By Ryan Nakashima, Business Writer
LOS ANGELES (AP) --To further cut costs at its movie studio, The Walt Disney Co. said Friday that it will shut a San Francisco-area facility used to capture the performance of Jim Carrey for his digitally animated character, Scrooge, in “A Christmas Carol.”
The closure of the facility in Marin County, north of San Francisco, will be completed by January and result in the loss of 450 jobs.
The facility was built by ImageMovers Digital, a company co-founded by “A Christmas Carol” director Robert Zemeckis and partially owned by Disney. Motion-capture technology in that facility was used to make the movie; Carrey wore sensors as he acted out scenes, and the data were used to recreate his character on the screen.
Before it closes, the complex will continue to be used by Zemeckis and his team to complete production of “Mars Needs Moms!,” a 3-D movie set for release in March 2011.
“Given today’s economic realities, we need to find alternative ways to bring creative content to audiences and IMD no longer fits into our business model,” Walt Disney Studios president Alan Bergman said.
In a statement, Zemeckis said he was “incredibly proud” of the ImageMovers team and the work it accomplished.
Disney said it hoped to come to a new long-term production deal with Zemeckis and his ImageMovers partners, Jack Rapke and Steve Starkey, including one for a future project called “Yellow Submarine.”
Disney’s studio has been paring costs and decreasing its movie slate, most recently putting a halt to “20,000 Leagues Under the Sea,” ”Wedding Banned” and “Wild Hogs 2.”
The cuts have occurred since Rich Ross, formerly the head of Disney Channels Worldwide, took over the studio in October following the abrupt resignation of Dick Cook and more than a year of disappointing results.
Disney is also looking for a buyer of its Miramax Films division, which it bought from the Weinstein brothers in 1993. It shut down Miramax offices in January, and Disney CEO Bob Iger said last month that new investment in the unit would be limited to releasing its six remaining films through 2011.
Alec Baldwin Urges Judge To Stand By Dismissal Of Involuntary Manslaughter Case In “Rust” Shooting
Alec Baldwin urged a New Mexico judge on Friday to stand by her decision to skuttle his trial and dismiss an involuntary manslaughter charge against the actor in the fatal shooting of a cinematographer on the set of a Western movie.
State District Court Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer dismissed the case against Baldwin halfway through a trial in July based on the withholding of evidence by police and prosecutors from the defense in the 2021 shooting of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins on the set of the film "Rust."
The charge against Baldwin was dismissed with prejudice, meaning it can't be revived once any appeals of the decision are exhausted.
Special prosecutor Kari Morrissey recently asked the judge to reconsider, arguing that there were insufficient facts and that Baldwin's due process rights had not been violated.
Baldwin, the lead actor and co-producer on "Rust," was pointing a gun at cinematographer Halyna Hutchins during a rehearsal when it went off, killing her and wounding director Joel Souza. Baldwin has said he pulled back the hammer — but not the trigger — and the revolver fired.
The case-ending evidence was ammunition that was brought into the sheriff's office in March by a man who said it could be related to Hutchins' killing. Prosecutors said they deemed the ammunition unrelated and unimportant, while Baldwin's lawyers alleged that they "buried" it and filed a successful motion to dismiss the case.
In her decision to dismiss the Baldwin case, Marlowe Sommer described "egregious discovery violations constituting misconduct" by law enforcement and prosecutors, as well as false testimony about physical evidence by a witness during the trial.
Defense counsel says that prosecutors tried to establish a link... Read More