Author Archives: Jerry Beck

“Turkeys” get Greenlit at Reel FX

By
on
23

Here’s another film to look forward to in 2014: Relativity Media and Reel FX have announced that they will jointly produce and finance the upcoming animated feature Turkeys. The film is being directed by Jimmy Hayward (Horton Hears A Who!) and stars the voice talent of Owen Wilson (Cars) and Woody Harrelson (A Scanner Darkly). Relativity usually releases their films through a major U.S. distributor like Universal or Warner Bros. Expect one of them to pick it up.

The full Press Release is below:

Relativity Gets Animated With Reel FX
10.24.2012
(Beverly Hills, Calif.) October 24, 2012 – Relativity Media and Reel FX, a movie studio based in Dallas and Santa Monica, announced today that they will jointly produce and finance the upcoming animated comedy Turkeys, slated for a 2014 release. The film is directed by Jimmy Hayward (Horton Hears A Who!) and stars the voice talent of Owen Wilson (Cars) and Woody Harrelson (The Hunger Games). Turkeys will be distributed worldwide by Relativity.

Producing are Scott Mosier (Clerks), Craig Mazin (The Hangover Part II), John Strauss (The Santa Claus 2) and David l. Stern (Hotel Transylvania). The screenplay was written by Stern and Strauss with a rewrite by Mazin.

Turkeys is an irreverent, hilarious, adventurous buddy comedy where two turkeys from opposite sides of the tracks must put aside their differences and team up to travel back in time to change the course of history – and get turkey off the menu for good.

Ryan Kavanaugh, CEO, Relativity Media said, “This agreement is a culmination of years of friendship and a continued desire to collaborate between Relativity and Reel FX. We are delighted to broaden our film release slate to include Turkeys which features an exciting roster of voice talent, a powerhouse creative team and an original witty storyline.”

Steve O’ Brien, Chairman and CEO of Reel FX said, “We’ve always been fans of Relativity, and have watched them evolve over the years into a major force in the film and entertainment business. We are excited to start our relationship with Relativity by partnering with Ryan and his team to bring Turkeys to audiences around the world.”

Reel FX is a fully-integrated movie studio that develops and produces both animated films and live action movies. In addition to Turkeys, Reel FX’s growing animation slate includes Day of the Dead (Guillermo del Toro producing) and Beasts of Burden (Aron Warner and Andrew Adamson producing). Reel FX’s own film slate follows almost 20 years of experience as an award-winning one-stop studio for animated content including films, special attraction/live venue projects and interactive projects for companies like DreamWorks Animation, Fox, Warner Bros. and Universal Studios.

Up next, Relativity will release the outrageous Movie 43 (in theatres January 25, 2013), the film adaptation of Nicholas Sparks’ best-selling Safe Haven (in theatres February 8, 2013), the comedy 21 and Over (in theatres March 1, 2013), the corporate espionage thriller Paranoia (in theatres October 4, 2013) and Luc Besson’s darkly comedic action film Malavita (in theatres October 18, 2013) with EuropaCorp. Relativity is currently in post-production on Scott Cooper’s gritty dramatic thriller currently-titled Out of the Furnace.

ABOUT RELATIVITY MEDIA
Relativity Media is a next-generation studio engaged in multiple aspects of entertainment, including full-scale film and television production and distribution, the co-financing of major studio film slates, music publishing, sports management and digital media. Additionally, the company makes strategic partnerships with, and investments in, media and entertainment-related companies and assets.

To date, Relativity has produced, distributed, and/or structured financing for more than 200 motion pictures. Released films have accumulated more than $17 billion in worldwide box office receipts. Relativity’s recent films include: House at the End of the Street, The Bourne Legacy, The Raven, Mirror Mirror, Act of Valor, Haywire, Immortals, Tower Heist, Bridesmaids, Limitless, Hop, Cowboys & Aliens, Battle: Los Angeles, Little Fockers, The Fighter, The Social Network, Salt, Despicable Me, Grown Ups, Dear John, It’s Complicated, Couples Retreat and Zombieland. Upcoming films for Relativity include: Movie 43, Safe Haven, 21 and Over, Paranoia and Malavita. Thirty-nine of the company’s films have opened to No. 1 at the box office. Relativity films have earned 60 Oscar® nominations, including nods for The Fighter, The Social Network, The Wolfman, A Serious Man, Frost/Nixon, Atonement, American Gangster and 3:10 to Yuma. Sixty-two of Relativity’s films have each generated more than $100 million in worldwide box-office receipts.

