The Crystal Ball

... that we've all been waiting for.

... A whitepaper released [June 6] by the search giant’s Think Insights group called “Quantifying Movie Magic with Google Search” reveals that trailer-related searches done four weeks before a film’s premier can be used to determine opening weekend revenue. According to the paper, coupling that “key leading indicator” with the current movie season and a film’s “franchise status” — a metric that evaluates whether a movie is part of a top-tier franchise like James Bond films, or a “midnight” blockbuster like a Twilight film — can predict the box office take with 94 percent accuracy.

“While we’ve always known that trailers are an important aspect of the movie decision-making process, we were surprised at how strongly trailer search volume is linked to intent at this particular point in time,” Jennifer Prince, Google’s head of industry, media and entertainment, said in an email. “While news articles or movie reviews can give you the facts from another person’s perspective, movie trailers allow individuals to experience the film firsthand, and that’s what can really help a moviegoer form an opinion about a movie.” ...

It makes sense that in the age of the interweb, the Big Search Engine would be the big predictor for what movies succeed and which fail. My kid even uses it, in-between long sessions of internet gaming

(You can find the Google paper on the subject above right here.) Click here to read entire post

The Road Ahead for VFX

Industry conference. Lots of Prognostication.

Chris DeFaria, executive vp, digital production, animation and VFX at Warner Bros., opined that the future of California-based visual effects companies might involve offering R&D and production management, while the creative workforce continues to leave California to operate in international markets. ...

Chris DeFaria, executive vp, digital production, animation and VFX at Warner Bros., opined that the future of California-based visual effects companies might involve offering R&D and production management, while the creative workforce continues to leave California to operate in international markets. ...

Various speakers discussed the use of tools to previsualize work, but DeFaria related that for Warner’s upcoming Gravity, a large number of visual effects were actually "well underway if not close to completion" even before the movie was shot and “backward engineered for the actor's performance." ...

I've been an interested observer of the digital effects business for a bit of a while now, and here's the way it will likely go:

* A chunk of work will get outsourced. Pipelines can be worldwide, talent pools are now international so why not? But the quality issues will always hover. If you're doing R & D work in California, you will likely have a mop and bucket brigade in California as well, fixing the overseas mistakes, working on money shots.

* The low-end work will go where the labor pool is cheapest. But when you get a director who demands quality, our fine conglomerates will accommodate him and do the work at ILM, DD or wherever he's (she's) comfortable.

* Visual effects will likely be integrated into productions as time goes on, as Mr. DeFaria says here:

DeFaria was ... asked where he sees the VFX business heading from here and stressed that the day is quickly coming when there will no longer be visual effects departments operating as separate entities. They will instead need to be more seamlessly incorporated into the individual films’ production.

“You already have visual effects appearing in every single line item,” he points out. “It’s in vehicles, it’s in extras, it’s in cast, it’s in set design. It’s all throughout the budget of the film. And yet we’re still making films with this notion that down the hall we’ve got these visual effects. And anytime you need these digital tools you call digital effects. Which is insane.”

He likened it to having a production department for hammers and having to go see them every time you need a hammer. DeFaria thus sees a change occurring in the next few years “where we’re breaking down digital effects into much smaller pieces. It’s the only thing that makes sense.”

Imagine! The VFX crew as part of the production crew! Supervised by and interacting with the director and DP!

What a concept!

One thing I know. The predictions people are making about VFX are going to be different from the way events actually shake out. Some bright, innovative creator will find a more efficient way of making effects inside a film, and other creators will pile on board. And the current state of affairs will change.
Click here to read entire post

Foreign Box Office

The top of the international list is as expected.

Weekend Int'l Box Office -- (Grand Total Worldwide)

1) Fast & Furious 6 -- $45,300,000 -- ($584,645,735)

2) After Earth -- $45,500,000 -- ($95,191,569)

3) The Hangover -- $34,800,000 -- ($272,873,956)

4) The Purge -- $1,000,000 -- ($39,878,920)

5) Star Trek: Into Darkness -- $17,600,000 -- ($376,540,439)

6) Epic -- $12,700,000 -- ($191,154,556)

The pure animation entry is probably not what Fox wanted. But some animated entries do better than others. Click here to read entire post

South Africa's Feature

If DreamWorks can do prehistoric cave families, and Pixar make pictures about fish, then Africans can create animated movies about zebras.

... At France’s Annecy Intl. Animation Festival: “Khumba,” the second 3D animated feature from South Africa’s Triggerfish Animation Studios, Africa’s flagship toon studio. The pic, a coming-of-age comedy adventure about a half-striped zebra’s search for a magical watering hole, is voiced by Jake T. Austin, Laurence Fishburne, Annasophia Robb, Liam Neeson and Steve Buscemi.

Beverly Hills-based Cinema Management Group, which reps the pic in international markets, has closed pre-sales to Mexico (Gussi), Spain (Antonio Llorens’ Lauren Films), Malaysia (Suraya Films), Thailand (Mono Films), Taiwan (Creative Century) and Vietnam (IPA).

CMG’s international sales roll-out for “Khumba” covers 40 distributor deals, said exec producer and CMG prexy Edward Noeltner. ... Part of “Khumba’s” appeal ... is “the warmth of its color and lighting scheme which makes ‘Khumba’ stand out. What Triggerfish has achieved ... is that they are culturally distinctive from Pixar, Disney or DreamWorks movies but are technically and visually on the same level.” ...

Whether or not the movie is on the "same level" as Pixar/DWA/Blue Sky remains to be seen. But distribution deals are piling up around the globe, so people with money think it offers theatre-owners something tangible.

Will Khumba do Pixar business? DreamWorks Animation business? Probably not, but it's a niche product that could make some okay money. It wouldn't be the first, and animated features are a movie genre that is red hot. Click here to read entire post

Doing Well

... In this best of all possible times.

Walt Disney Co. Chairman and Chief Executive Robert Iger and Chief Financial Officer James Rasulo sold large quantities of company stock in mid-May, when shares of the Burbank entertainment giant were near an all-time high.

Iger sold 1 million shares of stock on May 14, according to a Securities and Exchange Commission filing. The sale netted Iger $37.7 million before taxes. ...

Long ago, a News Corp. exec explained to me how paydays for the Chosen Few in Hollywood work:

"When you're the CEO or CFO or some other top executive, you have some leeway with the company stock price. You know when the company is going to release a bad movie, or has some other problem. So you've got a pretty good idea that the quarterly profits report is going to stink, and you take advantage of that. The price of the stock goes down, you get the board to grant you a lot of stock options. Or you buy company stock.

"And then you wait. You wait for the next quarter or the one after that, when the Cameron film is going to come out, when profits will probably be way up. And you wait for the stock price to rise. When it does, you cash in by exercising those lower-priced options or the lower-prices stock shares.

"Top executives have lots of ways of playing with the company's share prices." ...

And that, boys and girls, is how the game is played at the higher elevations. Don't you wish you had crampons and ice-picks so that you could play too?


Click here to read entire post

June Box Office

A cheap fright fest is off like a rocket.

Universal’s ultra-low budget home-invasion thriller “The Purge” powered to a scary-good $16.7 million in its debut Friday and is heading for a $35 million first weekend.

That would mean the studio’s first movie to come out of its deal with “Paranormal Activity” producer Jason Blum will make more than 10 times its $3 million production budget – in its first three days. It’s doing it at just 2,536 theaters, while most of the other films are in at least 3,000. ...

And the scorecard to date?

FRIDAY'S TOP FIVE (Grand Total)

1) THE PURGE -- $16,700,000

2) THE INTERNSHIP -- $6,550,000

3) FAST & FURIOUS 6 -- $6,100,000 ($198,286,000)

4) NOW YOU SEE ME a-- $6,045,000 ($47,919,000)

5) EPIC -- $3,600,000 ($75,655,000)

(Epic opened $10 million below The Croods' opening weekend ($33 million to $43 million), and continues to track behind the cave family picture.)

Click here to read entire post

Hit Makers

A few days back, there was this from one of our fine trade papers:

“The Simpsons” began as a toon segment on “The Tracey Ullman Show,” “South Park” got its jumpstart as a viral Christmas card and “Robot Chicken” emerged out of an Internet-only precursor. So it’s long been clear that award-winning animation can be nurtured outside the traditional pilot-to-series development track.

Such once-novel routes have become commonplace. Network execs and new-media honchos have made it a priority to root out the next big hits by embracing short-form and incubating talent in-house. But the process remains an inexact science.

That’s why Cartoon Network and Adult Swim, per chief content officer Rob Sorcher, are experimenting with the CN Shorts Program to breed the next big skeins. Sorcher says the program cuts the production timeline down and allows creators to avoid foundering in “development hell.”

The current program and its former iteration, “The Cartoonstitute,” have given rise to “Uncle Grandpa,” “Adventure Time,” “Rick and Morty,” “Steven Universe and Clarence,” as well as the Emmy-winning “Regular Show.” ...

