ImageMovers Digital and Disney
Wed, March 17, 2010 Filed in: Business
Last Friday, Disney announced that it will close ImageMovers Digital here in Northern California. Specializing in performance capture at it’s new facility, IMD produced “A Christmas Carol” with Jim Carrey.
"Given today's economic realities, we need to find alternative ways to bring creative content to audiences and IMD no longer fits into our business model," said Alan Bergman, president of Walt Disney Studios.
The official word is Disney made the call to shut the doors in January after post-production of “Mars Needs Moms” is completed. However word I am getting is Robert Zemeckis just wasn’t feeling “creative.” Disney made attempts to keep him happy, all of which apparently failed. Meanwhile, production is also continuing for a “Yellow Submarine” remake at the Novato facility.
Zemeckis started ImageMovers in 1997 with his partners Jack Rapke and Steve Starkey, producing “What Lies Beneath, with Harrison Ford and Michelle Pfeiffer, “Cast Away” and “The Polar Express with Tom Hanks, and “Beowulf”, with Ray Winstone, Anthony Hopkins, John Malkovich, Robin Wright Penn and Angelina Jolie. In 2007, Zemeckis sold the company to Disney and the name was changed to ImageMovers Digital.
The Disney statement says that it hopes to develop a long term deal with Zemeckis and partners to complete development of a Roger Rabbit sequel and “The Nutcracker.”
So it seems the clock gets turned back to an “ImageMovers” without Disney as an owner. And maybe a suddenly more “creative” producer-director? It has not been a happy time at Disney. It stopped work on ''20,000 Leagues Under the Sea,'' ''Wedding Banned'' and ''Wild Hogs 2.” Disney is also looking for a buyer for Miramax Films which it bought in 1993. The offices were closed in January. Rumors also float around about the sale of ABC.
ImageMovers will dispose of 450 employees giving nearby LucasFilms a cheap-hire bonanza with local media and city officials trashing Disney.
The official word is Disney made the call to shut the doors in January after post-production of “Mars Needs Moms” is completed. However word I am getting is Robert Zemeckis just wasn’t feeling “creative.” Disney made attempts to keep him happy, all of which apparently failed. Meanwhile, production is also continuing for a “Yellow Submarine” remake at the Novato facility.
Zemeckis started ImageMovers in 1997 with his partners Jack Rapke and Steve Starkey, producing “What Lies Beneath, with Harrison Ford and Michelle Pfeiffer, “Cast Away” and “The Polar Express with Tom Hanks, and “Beowulf”, with Ray Winstone, Anthony Hopkins, John Malkovich, Robin Wright Penn and Angelina Jolie. In 2007, Zemeckis sold the company to Disney and the name was changed to ImageMovers Digital.
The Disney statement says that it hopes to develop a long term deal with Zemeckis and partners to complete development of a Roger Rabbit sequel and “The Nutcracker.”
So it seems the clock gets turned back to an “ImageMovers” without Disney as an owner. And maybe a suddenly more “creative” producer-director? It has not been a happy time at Disney. It stopped work on ''20,000 Leagues Under the Sea,'' ''Wedding Banned'' and ''Wild Hogs 2.” Disney is also looking for a buyer for Miramax Films which it bought in 1993. The offices were closed in January. Rumors also float around about the sale of ABC.
ImageMovers will dispose of 450 employees giving nearby LucasFilms a cheap-hire bonanza with local media and city officials trashing Disney.
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