WHAT THE FAQ!

6 min read

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What is Blay Studio? A person or a studio?
Blay Studio is a creative studio and production company with only one employee, founder and creative director JM Blay. He is responsible for overseeing all aspects of the business.
The rest of the team members, who are freelancers, are hired on a project-by-project basis. This allows the studio to tailor the team to the specific needs of each project, bringing in the right mix of skills and expertise.

So, where do you find the team members?
JM has a core group of freelancers that he frequently collaborates with. This brings a level of familiarity and consistency to the team and ensures a high level of quality and reliability.

Got it, and what kind of work does Blay Studio produce?
We do high-end motion design and 3d. And what the hell is that? You might ask.
Well, we create visually impressive and sophisticated animations and 3D graphics often used in film and television, advertising, and other industries where visual storytelling and impact are key.
We can do 100% of the steps needed to complete a project, from ideation to delivery; going through to mood boards, concepts, style frames, storyboards, animatics, editing, VFX, colour grade, etc. Including final exports in any format you may need.

So, if you can do 100% of the project, what happens if we already have an idea?
We can start our collaboration at different stages of the process:
When you only have a brief
If you're stuck with a business problem and need a fresh, creative solution, we are here to help. We'll talk about what you need, and then come up with some cool ideas. After that, we'll get to work on bringing those ideas to life.
When you already have an idea
If you have an idea for a project and want to develop it further, we can help you create an engaging story. We'll start with scripting and storyboarding, then move into animatics and production.
When you even have a script
Okay, so you've got a script that lays out your plan and strategy. We can help you take it to the next level by working on the visuals, the story, and the design.

We will work with you every step of the way to bring your project to life, making sure the process is smooth and fast.

Right, but what type of clients do you work with?
We work for a large variety of clients, both big and small.
Advertising and marketing agencies, production companies, film studios, and we work directly with end clients too. We are always happy to talk no matter whether you are big fish in your industry, a start-up or anything in between

Cool, I want to have a meeting with you. Where are you based?
Awesome! Blay Studio was born as and still is a fully remote studio, so no headquarters.
You’ll be talking to JM Blay, our founder and creative director, he will be your point of contact during the whole project. JM is currently based in Valencia (Spain), so unless you are in the area it is probably better if you meet online.

Sounds good, but what’s JM Blay's role in all this?
JM is Blay Studio's owner and creative director. He's in charge of making sure each project is on point and on time, overseeing the creative vision and direction, the relationship with the client and ensuring that the work produced is of the highest quality.
But don't think he's just sitting back and watching from the sidelines - JM is a hands-on kind of guy. He has the ideas, makes concepts, rolls up his sleeves and draws awesome storyboards; he designs, directs, produces, and delivers. He can even make a whole project all by himself as he did in The Rapture of Europe and Washi.

One more thing, what the f*** does "JM" mean?
Believe it or not, this is the first question everybody asks.
It is J. M., not Jim and it stands for Jose Manuel. Yes, JM is from Spain

Once we have that first meeting, will you please send us a proposal?
We don't send proposals or do quotes.
Let's be honest, you had a figure in mind before you called us, yes you did.
With that figure on the table, we propose ideas or review yours to create a project on budget and achieve the best result. If you say that don't have that figure, you'll be the first company in history that want to start an advertisement campaign without a budget assigned.

Do you want to join this pitch?
We don't do free pitches. If you are willing to pay for the pitch, we can talk.

I have my own internal design team, so why should I hire you?
Even though you already have an internal design team, we can bring a unique perspective and set of skills to the table that can complement and enhance your team's capabilities, resulting in more effective and innovative designs. Besides, by outsourcing a project to us, you'll be dealing with just one person and avoiding the headaches of managing multiple team members and freelancers.

How is the process of hiring you?
Quite simple, actually. We have a quick first chat over the phone or via video call, say around 15 minutes. In that call, we need to know: what you want, how much money you have, the deadline of the project and the deliverables you expect.
If we agree to work together, we send an agreement with all the details we discussed on the call for you to accept. And then, we can start working.

