The panel, featuring directors of some of the year’s most celebrated animated feature films, is presented in partnership with the Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD). Moderated by Clayton Davis, Variety’s senior awards editor, the conversation showcases a diverse range of animation styles and artistic approaches, culminating in a roundtable discussion with the directors.
Category
✨
PeopleTranscript
00:00Thank you to SCAD Savannah Film Festival for allowing me to run amok here every year.
00:11It is honestly one of my highlights of my winter time that can get a little chilly.
00:18So I appreciate being here, but let's meet some great people.
00:24First up, you may have been familiar with his first feature, Away, in 2019.
00:30He has directed seven shorts throughout his career.
00:34He is the writer, director, producer, and composer, because you want multiple jobs on
00:39your movies, as much as you can do, representing Janis Films and Sideshow's Flow, ladies and
00:45gentlemen, Jens Zibilidis.
00:58Next up, you may be familiar with him when he got his first Oscar nomination for Best
01:02Original Screenplay for co-writing Inside Out.
01:07This time, he is directing the origin story of some big bad robots, but he's not just
01:13directing, he also provides the voices of Control Room Guys, PA System, and Skywarp,
01:23a supporting actor contender for this year's Academy Awards, but you may know him best
01:28when he won the Academy Award for directing Toy Story 4, and he is the Oscar winner, director
01:36of Paramount Pictures' Transformers 1, Josh Cooley.
01:52You may have heard of this next guy.
01:54What he did was he's made three animated films throughout his career.
02:00One was called The Croods.
02:02The other was called How to Train Your Dragon.
02:07The other was this little-known film called Lilo and Stitch, and in between, he then harnessed
02:14the power of live action, because he directed Harrison Ford in the 2020 film Call of the
02:20Wild, and he's great, but what I love him most for is that he was a character animator
02:26on such films such as Rescuers Down Under, Hercules, but my personal favorite, and these
02:31are for the 90s kids in the room, he worked on a few episodes of 1988's Muppet Babies.
02:40If you don't know what Muppet Babies are, you can leave this room now, go and return
02:44later.
02:45Three-time Academy Award nominee, the writer and director of DreamWorks Animations' The
02:48Wild Robot, Chris Sanders.
02:53All right, we're getting there, 20 documentaries, over 20 documentaries have been made by this
03:04next gentleman.
03:06Some of those include Best of Enemies, Won't You Be My Neighbor?, and 20 Feet from Stardom,
03:12for which he won the Oscar for Best Documentary Feature, and believe it or not, he also won
03:16a Grammy Award.
03:19Interesting, we're gonna start a lie today, and this is gonna continue and be birthed
03:24here, he's gonna be making an R&B album with Pharrell later this year, so just keep that
03:30lie going as long as we can.
03:33Writer, director, producer of Focus Features' piece-by-piece R&B legend, Morgan Neville.
03:44R&B legend?
03:45R&B legend.
03:47Sing that song.
03:49Next gentleman, you may know him as the co-writer of The Good Dinosaur, which I believe to be
03:54one of the underrated Pixar films in that repertoire, but he also worked on a few films
03:59called Monsters University, and again, one of my favorite Pixar movies over the last
04:03decade onward.
04:05His movie this year is now, as it stands, the highest grossing animated film of all
04:13time.
04:15So, with cash falling from the ceilings, the writer and director of Pixar's Inside Out
04:202, Kelsey Mann.
04:32Oh, they didn't drop the cash.
04:34Alright, we'll pick it up later.
04:37And last but certainly not least, in 2004, there was an animated short that I fell in
04:41love with called Harvey Crumpet.
04:43It was directed by this nice Australian man who, I don't know if you guys know this, three
04:49animated films have been made in Australia.
04:51Two of them have been made by this gentleman.
04:54One was called Mary and Max, and the other is the movie he's here for now.
05:01It's actually the only R-rated movie in this lineup, so no kids allowed.
05:09Writer, director, and producer of IFC Films' Memoir of a Snail, Adam Elliott.
05:25Alright.
05:31One of you will betray me.
05:34Thanks for coming to hang out in SCAT's Vanna Film Festival, all you crazy kids.
05:40I'm going to start with a very basic, silly question that I'm sure you get all the time.
05:45Why did you make your movie?
05:47It's very simple.
05:49Why did you decide to make this movie that you're here for now, at this point in time?
05:54Maybe we could start on the end with Adam.
05:57Well, for me to make a film, I have to get angry.
06:01And my father had just passed away and left behind a hoard, three sheds full of stuff.
06:08And so I had to go through everything, and I became fascinated why, as human beings,
06:13do we collect stuff and fill up our houses with stuff.
06:16So that was the impetus for this very long eight-year journey.
06:23Kelsey?
06:25Why did you make your movie?
06:27Pete Docter asked me to.
06:29Oh, simple enough answer.
06:31Seriously, on my calendar, I had a meeting pop up, which was with Pete Docter,
06:38who's our Chief Create-Up Officer and the director of the first film,
06:41and Jim Morris, our president at Pixar.
06:43She said, Jim, Pete, Kelsey meeting Jim's office.
06:47I'm like, uh-oh, what is this meeting?
06:49Is this either the best meeting or the worst meeting in the world?
06:53It ended up being the best.
06:54That was the one where Pete was thinking about worlds we could go and revisit.
07:00And I was like, oh, I think he might ask me to do a sequel.
07:02I was thinking about all the movies that I worked on.
07:04And then he said, Inside Out.
07:06And it kind of threw me.
07:08I was like, oh, my God, me?
07:10He goes, yeah, I think you'd be a good person to go off and see if there's an idea.
07:14So that's kind of where it all sparked from,
07:16is from that random meeting that was on my calendar.
07:18Awesome.
07:20Amazing.
07:22And what happened to me is kind of in the movie.
07:24So Pharrell Williams called me and said,
07:27I had this idea in watching your documentaries
07:30that you could make a documentary about me,
07:32and when you were done, you could throw it away,
07:34throw away the visuals, and do it again at LEGO.
07:36I don't know if this was a dream he had, and he'd been thinking about it,
07:40but he had no idea what that meant, nor did I,
07:43other than I heard myself say, yes, yes, I need to do this.
