Clips: IFP Panel on "Big Ideas for the Small Screen"

These are the clips I would've shown in this morning's IFP Filmmaker Conference panel on "Big Ideas for the Small Screen." (Conference venue couldn't show video from the Internet.)

- Thom Woodley's Web series "The All-for-Nots," produced for Michael Eisner's Vuguru.

- "Prank War" video from College Humor

- Animation project, "Animalia," raising money through Kickstarter

- One of the more popular "$99 Music Videos" from Next New Networks

At the Rome Film Fest: 'Walt & El Grupo'

I was totally confused about how (and whether) my credentials would allow me to see a movie here in Rome... so I wound up sitting in the rush line for 'Walt & El Grupo,' a documentary about Walt Disney's trip to South America in 1941. After about ten minutes there, a nice fellow came up and handed me an extra ticket, so I went in.

The film was made by Ted Thomas, son of the great Disney animator Frank Thomas, and he was in the house to introduce his film. Last night was its European debut.

What I liked best about the movie was its jaunty Latin American soundtrack and its sense of context: 1941 was a difficult time for Walt and his studio... with war raging in Europe, his income from the continent was sagging...his animators were on strike...and he "partnered" with the U.S. Department of State to go on an all-expenses-paid goodwill tour of South America. The trip was part diplomatic mission (to persuade South American countries to align with the U.S. and not Germany), and part a voyage to collect new material for his cartoons (resulting in 'Saludos Amigos' and 'The Three Caballeros,' among other films).

But the movie ends up feeling too much like an itinerary-based family slide show... "First we went to Argentina, and here's what we did..." Since none of the trip's participants are still alive (or at least none who were interviewed for the film), you never get to know them very well. As a result, the film suffers from a major personality void.

Pixar and the Internet: Do they get it?

Few people would argue that Pixar has put together the most high-powered animation team since the heyday of Disney.

But are they focusing on the right challenges?

Harvard Business Review has an article and podcast featuring Pixar and its co-founder, Ed Catmull.

Every since the company made 'Toy Story' in 1995, Pixar has produced three products: short films that let it test out new technologies and techniques (these are shown at SIGGRAPH, sold on iTunes, and played before Pixar's features in theaters), full-length features, and animation software called Renderman.

Around 2003, the company shifted from making one feature every 24 months to one every 12 months - which was a big deal.

In 2006, after Disney acquired Pixar, Catmull and John Lasseter essentially took over Walt Disney Feature Animation.

That's a lot of work.

And yet I'd still argue that the big challenge for Disney and Pixar to be thinking about is animated content for the Web... stuff that can be produced less-expensively, that connects with audiences in different ways, that takes big risks Pixar wouldn't take on the big screen.

Imagine an embeddable animated character for your MySpace or Facebook page that would greet visitors with a different quip every time they came. Or content delivered to cell phones that might introduce you (and your kids) to the characters in the next Disney or Pixar feature -- and reminding you to see it in theaters or buy the DVD. Or a Pixar serial, updated every week online, that might eventually add up to a feature?

(Of course, when DreamWorks Animation tried to do a TV show, things didn't work out so well... but I think that was a risk worth taking.)

One of Walt Disney's genius moves was to look at television and realize that it was not just a medium for promoting his movies... but also a medium that presented new creative opportunities. Ask anyone who grew up in the 1950s and 1960s whether watching Disney shows on TV, like the 'Davey Crockett' series, had an impact on their childhood. It certainly had a major positive impact on the Walt Disney Company.

I'd suggest that the Internet today is what TV was in the 1950s - a medium that offers the chance to take big creative and business risks, and potentially earn big rewards.

Will Pixar?

Disney's Next 10 Animated Flicks: 8 Will Be in Digital 3-D

Reuters says that with the exception of this summer's 'Wall*E' and next Christmas' hand-drawn 'The Princess and the Frog,' everything on Disney's animated slate will have a digital 3-D release. From the report:

The first Disney digital 3-D movie for release is "Bolt," the story of a dog of the same name who thinks he has superhero powers. John Travolta gives voice to Bolt while hit teen singer/actress Miley Cyrus is voicing Bolt's owner Penny in the movie, due to open on November 26.

Digital Effects and Animation Panel from SXSW

Some belated notes from Sunday's SXSW panel on 'Animation and Digital Effects on a Budget'...

We talked a lot about the importance of pre-visualization (what used to be called simply 'storyboarding.') The panelists agreed that pre-viz, in whatever high-tech or low-tech form, is probably more important for independent filmmakers working on a tight budget than it is for the studio-backed big guys.

Alex Lindsay recommended Google SketchUp. Stu Maschwitz said he'd pre-vizzed national ad (for Toshiba's HD DVD gear, alas) using video from his Panasonic DMC LX2 digital camera; the camera costs less than $300. Others said that even pencil sketches of stick figures can work well, edited together in FinalCut or not. Stu said he'd also recommended that a friend use a PlayStation 2 game called 'Driver 2' to pre-viz a car chase he wanted to shoot. Stu said there's lots of potential in using videogames (and videogame controllers) to pre-viz quickly.

I asked about some recent work that might be encouraging to people working on tight budgets. Among the stuff mentioned was Don Hertzfeld's animation, the Galacticast podcast, 'Persepolis,' and 'Hoodwinked.'

