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Montreal’s Magic Shop The principals at L’Atelier Animation talk about their second big movie project Fireheart and what they learned from the Leap! experience.
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bout six years ago, Montreal’s L’Atelier Animation studio was formed as a partnership between Laurent Zeitoun and Yann Zenou to produce the acclaimed CG-animated feature Leap! (Ballerina). Visual effects veteran Peter Skovsbo joined the studio as general manager in the summer of 2018, and the company has shown remarkable growth in recent years, with several new interesting projects underway. We recently had a chance to chat with L’Atelier’s exec producer Louis-Philippe Vermette and head of CG Benoit Blouin to find out how the boutique shop has been weathering the challenges of this unpredictable year. “The producers of Leap! wanted to make the film in Montreal, but they were very specific in what they were looking for in a studio,” recalls Blouin. “Although there were several worthy
and established facilities at the time, the fact that we were willing to work with them in building a studio custom-made to their expectations created an opportunity that was too promising to pass up. That is how L’Atelier Animation was born — a studio built with filmmakers, for filmmakers.” According to Blouin, the studio currently has about 150 employees of whom about 80% work remotely. He says in 2020, the studio ramped up its employees to 200, while go-
ing through the worst weeks of the pandemic. Dealing with the implications of the COVID-19 pandemic taught them that they could scale our numbers without having to increase the studio’s physical footprint.
Versatility Is Key The studio’s pipeline consists of: Shotgun for tracking and task management, Maya for modeling to rigging, layout and animation; FX are done in Houdini, Guerilla is used for lighting
‘We are ready to work with passionate producers and creatives who value a partner, not just a service provider. We want to be part of these kinds of unique projects that will take advantage of every single trick we have up our sleeve!’ — Head of CG Benoit Blouin
Leap! www.animationmagazine.net
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december 20
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