Laika Studios marketing director goes behind the scenes to develop the brand

David Burke, originally from Ireland, Laika Studios chief marketing officer and senior vice president of business operations, arrived at the Oregon-based animation house in 2020 after a longtime role as Universal Pictures’ managing director for the Republic of Ireland and the ‘North Ireland. Now he oversees the growth of Laika, best known for her stop motion feature films ‘Coraline’, ‘ParaNorman’, ‘The Boxtrolls’, ‘Kubo and the Two Strings’ and ‘Missing Link’ – as well as the fantasy adventure upcoming “Wildwood,” which features a voice cast of major stars such as Carey Mulligan, Mahershala Ali and Awkwafina and is helmed by company president Travis Knight.

The executive declined to reveal the budget for “Wildwood,” but called it the studio’s most ambitious project to date. (Laika’s most expensive film to date is 2019’s “Missing Link” with a reported budget of $102.3 million.)

Burke said he joined Laika because of Knight’s singular vision.

“There is nobody, in my opinion, who delivers stories on this scale in this medium,” he said. “[Laika is] moving the medium forward and moving it forward, going places that no one thought possible for the medium.

He spoke with TheWrap about how the behind-the-scenes process of Laika’s stop-motion innovations have become as much a part of the marketing process as the stories and characters on screen.

“We’re looking for ways to tell great stories through our behind-the-scenes content,” the executive said.

Laika is making her mark in Los Angeles this October with a series of screenings of Laika’s entire filmography in new 4K remastered versions at the Academy Film Museum which culminates on October 30 with a 10th anniversary screening of “Coraline.” (In addition, the cosplay dress of “Coraline” and “ParaNorman” will be welcome during the screening, panels and family activities.) Laika also has partnerships with New York’s Moving Image Museum and other cultural institutions. Why are museums a good way to connect with Laika fans?

In 2017, we did an exhibition with the Portland Art Museum, which was the museum’s most successful exhibition in its history. We also have a really exciting partnership underway with the British Film Institute, which we’ll be announcing more details about soon, and there’s a big live show for us on February 23, which will be touring the world after its year-long run. in a major American city. You can see these artifacts, you can see these sets, you can see these puppets that are handcrafted here in our studio in Oregon. [The exhibition] tries to get a really comprehensive overview of all the different elements that go into making a stop-motion movie. [Visitors] should come away with a very strong feeling of having not only been entertained, but also educated.

Laika has an ever-expanding 350,000 square foot campus in Hillsboro, Oregon, just outside of Portland. Do you plan to make it an attraction for visitors?

We often receive requests for visits, [but] we don’t have the infrastructure to do that. Instead, we focus our time, energy, and effort on working with major cultural institutions that have experience delivering exhibitions. It’s their skill set.

Laika is also a big hit on social media, not so much because of the characters and celebrity voices as the insider’s take on the technical side of stop motion, right?

A compelling story is the ultimate type of North Star, but platforms like YouTube, TikTok, and Pinterest are seeing growth in this type of creator economy. Home viewers, young people at home are really taking their creativity into their own hands and creating their own content. As a result, they’re really interested in finding out: What’s the story behind the scenes? I think Laika is uniquely positioned to take advantage of this.

How?

[We have] literally thousands of hours of behind-the-scenes footage from our five films yielding treasure after treasure every day. When the work of our publishers debuts on our platforms, I mean, people go crazy. When TikTok started, we averaged 3 or 4 million views on this video showcasing the work that went into creating Norman’s hair or making Coraline’s cardigan. The Laika hashtag has reached over 590 million views… This gives us a chance to show off what we do in the studio.

Artwork by Mr. Link from “The Missing Link” / Courtesy of Laika Studios

Laika also connects with creatively inclined fans through its Laika by Makers program (#LAIKAbyMakers), inspired to create designs, jewelry and other objects. Tell us about it.

We are very aware that we are a community of creatives, it is an essential aspect of our DNA. We wanted an opportunity to [independent] creators to use our platform and intellectual property to showcase their work. And it was really successful because they reported a significant increase in subscribers and subscriber growth, and they were able to improve sales [of items inspired by Laika films]. We want to connect with the creative community outside of the studio, allowing our films to mediate that kind of connection and inspire them to greatness, I guess.

This Q&A has been edited for length and clarity.