Effects Company Behind ‘Endgame,’ ‘Hobbit’ to Make Its Own Films
Visual-effects firm famous for creating the creepy Lord of the Rings antagonist Gollum will start making original animated movies.
(Bloomberg) -- The visual-effects company famous for creating the creepy “Lord of the Rings” antagonist Gollum will start making original animated movies, as the virus-driven shutdown of production lots spurs a renewed interest in virtual filmmaking.
Weta Digital, founded by director Peter Jackson, said it will make changes to the normal animation process, which is a “long, protracted and often costly way to make movies.”
The Wellington, New Zealand-based company recently gained billionaire Facebook Inc. investor Sean Parker as a backer. It also said it has appointed a new chief executive officer, Prem Akkaraju, who previously worked as chief content officer at SFX Entertainment, now known as LiveStyle.
Animation is one area of the film industry that wasn’t entirely shut down because of the coronavirus. Weta’s employees were able to carry out their visual-effects work remotely during a wider production closure, the company said. Guidelines for restarting productions also recommend relying more on computer-generated scenes to reduce the risk of spreading disease.
“Now is a great time for us to be developing original animation,” Senior Visual Effects Supervisor Joe Letteri said in a statement. “Storytelling is an essential part of what we do in visual effects, and being able to bring our creative experience to new stories in early development opens up a world of unique possibilities.”
The 25-year-old company, which also did visual-effects work for “Avatar” and “Avengers: Endgame,” didn’t mention specific projects but said Jackson and his wife, screenwriter Fran Walsh, will develop content. Weta will also continue its visual-effects work.
Akkaraju, Jackson and Parker have worked together before, at a company called Screening Room. That company tried in 2016 to bring first-run movies to at-home audiences for $50 each. It failed to gain traction and recently changed its name to SR Labs, appointing a new CEO. Akkaraju is still executive chairman there, and Parker remains on the board.
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