Networking in the Industry

Disclaimer
This page isn’t intended to be a comprehensive job directory, but rather a general guide to networking, portfolio building, and navigating the career field.  It is recommended that you still conduct research on your own to find the career option or grad school plan that best suits your particular interests and skills.

The database mainly covers larger well-known companies in North America, with some international connections.  This does not indicate endorsement of these companies, just that they were the businesses that stood out the most in search results, recommendations, and cross-referenced research.

The bulk of this list was compiled over the course of 2016-2017.  Mergers, bankruptcies, buyouts, and subsidiaries can cause company relevancy to change over time.  The order of listings does not indicate any particular ranking system.

There are also thousands of independent studios and businesses out there that produce really creative products.  It just isn’t possible to keep an up-to-date record of all of them.  Feel free to recommend any studios or companies that should be added to this list.

Computer Software and Smart Tech Developers
Microsoft    Apple    Asus    Dell    Lenovo    Acer    IBM    Samsung    Sony    HP    Toshiba    Intel    Nvidia   AMD   Wacom

Internet Service Providers, Telecommunications, and Client-Side Web Portals
Alphabet    Amazon    Facebook    Mozilla    Alibaba Group    Tencent     Verizon    AT&T     Nokia     Sprint

Leading Technological Research and Development
Google X     SpaceX    NASA    Boeing    Virgin Galactic    Blue Origin    DARPA    Boston Dynamics    Tesla    Toyota Research Institute    Voxel8

Technology Moguls
Autodesk     Adobe     GoPro     Nikon     Kodak     IMAX

Entertainment Media Conglomerates
The Walt Disney Company    Time-Warner    NBC Universal    Sony    Viacom/Paramount

Major Subsidiaries and Distributors
Marvel Studios    Lucasfilm    20th Century Fox   Fox Searchlight Pictures    Lionsgate Entertainment    Amblin Partners    Walden Media    Village Roadshow    Legendary Entertainment    United Artists/MGM    New Line Cinema (Warner Bros)    Miramax (Disney)    Castle Rock Entertainment (Warner Bros)    Touchstone (Disney)    Buena Vista (Disney)    Columbia/TriStar Pictures (Sony)   The Weinstein Company (Defunct)

Independent Production Companies
Spyglass Entertainment    Focus Features    Raleigh Studios    Imagine Entertainment    Chernin Entertainment    AnnaPurna Pictures    Plan B Entertainment    Big Talk Productions    Bad Robot Productions    Centropolis Entertainment    DNA Films    Pinewood Studios    Skydance Media    Lightstorm Entertainment    Bad Hat Harry Productions     Mutant Enemy    Samuel Goldwyn Films    Scott Free Productions     Oats Studios    A24    Mirada    Blumhouse Productions    EuropaCorp    21 Laps Entertainment    Relativity Media

Online Streaming
Netflix     Amazon Prime     Hulu    Disney+    Apple TV+   Crunchyroll    Funimation     Twitch.tv     YouTube Red     Maker Studios    Fullscreen   Otter Media

Television Networks, Channels, and Cable
NBC    CBS    ABC    News Corporation    HBO    Dish    DirecTV    Comcast    AMC    ESPN    TNT    USA    Showtime    CNN    Syfy    MTV    Discovery    TBS    A&E    The CW    STARZ

Subsidized Public Media Agencies and International Film
National Film Board of Canada    BBC    PBS    CNC (Le Centre national du cinéma et de l’image animée)    Al Jazeera    Bollywood    Telugu Cinema    Beijing Enlight Pictures    China Film Group    Huaxia Film Distribution    Huayi Brothers Media Corp.    Bona Film Group    Wanda Media    Pan African Federation of Filmmakers (FEPACI)    Cinema of Nigeria (Nollywood)    Silverbird Film Distribution    Somaliwood    Olol Films    Cinema Do Brasil    Buenos Aires Film Commission    INCAA (National Institute of Cinematography and Audiovisual Arts)    Baja Film Studios    Japan Film Commission Promotion Council    Japanese Foundation for the Promotion of the Arts    Toho Pictures    Kadokawa Pictures    Nikkatsu    Shochiku    Screen Australia    AFCI