Let's go back in time a bit.

The first "Let's Develop a Series By Doing a Bunch of Shorts" started at Hanna-Barbera in the 1990s, when top-kick Fred Seibert invited staff artists to pitch their home-grown ideas to the studio, and the best of them would be turned into shorts that would go on the t.v.

This throwing-things-against-the-wall-and-see-what-sticks approach was actually quite successful. In fact, the core series on Ted Turner's Cartoon Network -- Dexter's Lab, Power Puff Girls, Johnny Bravo -- came out of the experiment and helped make the network what it is today. It also boosted a lot of young artists' careers.

This development format has gone on at most of the studios doing television animation, also (in one version or another) the feature animation outfits. But this incubator process for t.v. cartoons is now twenty years old, and VARIETY has one thing above wrong. Adventure Time, one of Cartoon Network's big hits, began life as a Nickelodeon show, developed by Fred Seibert's group. (The same Fred Seibert that created the format at Hanna-Barbera.)

Despite positive staff reaction (I was in a screening and watched it being positive), and despite middle management's push to get the short turned into a series, upper management elected to go with something else, and Mr. Seibert took the show to Cartoon Network and ...

The rest (as they say) is ratings gold.

Good news for CN, less good for Nick. Which might be one reason that much of Nickelodeon's upper management has since boogied on. Click here to read entire post

Still More Moving View Master

I can't wait for this.

The classic “The Wizard of Oz,” will be coming to theaters once again—but this time in 3D.

Warner Bros. is celebrating the movie’s 75th anniversary by rereleasing it in 3D for one week, starting Sept. 20, and only in IMAX theaters.

“My hope is that they [audiences] say, ‘This is the way I imagined it to be seen,’” said Greg Foster, president of filmed entertainment for IMAX. “This isn’t about making a quick buck. These are very important brands.” ...

Uh, no.

It's about making a buck. Maybe not quick, but certainly long-term. That's what studios do, after all. Why they're in business. And we shouldn't begrudge them for it, but we should bray a horse laugh when some Very Important Exec spouts forth:

“This isn’t about making a quick buck." ...

Because of course it is. It certainly isn't about advancing the art of film. Or lifting up down-trodden humanity. It's about the MONEEEY.

And I look forward to Gone With The Wind 3D and The Adventures of Robin Hood 3D, coming soon to an IMAX theater near you. Click here to read entire post

Worldwide Biggie

Now with high-grossing Add On.

While nobody was paying much attention ...

... The Croods is basically out of most US theaters, but while its $180 million domestic take is quite impressive, Dreamworks’ 10th biggest such haul and the sixth-largest for a non-sequel, its overseas performance is undoubtedly powered by 20th Century Fox ‘s infamous overseas muscle. ... The film’s foreign take is $388 million, the ninth-biggest such haul and the second-largest such gross for a non-sequel at DWA, behind the $416 million overseas gross of Kung Fu Panda.

The worldwide total, $569 million (and counting?) is also the second-biggest total for a non-sequel, behind the $631 million gross of Kung Fu Panda. It’s also currently the second-biggest global hit of 2013. ...

You want to know why all of our fine, entertainment conglomerates want to be in the animated feature biz? Half a billion dollars (and up) is the reason.

The Croods got good but not ecstatic reviews, and it's cleaned up at the box office. If you compare a sampling of DWA features, it's instantly apparent that the prehistoric family is right up there (and above) recent releases. It's outperformed Chris Sanders other DreamWorks hit, How to Train Your Dragon, which was also a corporate money spinner.

The outperformance of many (though not all) DreamWorks Animation movies is one of the reasons there is still a lot of CG animation work in California. When large companies hit on a winning formula for making lots of money, they are reluctant to change it. There's been a sizable talent pool in the Golden State that knows how to make long-form cartoons, and that pool's batting average (DreamWorks, Disney, Pixar) has been higher than other places.

Entertainment companies being what they are, more often than not they go with the teams that have the best stats. (So far, anyway.)

Add On: But even a successful feature doesn't always have smooth sailing.

... Chinese theater owners were ordered by regulators to end [The Croods'] theatrical run two weeks earlier than anticipated.

The move was widely interpreted as a way to make room for local animation films, underscoring how even the Hollywood studios that are most successful in China can be subject to the unpredictable decisions of government authorities eager to expand their own film industry.

"The Croods" has generated nearly $65 million in ticket sales since its release on April 20 -- making it the top grossing original animated movie in China and even surpassing "Kung Fu Panda," which was also a hit in China, the world's second-largest film market. ...

Click here to read entire post

Australian Subject

DreamWorks draws on the Land Down Under.

DreamWorks Animation is turning to the Australian outback for inspiration for its first full-on animated musical.

The Glendale-based studio said it had tapped award-winning composer, actor and writer Tim Minchin to help create a musical project called "Larrikins," which is Australian slang for mischievous youth.

The all-animal comedy, based on an original idea written by Harry Cripps ("Supernova") and produced by Christina Steinberg ("Rise of the Guardians," "National Treasure"), tells the story of an uptight bilby ...

This will be the second animated foray to Australia for Mr. Katzenberg. Twenty-odd years ago, he put the first full-length animated sequel into work. It was entitled The Rescuers Down Under, released between the better-remembered Little Mermaid and Beauty and the Beast.



The only other animated feature set in Australia that immediately comes to mind is Fern Gully, but there are probably others. Best of luck to DWA with the new project. Click here to read entire post

Four Artists - June Gallery 839 Show

Selected works from Charles Pickens, April Thomas, Princess Ifeoma “Ify” Obienu and Alexandra Kube will be on display through the month of June at Gallery 839. The show's opening is tomorrow night starting at 6:00pm.

Click here to read entire post

MPI Health Plans Summaries of Benefits and Coverage

Participants in the Motion Picture Industry Health Plans should now be receiving their Open Enrollment packets in the mail. This is the annual period when participants can elect to switch in to one of the HMO Plans currently offered (either Medical or Dental).

This year however, thanks to the Affordable Care Act, MPI was required to provide a very helpful set of documents called a Summary of Benefits and Coverage (SBC) along with the enrollment paperwork.

These summaries are provided by law to help participants make better and more informed decisions regarding their health plan choices. For your quick reference, we're providing links to these documents below, and on our website. We will also be passing these out during our New Member Meetings for new members to review before making their initial plan choices.

MPI/Anthem Blue Cross Summary of Benefits and Coverage

Kaiser Permanente Summary of Benefits and Coverage

HealthNet Summary of Benefits and Coverage

If you're a participant and interested in switching into one of the HMO plan options, you must complete a Benefit Selection Form and submit it to MPI by July 12, 2013. Coverage should begin by August 1, 2013. Any questions or concerns should be directed to MPI Customer Service at (818 or 310) 769-0007.

Click here to read entire post

TAG Panel: Investing For Retirement

At the May 28th General Membership Meeting, TAG presented a panel discussion on "Investing for Retirement" featuring Timothy C. Metcalf and Timothy P. Cronin from Wells Fargo Advisors. The talk covered a lot of ground, and there were some lively and provocative questions from Animation Guid Members ... which can be heard at the link below ....

TAG Panel Discussion - Investing for Retirement

Find all TAG Interviews on the TAG website at this link

Tim Cronin is a Senior Vice President with WFA, and Mr. Metcalf is a Managing Director. They presented strategies for investing, also their outlook on the world economy over the next several years. (Hulett's in the mix too, blathering about the Animation Guild 401(k) Plan and the Motion Picture Industry Health and Pension Plan.)
Click here to read entire post

The Little Silver Disk

Is it going away? And will direct-to-video animated features be going out the door marked "Exit" with it. Wanrer Brothers Animation supervising producer John Tucker makes his prediction:

Are the animated D-T-V an endangered species as the market changes and streaming moves to the forefront?

Tucker: My specific knowledge on that particular subject is limited but from what I gather, the DVD market is struggling but it's holding on. It's like network tv, the demise of network tv has been forecast for a while now and they're still holding on.

I think there will always be a need for people to have a tangible object in their hand when they buy stuff. But having said that, I know that [WB] Home Video is really happy with the downloadable market. The numbers on that appear to be pretty good. With DVD's some do better than others, there's really no accounting for that really.

With downloadable, I don't know if the overhead on that is a little cheaper, but I'm hoping it will afford us the chance to do lesser known characters down the line. Even the whole direct to Netflix or direct to "whoever" or even direct to the WB website, I think that's in the future, I just don't know how far in the future. ...

Our fine, entertainment conglomerates have been lamenting about the decline of the Little Silver Disk in contract negotiations for the better part of a decade. Animation, interestingly enough, has held up better than other segments of the movie market. Still in all, the DVD/Blu-Ray market has taken hits.

