Kalispell studio illustrates stories using natural products for stop-motion animation

The Sister’s Bloom, an eco-friendly stop-motion animation studio based in Kalispell, bloomed into what it is because of a passion for storytelling and a quest to create stop-motioned animated stories without harming humans or the environment.    

“It's just this hands on medium that I love,” studio owner Melissa Bloom said. “You just get such amazing results, like you could be five years old and make something with LEGOs and you can be 50 years old and be a professional, animating on the highest level, and they’re both charming, it's amazing what you can create with your hands.” 

Bloom originally comes from San Diego and attended the University of Southern California School of Cinematic Arts where she learned of stop-motion, an art form she quickly fell in love with.  

Stop-motion animation is a style of animation that utilizes photographing and then physically moving objects within the frame in order to tell a story. As each frame is played together, the technique makes it appear like the object is moving itself.  

For each film, Bloom and her team curate each puppet, structure, background, foreground and more by hand. 

She still has the first puppet she ever made showcased in her Kalispell studio’s entryway, a slender man standing with a slight slump in his shoulders. After graduating in 2011, Bloom spent a few years working for large stop-motion studios in California, an industry she loved because she got to see the entire production process.  

“The great thing about my early career is I was nurtured under [professionals] and I just got to see every part of the process, learn every part of the process,” Bloom said. “I had this great novelty, because I would come in and every day, I would do something different.” 

While in Los Angelos, Bloom worked on the Emmy-nominated series “Robot Chicken” and Oscar-nominated “American Hustle.”  

As the company continued to grow, Bloom found herself working in the puppet department and not getting access to that whole production process. She decided to step away from stop-motion to help her sister, Alesse, start a jewelry line and began to explore other avenues of expression and creativity, she said.  

Her sister’s health began to decline, and Bloom moved home to help care for her and create a healthier environment for her moving forward. While recovering, Bloom realized how toxic the stop-motion animation sets were, using materials that are known to be bad for human interaction overtime.  

“I couldn’t believe the amount of toxins that were just like surrounding us daily,” Bloom said.  

Wanting to get back into stop-motion after a brief hiatus but not wanting to subject herself to toxic work environments, Bloom decided she needed to start her own studio.  

She started her business in San Diego in her garage before the Covid-19 pandemic, spending those initial months researching what materials to use. The Sister’s Bloom’s first stop-motion feature was made with a friend in 2020 during the pandemic for a new turmeric business.  

She opts for natural materials, rejecting industry reliable products like polystyrene foam, urethane resin, acrylic paints and more.  

At the beginning of 2021, still operating out of her garage, Bloom and her sister traveled to the Flathead Valley to visit a friend for a few weeks. It didn’t take long before they felt at home and made the choice to move to Montana.  

“This studio has really grown slowly,” she said. “But I think now that I am a little bit on the other side of it makes sense, and it worked out.” 

Along with her family, Bloom invested in the studio’s location in March of 2023 with the hope of it becoming a full production studio. Today, the studio features multiple live sets, cork boarded walls to display plans and timelines and rooms dedicated to sound and production of props. The investment was worth it, Bloom said while smiling.  

She is currently working on a short film about regenerative farming and looks forward to embarking on a years-long project afterward to accomplish a lifetime goal of hers: write and create her own feature film. 

Bloom works with companies as well, such as Alpine Greenhouses out of Three Forks. The business offers do-it-yourself kits and travels the state to build custom passive solar greenhouses. The short film shares the story and mission of the company by using grocery store food packaging waste to make a statement on how much waste can be prevented from growing food at home.   

“Every project is so fun for me because I take the company and what they’re trying to say and then figure out what materials will best do that for them,” Bloom said. 

A film made for Earthing, a company encouraging humans to reconnect with nature, used foraged rocks, preserved leaves, paper leather, natural earth paint and methyl cellulose glue to adhere to the eco-conscious intention. 

Each project is showcased in a frame in the studio’s break room, highlighting some of the natural materials used for that individual project.  

“It’s incredible what you can bring to life with your hands,” Bloom said. 

Outside of stop-motion videos, The Sister’s Bloom has its own podcast called Return to Nature, where Bloom showcases the people and companies utilizing eco-conscious values to align with nature.  

To learn more about The Sister’s Bloom, visit thesistersbloom.com.

Reporter Kate Heston may be reached at 758-4459 or kheston@dailyinterlake.com.

 Melissa Bloom stages a shot for a stop-motion film at The Sister's Bloom studio in Kalispell. (Photo provided.)