Longtime Cronenberg Producer Martin Katz Acquires Feature Length Rights For FOXED!

My good friend James Stewart has ample reason to be full of cheer (other than the holidays being here) with producer Martin Katz (MAPS TO THE STARS, COSMOPOLIS, HOTEL RWANDA) acquiring the worldwide rights to Stewart's 3D short FOXED! as he plans to spool up a feature length stop-motion animation under his production banner Prospero Pictures.

Says Katz: "Emily is a sympathetic girl and the foxes are terrifying. There's no punches pulled in the film's design, which combines stop-motion animation techniques with modern 3D."

I've known James for years now and he is always in the center of the Canadian stereoscopic 3D industry. To view his 3D short on iTunes, click here.

In the short, children are being kidnapped by foxes and forced to work in mines. The feature-length “Foxed!” will continue the story of Emily and the other children who have been kidnapped and must work together to escape and save their town.

From THR: "Stewart's short was released on iTunes in 60 countries after screening at 90 film festivals worldwide. Foxed! has won a half-dozen awards, including at the San Antonio and Garden State film festivals.

Stewart is at work on a script and will direct the Foxed! feature. His screen credits include the 3D work on Werner Herzog's Cave of Forgotten Dreams as well as a slew of cinema commercials, stop-motion and CG animation.

Katz compares the look and mood of the upcoming Foxed! feature to Tim Burton's dark fantasy animation, or Henry Selick's 2009 stop-motion film Coraline. Foxed! is set for a 2017 release, and will include a full Oculus Rift VR experience written and designed to run alongside the theatrical release."

From Variety: “As a storyteller, it’s exciting to work on multiple platforms at once,” Stewart said. “I’m excited about telling the story in an immersive environment, where the viewer is able to have a very different experience with the same story. The VR experience will be a separate, similar story, but it will obviously be nonlinear and be an active experience in 360.”

Stewart said the VR platform offers a host of new opportunities for storytellers, which he finds energizing.

“From a narrative point of view, the difference between VR and linear storytelling is very much like the difference between reading a book and having a dream,” he said. “The way we dream is very nonlinear and very abstract, and I think that is what VR is going to closely resemble, as opposed to something that starts with a beginning, middle and end. It’s definitely going to have a beginning, it’s definitely going to have a middle and it may not have an end, depending on who you are and how enthusiastic you are about it.”

So thrilled for James to have this happen for him and Geneva Film Co. I'm really looking forward to seeing more details about the full length stop-motion animation and how the story has being adapted. Keep an eye open for this one!

Trailer for the 3D Short FOXED!


Sources: THR | Variety

Award Winning 3D Short Film FOXED! Being Released June 28 At TIFF

Short film, stop-motion and 3D aficionados pay heed: The award winning 3D short film FOXED! is being released on June 28th at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) Bell Lightbox. It will be opening in front of Storm Surfers 3D - another great project to check out if you are in town for the festival!

Director James Stewart is a good friend of mine and his is exceptionally proud about this project.

Here is the storyline for the short:
Emily has been Foxed! in this 3D stop-motion tale of fighting for what you believe in. Filmed in stunning 3D, director James Stewart crafts a humorous tale about growing up in an environment of parental control and how children are often mis-portrayed in the eyes of their parents.

In this tale of fighting for what she believes in, Emily is up against the sinister forces of foxes. FOXED! has been enthusiastically received at international film festivals in Stuttgart, San Francisco, Annecy, and Sarasota, FOXED! is a darkly humorous tale about growing up in an environment of parental control in which children are often misrepresented in the eyes of their parents.

Beware of what hides behind the mirror. The menacing 3D, stop-motion world of FOXED reveals young Emily toiling in the mines beneath her house, imprisoned by foxes who have duped her entire town into believing children can be replaced. Emily has to grow up quickly if she is to escape and outwit the foxes at their own game. But her daring attempt to get away is met by a stunning encounter above the ground that leaves her lost and confused.

You can check out more details about the TIFF screenings here.

