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It's not a secret that dd Pictures and Weta Digital are working together on animation. Baidu search to force literature network

Because it is difficult for Vita to keep this news a secret.

Animation and special effects for film and television are two very similar jobs, but they are definitely not the same job. The reason why ILM can do "Ghosts and Horses" is of course due to the similarity of these two jobs, but don't think that a special effects company In the later stage, the company can successfully produce an animated feature film.

Not so easy.

Post-production special effects are more of a technical matter. For example, Weta Digital's excellent motion capture technology is of great significance for shooting special effects blockbusters. But this technology is basically useless in animation. This shows the difference between two careers that use computers and software to make movies.

An animation is a complete movie, with a script, a story, a director, and an actor—in the real world, the actor corresponding to an animated character is an animation designer. This is a highly demanding position, not just a mere IT staff. , Of course, at this point, the film and television special effects staff are the same, must have a certain aesthetic and creative ability.

Therefore, when Weta wants to get involved in animation, it must be recruited again, because Weta itself does not have many staff, which is also required by the characteristics of the industry.

Poaching people from DreamWorks Animation, Disney Animation and Pixar is definitely the best choice. Basically, the top talents in the industry are in their pockets. For the technical staff who work, Weta may also be able to annex and acquire some small animation jobs. However, leaders, experienced animation directors and producers are hard to come by.

In fact, when Weta acquired a visual effects company called Sydney Animal Logic, it was noticed by industry insiders that Animal Logic was small in scale. But it has been funded to make an animated film, mainly by supporters of the work's director, George Miller. George is one of Australia's best-known directors of the last century, and Mad Max has won him global accolades.

But doing animation has always been a waste of money.

Animal Logic has been working on this film for more than 2 years. The cost is more than 70 million, and it is estimated that more than 30 million will be needed. Investors feel a little overwhelmed by this. In fact, Warners would have reached out to fund the film if Weta Digital didn't make it. And what Weta is doing now is just going a step further. It took the entire Animal Logic Company into the bag, and the movie they were making was also accepted by Weta for 64 million. After the original investors shared the loss, I think the loss is within the acceptable range. And Animal Logic can be described as a last-ditch battle. Of course, it is very willing to the olive branch extended by Weta. When it comes to life and death, no one will think about whether they can dominate the company.

The acquisition of Animal Logic gave the industry a sense of Weta's intentions, but if it's surprising, of course, it was in early 2004, after Daniel won his second Oscar, and the media swarmed about Daniel The matter of Lianzhuang's best actor, only those who care about the animation field will find that a very influential thing happened.

Andrew Stanton was poached by Weta Digital!

Who is Andrew Stanton? The second person in the daily management of Pixar animation after John Lasseter, a member of Pixar's start-up group of eight. He has participated in almost all Pixar projects and is a well-known figure in the field of Hollywood animation production. If that wasn't enough, Finding Nemo is sure to blow your mind. This cartoon, which has won $880 million worldwide, is second only to the second film in the "Shrek" series that DreamWorks highlighted last year, and it ranks second in the global animation box office list. Finding Nemo was written, produced and directed by Andrew.

Therefore, his job-hopping is extremely surprising. No one expected that he would leave Pixar and enter the animation production department. Weta Digital, which is still poor, and what conditions Weta gave, there are many speculations from the outside world. Half of shares? A contract worth 100 million? Commit to running the animation division independently? These may sound bizarre conditions. All were reported as reasonable guesses.

In fact, even so. It's still unacceptable that Andrew is leaving Pixar, especially after he's just finished a masterpiece like Finding Nemo.

But to this day. By the middle of 2005, everyone could already have some reliable guesses.

Jobs and Disney were at odds with each other, and Pixar, who was caught in the middle, despite the constant success of his works, had an uncomfortable working environment. Jobs's main energy was completely on Apple Computer again, much to the dissatisfaction of Andrew Stanton, who wanted to focus on animation. Of course, that didn't make him decide to leave Pixar and start a new career.

The conditions Weta Digital prepared for him ultimately pushed him to make this decision.

Of course, the conditions are not as outrageous as the outside world guessed.

In fact, the whole thing is different from what the outside world understands.