We want to work with you, but you can not show the project in your portfolio. Are you interested?
Usually not, but there are exceptions. The exception is more money.

Can you take care of the music and/or sound design?
Yes, we can. We don't make music, but we can choose and mix stock music and sounds. Although we always recommend having original music and/or sound design created specifically for the project. We work with amazing sound design studios.

What are you going to deliver, just the final project?
Before the final delivery, we share a lot of files with you: moodboards, storyboards, style frames, animatic, etc. So you can share the process with your clients, investors or other stakeholders.

When we finish, can you send all the files of the project?
Yes, we can send anything you need. We just need to specify all deliverables in our agreement.

Let's do it! When do we start?
As soon as we receive the first payment.

What are your payment terms?
We charge 50% before we start the project, 25% in the middle of the development and 25% upon delivery.

Do you accept payments for 30 or 60 days?
Unfortunately, we don't. We ask for payments to be made immediately upon receiving the invoice.

Do you accept crypto?
We prefer to be paid in Euros but we also accept payments in US dollars and Sterling Pounds.

This project would have good exposure and no money. Are you interested?
The only type of exposure we are interested in is doing talks, writing articles or speaking in podcasts to share our experiences and explain what we do.
If you have a proposal for this, don't be shy, drop us a line.

There's this other company that can make it cheaper than you. Can you match the price?
Cool! Go for it! We don't compete on price.

Can I at least get a discount?
We don't do discounts. If you really want to work with us, we can always adjust the scope of work based on your budget.

Ok, so how much is it going to cost, then?
We do tailor projects with tailored teams, so it depends on the scope of work and how long it'll take to make it.
If you want to chat more about it, just hit us up and we can talk.

And this is the end of our Finally Answered Questions. Now, as famous philosopher George Costanza said, ‘The ball is in your court.’

TESTIMONIALS
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"I hired Blay to work on some of the key motion design sequences of my feature film The Beyond, that relied on good visual narrative based animation, which Blay excels in. He delivered the key plot points in a universal way that all audiences would grasp quickly. He is one of the hardest working people I know. He takes much pride in the detail and respects every nuance of the story".

Hasraf ‘HaZ’ Dulull, 
Director and Producer of HaZFilm
Special Sequences for The Beyond 

"JM Blay and his team created a beautiful piece for our campaign. Blay understood exactly what we were looking for and handed over exactly what we invisioned. They delivered  the video on time, on budget and with a very fluid communication during the whole  process. I would really recommend to work with Blay and his team as it was a great experience for us".

Fiona Dollan,
Producer of Intermarketing Agency
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"Impressed by Blay Studio's portfolio of work, we knew they'd be a good fit for our project. (...) From the onset, they devised a clear creative strategy with milestones and timeline that we stuck to every step of the way.  They turned around a beautiful project within timeline and budget.  I definitely recommend Blay Studio for any high quality video project."

Christine Kang,
CCO of Harper + Scott
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"I have worked with JM in a couple of projects and he's done an epic job on getting all pulled together. His work looks absolutely fantastic! And the clients always are seriously happy with all his work. It's always nice working with someone who knows what they're doing! I'd definitely work again with Blay Studio!".

Matt Beveridge,
Co-founder & ECD of Pebble Studios
Netflix Bad Boy Billionaires

"Blay Studio was a great partner in creating the Tech Videos for Tempur. They were very versatile adapting to a change of plans during pre-production. They delivered a lot of options for each piece, beautifully crafted and very well made, explaining the product features accurately and with sleek storytelling. It was a pleasure to work with them".

Gary Meade, 
Studio Director for Dippin' Sauce
Tech Videos for Tempur

"Working with Blay was a very enriching experience from the beginning.
During the making of the project, fluency, constant communication and his strategic vision allowed us to deliver the video on time & budget.
At a corporate level, this production made an inflection point".

Pablo Maña,
CEO of Noken, Porcelanosa Group
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