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Draft:Exodus Film Group

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Exodus Film Group
Industryanimation
Founded2001; 23 years ago (2001)
FounderCarl Rosendahl
HeadquartersCalifornia

Exodus Film Group is an American animation studio based in California that worked on Igor, The Hero of Color City, and Bunyan and Babe.[1]

Igor writer Chris McKenna came up with the idea of a twist on scientist horror films in 1998.

While attending the 1998 Cannes Film Festival,[2] Chris McKenna's interest in Transylvania-inspired settings caused him to conceive an evil scientist film like Frankenstein (1931) that has all of its common tropes twisted; the hunchback is smart instead of dumb, the scientist's creation is friendly instead of monstrous, the evil scientist isn't intelligent, and the jar brain is stupid.[3] In the 2000s, the increasing amount of cheap technology led smaller, independent companies to produce films in the animation industry; one of them was Exodus, where its film Igor was the first feature-length animation to be budgeted entirely with private equity.[4] McKenna pitched his idea to the California-based Exodus Film Group as a three-paper treatment, instead of as a presentation of drawings and concept art usual for pitching animated features;[5] the company accepted and instructed investors worldwide to finance the film.[4] According to Exodus president John D. Eraklis, "We chose it because it was the most original concept that we had come across in years and Chris McKenna is a brilliant writer."[6]

The Exodus project was first announced on September 7, 2004, with the involvements of McKenna, executive producer Max Howard, and 50 to 75 animators from the studio ElectroAge revealed.[7] Exodus was developing the film as part of a $50 million fund that also included The Hero of Color City and Amarillo Armadillo; Igor made up a chunk of the fund, being budgeted at $30 million.[8] The original plan was to produce a short film, titled Igor: Unholy Frijoles, that would get the producers comfortable with making a feature-length film and serve as a launch for a longer version of Igor to be released in 2007.[9] The seven-minute short was also going to premiere in festivals before being distributed.[10]

In a November 2005 interview, Howard announced that the rigging and voice recording for the short was completed and that storyboards were nearly finished for the animation to start soon; he also shared about the film's content, "This is a slightly edgier picture we're dealing with. We're taking a tongue-in-cheek look at the horror genre, in particular, Frankenstein stories but taken from Igor's point of view. There's sort of an underclass were you're born an Igor and you can only aspire to be an Igor, but, of course, he has greater aspirations than that. It's not supposed to be scary, but there's a gross-out value, which we hope kids will really enjoy. We're not making a soft, preschool property either."[9] In early 2006, in addition to making ways into festivals, DVDs of Igor: Unholy Frijoles were being sold by Exodus to those who invested a minimum of $30,000 in the feature film's budget; in documents, Exodus enticed investors by citing a 2004 Dove Foundation study regarding the superior amount of profitability of G-rated films over R-rated motion pictures.[11]

On September 22, 2006, it was revealed Tony Leondis would direct the feature.[12] He got onboard due to sharing McKenna's interest in horror films and sardonic sense of humor, in addition to being into film noir and German Expressionism works;[3] Leondis helped the writer in developing the setting's backstory, a more complicated process than McKenna predicted that required collaboration from not just the director but also the actors and producers.[13] Leondis explained, "My goal was to take familiar monster motifs and rearrange them in a surprisingly fun way to evoke the memories that people have of classic monster movies. Something familiar enough to connect to, but at the same time fresh and unexpected so that it became a fun ride – and maybe makes them think a little along the way."[3]

The Weinstein Company bought the North American rights to Igor on February 1, 2006.[14] However, differences towards the artistic vision and release idea of the film between Weinstein and Exodus led Weinstein to sell the North American rights back to Exodus.[citation needed] However, Weinstein was involved in international distribution, and when selling Igor at the 2006 Marché du Film before production started, companies from almost every territory bought it;[15] according to Howard, "We pre-sold [the film] to all the former east bloc countries pretty much on the name alone."[16]

On August 28, 2008, Exodus partnered with Malaria.com and the Against Malaria Foundation for Igor to be a spokesperson for donating to end the Malaria crisis.[17]

Exodus planned Igor to be a franchise since its inception[18] and made several Igor merchandise deals with other companies while the film was in production. On May 11, 2007, Exodus signed a deal with Simon & Schuster to publish seven children's books based on Igor.[19] Exodus signed another merchandise deal on June 11 with Corgi International, where they would release various products, such as figures, play sets, electronic role-play games, pocket money toys, and plush toys, in September 2008.[20] On July 26, Exodus inked a deal with IDW Publishing to produce a set of comic books, a prequel series to Simon & Schuster's Igor books.[21] On November 16, 2007, Exodus penned a deal with CKE Restaurants Inc. to have more than 3,000 Carl's Jr. and Hardee's restaurants sell Igor toys in Cool Kids Combos.[22]

On December 7, 2007, Exodus signed with Interactive Game Group and Legacy Games to develop and publish Igor video game adaptations for the Nintendo DS, Wii, personal computer, and wireless.[23] The Wii version was developed by Santa Cruz Games and the DS version was developed by Artefacts Studio and both were published by SouthPeak Games in North America and Deep Silver in Europe

The studio's second film The Hero of Color City was released in a limited theatrical engagement on October 3, 2014 by Magnolia Pictures, followed by releases on streaming and video platforms.

