Blue Zoo Urges the Animation and VFX Industry to Join the B Corp Movement

Above: Still from RSPB 'We Campaign Because They Can't'

This B Corp Month, LBB’s Zara Naseer heard from the first major animation studio in the world to receive the certification: Blue Zoo.

Blue Zoo Animation Studio secured B Corp status back in 2021. Since then, it’s been vocal about being a force for good – and backing it up with evidence. Blue Zoo supports diversity and inclusion programmes by working with ACCESS:VFX and ScreenSkills, and has even launched its own Young Animator of the Year competition to champion new talent from all backgrounds. It’s released an AI manifesto outlining how it plans to use new technology fairly. It’s migrated all supplies of the electricity powering its computers to renewable energy contracts and providers. And to top it off, its animation output has focused on joyful and inclusive stories designed to have a positive impact on viewers’ lives, with 21% being educational.

But there’s plenty more. Below, co-founder Tom Box dives into how becoming a B Corp has put the studio’s profit-for-purpose ideology on steroids and why that’s beneficial for business, how it grapples with rapid developments in the global climate, and most importantly, why others in the animation and VFX industry must join in the movement.

Above: Tom Box, co-founder of Blue Zoo

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LBB> You were the first major animation studio in the world to receive B Corporation certification – what pushed you to go where others hadn’t?

Tom> The leading driver was wanting an easy way to communicate with job applicants what the existing ethos of our studio was, especially as all companies say they care, but words are cheap. But it actually transpired to be much more valuable than that; giving us a framework for constant self-improvement that is independently audited and benchmarked, transforming our studio culture to be a much more transparent, trusting environment.

LBB> Has that sense of purpose always been a part of Blue Zoo, or did it grow over time?

Tom> Our purpose has matured as we, as founders, have matured over the last 25 years. But as a creator-led studio, our purpose has always been to create content we're proud of, rather than seeing it as an opportunity purely to squeeze profit margins from. Now with B Corp, that profit-for-purpose ideology has been put on steroids and allowed us to easily find other like-minded suppliers and flagged up many issues to resolve that we hadn't even considered.

LBB> That certification came in 2021. Do you feel that your responsibilities as a B Corp have evolved since then? How have the challenges you’re up against changed?

Tom> In this political climate, voices are trying to quiet the marginalised, dismiss climate concerns and disown accountability. These are all things that B Corp strives to constantly measure and improve. People are always rightfully suspicious of corporate agendas but B Corp helps to chip away at the misconception that for-profit companies can only be self-serving, and when they work together, it helps change happen faster.

Additionally, in 2021 money was free and work was flowing – that means companies had extra resources to help with such initiatives. When times get tough, such initiatives are the first on the chopping block. Therefore, the accountability of being a B Corp is essential to ensuring initiatives and standards are not just maintained, but always iterated and improved on.

LBB> Blue Zoo declares that it’s actively involved in supporting diversity and inclusion – what does that look like (particularly right now, when the movement seems to be under attack)?

Tom> We’ve always been concerned that blunt quotas can have a negative impact, and those impacts are seemingly now being realised. So, as an alternative solution, our approach has been to share our studio demographic statistics regularly with our staff, so they are aware of the imbalances, and we can organically rebalance. We work at grassroots levels to ensure people from all backgrounds are getting an equal, unbiased opportunity, such as by running the Young Animator of the Year competition, and collaborating with ACCESS:VFX and ScreenSkills to ensure all stages of the talent pipeline are fair.

Ultimately, we have taken the long view, such as increasing diversity in terms of promotions, hiring/interview panels and a commitment to increasing diversity not by quotas but by intention. I appreciate this approach may not work in all companies, but we’ve found it’s worked well.

LBB> You recently published an AI manifesto, stating that you won’t delegate your creativity. How do you figure out the balance that’s right for you between exploring new technology and its thoughtful adoption, especially when there’s pressure to cut costs and not get left behind?

Tom> The main principle is helping people understand where the technology is at, the legal/ethical risks behind different tools and what makes great content. But it’s a very tricky balance when times are tough and bidding competition is tougher than ever. So our approach has been to educate ourselves on all of the tools available, so our decisions are educated, not manipulated via the marketing hype. It is also to work with our clients, so we both align on what makes good animated content – which is all about natural, human performances that have soul, something that AI struggles with, and our artists don’t.

At the same time, we try to separate the issues of AI training legality from technical progress. If we were to shun technology because of efficiency gains (which is the root purpose for all technology, and always leads to job role evolution), our CG studio would not exist in the first place.

LBB> What are the main aspects you’re wary of when it comes to AI? And on the flip side, what are you excited about?

Tom> I think it’s the misconception that you can type in a prompt and wait for a great animation to plop out the other side. If it’s that easy, all content suddenly has no value. Ironically, my other concern is the misconception that AI is rubbish, putting it into the same hype buckets as the metaverse or NFTs, that you can’t be creative by typing text in; directors brief and iterate by sending notes, are they not creatives?! There is an investor bubble, as there was with the dotcom bubble, but there was much bigger wave of change in that bubble’s wake and I don’t think this AI bubble will be any different; the danger is when people hope so much that that isn’t the case that they get into a narrow fixed mindset ignoring all nuance.

Those extreme, binary stances on AI are clouding judgment, and we’re trying to find an ethical middle ground between two polar opinions. One of the biggest problems we have is trying to realise our creative ambitions with the budgets we are given, and AI tools potentially allow us to do that, driven by highly creative artists still, exploring ideas we may not have had the time to before.

Above: Still from 'Sinking Feeling' for Papyrus UK

LBB> How have your ethics positively impacted your business – from both a client and employee perspective – and work output?

Tom> One of the biggest benefits of being a B Corp is being able to use the B Corp logo – it instantly conveys a message about our ethos, and clients, suppliers and new hires who don’t understand are always very enthusiastic about hearing how it works. Having transparent internal comms – through explaining our business model, including the lows and the highs – builds a trust that allows our staff to get on with making work they are proud of, rather than quiet-quitting out of resentment or misunderstanding. We hope that leads to higher levels of well-being, which impacts the work we create for our clients.

Also, from a client perspective, a focus on trust is critical, as work is awarded on the trust that you’ll do an amazing job, assisting the client to do their job well.

LBB> Why is public transparency around ethics so important to Blue Zoo?

Tom>  It’s partly about leading by example – a fish rots from the head. If we’re transparent publicly, that helps build trust with our clients, current employees and future employees and helps to cultivate a culture of sharing, rather than everyone working in uncollaborative silos, which hopefully leads to better creative outcomes. It also helps other companies understand what we are doing as a B Corp, and hopefully encourages them to find out more and join in.

LBB> Finally, how are you encouraging the rest of the animation and VFX industry to join you in “using the power of animation as a force for good,” and why is it important that they do so?

Tom>  Part of being a B Corp is advocating for other companies to join the B Corp movement, so we get involved with many events to talk about it and share how beneficial the journey has been. Extinguishing myths such as it’s just a tick-box initiative or greenwashing. We’re also collaborating with other companies in the animation and VFX industry to share B Corp knowledge and work together to help other companies take their first step on their B Corp journeys, leading to a more positively impactful industry for everyone.

A few companies in the UK post, VFX and animation B Corp community have joined together this week for #BCorpMonth to host an informal virtual round-table for those in leadership roles in similar companies, so they can find out more about becoming a B Corp.

The Zoom call is on 27th March at 12pm, you can join in here:
 https://forms.gle/3tKt7xdd67U7gfM86