Further, you can also see FOXED! at one of these fine venues in the near future as well:

New Media Film Festival, Opening Night, June 11, Los Angeles, CA
http://newmediafilmfestival.com

Annecy + Screening, Annecy, France June 14th
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Annecy-/116891325091116

San Antonio Film Festival June 17 – 23, San Antonio ,Texas
https://safilm.com

Anima Mundi International Festival of Animation of Brazil, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Aug 14 - 18th
http://www.animamundi.com.br/en/festival/

Montreal World Film Festival Aug 22nd
http://www.ffm-montreal.org/en_index.html



Here's the trailer for the FOXED!:





Like the short on Facebook.

Check out the first "Making Of" featurettes for the short right here.

About James Stewart and Geneva Film Co.
FOXED! is co-directed and produced by digital 3D filmmaking pioneer James Stewart whose credits include the 3D work for Werner Herzog’s acclaimed Cave of Forgotten Dreams. As the head of Toronto-based Geneva Film Co., Stewart is one of the world’s most active directors and foremost experts in 3D filmmaking. His short film FOXED! – which recently won the Best Animated Film Award at the Yorkton Film Festival - is currently being developed into a full-length feature film.

James Stewart is an award-winning director and the founder of the Geneva Film Co. in Toronto, Canada. Through his production company, Stewart has produced over 30 projects in digital 3D, including cinema commercials, concerts, stop-motion and CG animation. He is a director, storyteller, artist, digital innovator and multi-platform visual designer whose work ranges from mobile to giant screen, from motion graphics to stereoscopic 3D installations.

Recent projects include the stop-motion film FOXED!, the experimental short BÉATRICE CORON’S DAILY BATTLES in collaboration with NYC based French artist Béatrice Coron, Werner Herzog’s CAVE OF FORGOTTEN DREAMS, ONTARIO 4D for the Vancouver Olympics, and live 3D concert films of the Montreux Jazz Festival and Kylie Minogue. In 2012, he produced the world’s first gesture-controlled 3D cinema game for the launch of the Samsung Galaxy S3.

A sought-after director, artist, and expert on 3D, Stewart is a six-time speaker at The Cannes Lions Festival of Creativity and has spoken at TED.

Geneva Film Co. can be found on the web at www.genevafilmco.com

Twitter: @jamesstewart3D

PARANORMAN'S Tireless Directors Talk How 3D Adds To The Tactile Stop Motion Experience!

Check out this interview with PARANORMAN's directors Sam Fell and Chris Butler who tell it like it is. You can tell these guys are so proud of all the work they have obviously put into this movie. If you enjoy true art forms, then you should be lining up for Laika's PARANORMAN.

Says Butler: "There has never been a stop motion movie this big before."

From NBCUniversal Direct:
This Friday August 17th, Focus Features releases the comedy thriller ParaNorman in theaters nationwide. Following Focus' Academy Award-nominated Coraline, ParaNorman is the second stop-motion animated feature to be made at LAIKA Studios in 3D, unifying the two stunning art forms to tell an all-new frightfully funny, magically emotional, and hilariously spooky story.

We talked to the movie's directors Sam Fell and Chris Butler about balancing comedy and creepy, what it was like directing actors doing voice work, and why you should truly see this movie in 3D!

Here's the movie's storyline:
A small town comes under siege by zombies. Who can it call? Only misunderstood local boy Norman (voiced by Kodi Smit-McPhee), who is able to speak with the dead. In addition to the zombies, he'll have to take on ghosts, witches and, worst, of all, grown-ups, to save his town from a centuries-old curse. But this young ghoul whisperer may find his paranormal activities pushed to their otherworldly limits.

Check it out:

PARANORMAN opens on August 17 in the US and Canada. 

Amazing Time Lapse Details And Behind The Scenes Clips From PARANORMAN!

If you have the time, I recommend watching these amazing behind the scenes (BTS) clips from Laika's PARANORMAN. I've also thrown in a time lapse of the manual work that it takes to slowly move a character(s) along frame by frame.

Laika are the same guys that created the 3D stop motion movie CORALINE. Their expertise is beyond reproach and the work that goes into a feature length stop motion movie is really very remarkable.

There's about 20 minutes of total footage here, and definitely worth your while. Love how they create the bodies and faces of the characters - those new 3D printers are very cool; I need to get one!

