LOS ANGELES—Known for envelope-pushing work, Invisible Collective wins big at the 27th annual Webby Awards. Invisible Collective founder Justin Polk and Invisible-represented director Carl Jones, are bringing home a Webby for “Undeniable - Stories from the Negro Leagues”, an animated series they co-directed for Major League Baseball (MLB). And freshly signed Invisible directors, The Turner Brothers, have won a Webby for their Nike Air / Social Status campaign to boot.
Undeniable is a Webby winner for Animation in the Video / Series category. MLB’s first-ever animated series, Undeniable, highlights untold stories from the history of Negro Leagues, including its most legendary players, women of the league, and its international reach, as part of a multi-pronged effort by MLB to celebrate Black History Month.
The creative and production for Undeniable was led by Polk, who partnered with Carl Jones (“The Boondocks,” “Black Dynamite”) and his animation studio Martian Blueberry. Together, they highlight the League’s underrepresented stories with an exquisite and nuanced animation style. From the precise color blue on the Indianapolis Clowns’ uniforms to the cultural accuracy of the player’s physical features, the devoted Black-led animation team at Martian Blueberry went to great lengths to achieve historical and cultural accuracy in their animation, elevating Undeniable to its award-winning status.
Likewise, The Turner Brothers, a distinctive directorial duo newly signed to Invisible Collective, brings home another Webby for their Nike Air / Social Status campaign. Last year, the first part of this campaign entitled “Free Lunch,” won the general public vote for Best Video Campaign, and this year, part two, “Recess & Playground,” won Best Video Campaign in the Advertising category. Laced with engaging point-of-view shots and animated movement, the comedic narrative short follows a teenage basketball player through his action-packed, funny, and over-the-top life.
These projects rose to the top of the pile during a stand-out year for the Webbys, in which they received nearly 14,000 entries from over 70 countries across all categories.
As Invisible Collective celebrates this exceptional achievement, they are also looking forward and going global with the launch of Los Invisibles, a new division serving the Hispanic market in the US, Europe, Argentina, and Mexico.