By Jake Coyle, Film Writer
CANNES, France (AP) --After a two-year hiatus, Pixar has made a sensational return to the Cannes Film Festival with "Inside Out," the kind of fresh take on animation that the studio built itself on.
"Inside Out" premiered Monday at Cannes and was among the most enthusiastically received films of the festival. Because Pixar delayed its planned 2014 release, "Good Dinosaur," it was the Disney studio's first new film since 2013's "Monsters University" and first non-sequel since 2012's "Brave."
"Inside Out" is a Pixar-styled "Inception" where the story unfolds both in reality and in the mind. It partly take place inside the head of an 11-year-old girl, where voices like Joy (Amy Poehler), Sadness (Phyllis Smith) and Anger (Lewis Black) compete for the girl's emotions and memories.
The high concept is sometimes rather abstract, but nevertheless packs an emotional wallop that left many teary-eyed. The story is by Pete Docter, who also co-directs, and it contains some of the tenderness of his 2009 Pixar release "Up."
Although the animation studio had an unparalleled run of critical and box-office successes with the "Toy Story" films, "Wall-E," ''Up" and "Ratatouille," doubt in Pixar's ability to sustain its nearly unblemished record began to creep in after the less well-reviewed "Brave" and the studio's increasing output of sequels.
"Inside Out," which Disney will release on June 19, is Pixar's second original film in a row to feature a female protagonist.
"It's very important for us, both at Pixar and at Disney, of having female and ethnic characters — protagonists and all through," said John Lasseter, Pixar's chief creative officer. "You'll see in future films we really are paying attention to that."
The reception to "Inside Out" was so good that some at Cannes wondered whether it should have been included in the festival's prestigious Palme d'Or competition.
Poehler quixotically hoped for the impossible.
"It's not up for the … what do you call it?" said Poehler, referring to Cannes' top film honor. "But it could still win, right?"
SCHROM x Yacht Club and Be Electric Studios Launch Electric XR for Virtual Production
SCHROM x Yacht Club, a full-service live-action, tabletop, and postproduction company, has teamed with Be Electric Studios, a soundstage, equipment rental, and virtual production company, to launch Electric XR, a virtual production collective.
Industry veteran Thomas Rossano will lead the new venture, which provides advanced virtual production solutions across multiple facilities. He brings over 25 years of experience in live-action, tabletop, postproduction and talent curation to enhance Electric XR’s offerings as a resource for brands and agencies, as well as other production companies in need of virtual production solutions. Additionally Rossano continues to serve as EP at XR New York (XR-NY), a role he’s held since December 2022. SCHROM x Yacht Club originally established XR-NY to help provide XR services for third-party rentals. While XR-NY will continue to function independently for SCHROM X Yacht Club, it now operates under the Electric XR umbrella.
Rossano’s expertise spans producing live-action commercials, branded content, interactive and experiential content. In addition to leading Electric XR, he holds responsibilities at SCHROM x Yacht Club which include driving business development, collaborating with sales reps and expanding the company’s creative talent network. Rossano’s career includes serving as an exec producer at Hungry Man for about 11 years, right from that company’s inception. He then went on to become a partner at Station Film where he also had a lengthy tenure. Later he was a partner at PRISM. Then after the pandemic hit, he became a freelance EP for nearly two years, looking into opportunities in virtual production, which led him to XR NY and now Electric XR. Over the years, he has produced high-profile... Read More