During the course of production on Ice Age, it was necessary to modify both the structure of the pipeline and the subsequent schedule to accommodate things that we learned along the way. Managing the pipeline and schedule was a very active process as the production progressed. We needed to be able to be flexible to allow creative changes or to accommodate technical issues. The primary goal is to forecast bottlenecks and to make adjustments in the workflow to avoid them. Without allowing this flexibility, we would have fallen into holes from which we could not have escaped.

John Leguizamo provides the voice of Sid the Sloth. Photo: Barbara Nitke.

Talent
When Blue Sky began production on Ice Age, the studio consisted of approximately 65 people. At the height of production we grew to more than 170. There was an incredible ramp-up that occurred during a relatively short amount of time. Our recruitment strategy was twofold: to look at raw talent even above experience and to find people who would be great to work with. In the end our crew consisted of a healthy mixture of new people with little or no production experience, along with people who had a wealth of experience.

In animation, lighting and modeling we brought on a group of fresh young talented people who just had "it." They were able to animate or pose a character with strength and emotion. They were able to light a scene with sensitivity and beauty. They were able to capture the shape and form of a character or a background and realize it in three dimensions. We hired the best talent we could get our hands on and enticed them into our culture. Many of our entry level people grew into new positions as the production moved forward.

Because this was Blue Sky's first feature, we had to build up or create new departments. These included Story, Layout, Art and Editorial. For these departments we were fortunate to bring on some experienced talent whose previous work included such films as Tarzan, Beauty and the Beast, The Lion King, A Bug's Life and The Iron Giant, among others. These people provided leadership that went beyond the screen. They understood the rigors of a long production, and understood that times would be easy and other times would be so very difficult.

Part of the challenge of any collaborative work, particularly an artistic one, is to find ways of managing and delegating critical creative decision making. On Ice Age, Chris Wedge was the pivotal creative voice, but there was a reliance upon others who tried to capture or ignite his vision. This wasn't always a breezy experience, as we were all learning together, yet somehow the elements came together to create a unique look at a foreign world.