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ImageMovers
ImageMovers (IM), known as South Side Amusement Company until 1997, is an American production company which produces CGI animation, motion-capture, live-action films and television shows. The company is known for producing such films as ''Cast Away'' (2000), ''What Lies Beneath'' (2000), ''The Polar Express (film), The Polar Express'' (2004), ''Monster House (film), Monster House'' (2006), and ''Beowulf (2007 film), Beowulf'' (2007). From 2007 to 2011, The Walt Disney Company and ImageMovers founded a joint venture animation facility known as ImageMovers Digital which produced two motion-captured CGI-animated films: ''A Christmas Carol (2009 film), A Christmas Carol'' (2009) and ''Mars Needs Moms'' (2011) for Walt Disney Pictures, neither of which were financially successful. History South Side Amusement Company (1984–1997) On March 1, 1984, Robert Zemeckis incorporated and founded the company as South Side Amusement Company. The company was in-name only from the beginning. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Robert Zemeckis
Robert Lee Zemeckis (born May 14, 1952) is an American filmmaker. He first came to public attention as the director of the action-adventure romantic comedy ''Romancing the Stone'' (1984), the science-fiction comedy ''Back to the Future'' film trilogy (1985–1990), and the live-action/animated comedy ''Who Framed Roger Rabbit'' (1988). He subsequently directed the satirical black comedy ''Death Becomes Her'' (1992) and then diversified into more dramatic fare, including ''Forrest Gump'' (1994), for which he won the Academy Award for Best Director and the film won Best Picture. He has directed films across a wide variety of genres, for both adults and families. Zemeckis is regarded as an innovator in visual effects. His exploration of state-of-the-art special effects includes the early use of insertion of computer graphics into live-action footage in ''Back to the Future Part II'' (1989) and ''Forrest Gump'', the insertion of hand-drawn animation into live-action footage in ''Who ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mars Needs Moms
''Mars Needs Moms'' is a 2011 American 3D computer-animated science fiction film co-written and directed by Simon Wells, produced by ImageMovers Digital and released by Walt Disney Pictures. Based on the Berkeley Breathed book of the same title, it tells the story of a nine-year-old boy named Milo who sets out to save his mother after she is taken away by Martians. The film was animated through the process of performance capture and stars Seth Green, Dan Fogler, Elisabeth Harnois, Mindy Sterling, and Joan Cusack. It was the second and final film produced by ImageMovers Digital before the studio was shut down and re-absorbed into ImageMovers. ''Mars Needs Moms'' was released in theaters on March 11, 2011, in Disney Digital 3D, RealD 3D and IMAX 3D formats. The film grossed $39 million worldwide on a $150 million budget, becoming a box-office bomb. Plot Unbeknownst to humans, there is a thriving, technologically sophisticated society of Martians living below the surface of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Monster House (film)
''Monster House'' is a 2006 American computer-animated haunted house film directed by Gil Kenan in his directorial debut and written by Dan Harmon, Rob Schrab and Pamela Pettler, about a neighborhood being terrorized by a sentient haunted house during Halloween. The film features the voices of Mitchel Musso, Sam Lerner, Spencer Locke, Steve Buscemi, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Kevin James, Nick Cannon, Jason Lee, Fred Willard, Jon Heder, Catherine O'Hara, and Kathleen Turner, as well as human characters being animated using live action motion capture stop motion animation, which was previously used in ''The Polar Express'' (2004). It was Sony's first computer animated film produced by Sony Pictures Imageworks. Produced by Robert Zemeckis' ImageMovers, Steven Spielberg's Amblin Entertainment (marking their first theatrically-released fully animated film since ''Balto'') and Relativity Media (their first animated film), the film was released theatrically by Columbia Pictures on July 21, 200 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Beowulf (2007 Film)
