About Us

Origin Story

In 2018, Brad’s VFX Supervisor on Ratatouille, Apurva Shah, who later in his career was Global CTO at Prana / R&H, a studio co-founded by P.J., introduced Brad and P.J. because he thought they might be able to do something cool together. Brad was coming off of Oscar nominated film How to Train Your Dragon III, and P.J. was in the process of selling his company Kidaptive, so the timing was perfect.

In 2018, Brad’s VFX Supervisor on Ratatouille, Apurva Shah, who later in his career was Global CTO at Prana / R&H, a studio co-founded by P.J., introduced Brad and P.J. because he thought they might be able to do something cool together. Brad was coming off of Oscar nominated film How to Train Your Dragon III, and P.J. was in the process of selling his company Kidaptive, so the timing was perfect.

Brad and P.J. continued talking about the idea of a next generation studio and all things football for the next one year. They ultimately pitched their idea to leading entertainment lawyer, P.J. Shapiro...

Brad and P.J. continued talking about the idea of a next generation studio and all things football for the next one year. They ultimately pitched their idea to leading entertainment lawyer, P.J. Shapiro...

...who connected them to CAA.

...who connected them to CAA.

In 2020, CAA brought on venture capital firm, NEA, and together they formed Connect Ventures and funded Spire as their first investment. Spire was born.

In 2020, CAA brought on venture capital firm, NEA, and together they formed Connect Ventures and funded Spire as their first investment. Spire was born.

Within weeks of starting, top talent from all major studios were inspired to join Spire. The team started to develop Spire’s technical pipeline and initial films, Century Goddess and Trouble, before doing a test for Epic Games to evaluate the potential of the Unreal Engine in feature animation. The test went well.

Within weeks of starting, top talent from all major studios were inspired to join Spire. The team started to develop Spire’s technical pipeline and initial films, Century Goddess and Trouble, before doing a test for Epic Games to evaluate the potential of the Unreal Engine in feature animation. The test went well.

In 2021, Epic decided to invest, Spire’s meta-distribution strategy started to form, and the team grew across studios in Burbank, San Mateo, and Mumbai, India. Soon after, Temasek, a global investment company owned by the Government of Singapore also invested in Spire.

In 2021, Epic decided to invest, Spire’s meta-distribution strategy started to form, and the team grew across studios in Burbank, San Mateo, and Mumbai, India. Soon after, Temasek, a global investment company owned by the Government of Singapore also invested in Spire.

In 2022, Brad and P.J. identified Trouble as their first animated feature.

In 2022, Brad and P.J. identified Trouble as their first animated feature.

Art by: Michael Surrey