Congrats To LAIKA’s “Kubo And The Two Strings” On Three Annie Award Wins

Congratulations to LAIKA on their three Annie Award wins for “Kubo And The Two Strings“:

  • Production Design in an Animated Feature Production
    Nelson Lowry, Trevor Dalmer, August Hall, Ean McNamara
    KUBO AND THE TWO STRINGS
  • Character Animation in an Animated Feature Production
    Jan Maas
    KUBO AND THE TWO STRINGS
    Laika
  • Editorial in an Animated Feature Production
    Christopher Murrie
    KUBO AND THE TWO STRINGS

We will all be watching the  2017 Academy Awards later this month as “Kubo” garnered two nominations for,  Animated Feature, and Visual Effects. Continue reading... “Congrats To LAIKA’s “Kubo And The Two Strings” On Three Annie Award Wins”

LAIKA’s “Kubo And The Two Strings” Receives Two Oscar Nominations!

The 2017 Academy Award nominations are out!  Among them are two nominations for  LAIKA‘s #OregonMade “Kubo And The Two Strings” –  Animated Feature, and Visual Effects!

Kubo” joined; “Moana”, “My Life as a Zucchini”, “The Red Turtle”, “Zootopia” in the Animated Feature category, and “Deepwater Horizon”, “Doctor Strange”, “Jungle Book” and  “Rogue One: A Star Wars Story” in the Visual Effects category.  Should “Kubo” win each category, Travis Knight  and Arianne Sutner would accept for Best Animated Feature, and Steve Emerson ,Oliver Jones, Brian McLean,Brad Schiff would accept for Best Visual Effects. Continue reading... “LAIKA’s “Kubo And The Two Strings” Receives Two Oscar Nominations!”

Nominations For “Kubo” (Annie Awards) and “Certain Women” (Spirit Awards)

 annie

spirit-awards

44th Annie Awards have nominated “Kubo and the Two Strings” for ten nominations this year:

  • Best Animated Feature
  • Outstanding Achievement, Animated Effects in an Animated Production
  • Outstanding Achievement, Character Animation in a Feature Production
  • Outstanding Achievement, Character Design in an Animated Feature Production
  • Outstanding Achievement, Directing in an Animated Feature Production
  • Outstanding Achievement, Production Design in an Animated Feature Production
  • Outstanding Achievement, Storyboarding in an Animated Feature Production
  • Outstanding Achievement, Voice Acting in an Animated Feature Production
  • Outstanding Achievement, Writing in an Animated Feature Production
  • Outstanding Achievement, Editorial in an Animated Feature Production

The winners will be announced February 4, 2017. Continue reading... “Nominations For “Kubo” (Annie Awards) and “Certain Women” (Spirit Awards)”

LAIKA’s New Feature, “Kubo And The Two Strings” Opens This Month

https://youtu.be/7oAxrNEt5I4

kubo-two-strings-trailer-postersLAIKA and Focus Features’ Kubo And The Two Strings” will open on August 19th. “Kubo” is “a clever, kindhearted boy (voiced by Art Parkinson of “Game of Thrones”) who ekes out a humble living, telling fantastical stories to the people of his seaside town. But his relatively quiet existence is shattered when he accidentally summons a mythical spirit from his past which storms down from the heavens to enforce an age-old vendetta. Now on the run, Kubo joins forces with Monkey (Academy Award winner Charlize Theron) and Beetle (Academy Award winner Matthew McConaughey), and sets out on a thrilling quest to save his family and solve the mystery of his fallen father, the greatest samurai warrior the world has ever known. Continue reading... “LAIKA’s New Feature, “Kubo And The Two Strings” Opens This Month”

The Way of Things film crowdfunding campaign

Trust is its own sacrifice.