07:47And it could have died many different ways,
07:49but to me, it was just this giant creative challenge
07:52at this point in my life that I needed badly.
07:55Sir Sanders?
07:57I guess in my case, I fell in love with the book.
07:59I was visiting DreamWorks to see what was in development,
08:02and they laid some things, actually laid them out on a table,
08:05and amongst them was this book, The Wild Robot.
08:07And just the first couple of sentences about what the book contained
08:10told me that I was interested.
08:12So I took it home, read it, called back in a semi-panic,
08:15because I just don't give this to anybody else.
08:17I really, really want to work on this,
08:19and that's how the whole thing started.
08:21Transformers.
08:23I grew up watching it in the 80s,
08:25eating cereal on the floor with my younger brother,
08:28and not going to school Saturday mornings, which was the best.
08:31And so, yeah, so I've always been a fan,
08:34but knowing that this was going to be about these two characters
08:37that are going from brothers to enemies,
08:39I thought about my relationship with my brother,
08:42not that he's my enemy.
08:44I grew up, and we both had the same exact upbringing.
08:47We had so much fun together,
08:49and I became a super writer, director, creative.
08:55I live in fantasy land, get to dream for a living, is what I say,
08:58and my brother became a homicide detective,
09:01which is the complete opposite.
09:03And so I was always fascinated, like, how did that happen?
09:06And so I put that into this film.
09:09Yeah, so all the films I made before,
09:12I did them myself, including my first feature,
09:15and I always wanted to work with a team,
09:18but I was still afraid of doing that,
09:20and I thought I should make a story about the character
09:23who learns to do that,
09:25and it would kind of be my way of tricking myself to do it.
09:28I had no way out of it.
09:31So, yeah, it's a very personal story to me.
09:34I think when you spend such a long time on a film,
09:37you need to have something that you really care about,
09:40like, to hold your own attention.
09:43So it was kind of therapy for me, I guess.
09:46Awesome.
09:48We have spoken about this before,
09:51because we talked before this panel,
09:54and anyone who's been to these before here
09:57asks this very often.
09:59I think there's a misconception in Hollywood
10:02that when you are directing an animated movie,
10:05you are standing over someone's shoulder,
10:07and you're saying, draw this,
10:09and that's all that comes with the job.
10:12When it's more than that,
10:14you are creating the story,
10:16you're making changes, directing actors.
10:19Can you talk about the misconception
10:22that people have about your job
10:25and how it relates to the movie you made?
10:28And anyone can jump in on that one first.
10:32I think that people assume
10:35that there's a cool button that you push on the computer,
10:38and it just makes the movie for you.
10:40We have one of those, dude.
10:42You do?
10:44Yeah, yeah.
10:46We couldn't get one, so we had to use our crew.
10:49So, yeah, I feel like that's the thing.
10:52It's like, well, it's on the screen, it's computer,
10:55it's just, you know,
10:57all those half-hour behind-the-scenes things
10:59where they show you how animation's made,
11:01they don't show you everything.
11:03They don't show you every single day
11:05and all the work and everything
11:07that you have to do behind the scenes,
11:09so it's just a lot of work.
11:11I think in Stop Motion,
11:14there's a presumption that every day
11:17the director comes in last,
11:19all the other people come in
11:21and set up all the stages
11:23and get the puppets ready,
11:25and then I just come in.
11:27So I'm first to arrive at 6am
11:30and last to leave at 7pm.
11:32But then I'm a megalomaniac,
11:34so I have to do everything myself.
11:36I'm a control freak.
11:38And being an auteur, a writer, director,
11:40production designer, storyboard artist,
11:43yeah, I have to be overseeing everything,
11:46and that's exhausting.
11:48I actually tend to do the opposite.
11:50When Dean Deblois,
11:52who I worked with on Lilo & Stitch,
11:55we got our first chance to write and direct.
11:58We had met each other on Mulan,
12:00where we both worked in story and such,
12:02and we had a moment of panic because we thought,
12:04like, I don't understand every discipline
12:06that I'm going to be now in charge of,
12:08layout and such.
12:10And I learned animation,
12:12but I couldn't really do it that well,
12:14and I understood it, but again,
12:16not enough to stand over somebody
12:18and tell them how to do it.
12:20And I think both Dean and I realized,
12:22we'll do our job by not doing that.
12:24And our mutual decision was,
12:26for example, in animation,
12:28we'll just stay where we belong in story.
12:30So when I talk to an animator,
12:32if what they animate, I'll pitch the scene
12:34as though they were an actor,
12:36I'll tell them the content of the scene,
12:38and they'll go away and do it.
12:40And if it comes back,
12:42and it will inevitably look different
12:44than I saw it in my head,
12:46but if they checked all the boxes,
12:48we're done, and we'll move on.
12:50And we handled every single department that way
12:52and just told them the needs of the scene.
12:54So I avoid telling people
12:56what to do as much as possible.
12:58I mean, I'll just say,
13:00my experience was so different
13:02from everybody's.
13:04Because we were making a film
13:06unlike any other film in a way,
13:08and had to figure out how to make the film.
13:10And my background is documentary,
13:12and what I realized very quickly
13:14is in animation,
13:16the director is God,
13:18and in documentary, you're lucky
13:20to have a sandwich.
13:22So the kind of control
13:24one has in animation
13:26was exactly the opposite
13:28of what I'm used to.
13:30And so I was really interested in the friction
13:32between the real world
13:34and the grammar of documentary,
13:36and then putting that into a world
13:38where you can control everything.
13:40And so, essentially,
13:42we made the film twice.
13:44Once as a kind of Frankenstein cut
13:46of footage I shot
13:48and interviews and archive footage
13:50and movie clips,
13:52and I hired a kid just out of art school
13:54to just sit and draw with us in the edit bay
13:56constantly, and filled up a cut,
13:58and we screened it for people,
14:00and we got it where it was pretty close to locked.
14:02And then we started working
14:04with the animation team,
14:06and great people, Howard Baker,
14:08my animation director I worked with,
14:10I have to give him a lot of credit, and so many people,
14:12because this was me going to school
14:14in animation, but also
14:16me arguing with
14:18them all the time, too, like trying to
14:20hold on to my
14:22naivete.
