ABOUT BAD TONE
A BAD TONE IS A GOOD THING.
Founded by former Barbie senior creative executive Alexandra Houck, Bad Tone Studios is a creative development and original IP studio creating animated shows for kids and families.
Our original slate puts girls at the center of the adventure, with bold characters, distinctive visual worlds, and stories rooted in humor, friendship, and discovery. Our properties are available for partnership or acquisition. We also provide creative development, showrunning, and executive creative leadership for studios, brands, and IP owners across kids and family entertainment.
// A NOTE FROM FOUNDER
ALEXANDRA HOUCK
WHY I FOUNDED BAD TONE
I founded Bad Tone because I believe empowering the next generation starts with showing kids characters they truly see themselves in. Characters who are messy, funny, bold, uncertain, and still figuring things out. Kids deserve characters who make mistakes, learn for themselves, and discover that growing doesn’t mean editing away who they are.
I’m especially drawn to girls who are loud, opinionated, and brave, but who still wonder, “Am I too much?” Girls who can be confident one moment and completely unsure the next. Who get to experience the adventure, struggle with the lesson, and find their own way through.
To me, those contradictions make a character relatable. They make room for humor, vulnerability, and stories that feel authentic.
ALEXANDRA
// THE BAD TONE ETHOS
STORIES MEANT TO BE SEEN AND HEARD
Bossy. Intimidating. Difficult. Too much.
Those words can follow girls who speak up, take the lead, or stand by what they believe. Bad Tone is about reclaiming “bad” and questioning who gets to define it.
The girls with “bad tones” are often the brave ones. The honest ones. The ones who don’t betray themselves to make everyone else comfortable.
That’s the spirit behind the stories I’m telling: characters who challenge expectations, own their voices, and learn how to grow without losing themselves.
// CREATIVE INFLUENCES
THE INSPIRATION BEHIND THE WORLDS
Pop culture, music, and dance are some of my greatest creative influences, shaped by a childhood steeped in millennial culture: big personalities, unforgettable songs, expressive fashion, and worlds you wanted to step into.
At the heart of that inspiration are universal childhood experiences: friendship drama, trying on identities, feeling misunderstood, and finding your people.
I bring that energy into stories for today’s audiences, creating characters and worlds kids can connect with, return to, and make part of their own lives.
// CREATIVE & BUSINESS LEADERSHIP
THE EXPERIENCE I BRING
I bring 14 years of creative and production experience spanning work for Universal, Disney, Warner Bros. Records, and Mattel, including seven years at Mattel across Barbie and the Dolls portfolio. My work at Mattel spanned Barbie, Monster High, Polly Pocket, American Girl, Disney Frozen, Disney Princess, Descendants, and Universal’s Wicked and Trolls across a $600M+ global portfolio.
As Barbie senior creative executive, I led creative development and showrunning for award-winning series, narrative music videos, and global campaigns. I created storytelling formats adopted company-wide and brought characters to life from screen to doll shelf, including Barbie Dream Besties’ Zia.
At Bad Tone Studios, I created an original slate of three animated properties: Cat and French Fry, Pixel Babes, and The Lost & Found Society. My work spans their concepts, characters, worlds, visual identities, story direction, and music. I independently produced and edited the animated materials using AI-enabled animation workflows I designed. For Cat and French Fry, that execution extends to published episodes, YouTube programming, channel management, and audience development.
Working on both the agency and brand sides taught me to connect creative ambition with production realities and business priorities. I bring that perspective to clients through creative development, showrunning, and executive creative leadership, from initial concept through production and launch.
$20M+
ANNUAL SALES IMPACT AT MATTEL
1B+
COMBINED VIEWS ACROSS PUBLISHED WORK
17
GLOBAL INDUSTRY AWARDS
TOP 1%
VIDEO VIEWS ACROSS BARBIE, MONSTER HIGH & POLLY POCKET YOUTUBE
READY TO CHANGE YOUR TONE?
Have an original property to build, a series to develop, or a brand story to tell? Let’s talk.