''Beowulf'' is a 2007 3D CGI fantasy action film directed and co-produced by Robert Zemeckis, written by Neil Gaiman and Roger Avary and based on the Old English epic poem of the same name. Starring the voices of Ray Winstone, Anthony Hopkins, Robin Wright Penn, Brendan Gleeson, John Malkovich, Crispin Glover, Alison Lohman and Angelina Jolie, the film features human characters animated using live-action motion-capture CGI animation, which was previously used in ''The Polar Express'' (2004) and '' Monster House'' (2006). Produced by Zemeckis' ImageMovers and Shangri-La Entertainment, the film premiered at Westwood, Los Angeles on November 5, 2007 and was released theatrically in the United States on November 16, 2007, by Paramount Pictures, and Warner Bros. Pictures handling international distribution. The film received moderately positive reviews from critics, who complimented the CGI visual-effects, CGI performance-capture and voice acting whilst criticizing aspects of the i ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
What Lies Beneath
''What Lies Beneath'' is a 2000 American supernatural horror thriller film directed by Robert Zemeckis and starring Harrison Ford and Michelle Pfeiffer as a couple who live in a haunted house. It was the first film by Zemeckis' production company ImageMovers. The film opened in 2,813 theaters in North America, and grossed $291 million at the worldwide box office, becoming the tenth-highest-grossing film of the year. It received mixed reviews, but was nominated for three Saturn Awards. Plot Former cellist Claire Spencer and her husband Norman, an accomplished scientist and professor, live a quiet life in Vermont. Their relationship seems slightly strained, particularly after Claire's daughter, Caitlin, leaves for college. Claire notices the new neighbors, Mary and Warren Feur, appear to have a volatile relationship. After Mary is unseen for several days, Claire suspects Warren may have killed her. While by the lake next to their house, Claire believes she sees a woman's body in th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Walt Disney Company
The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on October 16, 1923, by brothers Walt and Roy O. Disney as the Disney Brothers Studio; it also operated under the names the Walt Disney Studio and Walt Disney Productions before changing its name to the Walt Disney Company in 1986. Early on, the company established itself as a leader in the animation industry, with the creation of the widely popular character Mickey Mouse, who is the company's mascot, and the start of animated films. After becoming a major success by the early 1940s, the company started to diversify into live-action films, television, and theme parks in the 1950s. Following Walt's death in 1966, the company's profits began to decline, especially in the animation division. Once Disney's shareholders voted in Michael Eisner as the he ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Polar Express (film)
''The Polar Express'' is a 2004 American computer-animated fantasy adventure film co-written and directed by Robert Zemeckis, based on the 1985 children's book of the same name by Chris Van Allsburg, who also served as one of the executive producers. The film features human characters animated using live-action and motion-capture CGI animation. It tells the story of a young boy who, on Christmas Eve, sees a mysterious train bound for the North Pole stop outside his window and is invited aboard by its conductor. The boy joins several other children as they embark on a journey to visit Santa Claus preparing for Christmas. The film stars Tom Hanks, also one of the film's executive producers, in multiple distinct roles, with Daryl Sabara, Nona Gaye, Jimmy Bennett, and Eddie Deezen in supporting roles. Castle Rock Entertainment produced the film in association with Shangri-La Entertainment, ImageMovers, Playtone, and Golden Mean Productions for Warner Bros. Pictures, as Castle Rock ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Doug Chiang
Doug Chiang (; born 16 February 1962) is an American film designer and artist. He currently serves as vice president and executive creative director of Lucasfilm. Early life Chiang was born in Taipei, Taiwan. His dad had gone to Michigan in the United States for college, and moved the family to Dearborn, Michigan when Chiang was 5 years old. His parents encouraged him to assimilate into American culture by speaking more English, which Chiang described as one of the ways the family tried to fit in. Chiang therefore lost his ability to speak Chinese over the years. Nonetheless, he characterized his lifestyle as "still very culturally Chinese", citing the strong work ethic imposed by his parents. Chiang was inspired by the original ''Star Wars'' film and the accompanying art design book. He studied industrial design at the College for Creative Studies until 1982. He later studied film production at UCLA and graduated in 1986. During his time in college, he was an illustrator and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cast Away
