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Project Firefly primed for TV, big-screen debuts
Cindy Barth
Managing Editor
Orlando Business Journal

ORLANDO -- After 18 months quietly developing animation projects and clients, Project Firefly Animation Studios is about to make two big-screen debuts.

On Aug. 27, the Project Firefly-animated Farm Force -- the tale of three ordinary farm animals who gain super powers after being struck by a super-charged nuclear tornado -- has been selected to appear in Nickelodeon's Nextoon: The Nicktoons Film Festival 2005. The animated short, created by Ethan Long and produced by Robin Cowie (The Blair Witch Project), also will be simulcast on www.nicktoons.com and rerun on Aug. 28 on NickToons.

But the young company's crown jewel to date will come with the Feb. 10, 2006, big-screen debut of Universal Pictures' and Imagine Entertainment's Curious George movie based on the popular H.A. Rey children's book series about a liittle monkey who continually finds himself in a series of misadventures. Project Firefly is doing "20 to 25 percent of the animation," says studio President Dominic Carola, including the animation of George.

Produced by Brian Grazer, Ron Howard, Jon Shapiro and David Kirschner, the 82-minute film will feature the voices of Will Ferrell, Dick Van Dyke, Drew Barrymore, David Cross, Eugene Levy and Joan Plowright.

"To say we've had a big year is kind of an understatement I guess," says Carola. "We believed that we had the talent to do this successfully here in Orlando, and it's good to see it starting to gain speed now."

Finding a niche
Gaining speed doesn't quite do justice as far as describing what Project Firefly has accomplished in just a little more than a year.

Founded by Carola, Gregg Azzopardi, John Webber and Paulo Alvarado in March 2004 after the closure of Disney's Florida animation studios where the four partners worked, Project Firefly took up residence on the backlots of Universal Orlando with a staff of five.

Fast forward to today, and the 2-D/3-D animation studio now has 37 full-time staff, with another 25 who work as contractors on an as-needed basis with projects. In fact, notes Alvarado, a few of their former work mates at Disney have returned to the area to team up once again with the partners.

Webber says a couple of factors that have allowed Project Firefly to establish itself so quickly are the combined experience of the partners -- 50-plus years among them, including work on films such as The Lion King and Brother Bear -- and the work-style setup of the studio itself where most of the artists multitask. That, says Alvarado, "allows all of us an opportunity to do things that we might never get to do at a big studio. And we can still grow, but not have to get really big because we all share in the work."

Next on the studio's agenda: creation of original Project Firefly storylines. "Taking on the projects we already are doing has given us the financial footing to now look ahead to doing what we always intended -- our own stories that we own the rights to," says Carola. And, adds Azzopardi, "We are pretty close to getting there."

Friendly focus
With work on Curious George exepcted to be completed in November, Project Firefly is already working ahead on seven or eight other projects its name will be attached to, says Carola. While many projects can't be disclosed yet due to confidentiality agreements, Carola does say that the partners are still maintaining their Disney ties, working on animation for the entertainment giant's Pooh's Halloween and Brother Bear 2, among other things.

And while Project Firefly has been somewhat of a well-kept secret so far, expect that to change soon too, says Suzy Allen, vice president of film and digital media development for the Metro Orlando Film & Entertainment Commission.

"These guys are going to be one of our best success stories in the next few years," says Allen.

Pamela Tuscany-Warren, senior director of marketing and business development for Universal Studios' Florida Production Group, agrees and says Project Firefly is bringing "all kinds of energy" to the local industry.

All that aside, though, Carola says his focus will remain on the one area he and the partners believe is most critical to the studio's ultimate success: original content.

Says the veteran animator, "The ability to do our own original content -- that will be our ultimate measuring stick for success. That's when we will have truly arrived."







Toon idea may not be goofy
Town of Polk studio lives life in 2-D

By PAUL GORES
pgores@journalsentinel.com
Posted: July 27, 2005

Who is to say Wisconsin isn't the happiest place on Earth?
A group of former Disney artists has said goodbye to Mickey Mouse to sign up with Miracle Mouse (See Photos).

It was an unexpected career path for the seasoned Walt Disney Co. animators, who lost their jobs at Disney but never lost their passion for hand-drawn movies.

No longer needed at their studio as it shifted away from 2-D movies in favor of 3-D films such as "The Incredibles," eight artists with Disney experience, along with one from Warner Bros. and a recent graduate of the California Institute of the Arts, were recruited by Milwaukee-area homebuilder Tom Hignite and his wife, Jacquie.

Hignite said he hopes his Tom Hignite's Miracle Studios, located in the Town of Polk in Washington County, will help usher in a renaissance of the type of 2-D animated movies Disney produced.

"There is no reason why Wisconsin can't have the most successful animation studio in the world if it wanted to, other than the fact that nobody thought about doing it before," Hignite said.

A mousy mascot

Quietly running for about a year, the studio so far has created a short commercial for Hignite's business Miracle Homes, featuring the company's cartoon mascot, Miracle Mouse. The studio also has produced episodes of a planned weekly TV show focused on creativity.