RelativityREAL, Relativity’s television arm, has more than 70 projects in active production, including 17 original series that are currently airing or will air in the upcoming television season including Police Women for TLC, Coming Home for Lifetime and The Great Food Truck Race for Food Network. Relativity also owns and operates RogueLife, Relativity’s digital content studio is developing original content for the web and creating sustainable online platforms and communities. Relativity Music Group, a music division of Relativity, provides music supervision, music publishing catalogues and soundtrack services for films produced and/or distributed by Relativity Media and other major Hollywood studios. Relativity Sports is a fast-growing sports agency dedicated to providing high profile athletes a full range of professional development services including contract negotiation, marketing, media relations, fan management, brand building with entrepreneurial ventures, community involvement and personal services. Clients include NBA, NFL and MLB athletes. For additional information, please visit www.relativitymedia.com.

ABOUT REEL FX
Reel FX is a fully integrated movie studio that develops and produces both animated films and live action movies. The company’s development slate includes Day of the Dead, Turkeys, and Beasts of Burden.

Reel FX launched its feature length development and production slate in 2010 after almost 20 years of experience as an award-winning one-stop studio for the creation of animated content including films, special attraction/live venue projects, and interactive projects for companies like DreamWorks Animation (Rise of the Guardians), Fox, Warner Bros. and Universal Studios.

Since starting the development and production of feature films, Reel FX has aligned itself with some of the most recognized and respected names and brands in the entertainment industry for its projects including Cirque Du Soleil: World’s Away (Cirque Du Soleil, James Cameron, Andrew Adamson, Aron Warner), Day of the Dead (Guillermo Del Toro, Jorge R. Gutierrez), Beasts of Burden (Dark Horse Comics, Andrew Adamson, Aron Warner) and Turkeys (Jimmy Hayward, Craig Mazin).

Monday in LA: Halloween Spooktacular 2012

By
on
Reply

Be prepared, foolish mortals! For the fifth year in a row, I will be screening a selection of spooky, kooky, strange and creepy Halloween-related cartoons – using vintage prints in 16mm and 35mm that range from ghoulishly red Eastmancolor to gorgeously garish Technicolor. Everyone from Koko The Clown to Casper the Friendly Ghost will be there in costume and on the big screen, along with black and white classics starring Oswald Rabbit, Flip The Frog, Bosko, Bimbo, Scrappy, Puddy, Popeye – even Waffles and Don – and all the famous monsters of filmland. Join us for a lot of fun (and candy) next Monday October 29th at 7:30pm, at The Cinefamily (at Silent Movie Theatre) on Fairfax Avenue in Hollywood. Advance tickets on sale here!

Meet Mecha Mickey and the Disney Super Sentai

By
on
67

We’ve come a long way from Steamboat Willie. Apparently Disney and toy-maker Bandai are working together on a Voltron-like toy robot called King Robo, and according to the storyline, Mickey Mouse and his friends supposedly pilot the robot. The toy, part of the Bandai’s Chogokin line, will be released March 2013, and unlike most Disney toys, it will be aimed at ages 15 and up. If successful, the property could spawn an anime series.

And speaking of Steamboat Willie, apparently the robot’s head transforms from a toy version of the paddle boat from that landmark film! Click the image below to see how each Disney-mecha character transforms into the body and limbs of “King Robo”.

(Thanks, Liam Scanlan)

Friday in LA: Rare Stop-Motion Classics

By
on
3

I think all twelve programs compromising the latest Platform International Animation Festival are terrific – not a bad show in the batch. Otomo, Pes, Disney’s Paperman crew, The Cartoon Network creators, the festival screenings and animators panels. One program in particular has me very jazzed – a tribute pioneering stop-motion animator Ladislas Starewitch.

