previous page
TOC Spotlight
Clockwise: Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Skyfall, The Addams Family, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Game of Thrones
Celebrating Three Decades of Iconic Images Cinesite toasts 30 years of amazing VFX work while strengthening its animation feature division.
E
ven if you are a casual observer of the animation and VFX landscape, chances are you have admired the work of Cinesite over the past three decades. The studio, which is celebrating its 30th anniversary this year, has been responsible for creating some of the most iconic images in the world of film, TV and gaming — in Space Jam, Band of Brothers, World War Z and the Marvel, Pirates of the Caribbean, Harry Potter, X-Men and James Bond franchises, to name a few. “Cinesite’s 30th is a remarkable achievement for an independent studio,” says CCO Dave Rosenbaum. “We want to showcase the landmark moments and inspirational people who got us to where we are, to inspire the next generation of storytellers to push the boundaries of visual effects and animation. We’re standing on the shoulders of giants who contributed to some of the biggest blockbusters in history, not to mention all the awards those crews have been nominated for or won. Celebrating 30 years builds a camaraderie throughout the group with shared company pride and spreads ex-
ternally attracting more top talent, bigger partnerships and bolder projects.”
A New Focus on Animated Ventures Rosenbaum points out that the studio launched a feature animation division in Montreal in 2016 and acquired Nitrogen Studios in Vancouver the following year. “In the time since, we’ve delivered an astounding 10 feature CG films,” he points out. “Our first four were low budget per the client, 3QU Media: Charming, Gnome Alone, Dog Gone Trouble and Fearless. Then when Toronto’s Arc Productions closed, we took over The Star for Sony. They needed it by Christmas that year [2017], so we had to deliver in a record nine months, which we successfully did. And that was all just in our first two years of trying to ramp up the studio! More recently, we’ve delivered Extinct for China Lion, Addams Family 1 & 2 for MGM, and have a multi-picture deal with Aniventure.” The studio just wrapped production on Blazing Samurai directed by Rob Minkoff
(The Lion King) and starring Mel Brooks, Ricky Gervais and Samuel L Jackson. Currently in production is Pulitzer Prize-winner Berkeley Breathed’s Hitpig, starring Peter Dinklage as the title character. The studio recently announced it was in production on the six-part animated series Iwájú for Disney Animation and Kugali, which Rosenbaum describes as “a monumental project in every way.” Audiences will definitely have plenty of reasons to anticipate the studio’s pictures in the coming years: “Riverdance appealed to us because it’s so unique and entertaining,” says the CCO, who also directed the movie alongside Eamonn Butler. “It’s a musical but without lyrics. It relies on physical performance and speaks through interpretation, evocative energy and the music itself. It’s thunderous, disciplined and visceral — all the things we love in cinema. It features the voices of Pierce Brosnan, Lilly Singh, Aisling Bea and Brendan Gleeson. Bill Whelan, who won the Grammy for the stage show, composed the score.” The movie premiered as a Sky Original in the U.K. & Ireland in May.
“I think the same two words would get anyone excited about Blazing Samurai … Mel Brooks!” he adds. “Based on the seminal film Blazing Saddles and directed by Lion King legend Rob Minkoff, the film tackles the long-standing prejudices of cats and dogs with action-packed slapstick hilarity. The film stars Michael Cera, Samuel L Jackson, Ricky Gervais, George Takei, Djimon Honsou, Michelle Yeoh and the legend himself, Mel Brooks.” Another big studio highlight is Hitpig. “Remember reading comics in a real newspaper?” asks Rosenbaum. “I remember fondly Bloom County and Opus from Pulitzer Prize winner Berkeley Breathed. When Berkeley pitched me Hitpig, I knew immediately we needed to bring his wild imagination into our studio. Berkeley is not only writing and executive producing the film, we also hired him to be the character designer and work closely with our art department. We don’t just option pitches, we create long-term partnerships with filmmakers; we want them as much as we want the project. Hitpig is a film unlike any other
www.animationmagazine.net 66
TOC
december 21
previous page