3D Feature Animation
Walt Disney Animation Studios    Pixar    DreamWorks    Blue Sky Studios    LAIKA    Aardman    Illumination Mac Guff    Animal Logic    Sony Animation    Warner Animation Group    Paramount Animation    Universal Animation Studios   The SPA Studios

Cartoons and Traditional Animation
Cartoon Network    Disney Toon Studios    Cartoon Saloon    Nickelodeon    Rough Draft Studios    Film Roman    Gracie Films    Fuzzy Door Productions    Comedy Central    9 Story    Marvel Animation    DC Animation    Titmouse Inc.    Toon City    Disney Television Animation    Lucasfilm Animation    Shadowmachine    Top Draw Animation    Boulder Media    Man of Action Entertainment    Rainmaker Entertainment/WOW! Unlimited     Frederator    DreamWorks TV    Xilam    Hasbro Studios    Polygon Pictures Inc.

Anime
Studio Ghibli    Gainax    Toei    Studio MIR    Toonami    Oriental Light and Magic, inc.    Studio Pierrot    Nippon Animation    Madhouse    Akom Sunrise    Production I.G.    Khara    Studio 4°C

Commercial Animation and Interactive Advertising
Psyop    Three    Screen Novelties    Stoopid Buddies Stoodios    Bix Pix Entertainment    Elastic.tv    Brand New School    Duck Studios    Locus    Brikk    Giant Ant    Platige Image    Media Monks    Prettybird    m ss ng p eces    Park Pictures    Caviar Content    B-Reel    Shynola    Shine    Moonbot Studios    MacKinnon and Saunders    Aardman Nathan Love    Blue Zoo    Magic Light Pictures

Special Effects and VFX
Industrial Light and Magic    Weta Digital    The Mill    Legacy Effects    The Foundry    Rhythm and Hues    MPC    THX    Framestore    Weta Workshop    Jim Henson’s Creature Shop    Tippett Studio    KNB EFX    Spectral Motion    Amalgamated Dynamics    Coulier Creatres FX    Milk VFX    Double Negative    Pixomondo    Method Studios    MastersFX    Stargate Studios    Digital Domain    Rising Sun Pictures    Whiskytree    Image Engine    Rodeo FX    Hybride Technologies    Luma    Atomic Fiction    Rise VFX    Encore Hollywood    Hybride Technologies    Reel FX    M5 Industries, Inc.    Schell Studios    DailyPint Studios    Zoic Studios    Tatopoulos Studios    Lola VFX    Ironhead Studio

Cinematic Trailers and Animated Credits
Blur Studio    Digic Pictures    Nuare Studio    Axis Animation

AAA Game Industry
EA    Nintendo    Sony    Square Enix    Ubisoft    Bungie    Activision/Blizzard    Take-Two Interactive/Rockstar    Naughty Dog    Konami    Bethesda    2K Games    Insomniac    BioWare    Gearbox    Crytek    Epic Games    Atlus    From Software    Eidos    Capcom    Namco-Bandai    Sega    ID Software    CD Projekt Red    Ninja Theory    Obsidian    Warner Bros Interactive Entertainment    Valve    Microsoft Studios    Disney Interactive    Arkane    Avalanche Studios    Rocksteady    DICE    TT Games    Red Storm    Monolith Productions    Rare    Media Molecule    Retro Studios    Game Freak    Platinum Games    Double Fine    Guerilla    343 Industries    Sledgehammer Games    Treyarch    Raven    Quantic Dream    Ghost Story Games

