About Us
Well Told is a creative co-development studio — art, animation, and content authoring for game teams. The visual and narrative layer of your game, not the code underneath. We started in 2015, and for ten years we've been embedded in other studios' productions: funded indie teams, AA studios with shipped titles, and the occasional specialized senior scope inside a AAA pipeline. We've shipped characters, worlds, trailers, and animation systems for PlayStation, Netflix, Meta Quest, Apple Arcade, and Steam.
We built Well Told around one conviction: the vendor model is broken. PM layers, quality drift, revolving contributor doors — we've seen what that does to a production. So we built the opposite: a tight network of senior and principal-level contributors who embed in your team, work in your tools, and stay through ship.
We're committed to staying lean, optimized, and specialized. The senior-contractor model is permanent — scaling up would mean averaging down quality. After ten years we're still excited about the work.
Core Team
Jen Re
Animation Director
Carsen Kelliher
Characters · Narrative
Zara Abraham
Studio Manager
Derek O'Dell
Business Manager
Key Collaborators
Michaela Nienaber
Concept Art
Marc Meler
Environmental · Design
Quoc Nguyen
Character Animation
Nicholas Saucedo
Camera Animation
How We Operate
Story comes first.
Great gameplay and worldbuilding start with character, emotion, and story. Everything we build — from cinematics to concept art — serves the deeper narrative vision.
Lean teams, no PM friction.
As a small but senior team, we thrive in fast-moving environments. Direct communication, no PM layer. We adapt to your workflow, not the other way around.
No junior bench.
Every contributor has shipped multiple titles. We don't run a junior bench. The output reflects that — and so does the rate.
Common Questions