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

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...