Directors Joost van den Bosch (1980) and Erik Verkerk (1984) possess a wealth of experience with productions for (young) children, and with their Rotterdam-based animation studio Ka-Ching Cartoons, they have realized several award-winning productions, including George & Paul (2017) and Inkt (2021), which have been screened at festivals such as Clermont Ferrand, Annecy, London, and Toronto. Additionally, they are active as producers, mostly for their own productions, but sometimes also as co-producers, for instance for the Oscar-nominated Beautiful Men (2023).
Joost and Erik met during their animation studies at the Willem de Kooning Academy in Rotterdam, graduating cum laude with a joint project. After their studies, they went to work in Ireland for a year at the prestigious Cartoon Saloon. Upon returning to Rotterdam in 2007, they started their own studio, Ka-Ching Cartoons They soon developed their own formats for series such as George & Paul and The 3D-Machine, but also created and directed series for the Efteling, such as De Grobbebollen Maken Lol and De Lummels. Subsequently, their focus shifted to feature films, and they directed the very first animated TV movie, De Tand des Tijds, and the feature film Urbanus de Vuilnisheld.
In 2024, two feature films of Dikkie Dik were released in cinemas, and both were a great success. Currently, they alternate feature films with short films and series, and are working on the third Dikkie Dik film, because they are far from tired of this cat.