Weta Digital is indeed planning to build its own animation department, but the animation department is not an ordinary department of Weta Digital. Its shareholding structure and investment ratio are completely different from those of the parent company. dd Pictures invested 64 million to acquire Animal Logic, and invested 100 million into the company's account for the production of Animal Logic, as well as company operations and new projects. The parent company of Weta Digital only invested 20 million, occupying 20% ​​of the shares. It is hoped that other departments of Weta will provide services for the animation department, so the price is 12 million. Of course, this amount of money is definitely not enough for animation. Cartoons generally have a budget of more than 100 million yuan, so the later investment is allocated according to the proportion of equity.

The reason why the operation is so complicated is entirely because of the disagreement between Daniel and Richard Taylor.

Daniel feels that Weta should vigorously develop its animation department, while Richard believes that Weta is not as good as Pixar, DreamWorks, Disney, or even Blue Sky Studios, which recently emerged with "Ice Age" in animated feature films. any competitive advantage. It would be too risky for Weta to put a lot of money into the animation department. To be honest, Richard may not have Daniel's purpose of obtaining more shares in Weta through this - if Weta loses money in the animation field, so as to hinder the normal operation of the company, then further financing is bound to be needed, dd Pictures that At that time, Plutos was still hiding behind the scenes, with inexplicable wealth and wealth, but dd Pictures, which offered one or two hundred million without blinking, was obviously enough to make Richard feel vigilant.

But the cartoon is really a big piece of meat, and Daniel has other ideas about it, so he won't give up unless he has to.

In the end, after quite a lot of negotiation, the current cooperation model, which is not particularly complicated, was decided. The animation department under Weta Digital has never officially listed Weta Animation. This is also the reason, because although there is no agreement, or Sooner or later, dd Pictures will still incorporate this Hollywood animation department into its own system.

After the cooperation between Weta and dd was reached, in addition to the original management personnel and talents of Animal Logic, George Miller was also invited to produce their cartoon. But in addition to their original company, Sebastian, who can serve as the management head of the animation department, there must be a leader in content, creativity and production - the soul of the animation department.

Daniel is too busy, mainly Cusa Damon and Sebastian scanning the side of all Hollywood talent.

Andrew Stanton was shortlisted as the No. 1 candidate -- which means the least likely candidate.

Sebastian's target was actually DreamWorks' Kelly Asbury, a senior animation feature film producer and director who followed Jeffrey Katzenberg from Disney to DreamWorks Animation and participated in the production. Well-known cartoons such as "Toy Story" and "Chicken Run", and also directed "My Little Pony", this qualification and ability is sufficient for the new animation department.

But the negotiation process was unexpected, and Kelly was very central to Katzenberg, although Sebastian was prepared for this - after all, he had followed Katzenberg away from the booming Disney, and followed him for more than 15 years. However, the 5 million annual salary that he proposed, the conditions for directing or acting as a producer or screenwriter, and additional remuneration, was much higher than Kelly's treatment at DreamWorks, and Kelly's determination made him a little overwhelmed.

DreamWorks Animation was listed on the Nasdaq in 2004, and the huge success of "Shrek 2" kept its stock price at a high point - Kelly has a few options in DreamWorks, and if he leaves, this part of the interest must be Give it up, Kelly may not be able to make this decision.

Unlike Sebastian who was blocked, Cusa Damon unexpectedly saw the opportunity to dig Andrew.

With an annual salary of 10 million and an annual dividend of 3%, the leader of the animation department and the largest shareholder, dd Pictures, promised to invest 600 million US dollars in film production in the next five years.

In other words ~www.wuxiamtl.com~ What Kusa and Andrew are saying is, I will give you higher wages, more dividends, more autonomy, and the freedom to play.

Andrew was moved.

Therefore, in the animation field, there has been the most high-profile change at the top since DreamWorks founder Jeffrey Katzenberg left Disney.

This has also made Weta Digital's huge ambitions in the animation field well known.

But no one expected it. Andrew joined the new team a year ago. Now, Cusa can stand in front of Daniel and tell him that a new cartoon has been completed more than 90%. It will be released on Christmas Day this December. Abandoning the summer program is a huge challenge for cartoons for children. (To be continued)

ps: second update

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