Founded in 2006, Dainty Productions is an independent animation and digital studio based in Ottawa, led by creative entrepreneurs Chris and Jennifer Dainty.

We partner with studios and networks across North America and beyond. Our work comes from local, national, and international clients, and we’ve built a reputation for reliable, high-quality service work in pre-production and animation. Over the years we’ve created 2D animation for broadcast, film, and digital screens, and we’ve had the joy of working on series and kids’ brands we love.

Service work is at the heart of what we do. We take on storyboards, animatics, and 2D animation for other studios’ shows and projects, plugging into your pipeline and matching your style. We also build games and interactive experiences, from HTML5 web games to Apple and Android apps. If you need an extra team that delivers, we’re it.

We work primarily in digital 2D animation, with traditional and hand-drawn techniques available when a project calls for it. Alongside service work, we develop a slate of original IPs, with a strong interest in stories that connect with young audiences and support learning through storytelling, humour, and creativity.

We’re also the creators of icemation, a unique animation technique using carved ice and stop-motion to create one-of-a-kind visuals. Beyond animation, we’ve provided large-scale ice and styrofoam sculptures for live-action films, branded content, and special events.

For nearly two decades, we’ve produced the animated sponsorship reel that plays before every screening and event at the Ottawa International Animation Festival, and in 2025 we brought Ottawa’s history to life on the National Arts Centre’s Kipnes Lantern. Chris Dainty wrote and directed the National Film Board of Canada short Shannon Amen, which premiered in competition at OIAF, earned a 2020 Canadian Screen Award nomination for Best Animated Short, won Best Director at the Yorkton Film Festival, and was selected by Annecy for the We Are One global festival, streamed on YouTube during the pandemic.

Whether we’re boarding an episode, animating a scene, building a game, or carving a sculpture out of ice or styrofoam, we bring the same curiosity, craft, and reliability to every project we take on.