14:24Do you still have a good relationship with Legos now?
14:26I do.
14:28Anyone else?
14:30Yeah, well, I had this perception
14:32that the reason
14:34why I was afraid of working
14:36together is I felt that I
14:38didn't know what I wanted.
14:40I was told that the director should know
14:42the answer to everything,
14:44and I didn't.
14:46But I figured that probably most
14:48of us don't know all the answers,
14:50but we can work on them, and we can figure them
14:52out, and it just takes time,
14:54and just patience, and work,
14:56and yeah, you have to be
14:58kind of naive in some ways.
15:00You have to just jump in and figure
15:02it out. I think just being
15:04paralyzed and not even starting, that's
15:06a problem.
15:08I didn't know what I was doing, but I had to
15:10present myself as if I knew,
15:12but it's also, I had to
15:14know when I had to ask for others
15:16for help. I think that's
15:18important, and yeah,
15:20trust others. I know that
15:22other people on my team are
15:24much better than me on pretty much everything,
15:26but I need to kind of,
15:28yeah, it's about finding that trust, and
15:30it took a long
15:32time to realize that, but I think
15:34I have more confidence to kind of
15:36also delegate more on the next
15:38film, which I found
15:40the team, and I want
15:42to delegate more. I don't want
15:44to do as much.
15:46Jumping off of that, that's probably the biggest
15:48lesson that I've learned
15:50directing this movie, is learning,
15:52because there's so many different facets
15:54to what we do. There's so many different
15:56departments, and there's a lot that I
15:58literally don't know how they do what they do,
16:00and I remember talking to Pete, and Pete's
16:02like, it's okay, you don't need to know, you don't have to be
16:04an expert in every single department
16:06that you're going with. All you have to do
16:08is tell them what you're
16:10going for emotionally, and let
16:12them figure out how to get what you need
16:14to do, what you need, and
16:16don't tell them how to do it, because they're going
16:18to surprise you with a solution.
16:20Because I used to think, like, how many times
16:22have you heard, like, oh, that director doesn't
16:24know what they want. So I'm like, okay,
16:26I've got to come in, and I know what I want!
16:28This has got to be red, and pointy
16:30shapes, and it's like, no, no, no,
16:32don't, just say what you need emotionally,
16:34and let them figure out
16:36how to do it. Let me read off to you a few
16:38names of people
16:40you got stuck with working
16:42on your movies. Sarah Snook,
16:44Amy Poehler,
16:46Lupita Nyong'o,
16:48Chris Hemsworth,
16:50Snoop Dogg,
16:52and a cat.
16:56Voice acting in movies
16:58and meows
17:00are integral
17:02to the emotion which you spoke
17:04of, and probably one of the
17:06greatest components
17:08that
17:10beg for pristine
17:12direction is really being able
17:14to emote
17:16what you're going for on screen.
17:18What did you find surprising
17:20about working with your bottom
17:22of the barrel actors that you had
17:24to find to do your
17:26movie?
17:28I mean, my experience was so different
17:30on this, you know,
17:32that I was doing what I normally
17:34do, which is interviews for
17:36a documentary, but in
17:38this case, you know, we started
17:40production the very
17:42top of 2020. Then a thing
17:44called COVID came, and
17:46we,
17:48suddenly I realized, well, I can do all
17:50of my interviews during the pandemic
17:52on my couch at home.
17:54So,
17:56and I actually prefer
17:58to do audio interviews
18:00often starting,
18:02often more phone than Zoom,
18:04and so a lot of these,
18:06particularly Snoop, is like
18:08a late night phone call
18:10where he was in his studio
18:12and
18:14just having this
18:16talk, I didn't tell anybody we
18:18were making a Lego movie.
18:20I just said, we're making a documentary,
18:22we're going to animate it, don't worry about it.
18:24And then
18:26I remember
18:28Snoop in particular,
18:30I get a text from my sound person
18:32as we're recording saying, I can hear
18:34him rolling a joint right now, should I tell
18:36him to stop? And I said,
18:38no, don't tell Snoop to stop,
18:40please.
18:42But we would have these
18:44long conversations, you know,
18:46same thing with
18:48a lot of these. It was just
18:50kind of the intimacy you get of kind of
18:52a late night phone call, trying to have
18:54that, you know,
18:56putting that into the film.
18:58In what other medium will you be able to get a Lego blunt
19:00made? Only here.
19:02Only in animation.
19:04So,
19:06talking to Chris
19:08at the very beginning of
19:10casting this, it was very clear
19:12he understood the goal,
19:14the arc of the character and everything.
19:16He'd never done voiceover before, which I
19:18found interesting, I didn't know that.
19:20He said,
19:22how are we going to do this? And I said, well,
19:24he lives in Sydney, Australia,
19:26Byron Bay. So,
19:28I said, we could do a resume,
19:30you happen to be in LA, we could do it.
19:32He's just like, why don't you just come out here?
19:34Pretty Australian, right?
19:36That was good.
19:38Not bad.
19:40Not bad.
19:42So I went to his house like six times
19:44and recorded all of it
19:46in his
19:48theater room with no shoes on.
19:50He kept asking me
19:52to put my shoes on and I didn't.
19:54No shoes, no sleeves.
19:56But it was really cool
19:58because it was really relaxing
20:00and we got a chance to just talk about the character
20:02and not worry about the stress of
20:04time and everything.
20:06We were very much on island time.
20:08It was a unique experience.
20:10What does Chris Hemsworth's
20:12home gym look like?
20:14I was only
20:16in one wing.
20:18Awesome.
20:20I've always
20:22worked with actors who
20:24take the role seriously.
20:26But none
20:28more so than Lupita.
20:30She had a particularly big job
20:32to figure out Ross
20:34because Ross doesn't have any facial articulation.
20:36So everything is unusually
20:38carried by her voice alone.
20:40And Lupita immediately
20:42from the get-go understood
20:44the different sort of architecture,
20:46if you will, that was going on inside
20:48of Ross because she's a programmed being.
20:50So we began
20:52every session by just talking.
