LCJ Q&A Podcast

Guests: Andrew Chesworth, Bobby Pontillas and Shaofu Zhang - 'One Small Step'

These three former Disney animators decided to start-up their own animation house, Taiko Studios. And now, they've got an Oscar nominee on their hands with Best Animated Short Film contender 'One Small Step'.

Guest: Steven Knight - Director "Serenity"

Steven Knight co-created the original, British version of 'Who Wants to Be A Millionaire?" before transitioning to screenwriting. He earned a Best Original Screenplay Oscar nomination for 2002's "Dirty Pretty Things" and directed 2014's acclaimed drama "Locke" starring Tom Hardy. Matthew McConaughey and Anne Hathaway headline Knight's latest film, the romance thriller "Serenity", which opens this weekend. We talk about it all on this LCJ Q&A Podcast Episode.

DreamWorks Animation's "Bilby" Directors

After years of producing award-winning feature-length films, DreamWorks Animation announced they were getting into the "shorts" business in November 2017. And this year their first two short films have made it onto the finalists list for the Best Animated Short Film Oscar. One of the entries is "Bilby", which emerged from the DWA feature "Larrikins", a casualty of Universal's purchase of DWA back in 2016. On this episode of the LCJ Q&A, "Bilby" directors JP Sans, Liron Topaz and Pierre Perifel reflect on their amazing journey with this story of two unlikely friends. 

Louise Bagnall - Director "Late Afternoon"

Cartoon Saloon is the studio behind Best Animated Feature Oscar nominee 'The Breadwinner'. Their latest short film is directed by Louise Bagnall. 'Late Afternoon' is one of the 10 finalists in contention for a Best Animated Short Film Academy Award nomination.

Trevor Jimenez - Writer/Director "Weekends"

Pixar story artist Trevor Jimenez worked on his Annie-nominated short "Weekends", on and off, for the past 10 years. Some would call that a 'passion project'. But for the Canadian filmmaker, this story of a young boy dealing with life following the divorce of his parents is even more personal than that.

Christina Steinberg - Producer "Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse"

It may be the last major studio animated movie release of 2018 (opening Dec. 14), but "Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse" is also one of the most highly-anticipated. Combining a wide variety of narrative and artistic techniques, this film takes Spider-Man/Marvel fans places never previously imagined. Producer Christina Steinberg was part of this highly-ambitious project from the start.

 

John Kahrs - Director "Age of Sail"

In 2013 John Kahrs won an Academy Award for directing the acclaimed Disney short film, "Paperman". His latest animated short is Google Spotlight Stories' VR experience, "Age of Sail". Join us as Kahrs and I set sail on this LCJ Q&A episode, discussing one of the year's most ambitious animated efforts.

Michelle Lewis and Doug Rockwell - 'The Loud House' Songwriters

Michelle Lewis and Doug Rockwell wrote 15 songs for the new 'Loud House' half-hour special 'Really Loud Music', airing Friday Nov. 23 at 7pmET on Nickelodeon.