I’m Bryan Engram, Founder/CEO and Chief Creative at Brazen Animation, a full-service animation studio we built from the ground up in 2014. My main responsibility at the studio is the overall vision and direction of the studio.

My artistic and storytelling background was rooted from an early age. I was raised by a single mother who was a theater teacher and director. From my earliest memories, I recall watching my mother direct her plays with passion and artistic flair. I also spent countless hours playing video games with friends, often playing all night until we could no longer keep our eyes open.

Years later, I obtained a degree in Art & Film and started in animation a year out of college, taking on an unpaid internship at Reel FX Entertainment in Dallas with just a month’s savings in the bank. I did everything I could to prove myself—changing light bulbs, building desks, even sleeping at the studio to meet project deadlines. After a month, and dangerously close to running out of money, I was blessed to be hired as a junior artist and animator.

Over eight years at Reel FX, I eventually advanced to Director of Studio Animation, reporting directly to the Co-CEO, helping the company grow from 15 to over 500 employees. There I learned how to navigate the industry from both the business and visual storytelling aspects of running a studio. Eventually, I felt a strong call to leave that position and start Brazen Animation.

My passion for storytelling and immersive experiences naturally led me to my childhood of games and interactive content. I believe the gaming medium is one of the most dynamic ways to connect people to stories and emotions, and it allows for an unparalleled level of interaction.

We have found that our clients in the gaming space want to push the boundaries of expanding their stories and are always interested in trying new styles, which makes it a fun environment for both collaboration and innovation.

As CEO and Chief Creative, I guide our creative direction and brand identity, working closely with our team to keep our vision sharp and our standards high. Success in this role, or any creative role, requires grit, humility, curiosity, and the ability to collaborate effectively.

In both development and marketing, you must connect deeply with your audience, understanding their needs while pushing your boundaries of creativity and innovation.

Brazen Animation is a Dallas-based animation studio known for its bold, high-quality animation and storytelling. Our team of multidisciplinary creators brings both depth and flexibility to every project; each team member is not only highly skilled in their primary area but also brings additional expertise across artistic and technical domains.

This approach enables us to tackle a wide range of projects—from 2D and high-fidelity 3D to mixed media—with confidence. Story is king at Brazen, and we encourage collaboration and innovation, empowering every team member to voice ideas that elevate the final product. Our focus on story, performance, audience connection, and artistic excellence sets us apart.

A great game is an experience that transcends entertainment. It’s interactive storytelling that resonates with players on a personal level, challenges their perspectives, and offers them a world worth exploring. A game should have an emotional core that drives it forward, offering a balance of compelling gameplay, narrative depth, and memorable artistry.

We work across a variety of genres, with each project showcasing rich storytelling, intricate characters, and cinematic visuals. While we don’t limit ourselves to a specific genre, we bring an emotionally driven approach that fuses entertainment with purpose.

Our capabilities span from concept development, including writing, storyboards, style frames, character design, and visual development, to in-game execution with 3D animation, motion capture, lighting support, and in-engine integrations. We specialize in creating 2D, 3D, and hybrid cinematics, marketing trailers, character featurettes, and social videos to fully realize a project’s storytelling potential.

Our development expertise includes game development, level design, and asset creation. This end-to-end creative process allows us to deliver projects with depth, precision, and high visual impact.

Our ideation process is very collaborative and hands-on. Though led by the Director, we involve everyone from the start from all departments. We start with the essence and core ethos of a concept and then start working on the story from there. We ask ourselves, “What do we want the audience to feel while watching our animation or playing our game?” As we continue to develop the story, we start to find the unique style, shape language, and performances that best express that core feeling that will speak to the audience/player on a deeper level.

Through an iterative and collaborative process of writing, art, and animation, we begin to arrive at where the project needs to land. Our studio strikes the balance of being both director-driven and collaborative from the top down. We have learned this approach helps us get to the best ideas much faster and also pushes the quality throughout the entire process into final delivery.

