Most kids brand owners are well-versed in making Roblox games these days, but a new company called Yessir Media is currently pioneering a process for using the gaming platform’s engine to create animated series that can live on YouTube, social media platforms and beyond. 

Based in Virginia, Yessir was incorporated last week and has raised a six-figure start-up pot from a pre-seed funding round that was primarily supported by a film and media investment company called Monat Productions. 

Creating in Roblox means very quick content delivery, says Yessir co-founder Will Bryan (pictured right), which he knows is an important factor to producers working in the children’s media industry. To demonstrate what its pipeline can achieve on this front, the company plans to be in full production within a month on its first animated series, which will launch on YouTube this summer.  

“What we want to do is alleviate the bottleneck of content volume for a fraction of the price and at much faster speeds than any other kind of traditional animation method,” says Bryan. “But we also want to tell stories in a style that’s extremely popular and tapped into the zeitgeist of kids.” 

After building assets and generating voice recordings in pre-production, one of the studio’s teams can complete a short-form episode (three to seven minutes long) every two weeks, says Bryan. And before the end of 2025, the company expects to have ramped up to weekly delivery. The estimated cost is US$2,000 to US$5,000 per finished minute—but naturally Bryan is quick to caution that these numbers will vary depending on the scope of production. The final animation will feature Roblox’s iconic blocky style, which Yessir co-founder Katharine Bradley (pictured left) points out has already proven to resonate well among kids. “We’re excited to embrace that aesthetic as a selling point and a unique strength of the platform,” she says. 

Yessir is developing its Roblox game-making expertise simultaneously, and its business-scaling goal is to eventually be a one-stop shop for clients looking to create a whole suite of content on and for the platform. Companies both Bryan and Bradley have talked to are drawn to the idea of using Roblox to test animation concepts with a broad audience before making a more significant investment. With Yessir’s model, “we create animation in days for a fraction of the price,” he says. 

Although short videos are where the company is starting since YouTube is the most likely initial distribution channel for this content, its long-term plan is to be able to create 52 x 11-minute series and feature films using the Roblox engine. 

Yessir is in the process of assembling small teams—comprised of a producer with Roblox content-making experience (including former SuperSocial and Gamefam staffers) and a few developers and animators—that can be leveraged as needed to work on client projects. The goal with these pods, as Bryan calls them, is to be nimble and keep overhead down. 

So far, the studio has recruited PAW Patrol writer Scott Albert to develop, write and story-edit client content on a contract basis. And it’s also in the process of onboarding several “technical, organizational and creative leads” who are transitioning from roles at other companies, says Bryan. The next phase of the staffing plan will be to hire animators, writers and developers in the coming months. 

While launching Yessir, Bryan is also still serving as co-founder and chief creative officer of the animation studio CUDO, which is developing the 26 x five-minute series Duncan’s Flying Tugboat. Bryan and Bradley are also co-writers, co-producers and co-directors on a live-action indie comedy feature called Historical Film, which Monat Productions and One-Room Schoolhouse Films are wrapping production on next month. 

Picture courtesy of Yessir Media/Josh Brown.