20:54It never ended. Every session we would talk
20:56upwards of an hour before we began to record.
20:58Particularly our very first recording
21:00session because we had to figure out
21:02who this character was, how she
21:04thought and how she saw the world.
21:06And Lupita really took the lead
21:08in figuring that out
21:10and crafting and shaping her own character.
21:12And then she went beyond that
21:14and really she crafted a voice.
21:16So Ross's voice
21:18changes from the beginning to the end.
21:20And we came up with these three phase
21:22voices. Phase one being straight out
21:24of the box and what we termed
21:26an engineered optimism. And so she would actually
21:28kind of stress her voice up into this sort of
21:30hello sort of Alexa Siri sort of
21:32zone. And then as the film went
21:34along she would evolve and become more just
21:36pure Lupita. So it was
21:38absolutely fascinating to watch her
21:40figure out and take this character apart.
21:42So I learned a ton
21:44just being in the room with her
21:46and watching how she approached a character
21:48and how she deciphered it.
21:50It's really great. I love record days.
21:52There's always this lead up to it.
21:54They're usually like
21:56three to four hours
21:58at times. And
22:00being able to go into a recording
22:02studio with
22:04Amy Poehler. Oh my god.
22:06I adore her. She
22:08is so great to work with.
22:10She's like
22:12she's a writer.
22:14She's not only super funny
22:16she's super smart. So I want to get
22:18her ideas that she has.
22:20Another
22:22piece of advice that I learned
22:24making this. The best direction I can
22:26give someone like Amy Poehler. It's a little bit like
22:28what I was talking about earlier.
22:30I had to remind myself. Remember
22:32just to say now say it however
22:34you want. And then
22:36that gold would come
22:38out. Because you usually have worked on it a little
22:40bit. And she knows what we're
22:42going for. And now I'm like forget the script
22:44put it away. Just go on a
22:46run. And then
22:48nine times out of ten that's what's in the movie.
22:50Is what she delivers
22:52there. Because she's just incredibly smart. She did
22:54once though. At one point
22:56I think I had to ask her to come up with
22:58things that
23:00you would bring
23:02to. I was going to go to like
23:04a teenage party. And Joy
23:06needed to suggest kid like things.
23:08Like a water slide.
23:10Water balloons and stuff. So I go
23:12now just say whatever you want. And she got
23:14really quiet.
23:16And I was like uh-oh. Shoot.
23:18She needs my help. Sometimes you don't know.
23:20Like should I come in and help?
23:22But no. She just stood
23:24quiet for a little bit.
23:26And then she went on a tear. And she was
23:28just like da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da.
23:30I was like oh my god. She was just logging
23:32all of these thoughts.
23:34Because you have. When you go in everybody's
23:36different. That you're working with.
23:38And so part of it. The first meeting is just you
23:40trying to go what's your style.
23:42So I know when Amy gets quiet she's thinking.
23:44And she's not. Because some people are like I don't have any ideas.
23:46I need some help.
23:48But Amy and the whole cast was
23:50amazing. That's one of my favorite days.
23:52Because you get to play. You really get to play.
23:54I remember working with Amy.
23:56One of the last records we did.
23:58There's a line in the film that
24:00I'm so proud of. And we wrote
24:02kind of a couple of versions of it. Because sometimes
24:04there's a couple of things on the script.
24:06And I remember just working with Amy.
24:08There's that line at the end of the movie
24:10where she says maybe this is
24:12what happens when you get older.
24:14You feel less joy.
24:16And I remember it wasn't even written that way.
24:18But we played with it. I'm like try it
24:20like this. Try it without that.
24:22And then finally. You're just trying to find
24:24that emotional reaction in the room.
24:26And you know when it comes out.
24:28You're like. We call them circle takes.
24:30Where there's somebody there who's like
24:32watching your favorite takes.
24:34And you'll indicate that's the one.
24:36It's really fun.
24:38Awesome. Thank you.
24:40So animation is keeping Hollywood afloat.
24:42I don't know if you guys know this.
24:44We've had.
24:46Yeah. Animation. Give it up.
24:48Applause.
24:50Applause.
24:52We are in a
24:54transition.
24:56We'll call it that. In Hollywood.
24:58And animated films continue to be
25:00the most critically acclaimed films
25:02of the year. They also make tons
25:04of money. And yet they get
25:06no respect. So
25:08I want to ask you guys
25:10to put yourselves
25:12in the shoes
25:14of Mr. Hollywood. If you could run
25:16Hollywood for one day.
25:18What is the one
25:20thing you would change
25:24that would benefit animators
25:26at animation?
25:28Oh my goodness.
25:30One day. 24 hours.
25:32Laughter.
25:34What would we
25:36change in animation?
25:38What would you change industry
25:40wise to bring more
25:42respect or something that just
25:44would benefit animation
25:46as a genre.
25:48I would let the directors join the DGA.
25:50Applause.
25:52That's great.
25:54Applause.
25:56I think we should make more
25:58smaller films.
26:00Only they make these huge films
26:02where it's kind of difficult
26:04to kind of tell
26:06or maybe not difficult but like
26:08I think if you do a lot of more
26:10smaller films maybe not all of them
26:12will work but
26:14I think maybe if just one
26:16works I think it can
26:18compensate all the misfires.
26:20So like
26:22we're only making these big films but
26:24yeah I think it's important
26:26to have the smaller ones.
26:28Indie cinema exists also in animation.
26:30Very good point. Thank you.
26:32It's a good 24 hours. I like it already.
26:34I think I would try to demystify it.
26:36I think that even a lot of people who
26:38really like animation don't fully understand
26:40where it comes from, how it works.
26:42How do you direct an animated film?
26:44So if there was a way that people
26:46could see what I get
26:48to see every day, the artists and the work
26:50that goes into all this stuff and the sheer
26:52talent that is within these
26:54teams,
26:56I think that would change people's perception
26:58of what this is.
27:00Yeah I agree. I think
27:02going to what you were saying earlier Clayton
27:04that animation's not a genre
27:06it's a medium which is what I've been
27:08saying for 28 years
27:10in Australia
27:12because I get emails from angry
27:14parents all the time telling me that
27:16your films are not for children
27:18and I say of course. Why are you taking
27:20your children to my R rated
27:22film?
