People
The Firebelly Family is a tight knit collective of strategists, designers, writers and developers working hard to change the world.
- meet the team
- Dawn Hancock, Owner + Creative Director
- Will Miller, Art Director
- Darren McPherson, Designer
- Charlie Smith, Motion Designer
- Shannon Medic, Program Director
- Alex Killough, Senior Web Engineer
- Name: Charlie Smith
- Title: Motion Designer
- Hates: any variation of the 'Got Milk' campaign
- Finds Inspiration In: Obama's speeches
- Perfect Meal: sweet tea + sushi
- Knock Knock: Who's There?
Charlie gets things moving. As the motion designer behind all of Firebelly’s video, animation and DVD work, Charlie converts static imagery into kinetic experiences.
Originally commissioned to create a self-promotion piece for the studio, Charlie ended up making an award-winning DVD + documentary short about Firebelly’s process and clients. Needless to say, the piece solidified a spot at the studio for Charlie and gave Firebelly the first in a series of annual show reels.
Charlie’s ability to translate sketches and storyboards into powerful and engaging narratives allows the studio to explore relationships between action, gesture, sound, time and space—something print + web rarely do.
With over 3 years of freelance motion work behind him and significant broadcast experience with Comcast Sports South, Charlie was ready for more than just a change of scenery.
So in 2005, he traded Southern hospitality for the Midwest work ethic and moved from Atlanta to Chicago to join Firebelly and pursue projects that make a difference.
When he’s not scouring news aggregators for the global perspective, Charlie can be found researching cosmic entities and watching science programming about space.
He's a sucker for ironic dance music and just about any band playing at the Empty Bottle. Since weekend trips to Anna Ruby Falls are 700 miles away, Charlie builds bikes, flies kites and takes spontaneous afternoon trips to Milwaukee.
Charlie earned his BFA in Digital Video from the Atlanta College of Art (now Savannah College of Art and Design).