Platform will present a rare screening of four 35mm archival silent short films (accompanied by live music) by this influential surrealistic filmmaker. Starewitch, who lived most of his life in Paris, made films using unique, bizarre puppets and on occasion, manipulated real (dead) insects. The program will include: 1921′s L’Epouvantail (The Scarecrow), 1923′s Amour Noir et Blanc (Love in Black and White), 1927′s La Reine des Papillons (Queen of the Butterflies), and 1925′s Les Yeux du Dragon (Eyes of The Dragon).

This program is actually the opening night event for Platform. It’s on Friday night, Oct. 26th, at 7:30pm in the Redcat Theatre (at the Disney Music Hall, Downtown L.A.). For more information and tickets, click here.

FRIDAY: MoMA celebrates Sally Cruikshank

By
on
10

I’ve been a fan of the crazy independent cartoons of Sally Cruikshank since Quasi at the Quackardero first burst on the screen back in the 1970s. At a time “underground comics” were at their peak – here came an underground cartoon animator. Evoking the surreal worlds of 1930s Van Beuren and Fleischer rubber hose masterpieces, Cruikshank has carried the torch for depression-era “funny animal” cartoons ever since. I’m delighted that The Museum of Modern Art is hosting a tribute to Cruikshank this Friday featuring newly preserved prints of her cel-animation classics, including 1975′s Quasi (since elected to the National Film Registry in 2009), Make Me Psychic (1978), and Face Like a Frog (1987, featuring an original soundtrack by Oingo Boingo), plus a sampling of her commercial movie credits, Sesame Street spots and several of her own versions of Fleischer’s Screen Songs – using doo-wop music of the 1950s.

Sally Cruikshank will be introducing her films at the screening on Friday, October 26, 2012, 7:15 p.m. (A repeat showing sans Ms. Cruikshank will also occur on Monday, October 29th, 2012 at 4:00pm). This tribute is part of MoMA’s Preservation Festival which includes many restored cartoon shorts interspersed among the many programs. Both the Cruikshank tribute and the Preservation Festival are highly recommended!

“Fisher” by Yoram Benz

By
on
5

Yoram Benz – originally from Hawaii, grew up in France and spent many years working at studios in New York and LA – set up his own creative content company, One Eyed Robot, on a small 3-acre farm in Milton, Georgia. From there Benz has guided some wonderful commercials, commissioned pieces and personal films all worthy of attention. Here is one of the latter, Fisher, fresh from the festival circuit. Beautifully rendered, an intricate yet stylized peek into the world of a lonely fisherman. Haunting, strange… a cross between David Lynch and The Incredible Mr. Limpet. I like it.

“The Man With The Iron Fists” Animated Preview by Eric Calderon and RZA

By
on
15

Once again Universal Pictures is using animation (in this case quite limited, though artistically done) to create a viral promotional piece to presage a major live action feature. The Man With The Iron Fists, stars Oscar winner Russell Crowe in a film directed and co-written by rapper RZA. This animated prequel finds the Blacksmith (RZA) beginning his journey through China. Eric Calderon directed this piece with RZA, through Titmouse in LA. Character design and storyboard by Chase Conley, illustrations by Chase Conley, Xiongliang Li, Connie Wong:

“Dehli Safari” trailer

By
on
26

Another year, another late-in-the-season animated release from India. This time: Dehli Safari, India’s first stereoscopic 3D animated feature. Mashing concepts from Madagascar, Open Season with Rio, and using animation a few notches below that of Valiant, it’s been dubbed into English by actors Cary Elwes, Brad Garrett, Christopher Lloyd, Jason Alexander, Tom Kenny, Vanessa Williams and… say it ain’t so… Jane Lynch(!). It’s now playing in Irvine California (Edwards Westpark 8). Quick, catch it before it disappears forever.