''Cast Away'' is a 2000 American survival drama film directed and produced by Robert Zemeckis and starring Tom Hanks, Helen Hunt, and Nick Searcy. Hanks plays a FedEx troubleshooter stranded on an uninhabited island after his plane crashes in the South Pacific, and the plot focuses on his desperate attempts to survive and return home. Initial filming took place from January to March 1999 before resuming in April 2000 and concluding that May. ''Cast Away'' was released on December 22, 2000, by 20th Century Fox in North America and DreamWorks Pictures in its international markets. It grossed $429 million worldwide, making it the third-highest-grossing film of 2000. The film received generally positive reviews from critics, who praised its screenplay and Hanks' performance, for which he won Best Actor – Motion Picture Drama at the 58th Golden Globe Awards and was nominated for Best Actor in a Leading Role at the 73rd Academy Awards. Plot In 1995, Chuck Noland, a s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Public Eye (film)
''The Public Eye'' is a 1992 American crime thriller film produced by Sue Baden-Powell and written and directed by Howard Franklin, starring Joe Pesci and Barbara Hershey. Stanley Tucci and Richard Schiff appear in supporting roles. The film is loosely based on New York ''Daily News'' photographer Arthur "Weegee" Fellig, and some of the photos in the film were taken by Fellig. Plot In the 1940s, Leon "Bernzy" Bernstein is a freelance crime and street photographer for the New York City tabloids, dedicated to his vivid and realistic work and his unique ability to capture shots that nobody else can. He is very confident of his skills, declaring at one point, "Nobody does what I do. Nobody". With a police radio under the dashboard of his car and a makeshift darkroom in his trunk, he quickly races to the scene of horrific crimes and accidents in order to snap exclusive photographs. He is so good at his job that he becomes known affectionately as the "Great Bernzini". Bernzy meets ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jack Rapke
Jack Rapke is an American film producer who has produced such films as the 2000 Robert Zemeckis film ''Cast Away''. Biography Upon his graduation from New York University Film School in 1974, Jack Rapke moved to Los Angeles to embark on a career in the entertainment industry. His first stop was the mailroom of the William Morris Agency in 1975. Four years later, Rapke joined Creative Artists Agency (CAA), where he rose, over the course of the next seventeen years, to become one of the most successful agents in Hollywood. During a seven-year tenure as co-chairman of CAA's motion picture department, Rapke cultivated a high-profile client list that included Ridley Scott, Michael Mann, Harold Ramis, Michael Bay, Terry Gilliam, Bob Gale, Bo Goldman, Steve Kloves, Howard Franklin, Scott Frank, Robert Kamen, John Hughes, Joel Schumacher, Marty Brest, Chris Columbus, Ezra Sacks, and Ron Howard. Instrumental in building production companies around his clients, it was only a matter of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Contact (1997 American Film)
''Contact'' is a 1997 American science fiction drama film directed by Robert Zemeckis, based on the 1985 novel by Carl Sagan. Sagan and his wife Ann Druyan wrote the story outline for the film. It stars Jodie Foster as Dr. Eleanor "Ellie" Arroway, a SETI scientist who finds evidence of extraterrestrial life and is chosen to make first contact. It also stars Matthew McConaughey, James Woods, Tom Skerritt, William Fichtner, John Hurt, Angela Bassett, Rob Lowe, Jake Busey, and David Morse. It features the Very Large Array in New Mexico, the Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico, the ''Mir'' space station, and the Space Coast surrounding Cape Canaveral. Sagan and Druyan began working on ''Contact'' in 1979. They wrote a film treatment over 100 pages long and set up the project at Warner Bros. with Peter Guber and Lynda Obst as producers. When development stalled, Sagan published ''Contact'' as a novel in 1985, and the film reentered development in 1989. Roland Joffé and George ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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