Hello everyone in the film world of Oregon. I am happy to be given a moment on this platform to talk about my new film and the campaign around it. For those of you that don’t know me, my name is Martin Vavra. I am a director, producer and editor living in Portland. I’ve been chiseling away on a directing career in films and commercials for over fifteen years. My new film, The Way of Things is my most personal film yet, and the one that I hope acts as a transitional project. Continue reading... “The Way of Things film crowdfunding campaign”

House Special Presents Puppet & Video to Gov. Brown in Celebration of Oregon’s Animation Industry

 

House Special founding partner Lourri Hammack and animator Chris Ohlgren presented a specially made puppet of Gov. Brown and a short, stop-motion video of the Governor taking a quick trip across Oregon to the Capitol in Salem to Gov. Brown herself as part of the Oregon Film, Television and Interactive Industry Day recognitions as arranged by the OMPA. Lisa Cicala, Executive Director of the OMPA and Rosemary Colliver from NW Portland-based animation studio ShadowMachine were also on-hand to discuss the growth of the industry. Continue reading... “House Special Presents Puppet & Video to Gov. Brown in Celebration of Oregon’s Animation Industry”

“Coraline” 10th Anniversary Screening & 6 City Tour for Wildfire Relief

Presented in partnership with Travel Oregon and LAIKA, our #OregonMade Film Series continues with a 10 year release celebration of a true Oregon Classic: “Coraline.” The tour opens with a screening at The Hollywood Theatre on Monday, February 11th.

Set in Ashland, Hillsboro-based LAIKA’s Oscar-nominated animated feature is a wondrous and thrilling, fun and suspenseful adventure. Written by Neil Gaiman and directed by Henry Selick, LAIKA’s first animated feature would set the course for three additional Oscar-nominated films: “ParaNorman” (2012), “The Boxtrolls” (2014) and “Kubo and the Two Strings” (2016); LAIKA’s fifth film, “Missing Link” will be released April 12. Continue reading... ““Coraline” 10th Anniversary Screening & 6 City Tour for Wildfire Relief”

Oregon Film’s 50th Anniversary Trailer of #OregonMade Productions Plays Hollywood PDX

Oregon Film turns 50 this year and to celebrate we commissioned filmmaker & editor Josh Lunden and composer Jake Hull to put together a fantastic new trailer that celebrates more than 109 years of film, television, animation, commercial and interactive production here in the state.

Featuring many, many clips from #OregonMade films sourced edited together by Lunden and a live score specially written and recorded by Hull, the trailer takes a 3 minute journey from the earliest of silent films to the latest Oscar Nomination for “Kubo and the Two Strings” – and everything in between. Continue reading... “Oregon Film’s 50th Anniversary Trailer of #OregonMade Productions Plays Hollywood PDX”

The LAIKA Experience – At The Portland Art Museum – “Animating Life: The Art, Science, and Wonder of LAIKA”

Animating Life: The Art, Science, and Wonder of LAIKA” is a “brand new “ exhibit and behind-the-scenes interactive look at LAIKA’s creative process, that promises to take the visitor inside the world of animation. LAIKA’s artistry and technology illustrate how the feature films, “Coraline”, “ParaNorman”, “The Box Trolls” and “Kubo and the Two Strings,” were made. “Through behind-the-scenes photography, video clips and physical artwork from its films, visitors will be immersed in LAIKA’s creative process, exploring the production design, sets, props, puppets, costumes, and world-building that have become the studio’s hallmarks. Continue reading... “The LAIKA Experience – At The Portland Art Museum – “Animating Life: The Art, Science, and Wonder of LAIKA””

LAIKA Celebrates 10th Anniversary

Congratulations to LAIKA, who are celebrating their 10th Anniversary this month.  LAIKA has continued to hold it’s own over the last decade, producing animated features that are works of art in their own right – beginning in 2009 with “Coraline“, “ParaNorman“, “The Boxtrolls“, and currently in production, “Kubo and the Two Strings“.

President and CEO, Travis Knight, said it best when he talked to Wired Magazine, “We’re an outlier. We work in an industry that is dominated by franchises and sequels and prequels and remakes and reboots, but we’re devoted to telling new and original stories. Continue reading... “LAIKA Celebrates 10th Anniversary”