Me, I think that animated long-forms for the home flat-screen will continue into the foreseeable future, but I think the platforms for them will change over time. There will be more streaming video. There will be more downloadable files. But there will still be a market (albeit smaller) for the shiny round things in the jewel boxes. We still have network radio and network t.v. and live theater, after all. And people still drive to their neighborhood multi-plexes (many of them owned by China) for their weekly dose of raunchy comedy or a muscled actor kicking somebody's head to mushy pulp.

In other words, I don't think the world's entertainment needs are going to be changing in significant ways anytime soon, although some of the delivery systems will change. It's going to be up to the conglomerates that rule us to find the best ways to monetize all those delivery systems, but the creation of fresh content (I think) will continue.

Click here to read entire post

Time Again For The Wage Survey

Yesterday we mailed the 2013 edition of the questionnaire for the Guild’s wage survey — our check of where rates of pay have been ... and where they’re going. Read it over, complete it and return it to us, by mail or online.

You’ll find last year’s results online here.

The wage survey questionnaire is also available online at animationguild.org/wage-survey-2013. To fill out the online questionnaire, enter your name, home e-mail address and the last four digits of your SSN. This will only be used to ensure that all respondents are members and that there are no duplicates; your name will not be attached to or associated with your online answers. To ensure absolute anonymity, return the enclosed questionnaire in paper form. The data will be processed the same regardless of how it was submitted.

It takes less than five minutes to complete the questionnaire. Please return it to us in the postage-paid return envelope by July 26. (Important: Use the return envelope for this survey only, and not for payments, etc.) The results will be published in The Peg-Board, on our website, on the [tag839] e-mail list and here on the TAG Blog.

It’s important that everyone — writers, artists and technicians, traditional animation and CGI, employed or unemployed -- give us accurate statistics of wages in the business. Low participation results in inaccurate or misleading results.

We’re especially interested in increasing the survey participation of animation writers and freelancers, also those who may be working non-union. If you’re currently unemployed or not working in animation or visual effects, please give us information about your most recent animation job.

Under Section 232 of the California Labor Code, you have the absolute right to share wage information without employer discipline or discrimination.

Remember: This is information that the producers know already. By participating in this survey, you allow yourself and your fellow Guild members to negotiate with employers on a more equal footing.

Click here to read entire post

Big Ticket Items

Did anyone notice this headline?

Saudi Prince Spends Nearly $20 Million for Three Days in Disneyland ...

I thought he'd gone and bought those newer, higher-priced DL tickets. But it seems I was mistaken. He'd just rented acreage inside the park.

Stupid me. Click here to read entire post

Big China Launch

When in the biggest country in the world, it pays to be high profile.

The Shanghai International Film Festival has picked Pixar’s sequel to open its 16th edition on June 15. Monsters University will be the first 3D or animated pic to christen the fest. Walt Disney Studios also will screen 16 Pixar shorts during the Shanghai fest ...

This looks like a major marketing coup for the Mouse. China offers up major box office to the filmmaker who can break through the government red tape and the inertia. Looks as though the usual aggravating impediments are being taken care of. Click here to read entire post

Happy Days

DreamWorks shares, they are moving in a northerly direction.

DreamWorks Animation stock has made an impressive run up the charts in 2013, boasting a year-to-date gain of about 33%, and outpacing the broader S&P 500 Index (and SPY) by more than 20 percentage points during the past three months. What’s more, the stock gapped notably higher at the beginning of last month after topping analysts’ first-quarter earnings projections, and went on to tag a year-to-date high of $22.26 on May 14.

Meanwhile, DreamWorks shares continue to trade above support at their 10-week moving average ...

DreamWorks has had good fortune with The Croods, the studio's latest entry in the animated feature box office sweepstakes, but it has some of the same issues as before. Though its branching out into television and amusement parks, it still needs every ninety-minute cartoon to be a hit. Otherwise, there are complications.

DWA has a couple of different ways it can go. The company can push to become more conglomerate-like, where it gets into doing live-action features of hybrids. Or it can get swallowed up by one of the existing entertainment conglomerates. My bet is that News Corp. gulps down DreamWorks Animation whole before too many more years pass.

Naturally enough, I could be totally wrong. Click here to read entire post

Motion Picture Pension and IAP Plan Statements

*Now with Freshly Minted Add-On!!

If you're an active member of the Animation Guild, you should be getting your pension statement from the MPIPHP (Motion Picture Industry Pension and Health Plan) right about now ...

The earnings statements contain:

1) Total Qualified Pension Years (Defined Benefit Plan and Defined Contribution Plan)

2) Total Credited Hours

3) Total Accrued Monthly Life Annuity Benefit at Normal Retirement Age

4) Individual Account Plan (Defined Contribution Plan) through December 2012

The numbers participants should check are ALL of the above. And "Normal Retirement Age" is 65.

Broken down, seven billion dollars (and change) in the two pension plans below were invested in the following jams and jellies:

Defined Benefit Plan (Monthly Annuity)

U.S. Equities -- 10%
International Equities -- 20.5%

Fixed Income -- 29.1%

Alternative Investments -- 33.6%
Real Estate -- 6.8%

Individual Account Plan (Defined Contribution -- Lump Sum)

U.S. Equities -- 9.6%
International Equities -- 14.7%

Fixed Income -- 35.8%

Alternative Investments -- 35.2%
Real Estate -- 4.7%

The Defined Benefit Plan has been around since 1953. The Individual Account Plan came into existence in 1979. Both have a good chunk of change in them. (For more information about the Motion Picture Industry Pension Plans, go here.)


* Add On:
Steve Kaplan presented a breakdown of the MPI Pension statements last year in this post. It may be helpful for you to review for your clarification.

Click here to read entire post

Trouble in Pine Valley

And a labor organization (wouldn't you know?) is in the middle of it.

The union that represents the "All My Children" crew thinks the soap may be underpaying its members.

The issue is between Prospect Park, the production company that gave the sudser a new life on the internet, and the International Alliance of Theatrical and Stage Employees - Local 52. Representatives from IATSE are going over the production's books to see if "All My Children" has gone over budget and violated a labor agreement in the process, according to an individual with knowledge of the union's plans. ...

Funny thing, but one of our fine entertainment conglomerates underpaid the staff of a half-hour cartoon show late last year and the Animation Guild filed a grievance.

Took us six months to straighten things out, but the crew finally got paid per the contract. (This is about all I can say about the conundrum, confidentiality issues being what they are. But everybody was happy to get their checks. However late they were.)
Click here to read entire post

Prime Time Animation

The Animation Guild continues to pick up new employees at signator studios. Disney TVA continues to sub-contract work outside of its Glendale and Burbank studios.

Why is this happening? Because animated programming continues to thrive on home flat screens, to wit: ...

TV Ratings: Fox's Animation Repeats Top Night

FOX -- 7:30 p.m. -- American Dad -- #3

8:00 p.m. -- The Simpsons -- #1

8:30 p.m. -- Bob's Burgers -- #1

9:00 p.m. -- Family Guy -- #1

9:30 p.m. -- Family Guy -- #1

A staffer on The Simpsons told me last week that when productions stops on original episodes of the Yellow Family, Gracie Films will get a BIG payout for syndication rights. (I have no idea if this is accurate, but it might explain why Fox continues to create new half-hours of The Simpsons two decades on.)

In a larger context, the continuing commercial power of television animation explains why more ... and more ... and more of it gets made. And why our fine, entertainment conglomerates sink significant bucks into the form: There are big profits to be made.

(There is only one game show cable network, but there are multiple outlets for animation. You can sell lots of merchandise for cartoon characters, but live-action thespians? Not so much.)
Click here to read entire post

Cross Adventuring

The Hub's latest ...

The first episode of “SheZow” has hit ... and besides the fact that there appears to be a lot of pink and some very strong stereotypes regarding girls and boys going on, the show can definitely be said not to be about a boy who has any gender confusion ...

Others differ:

Just when you thought you'd seen it all, along comes an announcement from The Hub, a low-rated cable TV channel that is attempting to increase its audience of children between 2 years old and age 11 by airing a cartoon featuring a boy who gains super powers by wearing a special ring -- and dressing as a girl.

“SheZow” has had its share of ups and downs. The series began as a “One Episode Wonder” on “Shorty McShort's Shorts” and drew such high ratings it became an animated series.

However, in order to air the series in the United States, the catch phrase had to be changed from “SheZow happens!” to “You go, girl!”

Despite the strange, bizarre premise, Loesch is maintaining a positive attitude about the series, speculating that if “SheZow” is a hit, the channel and its toy partner Hasbro can start merchandising her white go-go boots and her ring.

Small wonder that the moral fibre of this Great Land is rotting at the core. First inter-racial marriages, then same-sex marriages, and now THIS.

My only question is, where will it end? Wives earning more money than their HUSBANDS? Click here to read entire post

Your International B.O.

Where two animated features reside on the list.