MMORPG and MOBA Developers
Activision Blizzard    Riot Games    ArenaNet/NCSOFT    Jagex    Square Enix    BioWare    CCP    Turbine    ZeniMax    Cryptic    Daybreak Game Company    XLGames    Gazillion    Bluehole    Trion Worlds    Valve    Hi-Rez Studios    Bluehole Studio

Mobile App and Online Game Developers
Niantic Inc.    Rovio    Zynga    Gameloft    Kabam    Supercell    King    Halfbrick    DeNA    GungHo Online    Imangi Studios    PopCap Games

Successful Indie Studios
Mojang    Cloud Imperium Games    Hello Games    Double Fine    Supergiant Games    Klei    Team Meat    Thatgamecompany    Polytron Corporation    Playdead    Double Eleven    Subset Games    Stoic Studio    Yacht Club Games    DrinkBox Studios    Runic Games    Cyan Inc.    .GEARS    Campo Santo    The Chinese Room    Dontnod Entertainment    Galactic Cafe    Subset Games    Mossmouth    Number None, Inc.    Re-Logic    SUPERHOT Team    Croteam    Thunder Lotus Games    Amanita Design    Psyonix    Facepunch Studios    The Behemoth    Chucklefish Games    Bay 12

Virtual Reality
HTC    Oculus    Valve

Software Digital Distribution Platforms
Steam    GOG    Origin    Epic Games Store Direct2Drive    Apple App Store    Amazon Appstore    Green Man Gaming    Games For Windows Marketplace    GamersGate    Gamefly    Ubuntu Software Center    Nintendo eShop    Devolver    Newgrounds    GameJolt    itch.io    Armor Games

Music and Record Label Industry
Sony-BMG    Warner Music Group    Universal Music Group (formerly EMI)    Live Nation    Spotify    Pandora    VEVO    SoundCloud    iTunes

Comics Publishers
Marvel    DC    Dark Horse    Image    IDW    Vertigo    Dynamite

Book and Magazine Publishers
Penguin Random House    Hachette Livre    HarperCollins    Macmillan    Tor    Simon & Schuster    Pearson    Houghton Mifflin Harcourt    Scholastic    McGraw-Hill Education    Cengage Learning Holdings    Condé Nast Publications    Time Inc.    Reader’s Digest    National Geographic

Toy Manufacturing, Miniatures, and Collector’s Games
Hasbro    Mattel    Bandai    Lego    Wizards of the Coast    Games Workshop    Sideshow    Hot Toys    NECA    Funko    McFarlane    Diamond Select    Kotobukiya    Playmobil    K’NEX    Topps    Konami Digital Entertainment    JAKKS Pacific    KidRobot    Reaper Miniatures    Privateer Press    Paizo    Fantasy Flight Games

Major Design and Advertising Firms
WPP Group    Omnicom Group    Publicis Groupe    Interpublic Group    Dentsu    Grey Advertising    Wieden+Kennedy    360i    Deutsch    Ogilvy and Mather    BBDO    Pentagram    JWT    IDEO    Landor Associates    FutureBrand    Leo Burnett    Razorfish    Isobar    Forza Migliozzi    DDB    Edelman    Saatchi & Saatchi    R/GA

Other Select Studios
Sagmeister & Walsh    Push Pin Studios   Frere-Jones Type    Hoefler & Co    Emigre    Happy Cog    Methane Studios    Mondo    PBM Graphics    Under Consideration LLC

Big Data, Deep Learning, and A.I. Research
Facebook A.I. Research    Google Deepmind    IBM Watson    Microsoft Research/Cortana    Amazon Alexa    Apple Siri    Salesforce    Intel Xeon Phi Chip    Baidu Research    Twitter TayTweets    TensorFlow

Tech Retailers, Manufacturers, and Providers
Newegg    PCM    Best Buy    TechBargains    GameStop    Barnes&Noble    Panasonic    LG Electronics    Oracle    Symantec    Razer Inc.    Alienware    Skullcandy    Sennheiser    Bose    Rode Microphones   Radio Shack