Here's the movie's storyline:
A small town comes under siege by zombies. Who can it call? Only misunderstood local boy Norman (voiced by Kodi Smit-McPhee), who is able to speak with the dead. In addition to the zombies, he'll have to take on ghosts, witches and, worst, of all, grown-ups, to save his town from a centuries-old curse. But this young ghoul whisperer may find his paranormal activities pushed to their otherworldly limits.

PARANORMAN opens on August 17 in the US and Canada.

Enjoy...

Guillermo Del Toro To Co-Direct Stop Motion 3D PINOCCHIO!

Definitely thrilled with this announcement! Guillermo del Toro gave himself a creative promotion and is moving in to co-direct the feature with Mark Gustafson (THE FANTASTIC MR. FOX). This will be a 3D stop motion movie from the Jim Henson Company that Del Toro had been gesticulating since 2008.

From Variety:
Story will be set in Italy between WWI and WWII. "It was when everyone was behaving like a puppet, except for puppets," Del Toro said.

Del Toro said Wednesday that he has gradually come around to the idea of co-directing due to the complexity of the project - which will require a year to shoot. He's currently in post-production on "Pacific Rim" for Warner Bros. and is planning to work on a re-design for "Pinocchio."

"Little by little, I realized that I should direct," he added, noting that the story has had a profound influence on him -- to the point of collecting puppets along with original art from Disney's 1940 "Pinocchio." The story is by Del Toro, frequent collaborator Matthew Robbins and Grimly with Pinocchio embarking on a series of adventures and proving himself to be as indestructible as his love for his father. Robbins wrote the screenplay.

"Guillermo has been so passionate about this project from its inception and it is an honor to have him bring his unique blend of live action and animation experience to this well-loved story," said Lisa Henson, who's CEO of the Jim Henson Company.

Del Toro has also said that PINOCCHIO will be "more surreal and slightly darker" and added:
"The Blue Fairy is really a dead girl’s spirit. Pinocchio has strange moments of lucid dreaming bordering on hallucinations, with black rabbits. The sperm whale that swallows Pinocchio was actually a giant dogfish, which allows for more classical scale and design. The many mishaps Pinocchio goes through include several near-death close calls, a lot more harrowing moments. The key with this is not making any of it feel gratuitous, because the story is integrated with moments of comedy and beauty. He’s one of the great characters, whose purity and innocence allows him to survive in this bleak landscape of robbers and thugs, emerging from the darkness with his soul intact." 

Note that Tim Burton has a version of PINOCCHIO that he and Disney have been dreaming up, but that version will be live action, not stop motion 3D. Robert Downey Jr. is attached as Gepetto.

All I can say is GO GUILLERMO GO! We need as much as this man can dish out in the coming years to catch up for those doldrums from the past while. Great to see him delivering this is 3D too.

Sources: Variety | Collider

What's Bigger Than Tim Burton Rebooting His Own Movie FRANKENWEENIE? Releasing It In IMAX 3D!

Yes, Tim Burton's passion project FRANKENWEENIE is getting the IMAX treatment! Disney will be digitally re-mastering the painstakingly made stop motion movie into the large screen format. It will be the first IMAX movie ever released in black and white.

Here's the official press release:
LOS ANGELES, March 6, 2012 /PRNewswire/ – IMAX Corporation and The Walt Disney Studios today announced that Tim Burton’s stop-motion, animated film, Frankenweenie will be digitally re-mastered into the immersive IMAX® 3D format and released in IMAX® digital theatres worldwide day-and-date on Oct. 5, 2012. The film marks the first black and white Hollywood feature and first stop-motion animated movie to be presented in IMAX.

From Disney and directed by Tim Burton, Frankenweenie: An IMAX 3D Experience features the voices of Catherine O’Hara, Martin Short and Winona Ryder. The film is a remake of the live-action short directed by Tim Burton in 1984.

“IMAX has a long-standing relationship with Tim Burton, whose unique artistic vision and brilliant storytelling has captured the imagination of audiences around the world,” said Greg Foster, Chairman and President of IMAX Filmed Entertainment. “We’re excited to add Frankenweenie as the second Tim Burton feature in our 2012 film slate, providing IMAX audiences a distinctive new way to experience animation.”

