BIG GRIN PRODUCTIONS
Toby Cochran is a director, creative director, and founder of Big Grin Productions, a turnkey virtual studio built around character-driven storytelling and high-quality animation. He has led creative teams, built crews from the ground up, and collaborated with award-winning directors to deliver cinematic-quality work from concept through final execution.
Directing is where Toby's heart lies, and today his focus is on original work. He has created 12 original IPs, ranging from sci-fi coming-of-age stories to action-comedy horror, and is actively developing and pitching animated and live-action series and feature films.
Toby founded Big Grin on a simple mission: to put big ol' grins on people's faces.
LUKi & the LIghts
Toby Cochran directed LUKi & the Lights, an animated short created to raise awareness for ALS through a story filled with heart, humor, and hope. The project brought together a global team of artists and advocates, using animation to help audiences connect with a difficult subject in a deeply human way. Toby set the creative vision, wrote the screenplay, and served as story supervisor, while also directing performances and providing art direction throughout production.
105 festival selections. 61 awards.
IEL: v-cam
Toby has been freelancing on set with Immersive Enterprise Laboratories (IEL), supporting their real-time animation workflow through directing, story development, and creative problem-solving. His role includes shaping performances, refining key story moments, and helping the team realize their creative goals as they prepare for larger projects across film, television, and immersive experiences.
MARK ANDREWS PROJECTS
Since leaving Pixar, director Mark Andrews (Brave, Super Giant Robot Brothers, DogStar) has teamed up with Toby Cochran and Big Grin on different projects. For each one, Toby has built a custom crew from the ground up, staffing the right artists for the job and managing the team through final art delivery. For DogStar, Big Grin led all pre-production on the feature-film pitch, developing the character designs and visual development that now form the foundation of the upcoming YouTube series, set to launch in 2027. Toby and Mark have also worked together on set, shooting additional footage for Mark's latest projects.
APPLE Pro tools
Toby led a fast-moving animation development effort spanning story, design, production, and performance-driven technology. While the details are confidential, his team has created eight original stories and produced more than 15,000 storyboards, moving ideas quickly from concept to animatics and production planning. He also oversees visual development, character design, and audio sessions, and has explored new pipeline solutions, including a creature rig built around an Xsens suit that connects performance controls directly through a hand glove.
Music dreams
Toby served as Co-Director, Producer, and 2D Animation Supervisor on Music Dreams, a dialogue-free animated short for children and families. Produced by the USC Shoah Foundation's Willesden Project, the film follows Carlos, a young refugee in 2021 who discovers magical sheet music that carries him into the past. There he meets Lisa Jura, a young Holocaust survivor who escaped on the Kindertransport.
BOUNCY & Friends
Toby served as Creative Director and Animation Supervisor on Bouncy and Friends, a series of three 3D animated shorts and preschool sing-alongs. He managed and directed the team and oversaw CG supervision across the series. Created during the pandemic, the project used playful characters, music, and animation to help ease anxiety in young children through fun, comforting storytelling, giving kids a world that feels joyful, safe, and engaging.
Shaq games
Toby served as Creative Director on the Shaquille O'Neal game franchise at PLAYSTUDIOS, shaping the creative direction across mobile and web game experiences. His work included developing story, characters, and gameplay moments, writing dialogue, directing motion capture sessions with Shaq, and supervising animation and character pipelines from concept through implementation. Working within a fast-paced live-ops environment, he helped lead teams, supported weekly releases, and translated Shaq's larger-than-life personality into a fun, interactive experience for players.
LEGO UNIVERSE
Toby served as Lead Level Designer for the LUP world in LEGO Universe, helping concept, design, and build the first playable prototype of what became a gateway space station for player-created content. The world let players step outside the main game and explore an imaginative space station showcasing user-generated creations, well before community-driven content became standard in games. He also worked as an Animator on the project, contributing to character animation and the overall gameplay experience.
45+ MObile games
Toby served as Associate Creative Director and Lead Art Director at PLAYSTUDIOS, overseeing creative teams across mobile, live-ops, and web games. He supervised and mentored 15 artists, leading one-on-ones and creative review sessions, identifying skill gaps, and developing emerging leaders. Across more than 45 mobile and web games, he supported story, animation, and character pipelines, directed outside vendors, and oversaw live content production. He also played a major role in growing the studio: 22% of its 200+ person staff were hired through his referrals. He led R&D on fighting games, endless runners, and other casual game mechanics. A key accomplishment was revitalizing the web game art team: by overhauling its production processes, he moved the department from behind schedule to four months ahead.
nbc universal game
Toby served as Creative Director on an NBCUniversal game project, leading a team of 12 artists to develop a comprehensive pitch package centered on Universal's century-spanning character library. He shaped the creative direction, gameplay concepts, game design, story moments, and visual development, guiding the team to explore how iconic Universal characters could translate into a fun, engaging interactive experience.
