The CG conference at Siggraph in Los Angeles witnessed the launch of the motion picture arm of the China-based animation house Original Force Animation, which has been working on getting its first batch of features off the ground.
The new unit is based in Culver City and led by co-presidents Sandra Rabins and Penney Finkelman Cox along with Original Force founder Harley Zhao. The company seeks to produce at least one CG feature film approximately every 18 months.
The pair were producers on DreamWorks Animation’s The Prince of Egypt and executive producers on DWA’s Oscar-winner Shrek. Since starting the motion picture unit, they have been building a team of veteran artists, writers and filmmakers. Marketing vet Peter Adee, who formerly was president of marketing at Universal Pictures and MGM, is consulting on the launch of their initial titles.
Original Force employs roughly 1,000 people and will also continue to create CG animation for its television and gaming clients, which include Disney, DreamWorks Television, Sony, Tencent, Activision and Electronic Arts.
During the launch event, the concept art of its first feature production Duck Duck Goose was unveiled, directed by Jenkins from a screenplay by Jenkins and Rob Muir. The voice cast includes Zendaya, Lance Lim, Greg Proops, Diedrich Bader, Rick Overton, Ken Jeong and Jennifer Grey. Finkelman Cox and Rabins are producing the feature along with Viola Chen.
In the story – set in a world that the filmmakers are giving a painterly look – a free-wheeling hero, Peng, rejects the community of his tight-knit flock of geese in an attempt to live life on his own terms. But after he narrowly rescues two young ducklings from a deadly cat named Banzou, Peng agrees to look after them.
The studio’s second film, currently in preproduction, is OldZilla, written and directed by Bendetson, and co-written with Art Everett. The film, the story of an aging monster who moves to a senior community, was described by the filmmakers as “Godzilla Meets One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest” and will be produced by Finkelman Cox and Rabins.
Another Original Force Animation project in early production is QQ Speed, a co-production with Tencent Holding Ltd., which is based on a popular online racing game in China. The story is set in a futuristic China and focuses on the first female racer (voice of Debby Ryan), with a confirmed voice cast thus far that also includes Tom Kenny. Eng is develpping and directing.
Also in the works is Ratchet And Clank, a co-production with CNHK, Rainmaker and Blockade. Based on the Sony PlayStation game, the voice cast includes Bella Thorne, Sylvester Stallone, Rosario Dawson, Paul Giamatti, John Goodman, James Arnold Taylor, David Kaye and Jim Ward.
Original Force’s development slate includes Where The Mountain Meets The Moon, based on the Newberry Honor book by Grace Lin, and Riding Giants, to be adapted by Greg Johnson from his original manuscript.
Original Force has offices in Beijing, Shanghai and Nanjing, in addition to Culver City. According to Finkelman Cox, motion pictures will be made in both countries. Development and storyboarding will largely occur in Culver City, with animation and VFX largely in Nanjing.
