Bien Founders Hung Le and Ricardo Roberts have colorful pasts- from Hung's childhood in Vietnam and Ricardo's in Ecuador both settled with their families in the states and had to learn new cultures. Hung eventually dove into the freelance world, working with some of the popular digital companies like Digital Kitchen, Elastic, Brand New School, Leviathan, WeAreRoyale and WoodShop to name a few. 

Meanwhile, Ricardo worked with IBM, McKinney, 72andSunny, Red Hat, Vans, Boys & Girls Club, and Sustainable Harvest International through his partnership with Myriad Media. 

After Hung relocated from NYC to LA they partnered up to form Bien- a motion design studio that creates content globally. 

In this interview we ask about Bien's culture, their similarities to the gaming industry and how artists can get in.

Let’s start from the beginning- how did Bien. come together? Where did it all begin?

With more than 20 years of experience working in the industry, Ricardo and Hung joined forces to form Bien. Ricardo brings his experience in new business development while Hung comes to Bien with a background in doing motion graphics for various direct clients, and creative agencies.

As you know, Cubebrush has a focus in the gaming industry- how does Bien differ from that world? How is it the same?

Bien focuses on motion design for all screens. Our work is usually experienced in a linear fashion and not interactive like in a game. However, we do use a lot of the same techniques to get the job done. We use Cinema 4d quite often in our production pipeline. We would model, rig characters. We also rely heavily on texture packs, lighting kits, ect... to get the job done more efficiently.

Many artists have a specific goal to work on concepts or design. Can you explain how that works in the Motion Graphics industry?

The biggest difference between a game and what we do is the intent. Games are meant to entertain while Motion Graphic projects aim to inform, educate, or sell products and services. Our process is design-driven. That means we like to work with artists and designers who don’t just create something pretty for pretty’s sake. Creatives in our industry need to be strategic thinkers first and artists second.

How many artists do you have in each area? Can you take us through the process of a project?

We are a small shop that assembles teams depending on the scope of the project. A small project could be handled by one artist for animation from start to finish. For larger projects, we would have a mix of 2d designamators and 3d artists working together. 

Each projects starts out with a creative brief. We establish the main objectives that the video should achieve. Only after the strategy had been established would we move into concepting, storyboard, and finally producing the actual animation. You can see a step by step breakdown in this guide to the motion design process.

Do you have a favorite project that you completed? Why?

We just completed an anthem video for Tanium, an IT Solutions company out of San Francisco. This is an example of how we employ 3d techniques like character rigging, fracture, ect...in a graphic way to give the client an interesting video while staying on brand.

What does your onboarding process look like for new employees?

We look for people who are better than us and are just passionate about our company culture. Unlike most motion graphic studios, Bien has a very strong emphasis on doing Social good projects so we look for people who enjoy this type of work as well.

When new artists apply to work for you what tends to catch your eye the most?

First, we check their reel to see if they meet certain technical benchmarks. And we look for the credits to see their role in each project. Then we talk to them to get a feel for their personality. We make a conscious effort not to work with egomaniacs no matter how good they are. Last, we test them out on a small project to see how responsible they are in regard to deadlines and communication.

What are some common interview deal-breakers/red flags applicants should be careful about?

When they try too hard to sell more than what they can deliver. Be honest about your skillset. If you are not responsive to early emails in the interviewing process, we would read that as you not interested enough or being on-time when it comes to project delivery.

Could you take us through an average day of an artist working at Bien?

We set mini milestones for each to achieve and check in when the time comes. We don’t micromanage the artist’s time. As long as the artist communicates clearly whether they will be modeling or rigging a character for the next couple days and will have something to show at x-time, we would leave him/her alone.

Do you have any advice for ambitious artists out there?

Sit down and write out your dream career path. What would you want to be in 3 years, 10 years, ect…? Then map out a trajectory to get there. Dream big but be pragmatic. Artists are typically introverts but try to make a conscious effort to put yourself out there. A personal network will get you very far in this industry.

Any exciting projects you can share details about?

The projects we are most passionate are the ones we create for ourselves. Bien has a strong focus in doing social good so we are currently working on a couple projects that hopefully would make the world a better place through visual education.