27:24We have an orgy.
27:26So
27:28it's just breaking that mindset
27:30and Australia is particularly
27:32backward but the other thing we
27:34have in Australia which you don't have here
27:36in Hollywood is government support.
27:38All my films have been funded
27:40by the government
27:42and that's been a huge
27:44benefit. It'll never happen
27:46especially if that certain person
27:48gets into power.
27:50But yeah
27:52stupid suggestion.
27:54No it's a great suggestion.
27:56Can we borrow some money?
27:58Sure, come to Australia.
28:00I'm okay with my tax dollars going to animation
28:02let's do that for sure.
28:04Kelsey?
28:06I mean we're up here behind a
28:08big giant screen. I feel like
28:10we need to get our work up here
28:12more up on the big theater
28:14up on the big screen because I
28:16think that's where
28:18really our work should be seen
28:20and I've been really pleased
28:22that we've been able to bring people out and
28:24see
28:26our films the way they're intended.
28:28That's an executive order. Make sure it plays in
28:30theaters.
28:32I agree particularly with both
28:34of these last comments. One
28:36the kind of idea that animation
28:38only fits one audience
28:40and it goes in this one bucket
28:42and I think breaking those ideas
28:44as much as we can is one thing
28:46I would do. And the other is just
28:48still I think all
28:50of us as filmmakers imagine the
28:52day where we're sitting with an audience
28:54watching our film for the first time
28:56that's how we create it. That's
28:58the perfect version in our head
29:00and that's the thing that
29:02feels more in danger now
29:04than ever. So anything we can to get
29:06people to show up and actually particularly
29:08younger people. I've got two
29:10teenagers and trying to make sure they go
29:12see movies in theaters as much as they
29:14can to understand what that
29:16communal experience. There's something about
29:18the togetherness of that experience that just
29:20can't be replicated.
29:22Awesome. We are
29:24I'm always fascinated
29:26by origin stories.
29:28My favorite animated film of all time is Lion King
29:30but it's not the movie that made me fall in love
29:32with animation. It was actually
29:34Sleeping Beauty because it's a straight up horror
29:36movie. It scared the, I'm not even lying
29:38it scared the hell out of me when I
29:40was a kid because that green
29:42light floating through
29:44it had nightmares for a
29:46long time. But I'm always fascinated
29:48by your origin story Pixels
29:50and Pencils 1 I guess we can call this
29:52but what was the animated movie
29:54that made you fall in love with animated movies?
30:00I mean I'll
30:02jump in. There's two things that I really
30:04remember as a kid. The first one was when I was in the living
30:06room and I saw Charlie Brown Christmas for the first time
30:08and I
30:10remember it was the first time I ever
30:12became emotional seeing anything like that
30:14and I remember I had to jump up and leave the room at that
30:16last little speech and it really
30:18stayed with me for the rest of my life.
30:20It's so wonderful because it's so
30:22imperfect and it is perfect. If you went back and
30:24fixed everything it wouldn't work anymore.
30:26It's a marvel.
30:28The other one was
30:30there's a feature film that Disney made called
30:32I think it's called Saludos Amigos and
30:34it's kind of a strange film but in the
30:36middle of it there's a sequence. It's about three minutes
30:38long. It's called Three Caballeros and it was
30:40animated by
30:42Ward Kimball and I think
30:44as far as I know he pretty much did it all
30:46on his own and I never saw anything like
30:48it before or since. It's the most pure
30:50joy animation
30:52doing what it does best. It was just
30:54the brakes were off and it just went crazy
30:56for like three minutes and after
30:58I saw that I thought that was the first time I thought
31:00I think maybe this is what I want to do.
31:02I grew up
31:04watching all the Saturday morning stuff
31:06and Looney Tunes and
31:08all the classic Disney films.
31:10I was going to get to that.
31:12That was my next question.
31:14But it wasn't until I saw
31:16Who Framed Roger Rabbit that made me want to become
31:18a filmmaker.
31:20Yeah!
31:24I love me some Looney Tunes.
31:26I love. I'll be honest.
31:28That was the first time we were all
31:30you know directors up here like I
31:32that was the first time that I noticed
31:34a director's touch. I had my
31:36favorites right and I slowly started
31:38to realize I saw the name Chuck Jones
31:40and I was like oh his name's on every
31:42single one that I really
31:44like and that's when I really
31:46an animation director
31:48like it dawned on me. I'm like oh
31:50that's that's their work.
31:52That's specifically you know all of his were
31:54my favorites.
31:56That's a huge influence
31:58on me.
32:00That was my answer.
32:02It was because I grew up you know
32:04loving particularly like 30s films.
32:06The Marx Brothers were my favorites
32:08and the Looney Tunes was like
32:10living in that same world all the time
32:12and even though that was made
32:14you know 80 years ago it feels so
32:16contemporary to watch so much of that.
32:18I just loved it. Keep your paper
32:20covered man. He's going to see it.
32:22Adam?
32:24Yeah well actually
32:26I used to go and see films I wasn't
32:28meant to see
32:30and I was too young and actually in one
32:32day I went and saw David Lynch's
32:34The Elephant Man
32:36thinking it was about a circus.
32:38I came home but then that
32:40evening I watched on we have a
32:42public broadcasting commission
32:44in Australia and it shows all
32:46these Eastern European
32:48films and at three o'clock in the afternoon
32:50after The Elephant Man on
32:52came this film called Alice
32:54which was by this Czech Republic
32:56animator called Jan
32:58Schvankmeyer and I watched
33:00that and it was his version of
33:02Alice in Wonderland
33:04in stop motion and I was
33:06mesmerized. It was dark, it was
33:08disturbing and I thought I want
33:10to do that.
33:12Yeah like
33:14speaking in terms that animation
33:16is not the genre but the medium
33:18I didn't have like one specific
33:20animated film. I wasn't even
33:22interested in being an animator.
