April 12 2006

LucasFilm Animation Singapore Finally Opens

Plus SpikeTV acquires exclusive rights to air Star Wars Saga

source: INSIDER #86



Work Begins On The New Animated Series.

LucasFilm Animation has officially opened its Singapore Animation Studio, with work already proceeding on a Star Wars 3-D animated series both there and at headquarters in Marin County, California. Guests to the opening day ceremony in Singapore were treated to a Lion Dance and the unveiling of a statue (and later a cake) of Jedi Master Yoda as Dr Vivian Balakrishnan, second minister for trade and industry, and Mr. Teo Ming Kian, Chairman of the Economic Development Board (EDB) of Singapore, made the ceremony's official remarks. Joining them were Mich Chau, president and cheif operating officer of Lucasfilm, and Gail Currey, vice president and general manager of Lucasfilm Animation.

LucasFilm Animation Singapore will work closely with California-based LucasFilm Animation, and Currey announced key members for both studios.

Working out of the Singapore studio will be:

• Christian Kubsch (general manager)
• Philip Stamp (director of animation)
• Teo Chor Guan (software engineer manager)
• Rosina Lim Yennyenn (controller)

"Chris Kubsch will be building a strong crew of artistic talent and production-operational expertise that will be a huge asset both to the Singapore Animation community and LucasFilm entertainment companies. " Currey said. "We're looking forward to the innovation and creative vision they'll undoubtedly bring to our first television series and our future animation and digital media projects."

The creative executives based in the United States are:

• Catherine Winder (executive producer)
• Dave Filoni (supervising director)
• Henry Gilroy (head writer/story editor)
• Robert Coleman (animation and development director)

"These four amazing talents, combined with the leadership of our Singapore studio, mean that our first series and our future projects will be both innovative and entertaining." said Currey. "They'll bring us great stories, fantastic visuals, and a strong future."

LucasFilm's legacy as a pioneering force of visual technology and its history of setting new standards for the entire history will continue as work progresses on the animated series. "We're leveraging not only the technology but also the expertise and techniques developed over the years at Industrial Light & Magic and LucasArts to train a new generation of digital artists at our Singapore studio." said Chris Plumer, chief technology officer of Lucasfilm.

The underlying foundations of the facilities in Singapore, Skywalker Ranch, and the Letterman Digital Arts Center will be virtually identical, allowing for tight coordination and smooth communication among the three facilities. Details concerning the animated series, scheduled to hit airwaves in 2007, are scant at best, but keep checking future issues of Insider and starwars.com for more information.[/size]

Mon Apr 17, 2007
source: (comingsoon.net)


The Star Wars (Television Series) Roundup!

So where are things at with the two "Star Wars" TV series? Well, there's not a lot of news on either front though things are moving full steam ahead behind the scenes. The CGI animated series is well under way. Lucasfilm's animation studio in Singapore opened in October and has been progressing rapidly. Word is characters have been designed and the look is quite different from the previous "Clone Wars" series. Writing on the show has also been in progress since shortly after "Revenge of the Sith" and is led by Head Writer/Story Editor Henry Gilroy. Though George Lucas isn't writing the series he's heavily involved in the development of the scripts. The show is set between "Episode II" and "III" or what is better known as the "Clone Wars" era. Despite being heavily covered in the comics, books, and cartoon series, expect a few surprises. George Lucas has stated he hopes to see it on the air in 2007.

There was a brief stir recently as mainstream press realized Lucas was also working on a live action series. Despite the fact that it was old news to fans, a few details emerged. There was a very good article in TIME magazine about it. Like the animated series, the live action series has been progressing rapidly and quietly. This past August, Lucas and McCallum were in Sydney discussing shooting it there (Lucas visited the set of Superman Returns in August while there). Amid the flurry of reports on the show, TheForce.Net put together a pretty good recap of what is confirmed about the series:

The Star Wars Live Action Television Show

• Will consist of 100 hours ( or 100 1 hour each episodes )
• Based on secondary characters with possible cameos by some movie characters
• Takes place between Episode III & IV
• Done at the pricepoint of 1 million dollars per episode
• Starts filming in 2008

What's not confirmed but rumored is that the show will have comic character Quinlan Vos make an appearance. Jedi Master Vos was spared a grisly death in "Revenge of the Sith." Lucas had a scene depicting his death on Kashyyyk storyboarded, but he spared the character at the last minute. (The comics show him escaping the clonetroopers and later having a newborn son while in hiding.) Will he play a prominent role in the TV series or is it a fan's hope? Expect more news to trickle out from Lucasfilm's presentation at the San Diego Comic Con in July.

Thanks for the heads up good dr. Hope you don't mind your post being altered for MF's frontpage and MF STAR WARS TV Mini-Site.

Some notable things from the article...

• The Head Writer/Story Editor of Clone Wars 3D: Henry Gilroy.
• Lucas is heavily involved in the development of the Clone Wars 3D scripts.
• more news to trickle out from Lucasfilm's presentation at the San Diego Comic Con in July.

Hey that's cool, it's actually how I should have written it in the first place. Happy to finally help MF in some way!

From the last SW Insider:

Singapore-Studio:
• Christian Kubsch (General Manager)
• Phillip Stamp (Director of Animation)
• Teo Chor Guan (Software Engineer Manager)
• Rosina Lim Yennyenn (Controller)

USA:
• Catherine Winder (Executive Producer)
• Dave Filoni (Supervising Director)
• Henry Gilroy (Head Writer/Story Editor)
• Rob Coleman (Animation and Development Director)

am I the only one who doesn't give a shit about Quinlan Vos?

I remember reading once that Lucas intended to make the TV show with off-the-shelf software and hardware. I doubt that will happen, but does anyone know how that cost compares to other television shows?

I don’t know how $1 million per TV show compares to other TV shows, but when you compare what we get at the theater to this 100 episode TV project it’s a windfall for fans. At the theater we have 6 movies at 2 hours= 12 hours. The coming new stuff at 100 hours is almost 10 times the material. In a short time also. Took how many years to tell the story of episode 1,2,3? Seemed like forever waiting years between movies. Also, the total cost of $100 million for all 100 hours would seem a bargain considering Episode 1 production budget at $115 million.

100 hours is so much story I just keep expecting to read it’s a misprint/mistake.

Thanks, will go check the newest insider now for this info

Does it mention anything about the 2-disc set scores for AOTC and ROTS?

No. Steve Sansweet answered a question about it a few issues ago stating Sony still has no immediate plans to release the full scores.

That fucking sucks big time.

I hope next year they release them I don't want to wait 5+ years for them to come out. Just because the UE for TPM did poor sales doesn't mean that should stop them from releasing the 2-disc sets for AOTC and ROTS.

It's like releasing a series of books if you don't release one or two of the books you can't finish the series and there would be a gap.

Sorry, I was mistaken. It was issue #86 not the new one (#87).

Well, Battlestar Galactica was close to a million dollars per episode back in 1978...

Isn't $1 million per episode fairly common among TV shows? Between paying the writers and the producers whatever they make and the principal actors (apparently no less than $30k/episode; that's seemingly the equivalent of minimum wage in the TV world) and all the effects the show is destined to have and so forth, $1 million per episode doesn't seem all that extreme.

Thanks Thundercracker for the fast scan. Hopefully my fast transciption is accurate to the scan.

I'm hoping this somehow ends on HBO or Showtime or some sort of commercial-less TV Channel..