(Thanks, Eric Graf)

Rare Animation on TCM: “Silent Cartoons”

By
on
5

Here’s a fun gallery of actual film frames from the collection of Tom Stathes – the collector extraordinaire who provided the rare prints that ran on on TCM’s Rare Animation night (Oct. 21st 2012). These films were shown as part of an hour of Silent Animation From New York Studios – and included shorts from Bray Studios (poster #1, logo #2 and trade ad #3), The Artists Dream (#4), Bobby Bumps Starts For School (#5), The Haunted Hotel (#6), Mutt and Jeff in Fireman, Save My Child (#7), Jerry on the Job in The Bomb Idea (#8), Koko the Clown in Trip To Mars (#9), Al Falfa in Springtime (#10), Krazy Kat in Scents and Nonsense (#11) and Van Bueren’s sound cartoon The Farmerette (#12). More information on each short is posted here.

Andy Serkis to direct Mo-Cap “Animal Farm”

By
on
21

Performance-capture actor Andy Serkis (Tintin, Lord of the Rings, Rise of The Planet Of The Apes), who recently directed second unit on Peter Jackson’ The Hobbit, is developing a mo-cap version or George Orwell’s Animal Farm for himself to direct. The Hollywood Reporter says Serkis bought the movie rights to the novel and is currently producing, through his own London-based studio Imaginarium, a proof of concept film.

This is NOT the worst idea I’ve ever heard… In fact, I’m apt to trust his judgement on this one. Serkis certainly knows what he’s doing with the mo-cap technique. He may be one of the few working in films who does. He just might pull it off.

(Thanks, Liam Scanlan)

FIRST LOOK: Jerry on TCM

By
on
8

As previously noted, this Sunday night yours-truly, Jerry Beck, spends the whole evening co-hosting an entire block of classic animated films on TCM (Turner Classic Movies). The line up is as follows:

•Max Fleischer’s Gulliver’s Travels (1939) at 8pm Eastern/5pm Pacific

•Max Fleischer’s Mr. Bug Goes To Town (1941) at 9:30pm Eastern/6:30pm Pacific

•UPA’s Jolly Frolics at 11pm Eastern/8pm Pacific

•New York Studio Silent Era Animation from the collection of Tom Stathes at 12 midnight Eastern/9pm Pacific

•Lotte Reiniger’s The Adventures of Prince Achmed at 1am Eastern/11pm Pacific

We taped the nine intros in advance, shooting about six minutes of discussion per, which was then carefully edited down to 3 or 3-1/2 minutes for each segment. Sometimes the editing is very smooth, sometimes it creates awkward jumps in my narrative… but what’s important is our opportunity to screen and discuss these films in prime time. I, for one, want to see this happen again (and again, and again). Feel free to let TCM know that you support the idea of regular classic animation evenings! The best way is to post on their forums.

For now, here’s one of the edited segments – this is one (of two) introducing several UPA cartoons.

UPDATE: In case you missed them, here are all nine of my TCM host segments, posted on You Tube.

“Typesetter Blues” by Hector Herrera

By
on
4

One part Foster’s Home, two parts The Dot and The Line – Hector Herrera’s Typesetter Blues is a hundred percent pure design eye candy. The film is the first chapter in an animated collection of silly rhymes called Beastly Bards – and the inaugural project from Herrera and writer/producer Pazit Cahlon as Toronto-based content creators Together: Words + Pictures for Art & Culture.

Rare Animation on TCM: “UPA Cartoons”

By
on
8

This is gallery of images from Columbia Pictures cartoon shorts produced by UPA (United Productions of America), the groundbreaking animation studio of the 1950s who changed the perception of what animation could be. These cartoons will be telecast Oct. 21st at 11pm Eastern/8pm Pacific on Turner Classic Movies – 1. A cel and background from RAGTIME BEAR (1949), 2. Book cover from GERALD McBOING BOING (1950), 3. cel and background from GERALD McBOING BOING (1950), 4. The poster for ROOTY TOOT TOOT (1952), 5. A color sketch for ROOTY TOOT TOOT (1952), 6. a newspaper advertisement for THE TELL TALE HEART (1953), 7. The one sheet poster for A UNICORN IN THE GARDEN (1953). 8. An animation cel and background from FUDGET’S BUDGET (1954), 9. A cel and background from CRISTOPHER CRUMPET (1953), 10. a frame grab from CHRISTOPHER CRUMPET (1953), 11. and 12. two comics books based on UPA cartoons.