Mr Brumm said the hit show started with a drawing of the much-loved dog a few years ago.
“People always ask me how I came up with the idea,” Mr Brumm said.
“I studied animation and worked as a handdrawn animator, then I moved to London and worked as an animator.”
He said he later worked for a company that got “three things right”.
“These three things were people, place and project,” he said.
“They were a great bunch of people to work with and we worked on the show Charlie and Lola, which is where I got the idea to do Bluey.
“Charlie and Lola was led by a creator - someone who had style and was driven.
“With Charlie and Lola, everyone who worked there loved the show and believed in it.
“It was the peak of my career as an animator - we would help each other, everyone was pushing themselves to be the best animators - It was a great spirit in that studio.”
He said when season three of Charlie and Lola finished, and the Global Financial Crisis hit, they all “scattered to the winds”.
“Every job I worked after that felt hollow,” Mr Brumm revealed.
“For me, ever since I made short films, and worked on Charlie and Lola, I had an itch that needed to be scratched.
“I knew that if I could get into a position to convince someone to let me write my own story I could do something big.”
“It was a feeling of an assignment that was due.”
Mr Brumm moved back to Brisbane from London when Charlie and Lola finished and he said the itch led him to start his own company called Studio Joho.
He said at the time he and his wife had just welcomed their first baby, had a mortgage, and was working a job as an animator.
“I had that itch to write my own stories, I wanted that feeling to be in a room again like I was creating Charlie and Lola with animators, and working my own small business,” Mr Brumm said.
“It was a bit of financial security I was craving - which led me one night to create the pilot.”
Every kids show I have worked on has been written by writers remembering back to hits of their childhood like riding a bike, or taking that first trip to the dentist, Mr Brumm said.
“But I was living in a shark tank with two crazy kids playing bizarre games.
“I thought this is something I have never seen in a cartoon before.
“One night, I made the first Bluey episode about a trip to the park,” he said.
He said that pilot led to an experience that has “completely changed my life”.
“My life was on a knife's edge,” Mr Brumm said.
“When you spend 20 years entertaining people, and someone gives you $6 million to do 50-plus episodes - you shit yourself!”
Mr Brumm said he emailed seven “veterans” he had worked with throughout his career for help.
“There was a relief when they dropped everything to come and help - with them behind me I knew we could do it.”
“We still needed a crew of 50, so we started a speed dating style form of hiring.
He said every single person he had hired was involved in Bluey from season one to three.
“We found a studio in Brisbane’s West End - I wanted someone central and a place where we could all bond,” Mr Brumm said.
“Even if that means spending double or triple on the rent - it helped out team bond
“The project was up to me to make sure it was worth gathering for.”
He said he had been watching kids’ TV shows and did not like any of them.
“The first we said no to was no co-productions, no writer’s room, no toyetic, to keep Australian accents, and adult protagonists,” Mr Brumm said.
He said when everyone came together, he made sure his team was appreciated.
Mr Brumm emphasised the importance of praising his team.
“It is important to be recognised for what you have done right.
“As a director I had to make decisions. I have worked in studios where directors dodge questions and that can have a paralysing effect.”
Mr Brumm told the audience that Bluey has been the most streamed genre in the United States and a movie was being created.
“For us, every team was allowed to do their best work, not expected but encouraged,” he said.
“That’s what contributed to the show’s success.
“I recreated the experience I had working on Charlie and Lola.
Mr Brumm revealed the itch he had to scratch is now completely gone.
“Financial security for us is a different situation now,” he said.
“I am so grateful I have found myself here.”
Mr Brumm said once Bluey was out in the world and successful the team received letters to the studio.
“A lady from Tasmania said she had recently lost a child, and her other child has severe needs. She said there had been no laughter in the house for three years and since watching our show, laughter was starting to creep into their house again,” he said.
Mr Brumm has taken a step away from the TV show and has realised the value in having an escape.
“We have provided a respite for families from the chaos in their lives,” he said.
“And for me, that is enough of a reason to make a silly dog show!
“My kids are growing up, and it's a hard world to fake. It was a hard decision to make, but the crew understood it. “
