Guillermo del Toro Teaming up with Pixar Animator Rodrigo Blaas for Creepy Toy Story 'Alma'

Guillermo del Toro has been getting involved with a number of animated films since signing a landmark deal with DreamWorks Animation last month.

DreamWorks is preparing to get creepy with a story about an ominous toy store and a little girl who gets sucked in by a rather familiar-looking doll.


Former Pixar animator Rodrigo Blaas is in negotiations for his directorial debut to bring his hot short film Alma about dolls and child-snatching into a full-length movie for DreamWorks Animation. Del Toro will godfather and executive produce the film.

Originally from Spain, Blaas has worked in animation for more than ten years, in Spain and in the United States. While hard at work on Pixar movies like Up, Wall-e, Ratatouille, Cars, The Incredibles, Finding Nemo, and Ice Age; animator Blaas decided to write and direct his own short called Alma his first short film as a director. This small passion project soon began winning awards like Best Animation at the L.A. Shorts Festival.

Blaas asked some of the best artists in their field to take part in this independent project: French animator Bolhem Bouchiba, character designer Carlos Grangel and Sergio Pablos, ArtDirector Alfonso Blaas, music composer Mastretta and sound designer Tom Myers.

Synopsis
Alma tells the story of children facing the specter of dark forces. Alma, a little girl, skips through the snow covered streets of a small town. Her attention is caught by a strange doll in an antique toy shop window. Fascinated, Alma decides to enter.



According to the LA Times Blaas is also in negotiations to co-direct, Trollhunters, with Del Toro, a movie based on a young-adult novel written by Del Toro.

There are similarities between Alma and Troll Hunters: Both are fairy tales about good children interacting with, and possibly victimized by, creatures that exist just below the surface of the world we know. Both have a Pan's Labyrinth vibe.

Since moving over from Disney, Del Toro has come on as a consultant and executive producer on the Kung Fu Panda sequel as well as Puss in Boots. But Alma and Troll Hunters take Del Toro in a more characteristically dark direction.

For the latest news on prolific multihyphenate Guillermo Del Toro's adventures in filmmaking join the Guillermo del Toro Facebook Group for fans.

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Source: LA Times

Pixar Canada Opens Home Base in Vancouver with Plans for Expansion

Pixar Canada, Pixar's new satellite studio in Vancouver, British Columbia, was officially opened yesterday. The studio's 7,000-square-foot space is located inside a historic building in Vancouver's Gastown district which may or may not be the studio's permanent home.

The studio's management team consists of general manager, a former vice-president of operations and finance for DisneyToon Studios; creative director, who's been with Pixar since 1995; and chief technical officer Darwyn Peachey, a 22-year Pixar employee. They have been working in Vancouver since last fall.

According to Nasrabadi Pixar hopes to expand its Canadian facilities to 20,000-25,000 sq. ft., perhaps moving to another location in the city at some point.

The Vancouver Sun reports the Canadian studio "will begin training new staff in late May, and start work on its first short film by early August". There are currently twenty people on the payroll; the plan is to hire several dozen employees within the next year and a half.

As previously announced, Pixar Canada will focus exclusively on the production of non-theatrical short films and other projects based on Pixar's "legacy characters", such as Cars Toons and the rumoured Toy Story Toons. Using a "pipeline system", work done in Vancouver will be seen immediately in Emeryville, where the final stages of production on the shorts will take place.

A video of the opening event (see below) has talking points from B.C. Premier Gordon Campbell and Nasrabadi plus some cool, blink-and-you'll-miss-them clips of WALL-E, Lightning McQueen, and Carl's house from Up in Vancouver.



Pixar, founded by animator John Lasseter, began as a small independent studio making short animations. Its first noteworthy film was Luxo Jr., a 1986 short about a desk lamp, which remains the company's iconic symbol.

It has since become known for feature films Toy Story, Toy Story 2, A Bug's Life, Monsters Inc., Finding Nemo, The Incredibles, Cars, Ratatouille, Wall-E and last year's Oscar® winner Up.

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Source: Pixar Blog, Vancouver Sun

'Milk' and 'Button' tied with eight Broadcast Critics noms apiece

'Milk' and 'The Curious Case of Benjamin Button' were among the 10 pics nommed for best picture. “Milk,” which got off to a strong platform start last month, also picked up key noms for lead actor Sean Penn, supporting co-star James Franco and director Gus Van Sant. “Button,” which opens Christmas Day, had Brad Pitt listed for best actor, along with supporting turns by Cate Blanchett and Taraji P. Henson.




