From Animation magazine, an optimistic forecast from Imagi's CEO regarding the recent shutdown.
Amid reports of financial problems plaguing Hong Kong-based Imagi, president of the company’s U.S. operation Erin Corbett denied in an interview with io9.com that the Astro Boy feature film has halted production.
Corbett told the site that the studio has the money to finish the film, due out in October through Summit Entertainment, which she says is about 50 percent rendered and completed.
The company did have to temporarily shut its U.S. offices for a week while it awaits its next round of financing to kick in. The company had sought a bridge loan to fund the interim but was unable to secure that financing.
The closure will have a minimal impact on the film, Corbett said. While U.S. operations were put on hold for a week, the main studio operation in Hong Kong was already scheduled to be closed during this period to celebrate Chinese New Year.
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The staff including the artists at Imagi were told there may be a possible resolution in 2 weeks and encouraged to file unemployment... in addition payroll cannot be met this week nor can accrued vacation pay.
gee...that sounds optimistic!
The CEO must remain optimistic if they are to succeed in securing the funding needed to restart or continue operations.
This doesn't add up. Anyone with a head on their shoulders can see something is terribly wrong.
1) Why did they need bridge financing in the first place? They obviously mismanaged whatever money they had.
2) If the "have the money to finish the film", then why shut down temporarily? Why need bridge financing?
I understand keeping a poker face on all this. But common sense says something much deeper is wrong here.
Debunk...? Hardly... Optimistic. Yes. Lie. Of course the CEO did. Let's be real here. I wonder if they warned their staff in advance or if they were blindsided...
Nikki Finke, a little late to the party, has her take.
Common sense says that they are experiencing the exact same thing the rest of the entire WORLD is experiencing right now. But hey, bash another nameless CEO caught in the whipsaw if it makes you feel better. It's not going to magically make the easy lending come back. I will bet you 1.2 trillion dollars that it is gone for a very, very long f'ing time.
As noted, the powers-that-be have no choice but to maintain a brave face if they have any hope of pulling out of this, but the number of Imagi troops "touching base" and tweaking their LinkedIn profiles paints a pretty dire story. Hope they get back on their feet soon, but it's not looking good. Tough times all around.
Given that the film is more than half done (and what I saw of it recently looked damn good), and that it's a property that has a definite pre-sold audience, I'm hopeful that the studio will get money flowing to get the film made and released at it's planned date.
Whether they'll get things ironed out in time to keep the excellent crew they had is another matter, but I'm still hoping and expecting that next week will bring good news.
Any news....?
Today's the day imagi is suppose to get there funding.
Anybody heard anything??
Feb 3 has come and gone.... way to go Erin.
Any more news? What are the chances that they will ship this to Hong Kong to finish it and thereby get out of paying their artists etc what back pay they are owed?
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