Frank Falcone, creative director/partner at Toronto's Guru Animation keeps a quote from CG pioneer Alvy Ray Smith in mind while overseeing his fledgling studios 3D projects.

The quote "reality is merely a convenient measure of complexity" is in line with the mandate of Falcone and his partners (former Topix / Mad Dog producer Anne Deslauriers and Toronto animation don Chuck Gammage).

"[We will] use the medium to end up with something that doesn't look like what people think of when they think of 3D," says Deslauriers. Falcone adds: "Photo-realism is just shy of a button; you could almost say it is the standard."

Working from Gammage's tradition of cell character animation (and across the hall Guru's studio, designed by Del Terrelonge, is adjacent to Gammage's studio), Falcone and Deslauriers hope to break away from typical looking characters and the live action conventions now standard in 3D CGI animation. The link with Chuck Gammage Studios is based on a shared pursuit of strong character animation, although via different tools.

Currently, Guru is completing it's first project, a series of five spots for a major US confectioner, geared towards the Mexican and US markets. While commercials are a core part of the studios business, there are other projects afoot.

"Another part of the company's mandate is to devote resources to creative projects," says Falcone. "The first thing we'll do is invest in a test for a TV pilot."

Falcone has worked as a freelance animator for companies like New York's Curious Pictures and Pitch, as well as Toronto's Spin. Prior to that he worked as an animation director at Topix / Mad Dog and Sydney, Australia's Picture Start. Deslauriers was a freelance senior producer at Topix/Mad Dog for five years (where she and Falcone met), prior to which she was a producer at FCB, Toronto.

Guru's studio space, designed by Del Terrelonge should be completed by October.