We are about to enter a new era of film production: the studios will change; so will the role of the studios. In the process, we think four different founders will show us exactly how that happens.
Time will pass: Reel planet ultimately will become a planet of good times. (Or not: One of the founders suggests the opposite.)
Where the studios and the founders live will be forever a matter of internal controversy.
The inaugural founders: Amuda, Io, Lady Renée and Angelina
1.Fardo Film Studios: Media lab
Fardo founded
Beginnings: c 1970
Where: Sologne, Germany
Fardo knows how to make new movies. If we only saw the good things, we’d stop making them;
For many decades, other studios did the same (whomsoever said so). Now, Fardo can show us the difference:
Fardo, in the words of Co-Founder Amuda Okran, “is a studio dedicated to making alternative and independent films. We also do motion capture at the school and we are going to combine them, so that we can offer the most dynamic blend of art, finance and technology for the best studios.”
In the 40 years since the death of Babe’s Funky Kid, a ground-breaking animator has lost his licence, and as long as studios rule there will be stupid stories with the same words under the same eyes. We are past the point where there is any thinking left about the entertainment space, which is why we started this venture:
Contribution(s): storytelling, production and finance innovation.
Experience: 15 years at animation studios.
Day job: supervising animator at Animation Studios Rylant
Current role: “back end tech”
Note: Amuda helps make films with Fardo. His wife Kiesl shows us the point at which babies get their voice.
Great solo projects: Session presentation at Edinburgh TV festival; demo series with 3DColors for YouTube; The Simpsons (Fardo taught Kiesl to make Homer look like a working rat)
Cashflow: revenue generated from film sales in Fardo Formats; movie production.
Human aspect: responsible management, one woman.
Fardo has a master-planned position for Ms Okran’s talent to create: she is open to (but not encouraged) her colleagues.
Taxes: underpaid.
Relationship advice: professional relationships, counter to pressures of production.
Sales: live action and animation feature films; web series; training; dedicated space.
We are delighted to work with Amuda and his company and honoured to be co-presenting at the Lab. Amuda is a brilliant pioneer who has already made great films but also moved to develop a business model for other independent creatives. We are looking forward to our future partnership.
It is ok to make mistakes, and also fantastic to not make them. Where the studios and the founders live will be forever a matter of internal controversy.