33:24I wanted to be a filmmaker so I was
33:26inspired by not just animation but also
33:28live action and I think
33:30maybe Children of
33:32Men was something that really blew my mind
33:34that really I wanted
33:36to express
33:38my emotions and ideas
33:40with the camera so I
33:42felt like I'd never seen something like that
33:44and of course Miyazaki
33:46and Ghibli films if you
33:48focus on animation but there are so
33:50many. I don't have one moment
33:52I have just years and years of watching
33:54films.
33:56Everyone answered? Good. Okay.
33:58I'm going to ask you guys
34:00a little bit of a difficult question
34:02but I need the audience to agree with me on this.
34:04They are not the villains in the story. Okay?
34:06Just agreed? Not villains.
34:08Okay.
34:10We are in a room full of
34:12men, women, people,
34:14humans that want to get into
34:16the space and in doing
34:18a little bit of research
34:20of the films that are expected to be submitted
34:22for the Academy Awards this year
34:24it looks like it's going to be about 26
34:26only four are directed by
34:28women this year and it's really
34:30upsetting
34:32and what advice
34:34do you have for people
34:36that want to get into this medium
34:38but what can we do
34:40to help advocate for more
34:42diversity and inclusion in
34:44this profession that you love so much?
34:46Again, not villains.
34:48But I want you to give that
34:50piece of advice.
34:52Exposure and experience.
34:54A lot of us, it's all on our minds
34:56to make sure that we have people on the crew.
34:58I made a movie about a 13 year old girl.
35:02I haven't been 13 in a long time.
35:06You want to make sure you're surrounding yourself
35:08with people that you want to get it right.
35:10You want to have people
35:12on the crew. We're all up here because
35:14we were given an opportunity
35:16to learn.
35:20Even coming here. I love coming here.
35:22A lot of you are students.
35:24They're like, is it okay
35:26if you stay a little bit afterwards?
35:28They might come up and want to talk to you.
35:30I'm like, yeah. I remember doing that.
35:34There have been so many people
35:36each one of us probably have this
35:38people that helped us along the way
35:40and gave us an opportunity to learn and grow.
35:42You just try to make sure
35:44that you're passing that on to
35:46other people on your crew.
35:50In Australia, we now have
35:52diversity and inclusivity
35:54rules because
35:56our films are funded by the government.
35:58We now have, it's mandatory
36:00to get a gender balance to start
36:02with. Having said that,
36:04we are starved for female
36:06stop motion animators in Australia.
36:08Please come to Australia.
36:12I had to
36:14employ my cousin Donna
36:16who's a stop motion animator.
36:18It is
36:20changing in Australia. It is sad.
36:22Up here, we're all white.
36:24We're all men, aren't we?
36:28That's sad, but hopefully changing.
36:30Can't take all of them
36:32with Australia.
36:34Stay here, hopefully.
36:36One thing Kelsey said, which I think is important
36:38is experience.
36:40It's one thing to
36:42I don't think it's helpful just to put somebody in a role
36:44because of who they
36:46are, but having the experience
36:48is really important because that's how you succeed.
36:50I've seen it happen before where people just aren't ready
36:52and it's not fair to anybody.
36:54Really
36:56work hard. That's my thing.
36:58As a student, I just
37:00worked my tail off because I wanted it so
37:02badly. Just go further than
37:04the person next to you.
37:06I think that
37:08I still feel
37:10hopeful about the future.
37:12I think that now there's more
37:14and more ways to make films independently
37:16and making them.
37:18I'm so grateful that my tiny
37:20film is here on this stage with these huge
37:22films.
37:24I think there's going to be more and more of
37:26things like this being possible.
37:28Films will be able
37:30to be made in places where there isn't
37:32a big industry. We can make them
37:34in a very small studio with a small
37:36team. Especially animation
37:38can transcend
37:40any of these
37:42preconceptions. It can
37:44reach audiences old and young
37:46in different cultures. It's not tied
37:48to anything.
37:50I think there should be
37:54going back to we should make more
37:56smaller films. I think we could
37:58also have more different perspectives
38:00which have
38:02more specificity and not
38:04trying to make it for everyone
38:06but trying to make it
38:08about one person's specific
38:10different point of view.
38:12You can take more risks
38:14in more independent films.
38:16I think
38:18there's also, especially in
38:20Europe, we're very lucky to have this opportunity
38:22to be able to
38:24experiment
38:26not just with stories but the way that they're told.
38:30Not trying to please everyone
38:32but trying to be very personal
38:34and specific.
38:36I'll just say, from the world I come from
38:38which is documentary, and I've been doing it for
38:4030 years, there's been
38:42a huge transformation in that industry
38:44in every way. But particularly
38:46the last 20 years
38:50as many films are directed
38:52by women as they are by men, it's
38:54incredibly diverse internationally, racially
38:56in all these different ways.
38:58I think part of that is
39:00the technology
39:02has made it easier.
39:04When I started, you had to get
39:06a $100,000 camera and you had to do
39:08straight cutting on a
39:10steam back or something. It was really
39:12expensive to do anything.
39:14Now you can do all that on your phone.
39:16Some of the best documentaries
39:18that are happening start
39:20on somebody's phone.
39:22The keys to
39:24creativity are right there now
39:26for so many more people.
39:28It's definitely changed the documentary world.
39:30I think it's hopefully coming
39:32for the animation world in that
39:34there's more democratizing
39:36of people being able to
39:38play with the medium
39:40so it's not so expensive
39:42to get into it.
39:44It's here now. You can download
39:46apps to animate right on your phone.
39:50I agree with Josh.
39:52I think it really is on us.
39:54Within the studio is the best
39:56place that I can find
39:58and identify talent and really
40:00encourage them to
40:02try directing and writing
40:04and things like that.
40:06Once somebody gets into the studio, I think in particular
40:08I'm always interested in the story department
40:10because that's where I'm the most in contact
40:12and the most comfortable and that's where I exist
40:14really. I'm always looking
40:16for whoever has a really
40:18great voice and they're able to express themselves.
40:20I think it's on us
40:22to continue to nurture talent within the studio.
40:24Once you get into the studio, find those
40:26individuals that really have
40:28it and really encourage
40:30them and then give them the support.
40:32The thing that would break my heart
40:34more than anything is to give somebody
40:36a great opportunity
40:38and then not support them
40:40because it's a tough job.