But Hignite said a feature-length movie centered around Miracle Mouse and other animal characters is on the drawing board, although four or five years away.

The artists also help produce brochures, murals and commercials for Miracle Homes. That makes the increase in staff more affordable, he said. He said some workers whose pay reached six figures at Disney came to Miracle Studios for about half that amount.

"Here you have these people who have worked on 'Beauty and the Beast' and 'The Lion King,' and they've been happy to come up to Wisconsin just to be able to continue their art form," Hignite said.

Some of the Disney artists knew little about Wisconsin other than that its winters are cold.

Kathy Schoeppner, with 10 years of experience at Disney working on animated features such as "Mulan" and "Lilo and Stitch," was among those who headed to Wisconsin.

"I didn't like the career climate in Florida anymore," said Schoeppner, 35.

Animator Dan Daly, 40, who was involved with such films as "Beauty and the Beast," "Pocahontas" and "The Lion King," said he and his wife carefully considered whether to join Hignite's venture.

"We would hope that the move would be permanent, so we had to be sure that Tom's commitment level to this thing was strong," Daly said. "After interviewing him, we felt it was strong enough to make the move. And I'm glad we did because he seems to be very, very committed to this work."

Creating a 'dream setting'

Hignite, 45, said getting into the animation business is not as big of a departure from home-building as it might appear. Building homes is about being creative, he said, such as when including special "theme rooms."

"We're trying to create just a dream setting for people, and I think animation falls under that category," Hignite said. "In that business, you want to create dreams, a lot of fantasy and give people a departure from the ordinary. That's what we do with homes, and that's what we're looking to do with animation."

He would not disclose the cost of starting the studio but said he and Jacquie devoted a portion of their personal savings to it.

They also diverted part of his company's advertising budget into hiring the artists, he said.

Hignite started planning the studio about two years ago after he toured a Disney animation studio and wondered where the animators were. He checked and learned that their jobs were being eliminated.

Little experience

Hignite acknowledges he had relatively little experience in animation when he began planning a studio. It took about a year of research before he could start looking for artists, he said.

His home-building business, which he also began with little experience, started in 1993 with two home sales. Last year, it sold 220 houses with a total value of about $42 million.

Hignite said he got into the business by selling a home he built on a lot that had been given as barter to his father. Hignite then quit his job as advertising manager for a boat dealer and started building houses full time.

Hignite said he drew the Miracle Mouse character, which has appeared in promotions for his home-building business for several years.

Some observers say the hard hat-donning Miracle Mouse looks a lot like Mickey Mouse, but Hignite said the character is unique, and he doesn't think it infringes on any Disney copyright.

He pointed out differences, including the shape of the ears and what the cartoon characters wear, and Miracle Mouse has its copyright pending, he said.

"We haven't had a problem with him because he was created, in our opinion, to look like a unique character, not like Mickey Mouse," he said.

A spokeswoman for Disney said the company was looking into whether Miracle Mouse is too similar to Mickey Mouse.

The animators Hignite lured to Wisconsin have specialties within their craft. One artist, for example, does a rough sequence of drawings, while others refine and color them. Still others specialize in adding backgrounds and other enhancements.

Mike Oliva, a character animator with 30 years' experience at Disney and Hanna-Barbera, the studio behind "The Flintstones" and "Scooby-Doo," said he shares Hignite's dream of reviving 2-D motion pictures.

"I think, like the rest of us, we are in a position to show that 2-D animation is still a viable art form," said Oliva, 51, who came to Wisconsin from California. "It's truly an American art form, and we're really glad to be a part of it."

'He's being smart about it'

Troy Gustafson, 43, said it wasn't difficult to leave Orlando to join Hignite's team. Among his credits are "The Lion King," "Pocahontas" and "The Hunchback of Notre Dame."

"This is my forte. This is who I am. I am a special effects animator," said Gustafson, who drew the splashes, flames, smoke and other environments around Disney characters.

Disney once had more than 2,000 employees devoted to hand-drawn animation. But after layoffs in 2003, the company announced early in 2004 that it was closing Walt Disney Feature Animation Florida in Orlando, where about 260 employees still worked. Disney shifted its 2-D operation to Burbank, Calif., which today has about 700 employees. Sequels to 2-D Disney movies now are being done by animators in other countries.

Schoeppner interviewed with Hignite when he went to Orlando looking for artists.

"I was skeptical at first because I know people who have tried to start animation studios, and that's very difficult," Schoeppner said. "There's a lot of components that go into it. You have to have money or people to back you; you have to have the right kind of structure with management. You have to have people who are creative-leaning but people who also are willing to collaborate."

Hignite seems to have what it takes, Schoeppner said.

"He's being smart about it," she said. "He's growing the studio fairly slowly, only adding people when we get to the point where we really need them."

Bringing back tradition

But can an animation studio in suburban Milwaukee - about 2,000 miles from Hollywood and unaffiliated with a company like Disney - be successful?

Mar Elepano, an animation expert in the University of Southern California's School of Cinema-Television, said it could. Location doesn't matter, he said.