The IMAX release of Frankenweenie will be digitally re-mastered into the image and sound quality of The IMAX 3D Experience® with proprietary IMAX DMR® (Digital Re-mastering) technology. The crystal-clear images coupled with IMAX’s customized theatre geometry and powerful digital audio create a unique environment that will make audiences feel as if they are in the movie.

About Frankenweenie

From creative genius Tim Burton (“Alice in Wonderland, The Nightmare Before Christmas”) comes Frankenweenie, a heartwarming tale about a boy and his dog. After unexpectedly losing his beloved dog Sparky, young Victor harnesses the power of science to bring his best friend back to life—with just a few minor adjustments. He tries to hide his home-sewn creation, but when Sparky gets out, Victor’s fellow students, teachers and the entire town all learn that getting a new “leash on life” can be monstrous.

A stop-motion animated film, Frankenweenie, will be filmed in black and white and rendered in 3D, which will elevate the classic style to a whole new experience.

Presented by Disney, Frankenweenie is directed by Tim Burton and produced by Tim Burton and Allison Abbate, with Don Hahn serving as executive producer. John August wrote the screenplay, based on an original idea by Tim Burton. The film will be released in U.S. theaters on October 5, 2012.

Now I'm REALLY looking forward to this!

Watch: Trailer For PARANORMAN - Laika's Followup To CORALINE

If you enjoy stop motion movies then you are in for a treat. Not only are you getting Tim Burton's FRANKENWEENIE this year, but also another top shelf effort from the production company that brought you CORALINE, Laika. The movie is PARANORMAN and it looks rather good!

Here's the storyline:
The new 3D stop-motion comedy thriller from animation company LAIKA, reteaming the company with Focus Features after the groundbreaking Academy Award-nominated "Coraline." "ParaNorman" is, following "Coraline," the company's second stop-motion animated feature to be made in 3D. In "ParaNorman," a small town comes under siege by zombies. Who can it call? Only misunderstood local boy Norman (voiced by Kodi Smit-McPhee), who is able to speak with the dead. In addition to the zombies, he'll have to take on ghosts, witches and, worst, of all, grown-ups, to save his town from a centuries-old curse. But this young ghoul whisperer may find his paranormal activities pushed to their otherworldly limits.



I like everything about this movie so far. Laika has tremendous talent in stop motion obviously - we won't be let down in the creativeness department.

via Collider

SEE: First Poster For Tim Burton's FRANKENWEENIE

In what must be 3D movie poster day on MarketSaw, here's the first poster for Tim Burton's FRANKENWEENIE.

I would say that Burton got Disney to throw in this production as a kicker to the deal that had him make ALICE IN WONDERLAND. If they can make a FIFTH of what that behemoth made in the box office it will be a rousing success.

Note that Burton already made this movie in 1984 but he has wanted to revisit it for a long time.

Voice cast in this stop motion animated 3D feature are Martin Short, Winona Ryder, Catherine O'Hara, Martin Landau amongst others.

Here's the movie's storyline:
From creative genius Tim Burton (“Alice in Wonderland,” The Nightmare Before Christmas”) comes “Frankenweenie,” a heartwarming tale about a boy and his dog. After unexpectedly losing his beloved dog Sparky, young Victor harnesses the power of science to bring his best friend back to life—with just a few minor adjustments. He tries to hide his home-sewn creation, but when Sparky gets out, Victor’s fellow students, teachers and the entire town all learn that getting a new “leash on life” can be monstrous.

FRANKENWEENIE has an October 5 release date. Here's the movie's official Facebook Page.

See: First Images From Tim Burton's FRANKENWEENIE

Tim Burton's 3D stop motion animated feature FRANKENWEENIE is finally cooking with full steam!

The movie is based on a much earlier short film (1984) done by Burton of the same title. In fact, the feature inherits black and white from the short too.

Here's the storyline:
From creative genius Tim Burton (“Alice in Wonderland,” The Nightmare Before Christmas”) comes “Frankenweenie,” a heartwarming tale about a boy and his dog. After unexpectedly losing his beloved dog Sparky, young Victor harnesses the power of science to bring his best friend back to life—with just a few minor adjustments. He tries to hide his home-sewn creation, but when Sparky gets out, Victor’s fellow students, teachers and the entire town all learn that getting a new “leash on life” can be monstrous.

