SPILLT — RyanBramwell

A Creative Movement of Community & Content Creation

From Creative Studio to Creative Company.

Founder · Executive Creative Director · Managing Director

SPILLT started with a pretty simple idea: build the kind of creative company I wanted to work for.

I founded the studio in Denver in 2006, when motion design was still an emerging discipline in the region. What began as a small creative shop grew into a nationally recognized studio working with major brands, entertainment companies and agencies across the country.

Over 15 years, my role grew right alongside it—from designer and animator to Creative Director, Executive Creative Director, Managing Director and ultimately every responsibility that comes with owning and operating a company.

SPILLT taught me how to do much more than make great work.

It taught me how to build the thing behind the work.

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Building the Company

The Creative Was Only Part of It.

Growing SPILLT meant learning how to move constantly between creative ambition and business reality.

I built and led multidisciplinary teams of designers, animators, directors, producers, editors and writers while developing the systems, partnerships and infrastructure required to support them.

That meant hiring and developing talent. Pitching and winning business. Managing clients. Building budgets. Negotiating contracts. Creating production systems. Managing offices. Watching margins. Developing partnerships. Solving problems. And figuring out how to keep the whole thing moving when the plan inevitably changed.

At its height, SPILLT supported a team of more than 30+ full-time and contract creatives, managed projects ranging from $20K to $1.1M, and generated $4.2M in annual revenue.

The job became much bigger than Creative Director.

It became building and running a business.

Business Development + Relationships

Great Work Gets You in the Door. Relationships Keep You There.

Some of SPILLT's most valuable wins weren't individual projects. They were relationships that grew over years.

A project with Charter Communications developed into a 7+ year partnership with Charter/Spectrum, eventually crossing sales, direct-to-consumer, broadcast, product and B2B divisions.

Our relationship with Adult Swim lasted more than 8 years, with the team creating work across Toonami, Upfronts and promotional campaigns including Rick and Morty.

Other relationships brought us into work for Netflix production partners, Intel, BOA, Skullcandy, Ford, Verizon, the Atlanta Hawks, Denver Mattress and others.

Winning that work required more than a reel.

It meant understanding the client's problem, building trust, presenting ideas, assembling the right team and consistently delivering.

Creative Leadership

Build the Team. Set the Bar. Let Great People Be Great.

One of the most important things SPILLT taught me was that creative leadership isn't about being the best person at every discipline.

It's about finding talented people, creating a clear vision and giving them the environment and ownership to do their best work.

I recruited, mentored and led multidisciplinary teams across design, animation, direction, production, editorial and writing - often bringing together internal talent, freelancers, production partners and specialists around a single problem.

My role increasingly became setting the direction, protecting the idea, connecting people and making sure the work lived up to the standard we'd established together.

Some of the things I'm most proud of from SPILLT aren't pieces in a reel.

They're the people who became better at what they did while we were building the company together.

Creative + Business

Ambitious Ideas Still Have to Work in the Real World.

SPILLT operated in an environment where creative ambition, schedules, people and money were constantly colliding.

Projects ranged from a single spot to more than 500 deliverables, with budgets reaching $1.6M.

The challenge was rarely just coming up with the idea.

It was figuring out how to produce it, staff it, price it, protect the margin, manage the client, solve the inevitable problems and still deliver something everyone was proud to put their name on.

That experience fundamentally changed how I think about creativity.

A great idea matters.

Building the system that allows great ideas to actually happen matters just as much.

Building Community

Competition Didn't Have to Mean Isolation.

SPILLT was also built around a belief that a stronger creative community was good for everyone.

That thinking eventually led to Sauce Society, a Colorado creative network that brought together more than 150 artists across design, broadcast and advertising.

It created connections between people who might otherwise have viewed each other only as competitors—and helped strengthen the larger creative community we were all part of.

Building a company mattered. Building relationships around it did too.

The Work

National Brands. Entertainment. Technology. Consumer.

Over 17 years, SPILLT created branding, campaigns, broadcast systems, commercials, entertainment packages, digital content and experiences for clients across entertainment, technology, sports, consumer products and advertising.

Selected partnerships included:

Spectrum · Adult Swim · Netflix · Intel · BOA · Skullcandy · Ford · Verizon · Atlanta Hawks · Denver Mattress

The work earned recognition from the Clios, Promax, The One Club, Heartland Emmys, Telly Awards and Art Directors Club Denver, with the studio also featured in industry publications including Communication Arts, Animation Magazine and Stash.

But awards were never really the business.

The business was earning enough trust that great clients kept asking us to solve the next problem.

The Result

15 Years of Building.

30+ team members

$4.2M annual revenue

$20K–$1.6M project budgets

7+ year Spectrum partnership

8+ year Adult Swim partnership

National clients + award-winning work

SPILLT began as a place to make great creative work.

It became a company, a team, a community, a network of client relationships and a 15-year education in entrepreneurship.

By the time I exited in 2021, the biggest thing I'd built wasn't any individual campaign.

It was the company itself.

SPILLT has fueled the crafting of award-winning motion, branding, and content for advertising, entertainment, and brands.

Honors

2021 Clio Silver

2020 Promax North America (x3)

2018 Promax North America Gold

2020 Heartland Emmy - Commercial Campaign

2018 One Club Annual Show - Motion & Film Craft

2016 Telly Gold/Silver (x3)

2016 Art Directors Club Denver (x2) -Top Honors

2015 Art Directors Club Denver - Top Honors

2011 Promax North America Gold, Silver

2011 Promax North America Gold

2010 Art Directors Club Denver - Broadcast Design

2009 Telly Gold (x2), Silver (x2)

2009 Art Directors Club Denver (x2)

Key Accomplishments:

• Built a 7+ year partnership with Charter Communications / Spectrum which reached multiple divisions including Sales, Direct to Consumer, Broadcast, Product, B2B.

• Strong Partnership with Adult Swim for 8+ years producing graphics packages for Toonami, Upfronts & Endpages for all Rick and Morty Promotional Campaigns.

• Most recently directed a revamp of all National Emmy Award show packages and logo systems.

• Became a key partner for documentary film title design & post-production for Netflix partner production companies.

• Voted best motion graphics and post-production studio 5 times by Art Directors Club Denver.

• Built a communal network in the CO Creative Scene - Sauce Society which included the participation and fun having of more than 150 artists in design, broadcast, & advertising.