International Weekend B.O. --> (Worldwide Accumulation)

1) Fast & Furious 6 -- $75,000,000 -- ($480,577,345)

2) The Hangover 3 -- $82,300,000 --> ($198,785,654)

3) Star Trek Into Darkness -- 37,600,000 --> ($328,556,486)

4) Epic -- $28,500,000 --> ($151,461,181)

5) After Earth -- $2,600,000* -- ($29,600,000)

6) The Great Gatsby -- $22,600,000 --> ($248,255,892)

7) Now You See Me -- $600,000* --> ($28,650,000)

8) Iron Man 3 -- $9,900,000 --> ($1,179,951,000)

9) Oblivion -- $5,900,000 --> ($274,562,095)

10) The Croods -- $3,700,000 -- > ($571,738,061)

The Croods is whirling toward the end of its global release, displaced by its newer Fox cousin:

... Fox's 3D family animated pic Epic placed No. 4 overseas, grossing a solid $28.5 million from 57 markets for a foreign total of $86.3 million and worldwide cume of $151.6 million. ...

To date, Epic has grossed $65.2 million domestically.

* Not really in a major overseas release as yet. But just wait ... Click here to read entire post

Simple, Cost-Efficient Investing

The other day I got an unhappy phone call from an Animation Guild member. She wanted to enroll in the TAG 401(k) but didn't like the high cost of some of the funds, the index funds in particular.

Your Large Company Index Fund, it costs 21 basis points (.21%). Vanguard or Schwab only charge 6 basis points. What you're charging is way too much.

I told her that I sympathized with her unhappiness, but that the Plan had to collect enough fees to administer the investments, so what could we do?

She understood the problem, but still wished it were otherwise.

Well, so did I. Because broad-based, low-cost index funds will make you the most money over time. And the three-fund portfolio -- Total (U.S.) Stock Market Index, Total International Stock Market Index, and Total Bond Market Index in combination will earn dandy returns.

Who says so? These people: ...

American Association of Individual Investors: "It should come as no surprise that behavioral finance research makes a strong case for buying and holding low-cost, broadly diversified index funds."

Mark Balasa, CPA, CFP: "That three-pronged approach is going to beat the vast majority of the individual stock and bond portfolio that most people have at brokerage firms. There is a certain elegance in the simplicity of it."

Christine Benz, Morningstar Director of Personal Finance: "A single, broadly based index fund can give you exposure to the whole stock or bond market, enabling you to build an entire portfolio with just one or two funds."

Bill Bernstein, author, adviser: "Does this (three fund) portfolio seem overly simplistic, even amateurish? Get over it. Over the next few decades, the overwhelming majority of all professional investors will not be able to beat it."

Jack Bogle: "The beauty of owning the market is that you eliminate individual stock risk, you eliminate market sector risk, and you eliminate manager risk. -- The ideal portfolio would combine Vanguard Total Stock Market Index and Vanguard Total Bond Market Index with a splash of Vanguard Total International Stock Market Index if you must."

Warren Buffett: "Most investors, both institutional and individual, will find that the best way to own common stocks is through in index fund that charges minimal fees."

I bring the cost thing up because the TAG 401(k) Plan trustees have been wrestling with the issue, and one month ago voted to ratchet the Plan's fund fees down.

As of July 1st, these funds will be less expensive:

TAG 401(k) Fund Fees: Old Costs ---> New Costs

(Northern Trust) S & P 500 Index -- .21% ---> .08%

Select Mid Cap Growth -- .86% ---> .74%

PIMCO Total Return -- .68% ---> .41%

The TAG 401(k) Plan still has expenses, and the trustees don't know if the lower cash flow to the administrator will cover the Plan's total nut.

(If not, then expenses will come from Plan assets on a pro rata basis. The goal, however, is to keep Plan costs as low as possible.)

TAG 401(k) Plan Enrollment Meetings

Sony Pictures Animation -- Tuesday, June 4th, 2p.m., North -- Rm 2050

Fox TV Animation -- Wed, June 5th, 2 p.m. -- Main Conference Rm

Click here to read entire post

Early Summer Box Office

The big C.G event movie with the big star appears to be faltering.

... Exhibitor Relations is reporting that the all-star magician/heist caper Now You See Me earned just a touch more than the Will Smith/Jaden Smith sci-fi vehicle After Earth last night, grossing $10 million vs. After Earth‘s $9.8 million. Even if Now You See Me is front loaded (unlikely, since it’s not a heavily anticipated genre sequel aimed at kids) and ends up with around $23 million, that’s still a huge win for Lionsgate/Summit. ...

Which only goes to show that the L. Ron Hubbard sub-genre tends to under-perform at the whirling turnstiles.

The projections for the weekend:

1. Fast & Furious 6 (Universal) Week 2 [Runs 3,686] PG13 Friday $10.5M, Weekend $35.1M, Cume $171.0M

2. Now You See Me (Summit/Lionsgate) NEW [Runs 2,925] PG13 Friday $10.0M, Weekend $27.8M

3. After Earth (Columbia/Sony) NEW [Runs 3,401] PG13 Friday $9.8M, Weekend $27.2M

4. The Hangover Part III (Legendary/Warner Bros) Week 2 [Runs 3,565] R Friday $5.2M, Weekend $15.3M, Cume $87.4M

5. Star Trek Into Darkness (Paramount) Week 3 [Runs 3,585] PG13 Friday $4.4M, Weekend $15.5M, Cume $181.0M

6. Epic (Blue Sky/Fox) Week 2 [Runs 3,894] PG13 Friday $4.1M, Weekend $15.6M, Cume $64.3M

7. Iron Man 3 (Disney) Week 5 [Runs 2,895] PG13 Friday $2.2M, Weekend $8.0M, Cume $384.8M

8. The Great Gatsby (Vill Roadshow/Warner Bros) Week 4 [Runs 2,635] PG13 Friday $1.9M, Weekend $6.2M, Cume $128.3M

9. Yeh Jawaani Hai Deew (Bollywood/Eros) NEW [Runs 162] NR Friday $445K, Weekend $1.3M, Cume $1.3M

10. Mud (Roadside Attractions) Week 6 [Runs 580] PG13 Friday $319K, Weekend $1.2M, Cume $16.9M

Click here to read entire post

From Roto to Astaire

This is a loong career.

After being immortalized as Snow White and, later, the Blue Fairy in “Pinocchio” and the Dancing Hippo in “Fantasia,” Marge Champion quickly moved on from being an animator’s model to an enviable performing career encompassing stage, screen and television work. That legacy will be on full display June 3, when Champion receives the Douglas Watt Lifetime Achievement Award at the Fred & Adele Astaire Awards in New York. ...

Before she was one half of the dance team of "Marge and Gower Champion" (and married to Mr. Champion) she was the teenaged Marjorie Celeste Belcher and then ... Mrs. Art Babbit. Decades later, she was stepmother to actress Katey (Futurama) Sagal.

Our congratulations on the Lifetime Achievement Award. Click here to read entire post

Retrenchment

It isn't just Southern California animation and visual effects houses that are streamlining. Happening on other continents, too.

Mad Max [and Happy Feet] director Dr George Miller is selling off his animation studio Dr D, bringing to an end plans to develop an Australian rival to Peter Jackson's Wellington-based Weta. ... Babe director Miller [is] holding a fire sale of the assets of his Dr D Studios via online auction house Gray's. ...

Dr. Miller, despite an Oscar and some commercial pictures, is like other mortals. If you make one of our fine, entertainment conglomerates money ...

Happy Feet was #1 in the United States on its first weekend of release (November 17–19) grossing $41.6 million and beating Casino Royale for the top spot.It grossed $198.0 million in the U.S. and $186.3 million overseas, making about $384.3 million dollars worldwide. ...

... then you prosper. And when it's otherwise ...

Happy Feet Two achieved less than 45% of the attendance figures of its predecessor. Major box-office prediction websites were almost unanimously predicting an opening weekend of $35 million - $45 million, so Happy Feet Two's box-office performance of $21,237,068 was underwhelming.

... then it becomes harder to finance your dreams.

That seems to be what happened here. It's always about the moolah and the leverage. Click here to read entire post

Prehistoric Space Jam

As there was an animated basketball movie, now there will be ...

Wrestling!

Warner Bros and WWE Studios are tag-teaming to co-produce a Flintstones animated movie to be released in early 2015. Here, fixtures of the ’60s Hanna-Barbera cartoon including Fred and Barney will be joined by WWE staples including Vince McMagma (voiced by Vince McMahon) and such WWE superstars and divas including John Cenastone (John Cena) and CM Punkrock (CM Punk). ...

From appearances, it doesn't seem as though this will be a major theatrical event, but rather entertainment for the little silver disk and home flat-screen.

... “WWE is family-friendly entertainment, so partnering with Warner Bros on a Flintstones/WWE project was a natural extension of our Scooby Doo deal,” said Michael Luisi, President, WWE Studios. ...