A stop-motion animated film, “Frankenweenie” will be filmed in black and white and rendered in 3D, which will elevate the classic style to a whole new experience. In Tim Burton’s FRANKENWEENIE, young Victor conducts a science experiment to bring his beloved dog Sparky back to life, only to face unintended, sometimes monstrous, consequences.

The voice cast includes Winona Ryder, Martin Short, Catherine O’Hara and Martin Landau and will come alive in theaters Oct. 5, 2012.

Looks like Burton has this thing sewn up already! :-)

Source: EW

Guillermo del Toro Producing PINOCCHIO With Pathe And The Jim Henson Company

According to a report from Deadline, Guillermo del Toro will soon be producing PINOCCHIO, yet another upcoming project on the workaholic's plate. He will be partnering with the illustrious Jim Henson Company and Pathe to bring about this movie using S3D stop motion!

Gris Grimly and Mark Gustafson will co-direct later this year. Their version of PINOCCHIO will be darker, naturally.

From Deadline: The storyline was hatched by Del Toro and Matthew Robbins, and the script was written by the latter, who has collaborated with del Toro on scripts for Mimic, the remake Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark, and del Toro’s next directing project At the Mountains of Madness. Del Toro will produce with Jim Henson Company’s Lisa Henson and Jason Lust, and Allison Abbate. Gary Ungar is exec producer along with Pathe’s Francois Ivernel and Cameron McCracken.

This version is aimed at an audience 10 years and up, and a bit scarier than the Disney film. Australian rock musician and film composer Nick Cave has signed on to be music consultant and the puppets and 3D elements will be developed with MacKinnon and Saunders, the UK-based facility that worked on The Fantastic Mr. Fox, Tim Burton’s Corpse Bride, and the upcoming Frankenweenie. Del Toro supplied the accompanying photos to convey the feel of a film that shares a core theme from the Disney film: the innocent whose inherent goodness, purity and love for his father saves him from a series of harrowing adventures and temptations in his quest to morph from wooden puppet to real boy.

“There has to be darkness in any fairy tale or children’s narrative work, something the Brothers Grimm, Hans Christian Anderson and Walt Disney understood,” del Toro said. “We tend to call something Disney-fied, but a lot of people forget how powerfully disturbing the best animated Disney movies are, including those kids being turned into donkeys in Pinocchio. What we’re trying to do is present a Pinocchio that is more faithful to the take that Collodi wrote. That is more surreal and slightly darker than what we’ve seen before.”

Of course he is on the precipice of starting work on the mammoth AT THE MOUNTAINS OF MADNESS with James Cameron as well! Mountains of work for this man!!

We'll have more info in the coming months about this stereoscopic 3D stop motion classic adventure!

So... There's This Little Movie Called "Coraline" Coming Out This Friday...

Jim here. Most of you guys have heard about CORALINE right? Let me tell you, I have been looking forward to this since it was announced!

If you have checked out my Top 10 Most Anticipated 3D Movies For 2009, then you know how highly I regard this movie. I placed it in fourth place ahead of ICE AGE: DAWN OF THE DINOSAURS and Pixar's UP - so it has to be good right? :-)

I feel that we have the makings of a smash hit here. First of all, writer Neil Gaiman really hit the nail on the head with his story - after all it won the Hugo, Bram Stoker and Nebula awards back in 2002, and is available in over 30 languages. So you can check off the storyline as being a winner - I doubt if Selick has strayed very far from a winning formula.

Secondly, Henry Selick is a master of stop motion! Most of you have seen A NIGHTMARE BEFORE CHRISTMAS and can vouch for his passion for that genre.

Now throw in 3D and you have the palette to create something memorable and quite frankly, Oscar worthy. The effects are going to be stunning. Selick will be able to take the shots he has had in his heard for years (he had the manuscript for CORALINE before it was even printed) and bring them to fruition perfectly. Remember, everything in the movie is handmade and positionable by Selick's whims.

If you have not seen a 3D movie yet - get out to see this one. The ingredients are all there - treat yourself to a GREAT movie. CORALINE opens this Friday!

Image courtest of Randi Mason