The film was panned by critics and received lukewarm reviews.[citation needed]

The studio's third film, Bunyan and Babe was announced over ten years before its release, the film was planned to be a live-action/CG animation hybrid, with Jim Rygiel set to direct it.[24] In May 2008, it was reported that Tony Bancroft would co-direct the film with Rygiel.[25] Bancroft then worked some time on pre-production and, by 2014, he was attached as the only director,[26] but he later left the project.[24]

Sparx Animation Studios, following its previous collaboration with Exodus Film Group on the 2008 animated film, Igor, was hired to provide writing and special effects such as modeling, rigging, animation and texture.[27] The character design would be handled in the United States, due to Exodus' preference of an American look.[27] The animation at Sparx was set to begin in July 2008.[27] As of November 2008, when Sparx closed its animation studio in Paris due to the U.S. financial crisis, the studio was no longer involved in the film.[28]

On November 3, 2010, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer filed for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy, and Bunyan and Babe would be another of MGM's last pre-Spyglass films to be released soon. In December 2010, MGM emerged from Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

In May 2014, Cinedigm picked up North American rights to the film.[26]

References

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  1. ^ "Igor (2008)". AFI Catalog of Feature Films. Retrieved October 4, 2018.
  2. ^ Bertet, Elsa (May 18, 2008). "Cannes played part in 'Igor' toon". Variety. Retrieved December 16, 2019.
  3. ^ a b c Production notes 2008, p. 19.
  4. ^ a b Moore, Tim (October 11, 2008). "Igor: the magic formula". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved December 14, 2019.
  5. ^ Raugust, Karen (December 26, 2007). "Big Ideas: Behind the Scenes of Studio Development". Animation World Network. Retrieved December 17, 2019.
  6. ^ Hetherington, Janet (December 29, 2006). "What Makes An Animated Pitch Hit?". Animation World Network. Retrieved December 17, 2019.
  7. ^ Brian B. (September 7, 2004). "Exodus Film to bring forth Igor". MovieWeb. Retrieved December 19, 2019.
  8. ^ Fritz, Ben (May 30, 2005). "Exodus to animation". Variety. Retrieved December 15, 2019.
  9. ^ a b Ball, Ryan (November 3, 2005). "Animation Vet Max Howard On Igor, Exodus and More". Animation Magazine. Retrieved December 15, 2019.
  10. ^ "Christian Slater To Voice Igor Short Film". Animation World Network. Retrieved 2024-08-06.
  11. ^ "Wanted: Rich Parent-Investors Whose Kids Watch Lots of Cartoon DVDs". Los Angeles Business Journal. October 31, 2005. Retrieved December 15, 2019.
  12. ^ Baisley, Sarah (September 22, 2006). "Exodus Film Group Signs Tony Leondis To Direct Igor". Animation World Network. Retrieved December 15, 2019.
  13. ^ Production notes 2008, p. 20.
  14. ^ Mohr, Ian (February 1, 2006). "Weinsteins mad for 'Igor'". Variety. Archived from the original on Jan 3, 2020. Retrieved December 15, 2019.
  15. ^ Kay, Jeremy (June 5, 2006). "TWC's CG-animated Igor is big seller at Cannes". Screen Daily. Retrieved December 15, 2019.
  16. ^ "Igor: the magic formula". The Telegraph. 2008-10-11. Retrieved 2024-08-06.
  17. ^ "Exodus Film Group and "Igor" Join Forces With the "Against Malaria Foundation" and Malaria.com to Fight the Disease, One Bed Net at a Time". BusinessWire. August 28, 2008. Retrieved December 19, 2019.
  18. ^ B, Brian (2004-09-07). "Exodus Film to bring forth Igor". MovieWeb. Retrieved 2024-08-06.
  19. ^ "You are being redirected..." www.animationmagazine.net. Retrieved 2024-08-06.
  20. ^ Ball, Ryan (June 20, 2007). "Corgi in Igor's Toy Lab". Animation Magazine. Retrieved December 15, 2019.
  21. ^ Neuwirth, Allan (July 26, 2007). "Exodus Inks Comic Deal for Igor". Animation Magazine. Retrieved December 15, 2019.
  22. ^ Ball, Ryan (November 16, 2007). "Carl's Jr., Hardee's in Igor's Lab". Animation Magazine. Retrieved December 15, 2019.
  23. ^ DeMott, Rick (December 7, 2007). "Exodus Enters Gaming Deal for Igor". Animation World Network. Retrieved December 17, 2019.
  24. ^ a b Failes, Ian (December 21, 2016). "Google To Premiere Animated Feature 'Bunyan & Babe' For Free". Cartoon Brew. Retrieved December 21, 2016.
  25. ^ "'Bunyan' adds Bancroft, Grammer" (PDF). The Hollywood Reporter. No. 8. Cannes. May 21, 2008. p. 4. Retrieved December 23, 2016.[dead link]
  26. ^ a b "Cinedigm Acquires Exodus' Animated Picture "BUNYAN AND BABE"" (Press release). Business Wire. May 8, 2014. Retrieved May 14, 2014.
  27. ^ a b c Hopewell, John (June 13, 2008). "Exodus, Sparx fly with 'Bunyan'". Variety. Retrieved December 23, 2016.
  28. ^ Keslassy, Elsa (November 18, 2008). "Sparx closes Paris animation studio". Variety. Retrieved December 23, 2016.
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