Click here to read entire post

At Tuesday Night's General Membership Meeting

There was a lively panel discussion about investing for retirement (about which there will be more soon), and ...

An even livelier back-and-forth about storyboard tests (verdict: they're abusive), uncompensated overtime (consensus: there's lots of it going on), and artists sharing information and rating various L.A. studios (which the TAG executive board will discuss at its Tuesday meeting.)

I gave a report on the guild's recent face-to-face with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers where I presented studio storyboard tests that took a week to complete, said they were way longer than they had any right to be, and informed studio reps that a lot of talented, experienced board artists were flat-out refusing to take them.

I told the assembled multitude that I need first-hand reports and samples of abusive board tests as fast as artists can report them. I said I wanted to be in the studios' grills as frequently as possible. For that that we needed board artists providing testimony (anonymous or otherwise) and examples of long tests each and every time they encountered them.

The meeting lasted until 10:30 p.m. Among the topics discussed:

* Creating an anonymous internet forum for Animation Guild members.

Forum would be a place where members can lodge complaints/grievances without fear. (Also a place where the guild can gather information from members.)

* Creating testing standards.

Can tests be eliminated? If not, how can they be limited, or monetized?

* Uncompensated Overtime and Tight Schedules

Should members report unpaid overtime violations? What is the studio blowback for doing so? **

I gave examples of departments at different studios where uncomped overtime happens a lot, and examples of departments where the employees NEVER work unpaid o.t. because they've built a culture where it's not allowed to happen.

I also talked about an I.A. production local that told me it has a policy of no free work being done by its members (i.e., no uncompensated tests) ... yet a major studio said at the AMPTP meeting that those same members work for free on a regular basis "trying out" for jobs on live-action features.

The issues above are not new. They were smacking me in the face when I started this job, and they remain problems years later. The challenge is: how to MINIMIZE them?

** Adapted from a meeting attendee's notes. Click here to read entire post

Not Robust

Or so says the L.A. Times:

... International box office for "Epic" is anything but so far.

The animated movie from 20th Century Fox's Blue Sky Productions unit -- which focuses on a transformed teenager who befriends a group of misfits and fights rot-causing creatures -- has taken in $43 million from 34 international markets since its release two weeks ago, according to the studio.

That is not a flop by any means, but the nearly $100-million production will need big numbers when it opens in Japan, Russia and Australia to be considered a global smash.

The last animated film to hit theaters overseas was "The Croods," a DreamWorks Animation title also released by Fox. That movie, which also features animated human characters instead of animals, launched with $63.3 million when it debuted in 47 foreign markets in March. The film has since collected $386 million abroad.

While noting that "Epic" has met expectations, Craig Dehmel, a senior vice president at 20th Century Fox, said the film's plot may make the movie a tougher sell outside the U.S. ...

As went Rise of the Guardians so now goes the latest Blue Sky feature.

These adaptations of William Joyce's books are beautiful and beautifully mounted, but they appear to have trouble connecting with audiences. Click here to read entire post

Feature Release Schedules

DreamWorks Animation yesterday gave notice about another upcoming feature, and its release date.

DreamWorks Animation has announced today that Mike Mitchell is set to direct their upcoming Trolls. Emmy Award-winning writer Erica Rivinoja will provide the screenplay.

Mitchell, currently directing the live action sequences in The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie 2, has garnered a fan base among family audiences for hits such as Shrek Forever After, Sky High and Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked, and has a proven track record taking legendary characters on new adventures. Rivinoja has been lauded for her work on comedies including "South Park" and "Up All Night." Under the direction of this new creative team Trolls will be distributed by Twentieth Century Fox on November 4, 2016.

"Mike and Erica are the perfect team to reimagine this film," said Chief Creative Officer Bill Damaschke. "Mike's pedigree in shaping stories with already beloved characters is second to none." ...

One thing you can say for DWA, they give you titles, subject matter and dates when they announce their future feature projects.

Diz Co., on the other hand, trods a different path:

... Disney has set a course for its animated features through 2018. All will be in 3D, with 2-3 pics coming out a year essentially alternating between Pixar and Walt Disney Animation Studios. Most dates fall in June (where Pixar has opened Brave, Cars 2 and Toy Story 3 and will bow Monsters University on June 21 this year) and November (past titles opened on this month include Wreck-It Ralph and Tangled and this November 27 release Frozen). The new dates come after already announced slots for Disney animated titles like Pixar’s The Good Dinosaur (May 30, 2014), the untitled Inside The Mind movie (June 19, 2015), and the Finding Nemo sequel Finding Dory (November 25, 2015). It’s also after Disney’s first Marvel-based animated feature, Big Hero 6, which has a November 7, 2014 release date. It seems likely that the just-in-the-news Dia De Los Muertos movie could get one of these new dates. Speculate away. Here’s the list if you’re scoring at home:

March 4, 2016 — Untitled Disney Animation wide in 3D
June 17, 2016 — Untitled Pixar Animation wide in 3D
November 23, 2016 — Untitled Disney Animation wide in 3D
June 16, 2017 — Untitled Pixar Animation wide in 3D
November 22, 2017 — Untitled Pixar Animation wide in 3D
March 9, 2018 — Untitled Disney Animation wide in 3D
June 15, 2018 — Untitled Pixar Animation wide in 3D

DW Animation is a wee bit less sketchy about its upcoming projects than the House of Mouse is, but of course DreamWorks release dates only extend to Turkey Day 2016, while Diz Co. has months and days pinned down through the middle of 2018.

Nevertheless, it looks to us as though there is going to be a royal collision of animation titles down the road. The question is: How many animated features can be nurtured and sustained in a given calendar year?

Click here to read entire post

Da Planes! Da Planes!

With a seven-hours-old trailer:



The summer marketplace is going to be crowded with animated films. Despicable Me II. Monsters University. Turbo. And of course The Croods is (are?) now winding down and Epic has just hit the neighbrohood multiplexes.

And there is Planes, which is a DisneyToon Studios presentations with aspirations of theatrical greatness. Disney had a small crew of animators in Glendale, and a large one in India (or wherever.) I have no idea how the picture will perform, but I guess we'll find out in August. Click here to read entire post

Morphing Into A Conglomerate

Seems kind of where DreamWorks Animation wants to be going.

Super RTL, Europe's number one children's channel, has signed a multi-year output deal with DreamWorks Animation that will see DreamWorks supply the Cologne-based network with around 1,200 hours of programming through 2020. ...

The DreamWorks deal includes programming from DWA's $155 million purchase of Classic Media last year, which gave Katzenberg the rights to hundreds of hours of classic kids TV. ... DreamWorks is also revving up its in-house television operations with small screen spin-offs of its hit animated feature films. These include a 20-episode animated series based on How to Train Your Dragon and a show based on the upcoming Ryan Reynolds-voiced feature Turbo, which will see DreamWorks partner with Netflix. Turbo the film bows July 19. The series, Turbo: F.A.S.T., is set for Netflix release in December. DreamWorks expects to produce at least five long-running animation series next year, all of which will have their German debuts on Super RTL. ...

DreamWorks Animation Television was shuttered in the 1990s. Disney Television Animation head Gary Krisel left the Mouse House to run the division, but due to the changing economics of T.V. production and distribution, the DW Television Animation didn't last long.

It's only in the last couple of years that a DreamWorks t.v. arm has come to life again. The company has a lot of different irons in the fire: German partnerships, a new China studio, and of course the new distribution deal with Fox. Some DreamWorks animation staffers opine that the Glendale campus could be hiring more staff as upcoming theatricals get into crunch time.

Conjecture at this point, but more employment is always a good thing. And The Croods, DreamWorks Animation's current release, stil rolls along overseas. And particularly in the Middle Kingdom.

The Croods’ sustained performance in China largely stems from the widespread acclaim it received via online word-of-mouth. The film didn’t make a splashy bow in the country when it opened April 13; contrary to market trends, its earnings actually increased in the next two weeks, culminating in its third-week takings of $20 million (122.7 million yuan). While takings fell by more than 50 percent the next week (to $9.5 million/58.1 million yuan), subsequent dips were not as drastic: It took $6.4 million (39 million yuan) the week after, and then $5.1 million last week.

While it's now nearly impossible for The Croods to match the box office success of the highest-grossing animation film ever released in China – that’s Kung Fu Panda 2, which took $99.2 million (608.4 million yuan) in 2010 – the latest blockbuster's slow but long-burning success has already alerted cinephiles and officials alike about the chasm in quality between these imports and homegrown productions.

In an article titled “Domestic Animation Films Urgently Need to Discover High-Class Children-Friendly Fun,” the widely read, state-backed Beijing Youth Daily has criticized local productions as slanting towards the “infantile” and catering to young children only.

