By Lindsey Bahr, Film Writer
LAS VEGAS (AP) --There wasn't a dry eye in the over 4,000-seat Colosseum theater as the credits rolled following the first screening of Pixar's "Inside Out" at CinemaCon on Wednesday morning.
The film, out June 19, personifies the emotions of an 11-year-old girl who has just moved from Minnesota to San Francisco with her family. Inside the bright control center of Riley's mind, there's ringleader, Joy (Amy Poehler), volatile Anger (Lewis Black), snobby Disgust (Mindy Kaling), hysterical Fear (Bill Hader), and, of course, Sadness (Phyllis Smith).
"Inside Out" presents a deeply humane, high-concept look at life, youth, and the complex beauty of nostalgia.
Prior to the screening, Pete Docter told the audience of theater owners at the annual conference that the story was inspired by watching his own daughter grow up. Pixar fans might recall that Docter's daughter voiced young Ellie in the 2009 film "Up."
Docter said that his daughter, named Elie, was very much like the character in the film: "Very spirited and spunky," he said.
Then, she turned 11. Suddenly moody and withdrawn, Docter said it made him wonder what was going on in her head.
In "Inside Out," amid the confusion of adolescence and the stress of the move, Joy and Sadness get sucked out of the control center, leaving only Anger, Fear and Disgust to run the ship. As Joy and Sadness struggle to find a way back to headquarters, Riley's life, personality and childhood innocence melts down as the remaining emotions try to do their best to emulate Joy.
This leads to sassy tones where there weren't meant to be, mood swings, and irrationality — moments that parents of pre-teens, and former pre-teens, know all too well.
Docter has infused the expansive land of Riley's mind, including explanations for why four years of piano lessons might fade from memory while an annoying gum commercial jingle lingers. The production of Riley's dreams takes place in an actual movie studio and there are a host of areas created to illustrate the subconscious (full of all the memories that cause trouble), abstract thought and the imagination.
"Inside Out" was shown as part of Disney's presentation of their upcoming slate of films. Sony, Universal and 20th Century Fox will be previewing their films later in the week.
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