Coinbase: System Update
2025
Teaming up with agency Isle of Any, we created an anthem film for Coinbase that would catch attention and stand apart from traditional media broadcast spots.
The Creative
The spot was inspired by the iconic ‘blue screen of death’ — hijacking the old, traditional banking system and rebooting it into a new Coinbase-led, banking world. With a Jamie xx music track, the anthem film is a fun, slightly irreverent party with easter eggs to the crypto world.
The Code
We developed an entirely unique animation style, exploring technical possibilities that would push the look and feel further than a traditional ASCII-mapped approach. During the extensive R&D phase, we explored many techniques that combined image mapping with particle simulation techniques.
The final animation used a mix of Houdini, C4D, Cavalry, and After Effects to turn grayscale animation inputs – which ranged from cel animation to 3D renders – into procedural code.
The ‘System Update’ film made its debut during the NBA playoffs, which had a record of over 4 million viewers.
BUCK
Executive Producer
Justin Harris
Group Creative Director
Daniel Oeffinger
Jon Gorman
Creative Director
Joyce N. Ho
Producer
Tracey Uminowicz
Paul Winze
Animation Lead
Anton Thallner
Editor
Talia Mazzarella
Heather Bartholomae
Designer
Yukyung Lee
Ben Nichols
Audrey Lee
Gunnar Pettersson
Sam Lee
Animation
Federico Reano
Hannah Sun
Johan Eriksson
Romain Loubersanes
Tinghe Yang
Adam Webber
Matty Deans
Retail Animation
Sean Merk
Ryan Musselman
Johan Eriksson
Storyboard
Matty Deans
Tinghe Yang
Production Coordinator
Jacklyn Reid Hemmings
Modeler
Eugene Goryachev
Head of 2D
Mercy Lomelin
Peter Kallstrom
Head Of Post
Jose Fuentes
CT Consultants
Matt Kenefick
Evan Boehm
