The mainstream media picks up on the fact that Mr. Meladandri's company Illumination is trying to change the usual business model for theatrical animation:
Neither Universal nor Meledandri is interested in parroting the business of Pixar and DreamWorks, which spend more than $150 million on their productions and huge sums on screenplay development. "We needed to create a model of efficiency," Meledandri says. "We can't afford to have a lot of trial and error." ...
The idea: Develop only a handful of scripts and look for unusual (meaning cheaper) places to make them ... If money is saved by not perfectly animating every single blade of grass, Meledandri says he won't skimp on storytelling ...
As far as I know, Illumination freelances out scripts, boards and design, then finds an overseas animation company to do the production work. They've got an ambitious slate of films beyond Despicable Me, with different production facilities on different continents involved with various films. No big, fixed facility with a permanent crew, no meddlesome I.A. fringe benefits, just sub-contractors as far as the eye can see.
(Sort of an upscale version of what the Weinsteins did with Hoodwinked. In ten weeks or so we'll see how it works.)
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29 comments:
It's called "sour grapes." They couldn't get the big budget or the studio, so they are putting on airs, like it was a deliberate choice, made by creative geniuses inventing an enlightened new business model which will revolutionize the business.
Translation: Let's see if we can get some desperate artists to work for nothing and make me rich because I am a genius and I deserve it.
There are already too many umbrellas-in-the-rain producers content to exploit us trying to get maximum profit with minimal investment.
How is this different than John Williams (Valiant etc.) ??
Anyway here's a question about the whole experience of an animated film; if Toy Story or Ice Age were released today, would it make lots of dollars ? as many dollars as madagascar ?
A good story will help get you up there somewhere ... maybe in 200 MM territory ? but the contemporary visual quality is what makes it a billion dollar theatre going experience
Just what is "contemporary visual quality"? You sound like a producer I used to work with who'd talk about adding "another layer of production value."
I would still say that great acting...whether it's in the voice or the animation, is what makes a good movie...The Incredibles was incredible visually, but it was the fact that it told such a good story in such a compelling way that kept people watching. As more Yahoos get more access to more computers you're going to see amazing visual stuff...that increasingly doesn't stick when it's thrown against the wall.
Just my two cents.
"As far as I know,..."
Illumination pays IA benefits. But go ahead and publish speculation otherwise, that's what politicians do.
And yes, more competition in the marketplace is actually a good thing. TAG should be more supportive of that basic idea, and cease from speculating because of what you have and haven't heard. If labor happily suckles off of the largest corporate players to fund pensions, they better be god damned ready to support the scraps of the job market left in the fringes. Otherwise, you deserve giant bloated corporations like the ones Jamie Dimon creates, and deserve to see labor pensions destroyed when monopolies sink the market. Grow up. Child.
to anon 7:18,
Suckle on the tit of the largest corporations? Last time I checked, all those people are working for a living. If the product is good, and they are making them money hand over fist, don't they deserve some security from that company?
You are for a race to the bottom, not competition. The only fringes that seemed to be supported here, is your ideology.
It seems you're the angry kid mad at daddy, not the other way around.
Translation: Let's see if we can get some desperate artists to work for nothing and make me rich because I am a genius and I deserve it.
Desperate artists? It was outsourced to Mac Guff Ligne in Paris, a 12 year old visual effects studio.
Sounds more like a group of talented French artists who've been given the chance to prove they are easily as capable of making features as Americans, not desperate youngins.
Animating American features in the heart of Paris? We should be jealous of THEM
to anon 7:48
I cannot help you if you don't recognize uninformed spin from a blogger. My ideology expects that from studio marketing, not my guild officials. Here I expect truth, facts, and honest discussion. This blog is too forgiving to the studios that employ more of its members. Why rock the boat when everyone is making money, right? Sound familiar? IMO, that's exactly when you should be asking the hard questions. But then again, I'm just an angry kid, and you will have a secure job with JK and JL forever.
The Secret of Kells barely cost 9 mills yet I didn't see any posts calling it "Cheap" or "Fast"..I guess quality is dictated by how much we spend nowadays
" but the contemporary visual quality is what makes it a billion dollar theatre going experience"
That ignorant comment, of course, has been proven time and time again to be complete B.S.
"That ignorant comment, of course, has been proven time and time again to be complete B.S."
Please list the low budget animated films that have been commercially successful "time and time again"...
I cannot help you if you don't recognize uninformed spin from a blogger. My ideology expects that from studio marketing, not my guild officials. Here I expect truth, facts, and honest discussion. This blog is too forgiving to the studios that employ more of its members. Why rock the boat when everyone is making money, right?
I think you're confusing some anonymous comments with what Steve Hulett wrote (you do realize that the 'Steven' in the comments is not Steve Hulett, right?). Read Hulett's post again -- he seems to be describing the Illumination model that is consistent with what I've read attributed to Meledandri himself.
By the way, are the animators on 'Despicable Me' really getting IA benefits? Do tell where you got that information.
Finally, if you've never read Hulett criticizing the studios that have contracts with the Guild, then you're not really reading this blog.
Hey guys,Perhaps it will be good to see the movie"despicable me..." before telling anything about the artist?i think 150 million dollars is very expensive to do a movie....do you think Avatar is a new Reference for the budget of the 3d movie....?for an amazing rendering movie without any original ideas.....I m sure the arists are more proud to have a credit on iron geant than shrek...
"Illumination pays IA benefits."
"It was outsourced to Mac Guff Ligne in Paris"
Since when does the IA pay benefits in Paris? My guess? You are a writer. This is not the first time it has come up that producers who consider union writers indispensable consider union artists an unnecessary waste of budget.