“They are not like The Croods, which could be released amidst blockbusters and still bring in adult viewers,” said the piece, which was reposted on the government-run National Animation Industry website.

Click here to read entire post

How NOT To Invest

There are some great new ways to lose money.

Earlier this year, Goldman Sachs Asset Management announced that it would launch a new mutual fund that — apparently — will bring the joy of hedge fund investing to the masses. For as little as $1,000, the Multi-Manager Alternatives Fund (GMAMX) allows mom-and-pop investors to put their life savings into some of Wall Street’s riskiest and most expensive products. This “fund of funds” will, according to its prospectus, let investors gain exposure to the trading strategies of hedge funds.

The obvious question is: “Why would investors want that?”

Despite all the media coverage, glitz and glam of hedge funds, they have not done well for their investors. They have high — some say excessively high — fees; their short- and long-term performance has been poor. ...

Hedge Funds are actively managed funds on steroids. They cost a fortune to get into, and investors end up on the short end of the deal.

* From 1998 to 2010, hedge fund managers earned $379 billion in fees. The investors of their funds earned only $70 billion in investing gains.

* Managers kept 84 percent of investment profits, while investors netted only 16 percent. ...

Anybody interested in getting a piece of that action? (I thought not.)

The Animation Guild will be holding more 401(k) enrollment in the coming week:

Starz-Film Roman: Tuesday, May 28th -- 2 p.m. in the Glass Conference room

Nickelodeon: Wednesday, May 29th -- 2 p.m. main conference room

DreamWorks Animation: Thursday, May 30th -- 2 p.m. dining rooms B & C

And on next Tuesday night (May 28th), TAG will be holding a panel discussion on investing or retirement. I don't think that hedge funds will be part of the discussion.
Click here to read entire post

Foreign Box Office

Weekend totals for the world's favorites. ("Worldwide" includes the U.S. and Canada. "International" excludes the U.S. and Canada.)

Weekend Box Office -- Worldwide -- International

1) Fast & Furious 6 -- 256,528,000 -- 158,000,000

2) Hangover 3 -- 61,615,000 -- 19,200,000

3) Epic -- 57,300,000 -- 23,100,000

4) Star Trek: Into Darkness -- 51,100,000 -- 13,100,000

5) The Great Gatsby -- 38,105,000 -- 24,400,000

6) Iron Man 3 -- 36,824,000 -- 17,400,000

7) The Croods -- 7,015,000 -- 5,800,000

To date, The Croods global box office is $562,638,000, while Epic is just getting under way with $77,100,000.

(Box Office Mojo has a handy comparison between the two here.) Click here to read entire post

Furriners

The Animation Guild reviews two or more O-1 immigration visas per week. They are (mostly) for CG workers, but there are a sprinkling of others.

Should we be letting more foreign-born workers in? Should we be training more of our own people here? The questions constantly get asked, but not just in the U.S. of A. here's what's going on in a small country on the other side of the globe:

[In New Zealand], foreign workers are being targeted for more than 500 visual-effects jobs for the production of the next mega-movie in The Hobbit series.

Wellington-based special-effects giant Weta Digital, co-owned by Sir Peter Jackson, has asked Immigration New Zealand for approval in principle to outsource 526 positions.

Weta says most are just extensions to visas that are about to expire and the company has a great record of hiring Kiwis, but Council of Trade Unions president Helen Kelly is questioning the company's commitment to the local industry.

Apart from ads on the company website, she could not find evidence Weta had let Kiwis know opportunities were available, and questioned why another application was being made when Weta asked for 369 temporary work visas last year.

"They've done very little to bridge that gap. They don't want to invest in (our) people."

But Weta general manager Tom Greally said the company had proved its commitment to this country - 70 per cent of its 1,100-strong workforce were New Zealand citizens or residents. The temporary work visas were for roles that would be spilt between about 140 new employees and 250 people who were already working for the company, but who needed new visas. ...

There are a lot of people being trained in the U.S. for high tech jobs, but clearly more education needs to be done. Most of the foreign applicants the Animation Guild sees are artists with production experience, and many (though not all) command big salaries.

Unions and guilds have had the right to review 0-1 immigration visas since the 1990s. We know of a few IA unions that reject almost every visa application that comes across their desk. This is a fine strategy, only it doesn't work. I've talked to lawyers inside and outside the Immigration and Nationalization Service who tell me when a union rejects everybody, no matter how well-qualified they are, its credibility is blown to bits with the Immigration and Naturalization Service, and the agency stops paying attention to the union's letters.

A guild/union can be as tough as it likes reviewing applications, but it's got to have credible reasons for writing a "No Entry!" letter. Otherwise the guild's believability and leverage with the INS dwindle away to nothing. And the INS (like it or not) is the government bureaucracy the guild needs to convince.

I don't know New Zealand's immigration laws, but the country is letting a lot of foreign workers in for effects work. I understand why native Kiwis don't like it, but I'm stumped about what exactly should be done about it. (Weta can always take its moveable feast elsewhere. Isn't that the threat that's always being made here?)
Click here to read entire post

Memorial Moolah Hunt

Theatrical box office is off to a rousing holiday start.

... The combined B.O. of “Fast and Furious” and “Hangover” — along with Fox-Blue Sky Animation’s $93 million family film, “Epic,” with a projected $40 million four-day opening — should propel Memorial Day weekend box office to record heights, surpassing the $273 million benchmark set in 2011. ...

I guess we're slowly edging out of the recession.

Friday Totals (Total Totals)

1) FAST & FURIOUS 6 -- $38,200,000

2) THE HANGOVER PART III -- $14,530,000 ($26,319,000)

3) STAR TREK INTO DARKNESS -- $10,200,000 ($119,027,000)

4) EPIC -- $9,350,000

5) IRON MAN 3 -- $5,113,000 ($353,196,000)

6) THE GREAT GATSBY -- $3,960,000 ($104,687,000)

- 42 -- $300,000 -- ($90,104,000)

- THE CROODS -- $240,000 ($178,263,000)

As we get closer to the end of the weekend, here are the revised accumulations

Box Office Top Ten

1. Fast & Furious 6 - Universal - $98.5M
2. Hangover 3, The - Warner Bros. - $42.4M
3. Star Trek Into Darkness - Paramount - $38.0M
4. Epic - 20th Century Fox - $34.2M
5. Iron Man 3 - Disney - $19.4M
6. Great Gatsby, The - Warner Bros. - $13.7M
7. Mud - Roadside Attractions - $1.9M
8. 42 - Warner Bros. - $1.2M
9. The Croods - 20th Century Fox - $1.2M
10. Oblivion - Universal - $0.8M

The Croods had a sizable drop when Epic entered the marketplace, and Epic seems to be at expectations, per the Nikkster:

... Twentieth Century Fox/Blue Sky Studios’ 3D toon Epic is looking at $9.1M Friday and expecting $44.2M in 3,882 U.S. and Canadian locations for Memorial Weekend.

That’s about par for the course for original content animated films in a very competitive environment. (Opening weekends for recent comps range from $37M-$39M. This may pop since audiences gave it an ‘A’ CinemaScore which will help word of mouth. Sibling of the hit Ice Age and Rio franchises looks more earnest and less fun but benefits greatly from what has been a drought of family fare since March when The Croods opened.

Fox claims cost was $93M for this Chris Wedge-directed animated actioner with screenplay credited to James V. Hart & William Joyce, Dan Shere, and Tom J. Astle & Matt Ember. Producers were Lori Forte and Jerry Davis. Beyoncé was the cast ‘get’ plus Colin Farrell, Josh Hutcherson, Amanda Seyfried, Christoph Waltz, Aziz Ansari, Pitbull, Jason Sudeikis, Steven Tyler. Blake Anderson, and Judah Friedlander. Epic began its $14.5M overseas rollout last weekend in only 16 markets - only 3 top – with 20 additional international territories opening this Memorial Weekend. ...

Click here to read entire post

Ex-Union Officers Suing Union

This sounds familiar:

Actors Ed Asner, Clancy Brown, Dennis Hayden, and George Coe are among the 15 plaintiffs who filed suit today in federal court against SAG-AFTRA for not properly disbursing $110 million in foreign residuals they say have not been paid out.

Asner is the former SAG president (1981-1985) who very publicly opposed the SAG-AFTRA merger along with other ex-union board members. The 52-page filing also claims that the merged union has deliberately withheld information and kept the money in trust and spent portions on first class travel and lavish parties and big salaries for current union officials. ...

Funny thing. TAG was involved in a similar lawsuit against the WGAw thirty-six months ago. Individual writers were suing over money held in trust, and we joined in. Soon after, there was a settlement:

A state court judge has finalized the settlement in the tangled 5-year-old WGA West foreign levies case -- including a promise that he'll closely monitor how those funds are distributed.

... The WGA has agreed to use its "best efforts" to pay all foreign funds within three years.