40:42It's a marathon. They're always a marathon.
40:44Identifying people who have
40:46the temperament to get in there and
40:48stay and stay with it the whole way
40:50but then again to support them.
40:52I think that's 100% on us.
40:54I think it is happening more and more but
40:56I think we can't push on that too much.
41:00I have a question
41:02for the audience. Can you clap if you're a
41:04SCAD student?
41:06Applause
41:08Applause
41:10Applause
41:12Applause
41:14You should ask who's not a SCAD student.
41:16Who's not a SCAD student?
41:18Yeah!
41:20So
41:22at the beginning when I took the podium
41:24I asked you all, I said I wanted
41:26to be alive to see the first animated
41:28movie win Best Picture.
41:30Which by the way, any of you six would be a
41:32great fine Best Picture winner. Just putting that out there.
41:34But
41:36for the SCAD students
41:38that are here
41:40raise your hand
41:42make some noise if you believe that
41:44you will be the first one to direct
41:46that animated Best Picture winner.
41:48Applause
41:50Applause
41:52Okay.
41:54So I'm going to do something
41:56you're going to regret it just a little bit though.
41:58You raise your hand right here.
42:00Come on up.
42:02Applause
42:04Applause
42:06Applause
42:08Applause
42:10Applause
42:12Please be careful walking up the stairs.
42:14Up the stage?
42:16I know. Sorry.
42:18I know. I know. Come on.
42:20Applause
42:22Applause
42:24Okay.
42:26Now picture's your movie. Right now.
42:28No.
42:30Okay. First introduce yourself
42:32to the audience. Hi. I'm
42:34Kaylee. I'm a junior dramatic writing major here at
42:36SCAD.
42:38Applause
42:40Applause
42:42Who is your favorite variety journalist?
42:44You.
42:46There was too much of a beat there.
42:48Okay. Tell
42:50us
42:52why you love
42:54art so much and
42:56what is it about it that has
42:58made this a dream for you?
43:00When I was a kid I had a really hard time
43:02expressing myself.
43:04I was homeschooled for a little while
43:06there and I would just peer
43:08at the kids going to school out the window.
43:10I wonder what they're doing.
43:12My mom would take me to movies all the time
43:14and she would take me to animated movies and I was like
43:16they understand how I feel more than
43:18the kids I'm looking out the window do.
43:20I feel like I found a way
43:22to express myself through writing and
43:24through drawing and things like that.
43:26Beautiful. Thank you.
43:28You can clap.
43:30Applause
43:32I'm going to
43:34be a gentleman right now. I need you
43:36to take my seat that I will sit in the middle.
43:38Welcome to the panel.
43:40Welcome to the panel.
43:42What I would like to do
43:44is to close
43:46out our wonderful party today.
43:48I'm going to have these fabulous
43:50directors give you
43:52personal advice
43:54on how you can
43:56make your dream a
43:58reality. Then you're going to go
44:00take that out of this room and then you're going to
44:02go make that first animated best picture winner
44:04and I will see you in two years.
44:06Applause
44:08Applause
44:10Applause
44:12Applause
44:14Applause
44:16I'm going to choose it in random order. We're going to start with
44:18Mr. Gintz.
44:20Yeah, I think it's
44:22don't try to
44:24just be like everyone else.
44:26Try to tell your own story
44:28and in your own way
44:30and I think then you'll also
44:32stand out and people will notice you
44:34and I think
44:36if we spend our lives
44:38making these films, we should
44:40do it because we really care for it.
44:42It's not just a job so
44:44try to find something that really
44:46you'll feel passionate about
44:48and that's very close to you
44:50and it will become
44:52more than a job
44:54really so try to do that.
44:58Adam Elliott.
45:00Okay, well
45:02don't become an animator.
45:04No,
45:06the advice I always give
45:08is the advice my
45:10animation lecturer gave
45:12to me in 1996
45:14before you were born
45:16and on day one she said
45:18I don't care what you animate, you can animate
45:20sand, plasticine, computer,
45:222D, 3D, I don't care she said
45:24focus on your
45:26story because an audience will
45:28always forgive bad lighting,
45:30bad editing, bad sound,
45:32bad acting, but they will never
45:34forgive a bad story.
45:36So story, story, story.
45:44My fellow Latino brother
45:46Josh Cooley.
45:48Sorry, this is awkward
45:50for both of us.
45:54Story,
45:56the story is important
45:58absolutely. First of all,
46:00Australia, that's my advice to you.
46:04But making it,
46:06making the story as personal to you
46:08is really important, not just for
46:10making it different,
46:12but also just to make it
46:14something that you
46:16can hold on to because
46:18he said see you in two years,
46:20it takes longer than that to make an animated movie,
46:22I don't know if he knows that.
46:24I was accelerating it.
46:26Well, it takes a long time and you need
46:28something to anchor you
46:30when you're being asked a million questions a day.
46:32And for me, it's always the most
46:34emotional part of what
46:36the story you're trying to tell is what you can
46:38basically answer any question with that.
46:40So make sure that your story
46:42is really personal and emotional to you.
46:44But you already have one, which is fantastic.
46:46Awesome.
46:48I appreciate not being fact-checked on stage.
46:50Thanks, Josh.
46:52Next up, Kelsey Mann.
46:54Tell her how to make the highest grossing animated
46:56film of all time.
46:58Oh my goodness.
47:00You know,
47:02that's funny, that just made me think of
47:04something that I wasn't going to say.
47:10When you're directing
47:12these movies, there's a lot on your shoulders.
47:14And there's a lot of people,
47:16there's a lot of pressure
47:18on it and
47:20make sure, I tried to do this
47:22with the film too,
47:24make sure that
47:26Joy is at your console when you're doing what you're doing.
47:28Because there's so many times where
47:30she won't be there.
47:32And I remember very
47:34specifically, I walked in,
47:36when I first started on the movie,
47:38they give me a big empty story room.
47:40They're like, here's your story room, go make a movie.
47:42And on the outside
47:44of it, there was a little plaque that
47:46you're supposed to put a little picture of like,
47:48this is Kelsey Mann's story room.
47:50And I'm like, what am I going to put in here?
