Commercial Studio Buck Becomes B Corporation Certified For Their 20th Anniversary

Commercial studio Buck is celebrating its twentieth year of opereation this year by announcing their certification as a B Corporation.

Certification is recognized by B Labs once a company meets certain standards for verification. Buck is now one of just 6,000 Certified B Corporations in the world, and one of the few animation producers, who comply with the group’s stringent qualifications for social, environmental, and governance best practices. The factors that are examined include everything from employee benefits and charitable giving to supply chain practices and input materials.

This kind of intentional move to have businesses comply with sustainable practices is more common in Europe, especially of late amongst European animation studios, such as TeamTO in France, who have been publicly more aggressive with their green compliance and aimed carbon neutral practices. As such, Buck getting awarded this status in the North American creative sector stands out all the more.

Buck’s recently LEED Gold-certified headquarters in Los Angeles is the hub of the company’s brand braintrust, producing advertising and marketing campaigns for major companies like Nike, Apple, Fedex, Netflix, IBM, Airbnb, and Google.

Buck chief executive officer Emily Rickard told Cartoon Brew that despite the lengthy process to certification, attaining it was “an important way for us to make a public commitment to these values, and begin to measure our progress.”

Of their internal decision to pursue the B Corp certification, Rickard said:

Buck’s leadership have always wanted to do the best we could for our people and our planet. B Corp certification is something we have talked about for years.

We talk a lot with our clients about how we can collectively do better, and now our clients can expect the same level of creativity and innovation we’ve built our reputation on, alongside a public commitment to how we impact the people we work with and the planet we share.

We not only report our emissions annually to the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP), but we share those results with our clients too. We also report annually on our 3rd party suppliers and the kinds of businesses we do business with.

Part of Buck’s celebration of their certification was inviting their in-house artists to reimagine the B Corp logo in their own unique styles, and to ask why this certification was important to them. The company provided two exclusive responses to that challenge, one from senior art director, Diego Morales, and the other from senior 3d designer/animator, Patrick Sluiter.

Morales said:

I’m thrilled about Buck receiving the B Corp certification. In today’s world, prioritizing a positive impact on society and the environment is crucial. It perfectly aligns with my values and gives my work a deeper sense of purpose.

Sluiter shared:

Buck receiving B Corp certification serves as another testament to why working here provides a sense of fulfillment. It’s been a pleasure to see Buck’s commitment to doing good for our planet and communities that runs parallel with values of my own. Now, every project I contribute to feels extra meaningful — not in just a business sense, but making a real difference. Like many others, this isn’t just a job for me; it’s an outlet to make an impact, and I’m proud to be on this journey with everyone here.