... The WGA will have to allow the foreign money to "escheat" to the state for works not covered under WGA contracts if it can't locate the writers or their heirs after three years.

... The WGA West will hire consultants for a one-time review to make recommendations on how to improve the processing and distribution of the funds.

... The final settlement, which followed extensive objections to last fall's preliminary settlement, is much narrower than the WGA had sought.

The settlement brought about changes to the way the Writers Guild disspersed the money. (I started getting more foreign levy checks.) But many plaintiffs continued to be dissatisfied with the payouts.

Sounds like Ed and associates share the same gripes many writers do.

Click here to read entire post

DWA, Glendale

Inside DreamWorks Animation's Lakeside building, it was (pretty much) the last day of production for many on Turbo ...

A supervisor on the second floor said:

It's quiet around here. Go over to the far side of the floor and there's hardly anyone there. Everybody's finishing their last shots and people without another movie to go on are packing up. ...

Some of the departing staff that is getting laid off asked me about dismissal pay, asked how long health coverage would last (answer: 12-14 months in most cases), asked about going on honorable withdrawal with their TAG membership. A departing artists said, "Working here the last few years is a good calling card. I've gotten three of four job offers because of it."

Meantime, the studio is busy with cross-promotions:

2013 Indianapolis 500: Dreamworks Animation and IndyCar team up for "Turbo" film

"Turbo" is taking center stage this weekend at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. The movie will be screened on Friday night at the Speedway as well ride shotgun with driver Townsend Bell in his seventh-career Indianapolis 500 start. ...

DWA leaves no wheel unrotated.
Click here to read entire post

The Wealth Factor

Since we do talk about labor and money around here ...



The U.S. of A. has had great wealth disparities before: the late 1920s. The 1880s and 1890s. So the dynamic isn't exactly new.

But the late 19th century was a time of high social unrest. The haymarket riot. The Pullman strike. Little things like that. And 1929 was the front end of the Great Depression ... which saw a wee bit of unhappiness.

My point is, when there is a huge concentration of wealth, problems inevitably result. (If you're a student of history, you might recall the French revolution, yes?)

Funny how the troubles start when people are ground down and desperate.

What's a continuing mystery to me is how removing the social safety net and returning to the glory days of 1894 is better for anyone. If the Top 400 have 80% of the bread, and everyone with significant money is living large behind a walled estate, they still have to go out in the wider world from time to time.

(Won't they have to fret about getting knifed and beaten while standing in line at Starbucks? But then, the executive assistant will be fetching the coffee at Starbucks, so I guess it isn't a major concern.)

(The YouTube above is sort of a companion piece to this one.)


Click here to read entire post

Lawsuit Aimed at Time Warner

Somebody smells money.

An advertising agency has slapped a lawsuit on the creators of a Cartoon Network show, accusing the producers of ripping off their idea for a show about wacky, talking fruit.

H2M, a Fargo, N.D.-based ad firm claims "Annoying Orange" creators Dane Boedigheimer and Spencer Grove, who are originally from North Dakota, saw the "Talking Orange" commercials that aired in the state from 2005 to 2009,

When Annoying Orange was a gleam in YouTube's big glass eye, nobody got sued because there was little in the way of greenbacks at stake.

Now, of course, the situation has changed and the sharks are circling. (Big surprise, yes?) Click here to read entire post

Animation in China

Since we're on a geography kick ...

Chinese animation industry produces about 266,600 minutes of animation content every year. Foreign animation films dominate the market with more than 60% of television animation being of foreign origin.

In China, there are about 8,000 animation studios. The key animation industrial bases in China are Hangzhou, Shenzhen, Shenyang and Wuxi. The Chinese animation industry is growing at the rate of about 10-15% YoY. The cost of outsourcing one episode of animation work to China is about US$ 60,000 - 70,000. ...

The key factor which is driving the flow of outsourcing of animation jobs to China is the low cost labour as well as the availability of a large talent pool of animation professionals. ...

But low costs only take you so far. Beyond the "work is inexpensive" calling card, the work created in the Middle Kingdom needs to be dynamic enough to compete in the world market place.

Hasn't happened in a major way ... yet. Doesn't mean that at some point it won't. The world never remains static. Click here to read entire post

Animation in Utah

The NYT profiles Brigham Young University's animation school.

... Out of nowhere, B.Y.U. — a Mormon university owned and operated by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints — has become a farm team for the country’s top animation studios and effects companies. Unlikely as it sounds, young Mormons are being sucked out of the middle of Utah and into the very centers of American pop-culture manufacturing.

Praising the program in a speech on campus in 2008, the president of Pixar, Edwin Catmull, noted: “It’s the perception not just of Pixar, but also at the other studios, that something pretty remarkable is happening here.” (During the production of “Brave,” for example, a 14-person team tasked with rigging the complicated musculature in horses and wrangling Princess Merida’s curls included six B.Y.U. alumni.) ...

Makes sense to me that Brigham Young turns out top-flight artists.

Many are older when they start their education, and they don't get slowed down or hampered by booze or drugs. And being older they have a clearer idea of where they want to go with their careers and the road they need to travel to get there.

Adding, TAG Prez Bob Foster just pointed out to me that some of the best animation artists he's worked with have been Mormon. So there's a history of quality work that goes back a few years. Click here to read entire post

On the Matter of Testing

We get any number of complaints about tests that studios often require of animation job applicants. There's a job posting; artists contact the studio; said studio tells the applicant that there's a test they have to take for that storyboard/design/background job. (Choose one.)

And funny thing. The tests take three ... or four ... or five days to complete. ...

A couple of decades ago, tests were minimal to non-existent. Then, a cartoon studio looked at a prospective hire's portfolio. And if the studio liked it, the artist was hired into an entry-level position and worked her (his) way up ... or flamed out.

Simple as that.

But not so simple anymore. These days, there are packets that include design samples, script samples, semi-humorous instructions and the admonition to "Draw up X pages of script and be creative! Be inventive! And HAVE FUN!"

Sadly, it's often not fun. One veteran storyboard artist told me:

"I'm doing two or three freelance jobs, all on deadline, and a director I know calls me about a staff job. I'm always up for a full-time gig, so I say yes. And he says, 'I know you're good, but the studio insists everybody takes their storyboard test. So take the test and we'll hire you.'"

"So I get the test and start it. Only it's long. And I've got paying jobs to do. So I don't finish it. And the director calls me to ask where the test is because he needs me, and I tell him I'm busy with real work and I don't have time to complete it, I've got other deadlines. And he gets mad at me. "I want you to start a board, but I can't hire you! Because you haven't finished the test!'"

I never did get through the thing. I didn't have time, and I'm not into working for free."

Imagine. He doesn't want to work for free. How greedy and short-sighted.

The testing mania sweeping cartoon studios has gone several clicks past ludicrous. The studios engineer tests that grow progressively longer. Directors don't have time to look at long tests let alone short ones, and as a veteran boarder said to me today: "You don't need a lot of board panels to know if somebody can draw the style of your show. If somebody does thirty bad board panels, the thirty-first panel is going to turn everything around? Don't think so."

The complaints about testing got more numerous around the start of the year, so I called the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (which reps the major cartoon studios) and asked for an audience. Four months later I got one with all the studios in attendance, and I dutifully hauled in copies of studio tests to show that testing was (is) wildly out of hand. And you'll be amazed to discover that the studios are reluctant to admit that their tests are "long," even when it's screamingly obvious. To take one example: Disney's Gravity Falls test said in black-and-white: "This test should take no more than ONE WEEK."

Fairly clear, yes? A strong hint, wouldn't you say? I pointed out the sentence. The Disney people denied it meant what it said. "Oh, that means a couple of hours a day. Not forty hours."

Yeah, hm hm.

Except nowhere on the test materials does it say, "Take six or seven hours, maximum" or "Just put in a couple of hours a day." And when the packet contains 2 1/2 or 3 pages of script, that's a tipoff that the artist will ge spending a bit more than two hours a day.

I made the suggestion that since studios are requiring job seekers to draw the studio's copyrighted work, the studios are effectively hiring these folks, and should pay them. This did not go over well. The argument was put forth that actors audition for nothing, so why shouldn't board artists do the same.

(Maybe because artists are not actors? And even actors don't audition for forty goddamn hours?)

The meeting went on for the better part of an hour (the details of which I will be relating at next Tuesday's General Membership meeting.) The studios thanked me for bringing the issue to their attention (again.) I told them I would be contacting them every time long and abusive tests rear their ugly heads.

Board artists and anybody else who care about this issue should show up 1105 N. Hollywood Way, Burbank next Tuesday night. We'll be talking about the problem. And the REMEDIES.
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Cross Pollination

Marvel Animation preps its Avengers launch.



The series premieres July 7th ...

Marvel Animation has been working on this series since last year out of its studio in Glendale, California. This is the maiden effort of Marvel's new studio, with The Hulk being #2 (and scheduled to arrive in the not too distant future.

