Michael Sporn Animation – Splog

- Though I have no immediate plans to see it on the big screen, I’m pleased that Open Season did fairly well at the box office. The film grossed $23 million on 3800 screens averaging $6000 per screen. It means the film will probably gross (in the U.S.) about $70 million. However, with the negative cost and ad budget I’m not sure it’ll leave much for profit.

That’s not bad considering how poorly Monster House and Everyone’s Hero did. (One wonders if Everyone’s Hero would have done better if had been released at the beginning of baseball season?)

The animation style of Open Season intrigues me a bit. I’ve seen some interesting movement and some really horrible cgi-like (meaning they let the machines do the action) movement in the trailers, and I want to see a bit more. The reviews were unanimous in panning the story, so I don’t expect much there. I’m also interested in seeing the direction of a converted 2D Director, Roger Allers, in a cgi world. Brad Bird did so well with his initial effort in The Incredibles. One would like to think Roger Allers might do the same. However, I’ve never been the biggest fan of the cgi animation Sony has done in the past. The Chubb Chubbs anyone? Their EFFX-cgi work is excellent.

I am curious to know how Roger Allers did both this feature at Sony and The Little Match Girl at Disney this year. I wanted to see the short at Ottawa, but my schedule didn’t work with theirs. It’s also interesting to note that the official website has Roger (Lion King) Allers‘ bio but no mention of the other two co-directors: Jill Culton and Anthony Stacchi.

- I thought I’d take this opportunity to announce a deal that’s just been struck.
Next Spring I’ll have two dvd’s released by First Run Films. These will both be a collection of my Hans Christian Andersen films: #1. The Red Shoes & The Little Match Girl and #2. The Nightingale & The Emperor’s New Clothes. (The last was not released on video or tv before. The video company that helped finance, forgot about releasing it before going out of business.)

(The Marzipan Pig – Click to enlarge.)

Then in the Fall another two will be released including: Abel’s Island, The Dancing Frog and The Marzipan Pig.

All four dvd’s will have extras: additional commentaries, documentaries produced, and lots of stills and graphics. These are fun to make, and we’re starting to plan now.

- Mark Mayerson pointed me to an article in today’s NYTimes about aging Independent Film makers. As an aging Independent Film maker, I found it very interesting. I like thinking I’m in the same category as John Sayles, Christine Vachon, and Errol Morris.