Winning the NYX Game Awards is a validation of our team’s hard work and dedication. It’s a huge honor to be recognized, especially as a studio that prides itself on bold storytelling. It not only celebrates our talented team but also reinforces our commitment to creating content for our clients that resonates with audiences.

Awards like this increase our visibility, especially in an industry as competitive as gaming and animation. Sharing the award with clients highlights our shared achievements and strengthens our reputation as a top collaborative partner. It opens doors for new collaborations, attracts top talent, and builds trust with new clients who see this recognition as a testament to our quality and vision.

Balancing innovation with audience expectations is always challenging. In development, you have to be willing to take risks creatively, yet remain adaptable to feedback. For marketing, conveying a unique vision in a way that grabs attention and connects emotionally is a constant balancing act. But it's these challenges that often lead to the most rewarding outcomes.

Being based in the United States, particularly in Texas, provides us with access to a diverse and highly creative talent pool. There’s a spirit of entrepreneurship and innovation here that encourages bold ideas and fosters collaborative energy. Additionally, being centrally located enables us to work with clients on both the East and West Coasts with minor time zone adjustments.

I am biased based on my background, but I love the trend of the convergence of film, animation, and gaming merging more each year. You see this happening in the technology being used, the types of narratives being told, and the delivery methods of those stories and games to their core audiences.

Passive, interactive, and immersive storytelling is beginning to happen all at once with big brands and IPs. As a game developer and filmmaker, this is extremely exciting!

Stories, Narratives, and Characters: The ability of a narrative and characters to reach people at a deeper level because the players themselves begin to strongly identify with what they are experiencing.

The Power of Fun: Games bring joy, fun, adventure, sometimes a competitive spirit, and often a sense of wonder to the player that cannot be completely expressed in words.

Community: Gaming has the power to connect people across cultures and backgrounds no matter where they are in the world.

Participate in Game Jams: They’re excellent for meeting others, learning the entire game production pipeline on a small scale, and experimenting with different genres and game types.

Join Game Development Clubs: Another great way to connect with people, collaborate, and exchange feedback on early-stage games.

Seek Advice from Experienced Game Developers: Learning from seasoned professionals is invaluable. One of our Pipeline TD’s highly recommends Masahiro Sakurai’s YouTube series, On Creating Games, which offers insightful tips on game design.

Follow Tutorials When Stuck: Many quality resources exist for nearly every game engine and genre, perfect for troubleshooting or expanding your skills.

Start with Small, Manageable Projects: 2D games are typically easier than 3D. Begin with simpler projects like arcade-style or retro games, especially if you’re working solo or with a small team, before advancing to complex formats like online multiplayer or open-world games.

Play Games with an Analytical Eye: Think about why certain design choices make a game enjoyable. Identify what adds or takes away from the fun, which helps you understand what to emulate or avoid.

Clearly, AI will become an even larger part of how games are not only made but also how the customization experience is delivered to the core audience using AI. Things we haven’t even imagined yet will be possible in game development and in how the player interacts with the game and others within the virtual world.

I also believe that, because of this, we will see gaming applied to many different industries, utilizing AI to innovate beyond what anyone can yet anticipate.

I’ve been inspired by creative visionaries like Walt Disney, Steve Jobs, Shigeru Miyamoto, Steven Spielberg, the Coen Brothers, and many others. These visionaries were fearless in making creative or business decisions that went against the grain and carved new paths for entire industries. They all faced massive odds, even suffering failures along the way, but they never quit or lost hope. The art of succeeding is never giving up…no matter what.

Resilience and a passion for your craft are essential. Every creative field experiences its highs and lows, but remaining focused on your vision and surrounding yourself with talented individuals who share that vision is invaluable. Therefore, be brazen - face challenges and opportunities with determination.

At Brazen, we not only constantly bring new and fresh ideas to the intellectual properties we are currently developing, but we do it with artistic styles and approaches that utilize the best of what 2D and 3D provide. Brazen has always been known for our ability to mix various mediums, but our upcoming IP takes it to another level. We are excited to show audiences and followers of Brazen what we have in store.