Daisuke "Dice" Tsutsumi worked at Pixar Animation Studios as an Art Director. Formerly employed at Blue Sky Studios, he moved to Pixar in 2007. On July 11, 2014, Dice announced he was leaving Pixar to join fellow Pixarian Robert Kondo to start their own studio, Tonko House. Dice and Kondo developed The Dam Keeper, a short film that won a number of awards in late 2014.