Navarro and his team at Exodo Animation Studios animated the main title of the film based on fellow Tongaler Nicolas’ designs, and optimized the sets designed by other Tongal creators.
Tongal's work continued long after the film wrapped. Paco and his team created around 30 seconds of original animation for the music video for Piece by Piece, Pharrell’s original song that accompanies the movie. Tongal oversaw the creative direction for the pop promo, which cuts footage from the film with bespoke, original performance sequences animated by Exodo.
Tongal creators also worked on various innovative marketing assets to promote the film, including this minifigure generator.
These are just six of the dozens of Tongal Creators who worked on the film. A further 160k talented filmmakers and artists around the world are also part of our network, and have contributed their talent and passion to our creative revolution.
Our creators are building the future, Piece by Piece.
Animators are working with the world's biggest brands on Tongal