No, I am not Steve Hulett, but I do know Steve Hulett.
Illumination pays IA benefits. But go ahead and publish speculation otherwise, that's what politicians do.
Dear Anon:
Illumination has no contract with TAG. Could have a contract with some other IA union, but none with us.
As far as I know, it employs the development artists it uses in Southern California as Independent Sub-Contractors.
I cannot help you if you don't recognize uninformed spin from a blogger. My ideology expects that from studio marketing, not my guild officials. Here I expect truth, facts, and honest discussion.
Please point out the uninformed spin. I'm always eager to learn and improve.
They are NOT the first to do it. Major studios are the doing the exact same thing right now and more to come. Embrace it because it is the way of the future, but if it starts with the U.S. producers and big studio mogols I wish they would allow the competing smaller coats to coast state side studios to do the productions as opposed to sending it to an overseas shop.
I must say i am really looking forward to seeing this film.
"Since when does the IA pay benefits in Paris? My guess? You are a writer. This is not the first time it has come up that producers who consider union writers indispensable consider union artists an unnecessary waste of budget."
Nice! Unnecessary nastiness! See? That's why they don't hire Union artists...they're so mean!
Actually, it is a a problem that production can be done so much more cheaply in countries where studios receive huge subsidies. And in America it's a corporation's sworn duty to maximize it's profits to it's shareholders.
And FYI I actually am a writer. And if Illumination is doing an overseas production and doesn't have a contract with the Cartoonists' Union, then chances are they're not playing Union minimums or residuals for the script either.
So quit your hating and work with your union to find a way to make Domestic Production more attractive to the businessmen who run these small production companies.
"Please list the low budget animated films that have been commercially successful "time and time again"..."
"low budget" has little to do with "visual quality." Proven time and time again.
"Illumination pays IA benefits. But go ahead and publish speculation otherwise, that's what politicians do."
-Anon 7:18
Hoopcooper,
That's the quote everyone is reacting to. Everyone wants to know who that is and what they are referring to. All this talk about "hating" and "nastiness" is baffling. Exactly what the hell are you talking about? Is outsourcing some kind of mean spirited slander I made up, or is it reality?
You brought up a great issue, though, about competing with subsidies. Clearly to get Americans back to work we have to resort to something that drastic, but try getting that past the party of "no."
One thing's for sure; clicking your heels three times and saying, "I really, really, really believe in the free market!" won't do it.
Steven,
apologies. I cut out the paragraph that explained that...the hating was just about...
"This is not the first time it has come up that producers who consider union writers indispensable"
Chances are the writer on this project isn't getting union minimums or residuals. And we could have had this entire discussion without comparing writers' experience to animators.
That's all I was talking about. But yeah...it's disheartening to watch production go overseas to save a dollar when the best animators (I truly believe) are still right here in town.
It isn't about what animators and film students would love to see, it's what the audience actually endorses with $$$.
There are far more mediocre stories with good visual quality (Transformers, Avatar, Madagascar, Shrek 3) than great stories with mediocre visual quality (Waltz with Bashir, Iron Giant) which are in the zillion dollar league.
Theatre going is now an event (and an expensive one at that) sort of like the old family fishing weekends. Other great stuff can be viewed on DVD or Netflix.
Meledandri is a poor pitchman compared to JK
If he were saying "we can make the same quality but cheaper" that would be something new to make industry people curious. Instead here he is already downplaying his product, and not even making a virtue of it like say, South Park.
Is the ticket price going to be cheaper because every blade of grass doesn't move ? if not, which viewer gives a damn ? how does this build anticipation for the film ?
it 's funny because every body speaks about producer and not about directors....is it , because directors have no power...just technical guy without soul?
it 's stange because i remember only the directors from pixar...
i dont remember any sidekik of Meleandri or JK... But,it seems the new generation of dreamwork's movie is changing..since kungfu panda... and dragon..Dean deblois seems to be the next director for pixar...
"Here I expect truth, facts, and honest discussion"...
i think you forget the money than the big studio give for advertising 40% of the budget.... ,it s just the price to push the audience to think about the movie every day (big brother) like coca cola use to do...try to change your brain....it s not about the artistic way...the money is not only about the quality of the movie...
sounds to me like the only way to have a job in the US in this industry soon is to be the scriptwriter, higher ups at the studio, & maybe (just maybe) the supervising director & the editor at the end. everything else is being outsourced. Am I reading this right?
Anonymous,
Are you reading it right? Yeah, sadly, I think so. As a script writer I can tell you that with all the live action stuff (and a lot of the animation writing) going to other countries the only option I have is to come up with my own shows.
In this case, the only american thing they think they can't replace is innovation. So as long as you keep coming up with something new they want to buy, you can pay the rent. As long as you don't sell it to Disney.
The only way to be successful in LA is to avoid labeling and to avoid the way the industry divides job descriptions. If you are an artist, you need to write and act and direct and sing and dance and perform in whatever way you can think of, in every venue you can think of, and if you are a writer you need to do the same. The people who do the best and who have the most leverage in LA are those who don't settle for the tiny boxes that controlling interests in this town try to put you in. That goes for both management and labor interests.
It is not that they don't appreciate it, they are direct beneficiaries of your work. It is more that they do not function to provide you the most obvious pathways to achieve the diverse range of experiences necessary to truly excel in entertainment.
But in those experiences, should you succeed in finding them, your art will mature and thrive, and it will be you alone who deserves the rewards it brings. And that's the truth.
You mean ....Entourage is not the reality???
"......It seems you're the angry kid mad at daddy, not the other way around." yeah man,Just do it.....come on ,kill the bottom people, we are the superior men...!!!you seem to have another ideology....for sure..
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