Tied with six noms each were “Dark Knight,” “Slumdog” and “Doubt” including a Best Picture nod.

THE 14th CRITICS' CHOICE AWARDS NOMINEES ARE:

BEST PICTURE

Nominees:
• Changeling
• The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
• The Dark Knight
• Doubt
• Frost/Nixon
• Milk
• The Reader
• Slumdog Millionaire
• Wall-E
• The Wrestler


BEST ACTOR

Nominees:
• Clint Eastwood - Gran Torino
• Richard Jenkins - The Visitor
• Frank Langella - Frost/Nixon
• Sean Penn - Milk
• Brad Pitt - The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
• Mickey Rourke - The Wrestler

BEST ACTRESS

Nominees:
• Kate Beckinsale - Nothing But the Truth
• Cate Blanchett - The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
• Anne Hathaway - Rachel Getting Married
• Angelina Jolie - Changeling
• Melissa Leo - Frozen River
• Meryl Streep - Doubt


BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

Nominees:
• Josh Brolin - Milk
• Robert Downey, Jr. - Tropic Thunder
• Philip Seymour Hoffman - Doubt
• Heath Ledger - The Dark Knight
• James Franco - Milk

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

Nominees:
• Penelope Cruz - Vicky Cristina Barcelona
• Viola Davis - Doubt
• Vera Farmiga - Nothing But the Truth
• Taraji P. Henson - The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
• Marisa Tomei - The Wrestler
• Kate Winslet - The Reader


BEST ACTING ENSEMBLE

Nominees:
• The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
• The Dark Knight
• Doubt
• Milk
• Rachel Getting Married


BEST DIRECTOR

Nominees:
• Danny Boyle - Slumdog Millionaire
• David Fincher - The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
• Ron Howard - Frost/Nixon
• Christopher Nolan - The Dark Knight
• Gus Van Sant - Milk


BEST WRITER (Original or Adapted Screenplay)

Nominees:
• Simon Beaufoy - Slumdog Millionaire
• Dustin Lance Black - Milk
• Peter Morgan - Frost/Nixon
• Eric Roth - The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
• John Patrick Shanley - Doubt


BEST ANIMATED FEATURE

Nominees:
• Bolt
• Kung Fu Panda
• Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa
• Wall-E
• Waltz With Bashir


BEST YOUNG ACTOR/ACTRESS (Under 21)

Nominees:
• Dakota Fanning - The Secret Life of Bees
• David Kross - The Reader
• Dev Petal - Slumdog Millionaire
• Brandon Walters - Australia


BEST ACTION MOVIE

Nominees:
• The Dark Knight
• Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
• Iron Man
• Quantum of Solace
• Wanted


BEST COMEDY MOVIE

Nominees:
• Burn After Reading
• Forgetting Sarah Marshall
• Role Models
• Tropic Thunder
• Vicky Cristina Barcelona


BEST PICTURE MADE FOR TELEVISION

Nominees:
• John Adams
• Recount
• Coco Chanel


BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM

Nominees:
• A Christmas Tale
• Gomorrah
• I’ve Loved You So Long
• Let the Right One In
• Mongol
• Waltz With Bashir


BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE

Nominees:
• I.O.U.S.A.
• Man On Wire
• Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired
• Standard Operating Procedure
• Young At Heart


BEST SONG

Nominees:
• "Another Way to Die" (performed by Jack White and Alicia Keys, written by Jack White) - Quantum of Solace
• "Down to Earth" (performed by Peter Gabriel, written by Peter Gabriel and Thomas Newman) - Wall-E
• "I Thought I Lost You" (performed Miley Cyrus and John Travolta, written by Miley Cyrus and Jeffrey Steele) - Bolt
• "Jaiho" (performed by Sukhwinder Singh, written by A.R. Rahman and Gulzar) - Slumdog Millionaire
• "The Wrestler" (performed by Bruce Springsteen, written by Bruce Springsteen) - The Wrestler


BEST COMPOSER

Nominees:
• Alexandre Desplat - The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
• Clint Eastwood - Changeling
• Danny Elfman - Milk
• Hans Zimmer/James Newton Howard - The Dark Knight
• A.R. Rahman - Slumdog Millionaire

Founded in 1995, the BFCA has nearly 200 members in the US and Canada reviewing pics for TV, radio or web outlets.

The 14th Broadcast Film Critics Association’s Critics Choice Awards will be given out on Thursday, January 8, 2009 at the Santa Monica Auditorium. VH1 will again broadcast this year's ceremony live at 9:00 PM (ET/PT).