Geoff Marslett showed some early footage from his new feature project, 'Mars,' which he's making for under $200K. It involves some pretty stylish rotoscoping. Mark Forker showed some work done by his new Philadelphia visual effects studio Dive, for an indie director.

And Stu offered a break-down of how he made a quick-and-dirty, but very impressive, ad for a Southwest Airlines "Wanna Get Away?" Internet contest (he didn't win, but should have). It's here.

'Beowulf' Begs the Question: What is animation, anyway?

The debate is already starting as to whether Robert Zemeckis' 'Beowulf' (coming in November) will be eligible for the Best Animated Feature Oscar, since it uses live actors and performance capture as a foundation. The Oscar rules require animated movies to have been created "using a frame-by-frame technique."

(Aside: is there anyone else who wishes Zemeckis would just go back to using actual non-animated actors in his movies? Let's start a petition...)

How a Hand-Drawn Animation Studio Survives in the Age of CG

Great piece from the LA Times about Film Roman, the studio that cranks out "The Simpsons" and "King of the Hill." Richard Verrier writes:

[Film Roman's] growth comes as Hollywood studios have largely abandoned the traditional 2-D style of animation long practiced by Film Roman in favor of computer-generated imagery.

But the Emmy-winning company has managed to survive and thrive in a CGI world thanks to television, where demand for hand-drawn cartoons remains strong.

The just-released "Simpsons" movie was Film Roman's biggest project in its history...spurring the company to add 130 new animators in addition to its regular staff of 400. (FR was also working on two seasons of the TV show simultaneously.) From the story:

Some of the animation work was farmed out to two studios in South Korea, Rough Draft and Akom. Although largely drawn by hand, the film used various digital tools to speed up the process and incorporated some 3-D scenes.

Film Roman was founded in 1984 by a Disney alumm, Phil Roman. It's now part of Liberty Media.

Animator M dot Strange Discusses His Digital Vision

I shot some video last week with M dot Strange, the director of 'We Are the Strange,' which showed at Sundance this year. He's based in San Jose -- and he is what you'd call a dyed-in-the-wool indie. Very sharp guy.

We talked about his work...how he has used YouTube to cultivate a community...the origins of his name...the importance of collecting e-mail addresses online from people interested in your work (or enabling them to pre-order a DVD)...a new kind of digital multiplex that M dot envisions...the iTunes Store...drive-ins...digital cinema...and film festivals that continue to demand 35-millimeter prints from entrants.

My favorite quote from the conversation (which lasts about 20 minutes): "No one knows the value of my media, because no one has ever done it before."



(If you'd prefer to download the video and watch it later, you can do that here.)

Aardman Features allies with Sony Pictures

After splitting up with DreamWorks Animation in January (just two movies into a five-picture deal), UK-based Aardman Features has decided to release future films through Sony Pictures. Aardman's most recent movie for DreamWorks, 'Flushed Away,' cost $130 million to make, and grossed $176 million worldwide. 'Flushed' was Aardman's first CG-animated pic, after years of work in claymation. From the Variety piece:

In future, Aardman will be working in a range of animation styles, including both CGI and the stop-motion claymation projects for which it is best known. It also expects to produce pics at different budget levels, and plans to increase its rate of output to release a movie every 18 months.

John Lasseter Takes the Reins

Laura M. Holson's story in Sunday's NY Times paints the clearest picture I've seen so far of John Lasseter as a strong, opinionated, and very hands-on leader at Walt Disney Feature Animation. It's a great read. Holson writes:

...The first filmmaker to run Disney’s animation operations since Walt Disney died in 1966, [Lasseter] said he wants to reclaim the studio’s golden era.

Since those early days, though, almost everything has changed. On the Disney campus, the creative culture is tattered still from years of cost-cutting and political infighting. And in the world at large audiences have moved on. The sweet wholesome tales of Mickey Mouse and friends don’t have the same relevance for a generation raised on violent video games, distracted by 500 cable channels and preoccupied with Web diversions like MySpace.

“I’m not sure it’s a trivial challenge,” said Jim Morris, a Pixar producer who is working on the forthcoming “Wall-E.” “As charismatic as John is, he can’t do everything.”

Disney's forthcoming 'Meet the Robinsons' was extensively retooled under Lasseter's guidance, and the director of 'American Dog' was edged out. Lasseter also isn't stingy with his feedback on new Disney rides for the theme parks.

Of course, Walt Disney was known for having strong opinions -- and he prodded his employees into producing great work. Could Lasseter do the same? I think the only thing that could prove problematic for Lasseter, over the long term, is that his name isn't on the door.

Variety: What's Changing at Walt Disney Feature Animation with Pixar in Command

Ben Fritz of Variety writes that Disney animators were optimistic when Pixar co-founders Ed Catmull and John Lasseter arrived to take the reins last year:

Disney animators use words like "euphoria" to describe what they felt at the time. Today, those feelings are more tempered, thanks to an unexpected round of cutbacks in December that saw Disney Animation lay off 160 employees, or about 20% of its staff.

"Everybody recognizes the fact that they're trying to change the culture down here for the better, but it's safe to say that the pixie dust that surrounded their arrival has pretty much disappeared," says one source close to Disney Animation.

Also interesting in the piece is Fritz's observation that, despite talk about making WDFA more "director-driven," the post-Pixar period hasn't been without directorial conflicts (and even some departures).