EXCLUSIVE: Tongal, which connected animators with Pharrell Williams for his biopic film Piece By Piece, says creators on its platform have surpassed $100M in earnings.
The business bills itself as a “studio on demand” that democratizes production by putting emerging creatives with no direct industry connections in touch with those leading professional projects. It claims to have a network of more than 160,000 creators in 175 countries and has worked with the likes of Disney, Sony and Paramount.
Notably, it worked with The Lego Group and Focus Features on Piece By Piece, the comedy-doc animation hybrid telling the life story of musician and actor Pharrell. Tongal’s community of creators helped develop, animate and market the film, which was directed by Morgan Neville.
“As a platform built on the principle of meritocracy, hitting the $100M milestone is more than a number — it’s a testament to the incredible talent of our community and the industry’s growing recognition of their power,” said James DeJulio, co-founder and CEO of Tongal. “Tongal has been transforming the who and how of production, giving creators the opportunities, tools and connections to build the future of content and storytelling.”
DeJulio has also revealed that ten of its most successful creators have earned more than $1M each on the platform, with “hundreds of others” making more than $100,000 through brand collaborations, content creation and deals with studios and producers.
Tongal, which was founded in New York in 2009 and is now based in LA, is forecasting “significant growth” next year, with higher earnings for creators and the launch of its own IP.
Besides Piece By Piece, Tongal creators contributed to the launch of Lego World Builder in 2020, recreated famous scenes from the Jurassic Park franchise for its 25th anniversary in 2018 and worked on Disney’s Star Wars: Go Rogue miniseries in 2016. Its first studio project was Universal Pictures’ MacGruber at SXSW in 2010.