Marvel now does its pre-production out of nine thousand square foot space snugged against Flower Street and Circle Seven Drive. MA has ambitions to expand its current lineup, but it will have to move to larger headquarters to do it. Because the studio will be packed to overflowing if it takes on more series.

Marvel's sister studio -- Disney Television Animation, located three blocks away -- is also doing shows with Marvel characters in them. The Mouse believes in cross pollinating old brands with new. Click here to read entire post

Why American Animation Still Dominates

But might not for much longer. Animation producer Martin Baynton explains:

... "Some of the production scales I have seen here in China don't allow any proper development process. They want to race in animation. ... It should take a year to write a script. But people here try to write a script in one week."

"Everybody is working too fast." ...

On the other hand, animated features in the U.S. have shorter and shorter production schedules.

Maybe our fine, entertainment conglomerates are striving to imitate the Chinese.

(On the other, other hand, the development process seems to be stretching ouuut. Look how long Tangled was in development. Well over ten years.) Click here to read entire post

Cannibalization

So maybe Fox miscalculated.

The Croods managed $3.02 million this weekend, bringing its domestic total to $177.02 million (worldwide, it's made an astonishing $550.3 million), but, with 20th Century Fox/Blue Sky Studios' Epic coming out, it's going to be tough reaching $200 million. ...

DreamWorks Animation's cave family did more than accumulate another three million bucks. It climbed back into the fifth position inside the Top Ten, and it beat fourth place Pain and Gain on both Saturday and Sunday.

Not bad for a feature that's been out for two months ...

Chris Sanders now has two back-to-back hits at DWA. And story director Ed Gombert has smashes in two different centuries for two different studios. (Ed's other success as story director was Disney's Aladdin. The Croods marks Ed's second go 'round. Ed likes to space his story director assignments out a wee bit ...)

The odds are good that The Croods will tumble out of the top of the movie hit parade when Epic debuts on May 24th. I doubt that Fox expected The Croods to stay viable for so long, and planned its release slate accordingly. Releasing Epic in late May probably seemed a wise move back at the front of the year. Now, of course, the Blue Sky Studio movie will snip off some of The Croods money tail.

But what's a hungry conglomerate to do? It's got pictures to release and only so many weekends on which it can catapult its next cartoon to big box office. And Diz Co. unleashes Monsters University on June 21st. (Eek!)

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More Chances For a Little Gold Man

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences becomes more generous:

The Academy has relaxed the rules for winning an Oscar for Best Animated Feature, allowing more individuals to take home statuettes.

In rule changes approved by the AMPAS Board of Governors, the filmmaker with producer credit will now receive an Oscar in the category, along with the film’s credited director. In cases where a two-person team has shared director credit, a third statuette can be awarded.

In the past, the Animated Feature Oscar went to the single individual with the most creative input into the film, typically the director. In only two cases over the 12 years of the category – including the most recent winner, “Brave” – two credited directors received statuettes.

Because you can never have enough shiny awards ...

But what this is REALLY about is ... animated features are no longer the sleepy little sub-category that Disney Feature used to occupy all by its lonesome.

Now, animated features are big business, and lots of our fine conglomerates are making them. Disney, Universal, Viacom, Fox-News Corp. Sony, are in the cartoon biz, and delighted with the box office results.

In fact, cartoon features are the most profitable type of feature at the world box office. As the Nikkster reminds us:

Judged just by genre, average revenues for the decade’s 101 animated films ran 108.4% ahead of costs. DreamWorks Animation’s Shrek 2 led the category with a 462% margin. The 71 sci-fi/fantasy films had a margin of 108.1%. ...

This might have a teensy bit to do with the Acadmey's willingness to hand out more glittering trophies. Because if there's one thing the AMPAS does really well, it's being careful not to bite the big fat hands that feet it. Click here to read entire post

The Hue of Money

Veteran animation players remain in the game.

... Moviehouse Entertainment is looking to draw up deal memos with foreign buyers for former studio exec Frank Gladstone's The Hero of Color City. ...

It is aimed at three to six year olds.

Moviehouse has a one minute teaser it is screening at the Cannes Market.

Gladstone (The Road to El Dorado) has worked within the animation divisions of Disney, Warner Bros. and DreamWorks. The Hero of Color City is produced by Max Howard, former president of Warner Bros Feature Animation. ...

Mr. Gladstone and Mr. Howard worked together at Disney Feature Animation (Florida) back in the early nineties.

More recently, Max Howard produced the indie animated feature Igor, and Frank Gladstone was a development executive at Starz/Film Roman.

Mr. Gladstone is the current President of ASIFA, Los Angeles. Click here to read entire post

Pretenders to the Throne

Show their wares at Cannes.

Cannes: Global Competitors Emerge in Animated Film Market

... When it comes to animation, the big American studios: Pixar, DreamWorks Animation and Blue Sky still dominate the market. Take a look around the Marche, however, and this seems to be changing. The Last Elf of the Orient, Space Dogs 2, Marzipan Spirit, Jitterbug - those are just a handful of the more than 200 projects from outside North America that are looking for buyers and for a piece of the global animated pie. ...

There is plenty of room below that top tier [of Pixar and DreamWorks] for animated movies made outside the states,” said Martin Moszkowicz, head of film and TV at Germany's Constantin Film, who are producing the upcoming 3D animated feature Tarzan, an action-packed take on the classic jungle tale. ...

No nation is probably more eager than China to create the next Pixar. China's Tianjin North Film Group has arrived at the market touting the second film in its Legend of a Rabbit franchise. The first film was a notable flop though. Rather than retreating, the company is doubling down. ...

News flash: There is always somebody doubling down.

When billions of dollars glitter enticingly on the horizon, animation companies big and small swarm into the marketplace. (They'd be foolish not to.)

I've been watching this particular cauldron bubble since ... oh ... 1990, and the plotline seldom changes: American animation companies make big bucks in the world market; foreign cartoon studios then create product that they hope will make big bucks too.

Mostly, they fall on their eager faces.

So far, the closest that foreign companies have come to grabbing the big brass ring is Animal Logic with its dancing penguins epic Happy Feet (although the sequel sagged at the box office) and the French animation studio MacGuff ... which is under the direction and ownership of (American) Illumination Entertainment, so perhaps MacGuff doesn't quite count.

There could well come a day when foreign cartoon features clean up at the global box office. Even now, there are animated features from foreign lands that have made $50,000,000 ... or even $100,000,000 in markets around the world. But no European, Indian or Chinese studio has come close the billion dollar wonders created by Pixar, DreamWorks Animation or Blue Sky Studios.

I wouldn't bet against it happening someday, but it hasn't happened yet.
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Your Foreign B.O.

Where new animation and old is performing well.

... Fox rolled out is animated “Epic,” one week ahead of its U.S. debut. It brought in a strong $14.5 million from 16 markets. Mexico led the way with $3.5 million.

The studio’s “The Croods” added another $10.6 million to raise its international total to $375.8 million and its worldwide haul to $552 million. ...

But what finished in the Win-Place-Show positions overseas? ...

The Great Gatsby opened in 50 foreign markets and took in $42.1 million, narrowly topping Disney’s Iron Man 3 ($40.2 million from 56 territories) and Star Trek: Into Darkness ($40 million from 41). ...

Don't know where Epic might finish up, but The Croods will be above $600 million when all the world currencies are collected and counted.
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The Toons of Spain

Spanish animation studios have been creating features for decades. And they're still at it.

... For crisis-beleaguered Spanish production, animation is proving to be a lifeline. ...

Tad, the Lost Explorer, Spain’s biggest local toon hit ever ($24.8 million) has gone on to corral $50 million-plus worldwide, and counting. Ilion Animation Studios’ $60 million Planet 51, a Sony U.S. pickup, paved the way by scoring $105.7 million worldwide in 2010.

Tad’s success underscored the significant impact of broadcasters’ marketing campaigns, especially for toons.

With aggressive promotion, Mediaset Espana helped Paramount propel Tad in Spain, beating Ice Age 4 ($19.7 million), Brave ($19.1 million) and Madagascar 3 ($13.4 million).

If Justin and Foosball catch box office fire this summer, ... says producer Jordi Gasull at El Toro, “they could consolidate a golden age for higher-end, mainstream toons from Spain.”

Higher end is in the eye of the executive writing the check.

Spain might go upscale, but Spain has the same issues holding on to its star talent that every foreign studio (live-action or cartoon) has had since around ... oh ... 1914. When a top animator, director or story artist wants to cash in, they don't go looking for a raise from the likes of Ilion Animation Studios. They get themselves a visa and catch a flight to the states, where the money is better.

The Iberian peninsula will likely produce entertaining cartoon features in the future, but the trick will be to get worldwide grosses competitive with the movies coming from our fine, entertainment conglomerates. That could be a tall order. Click here to read entire post