"What matters is you get the right kind of distribution, and that way you will get a massive audience," Elepano said.

It will be crucial that Hignite market his feature films internationally, not just in the United States, Elepano said.

"If he does that, he has something going," Elepano said. "He can keep this thing going to the point where perhaps he can fulfill the dream of bringing that tradition back where the premier way of telling the story is animation in feature length."

Hignite, whose home-building office in Richfield is decked out in Disney memorabilia and collectibles, said he has learned a lot in the last two years. He noted that even if a feature film never makes it to theaters and instead goes directly to DVD, it would make "a few million" dollars.

His hope, however, is larger than that. He wants to see high-quality 2-D stories back on the big screen, someday.

"Everybody who grew up with Disney animation, myself being one of them, has a love for it," Hignite said. "And you hate to see an art like that die."

From the July 28, 2005, editions of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel




Australia's Disney animation studios to close

Australian Associated Press Financial News Wire - July 26, 2005
DISNEY By Jonathon Moran, National Entertainment Writer

SYDNEY, July 26 AAP - Australia's film industry has been dealt a blow with the decision by US entertainment giant Walt Disney Co to close its animation production studio in Sydney.

The closure of DisneyToon Studios Australia (DTSA) in mid-2006 will cost about 250 jobs, the company said.

"It is with regret that DisneyToon Studios has decided to close their animation production facility in Sydney in mid-2006," the company said in a statement today.

"This closure is a business decision due in large part to the changing creative climate and economic environment in which DisneyToon Studios requires more flexibility to choose the most appropriate and efficient animation process."

The demise of the Australian studio follows Disney's closure of other international facilities in recent years.

DisneyToon staff were told of the decision yesterday when all employees were briefed by general manager Philip Oakes.

"They just told us they wanted to finish up (films) Brother Bear and Cinderella III and the studio would shut down after that project," said a staff member who asked not to be named.

"They said primarily that they just can't guarantee getting enough constant work coming through to us here so that decision was made to close the studio.

"I think most people knew it was going to happen. You hear a few rumours.

"We are not covered by a union at all. They did hand us out some forms and are giving us a redundancy payout, which I think is pretty standard."

The DTSA began operations in Australia in 1988, taking over the old Hanna Barbera studios in Sydney's St Leonards.

Since then, the studio has grown rapidly and moved to the city with offices in Castlereagh Street in central Sydney.

DTSA started working mostly on television cartoons, such as Winnie the Pooh, Darkwing Duck, Goof Troop, Aladdin, Timon and Pumbaa, and Duck Daze.

However, as technologies advanced and Australian animation staff became more skilled, the studio began working on higher profile projects.

Its first feature film was the 1994 sequel to Aladdin, entitled The Return of Jafar, released direct to DVD.

Other films included the sequel to The Lion King, The Lion King II: Simba's Pride, An Extremely Goofy Moviem and Lady and the Tramp II: Scamp's Adventure.

In 2002, the DTSA produced its first theatrical release feature, Return to Neverland, the sequel to the 1953 Disney classic Peter Pan.

That film grossed more than $100 million at the worldwide box office.

In recent years, DisneyToon's US parent company closed all its overseas operations bar Australia and a small office in the Philippines.

In March last year, DisneyToon said "virtually all" of Walt Disney Co's hand-drawn animation was being produced in Sydney.

"The studio thought it was better to boil it down to what the audience would accept and Sydney being so good still remained," senior Disney animator Andreas Deja said earlier this year.

This year, DisneyToon Studio has produced animated movies Tarzan 2, Lilo and Stitch 2 and Bambi 2.

Animators in Sydney are currently working on Brother Bear 2 and the studio will close after production on Cinderella III.

"The many gifted and talented artists on the Australian team have made a tremendous contribution to Disney's animation endeavours," DisneyToon said in today's statement.

Disney said it would continue to employ 270 Australians around the country in other divisions.

AAP
(c) 2005 Australian Associated Press Pty Ltd. All Rights Reserved


Roy Disney, company, bury the hatchet
Dissident directors won't push rival board, express confidence in Iger; Disney shares rise.

July 8, 2005: 5:14 PM EDT

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Walt Disney Co. said Friday it patched up differences with Roy Disney and Stanley Gold, two harshly critical shareholders, who have in turn pledged not to run a rival slate of directors or submit shareholder resolutions for five years.

Roy Disney, who was named director emeritus and consultant to the company, and Gold expressed confidence in the incoming chief executive Robert Iger.

The two dissident shareholders also agreed to drop all their pending lawsuits against the company, the company said.

Roy Disney, the nephew of the company's iconic founder, and Gold filed a suit in May accusing Disney of misleading investors about its search for a chief executive to succeed Michael Eisner. The two shareholders sought to void the election of the company's board of directors.

The company ultimately named Iger, the company's president, to the chief executive post, effective in September.

The two shareholders had led a protest aimed at ousting Eisner after several years of lackluster results and lagging performance at the ABC television network, among other issues. Last year, however, ABC's fortunes have reversed thanks to hit shows like "Desperate Housewives" and "Lost."