47:52I don't know what the movie's going to be about.
47:54But I was thinking about the
47:56pressure that we can have on these movies.
47:58And I'm like, if I walk in
48:00feeling that pressure,
48:02I'll never make it.
48:04And so I put a little picture of me as a kid.
48:06When I was like eight.
48:08And I had a big smile on my face.
48:10I put that in there.
48:12So that I knew, if I went back and I told
48:14that little eight year old, ten year old self
48:16that I was going to get this opportunity,
48:18he'd feel nothing but joy and happiness
48:20to be able to do that.
48:22And I'm like, that's how I need to direct this movie.
48:24I need to go in there with a purpose,
48:26a sense of joy and openness
48:28and fun!
48:30And I want it to get up on the screen.
48:32I want it to be emotional, but I also want it to be
48:34fun.
48:36And I think that's how you can be successful.
48:38Because so much, there's deadlines,
48:40there's all this stuff that we have to do that
48:42takes it away. And it can affect the film.
48:44So let joy
48:46be at your console.
48:48Awesome. Thank you.
48:50If everyone
48:52looks under their chair, you have Amy Poehler
48:54to take home with you. Joy goes home
48:56with everyone.
48:58R&B legend himself.
49:00What is he making? An album?
49:02We're spreading that rumor, right?
49:04Go ahead. Sing for us.
49:06I'm one of the Novel Brothers.
49:08I've been
49:10making films about creative people
49:12for most of my career. It's something I come
49:14back to. Because the creative process
49:16to me is, it's like
49:18magic. Watching creative people do what
49:20they do is never boring to me.
49:22And I've made films about
49:24artists and singers and
49:28filmmakers and all kinds of different people.
49:30And I feel
49:32like every project I do is
49:34really an act of art therapy
49:36for me. Because the questions
49:38my films ask, even though they seem
49:40like they're about the character,
49:42to me they're all about me
49:44too. Because they're the things I want to know about.
49:46And when I think about what
49:48I've learned and trying to distill it,
49:50I would say
49:52that your
49:54fears are not
49:56your limitations or your opportunities.
49:58That when you really
50:00look at the things that scare you,
50:02those are the things
50:04to turn towards and to try and work
50:06out. Because that's where the good stuff lies.
50:16Alright. No big deal.
50:18Chris Andrews is going to close this out for us.
50:20Okay.
50:22There's so many things. I think that
50:24one of the things you're going to be doing a lot
50:26is managing anxiety.
50:28Anxiety from the crew.
50:30Anxiety from the studio.
50:32So just staying calm.
50:34And being good.
50:36Try to be your best at pitching
50:38your vision. Because you're going to be doing that
50:40every single day to some degree.
50:42Talking about what you want.
50:44So I'd say play to your strengths.
50:46Follow your talent.
50:48And again, I guess when it comes to story,
50:50do stories that mean something to you.
50:52Because you're going to be inside them as much as possible.
50:54But I agree with you. I think make leaps.
50:56You don't have to do everything
50:58perfectly before you're allowed to go to the next step.
51:00You're always going to be given a chance.
51:02A moment where you're going to have to
51:04overreach just a little bit.
51:06I was working with Alan Silvestri on Lilo & Stitch.
51:08And he told me the story about how he got started.
51:10And he was doing music.
51:12And he went to a meeting. I don't remember
51:14how he got into the meeting. And somebody turned to him and said,
51:16So can you write a movie score?
51:18And he said, Yes I can.
51:20And he had never written one.
51:22And he said he literally drove directly to the library
51:24and checked out a book called
51:26How to Write a Movie Score.
51:28And went home and read the whole thing
51:30and came back the next day and gave it a shot.
51:32So I think that's the best example.
51:34He was a musician. He was good at what he did.
51:36But this was going to be a leap.
51:38And he said, I can do it. And he filled in the blanks.
51:40So I think that making leaps
51:42is something you always need to do.
51:44And that's okay.
51:46I think some people are shy about that.
51:48And like, I have to get this perfect
51:50before I can move to the next step.
51:52But if you see an opportunity, take it.
51:54And surround yourself with people
51:56who can support you.
51:58Surround yourself with the very best people.
52:00Don't worry about letting them overshadow you.
52:02They won't. They're going to help you.
52:04And give credit.
52:06Always give as much credit as possible to everybody
52:08that does what they do.
52:10Because they deserve it.
52:12And they'll appreciate it. So be generous.
52:14Be generous with your credit.
52:16So maybe that's three things.
52:18I don't know.
52:20She'll take more.
52:22We can hear as much as you want.
52:24You can clap. It's fine.
52:32I have a little advice that will be
52:34number seven of all this.
52:36But it's a little piece of advice, nonetheless.
52:38I did lie. I'm going to curse just one more time.
52:40Keep being
52:42fucking amazing.
52:44As much as you can be.
52:50There's going to be a lot of times,
52:52and this is personal, that you're going to be
52:54the door only in a room
52:56for a space you occupy.
52:58Don't let the door
53:00close behind you.
53:02Hold that door open
53:04so others can come in with you
53:06and you can talk some shit about the other people in the room.
53:08It's a great pastime.
53:10Sorry, not two years.
53:12Several.
53:14But you have seven years
53:16to get on it.
53:18I think we have given you
53:20the gas to do that.
53:22You will be
53:24amazing at it.
53:26Thank you for coming up.
53:28I'm going to help you down.
53:38You're not allowed in Australia.
53:40Give me your hand.
53:46Those stairs are horrifying.
53:48That's the first one.
53:50Now who's next?
53:52With that,
53:54our time has ended.
53:56I know.
53:58We're going to get rowdy just one more time.
54:00For Adam Elliot,
54:04Memoir of a Snail,
54:06Kelsey Mann,
54:08Inside Out 2,
54:14Grammy Award winner Morgan Neville,
54:20Stitch himself, Chris Sanders,
54:26Chris Hemsworth's personal trainer,
54:28Josh Cooley,
54:32and the very wise,
54:34James Zobelidis.
54:38Thank you to SCAD Savannah Film Festival.
54:40Thank you to everyone for coming out.
54:42Make sure you see all the movies.
54:44We'll see you next year.