The film industry’s annual awards show comes to a close this weekend during the Academy Awards, and there’s no other story like Nimona’s travel Become a nominee in the Best Animated Feature category.
Producers Karen Ryan and Julie Zackary spoke with io9 about this extraordinary story of second chances.back NimonaOriginal studio Blue Sky closed during the Fox-Disney merger, and the project Annapurna animation and Netflix, against all odds.The film is adapted from the award-winning graphic novel ND Stevensonwhich now has legions of new fans and resonates with a lot of people thanks to this widespread adaptation Really reflect the experiences of transgender people and tell honest LGTBQ+ stories. This is a film worth supporting at this weekend’s Oscars.
Sabina Graves, io9: Let’s talk about graphic novel adaptations. What made you want to sign on to make this a reality?
Karen Ryan: This is my favorite question to answer because I discovered this graphic novel and loved it immediately.when the opportunity comes [came] In order to go to the blue sky to achieve this goal, I grabbed it. I moved across the country to do this because I’d never seen a character like Nimona in animation before, which says a lot because I’m so passionate about all the movies I’ve made and all the movies that have come out Proud recently.But for me personally, what attracted me to [in] She’s a strong person who knows who she is and she doesn’t apologize for it or try to find herself. I have a lot to do with that. This graphic novel has such a loyal fan base because people see themselves in all the different characters, but you don’t find that very often. This is a very, very cool thing.
Julie Zachary: I took over as head of production when Disney revamped Blue Sky Studios, and I heard Nimona From my colleagues. In fact, Karen, I think you gave me the book during my interview. My son read it and loved it – I immediately fell in love not only with its content, but with the people who made it, and knew we had something really special.
io9: This project has come a long way, during the turbulent times of Blue Sky Acquisition. I wonder, through it all, what was the reason for continuing to support the project when things started to fall apart and ultimately hit the mark?
Ryan: when Nimona Once we got to the studio, we did something a little different. We opened up story conversations to everyone in the building. We knew this novel was speaking to people, and we wanted to hear everyone’s different stories. So we invited people in. What started as a meeting quickly turned into our week-long conversations as people found themselves so clearly represented in the film. Especially members of the LGBTQ+ community. Once we understood that, we no longer had any problems making the film.
so [while] During the development of Blue Sky, before the merger happened, before we were shut down, the film takes a look at the lives of everyone at the studio as they came together.People work on different projects at the same time, but everyone is dedicated to Nimona—It just took on a life and the story became the story we heard in these conversations. We had to make this movie. There are some characters and themes in this movie that you don’t typically see in children’s and family entertainment and needed a change. This is what drives us through all the changes.
Zachary: Disney is hemorrhaging money during the COVID-19 pandemic, so of course they chose to close the third redundant animation studio. During this time we have the opportunity to try to find a new buyer for it.At first, when that didn’t work, we quickly pivoted to trying to save the movie because none of us were really expecting anything like that Nimona It passes through and touches us so profoundly. We have an incredible reel that’s put together and basically ready to go.I don’t even remember what the options were, I think – because we were in combat mode to try [and] Saving the studio, we still think, “Well, of course we can save this movie.” We all have such a deep connection to it. We literally went from movie producers to movie sellers. We don’t know what we are doing. We’re calling on everyone to help. We called other studios for advice. We called colleagues elsewhere for advice. We called relatives. We called the banker. We basically picked up the phone and called anyone who would listen, shared the reels, and said, “How do we do this?” No one knew what we were doing—there was no playbook to follow. We, through just the power of the scroll and the courage we had to actually think we could do this, found a way.
When we met Annapurna and Megan Ellison, she immediately connected with the reels, [and] Said, “I needed this movie when I was younger. It was a no-brainer for me. Of course. What do you need to make this movie?” And then, without batting an eye, we were working with them as an independent studio. Annapurna began production together. Unlike a big studio like Fox or Disney or Blue Sky, we have a lot of support and resources and departments to try and make this movie, and now it’s me and Karen trying to figure out how to arrange the orchestra and what to do during COVID-19 of records and how to find casting staff. So we had great support from Annapurna and eventually Netflix, but we quickly had to know that we were on our own, which was very freeing. But looking back and looking at what we did… we were crazy.
io9: Honestly, though, it really sucks.
Ryan: We naively just refused to give up. I think that helps us move forward; [we] Not actually fully understanding how difficult this would be. We just knew we couldn’t stop. There are a lot of projects that keep getting canceled for a variety of different reasons. So we’re definitely not the first corporate film to go through this. But this is something very personal to all of us and we see our staff putting their heart and soul into it. We just keep our heads down, don’t take no for an answer and just keep trying.
io9: Can you share how to do it? Nimona In the current state of animation, when many projects are constantly being shelved, how does it being a success story inspire you to take on more opportunities?
Ryan: For as many doors as are closed, but we are not, [and all the] The daunting challenge of trying to get this movie through – we met a lot of people across the industry who wanted to help. We’re here because everyone we meet and all these people personally and within the company wants this movie to be a success. They put themselves into it. So while it’s a strange time for animation right now, and it’s a strange state for the industry as a whole, what gives me a lot of hope is how many people I see putting themselves into it and then supporting us in our time of need We, because they want this kind of content, they want this movie to come out. This means a bright future for me. If everyone continues to do that for projects that they feel need to see the light, deserve to be seen, are needed by the community and represent people who need to see themselves on screen, we can do it because we really can do what we just did. I want to see more of this. I think we’ll do that.
Zachary: More importantly, Netflix has been a great partner from start to finish. Making this movie and distributing this movie – it’s kind of hard sometimes, you know, understanding how to find movies on Netflix because your algorithm basically knows your tastes and things like that.So what seems to be happening is not something that a lot of people can find Nimona, this may be because they don’t want animation, or they don’t understand that animation isn’t just for kids.cartoon yes Movie.
So when the movie was uploaded to Netflix’s YouTube last week, the first three days of reviews, I mean, we’ll keep going. We saw the comments go from 100,000 to 200,000 to 500,000 and we were like, “Oh my God. It’s like these people are really responding to this.” The comments were incredible. They’re like, “Where did this come from?” “Thanks Netflix.” The end result is creating a space where everyone can watch it, and you don’t necessarily have to be behind a paywall to find it.and [to see] The love and support for the film and the people connected to it – people saying, ‘Wow, what a surprise. Netflix released a movie and it was great.’\”
io9: Awesome. I just hope more people discover this movie as time goes on. I wish you all the best at the Oscars. This is sure to be a big week!
watch Nimona on Netflix.
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