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DIC, RAI and the Project In-between
by Russell Bekins
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| A tired but happy Robby London reflects on the tribulations of co-production. Photo by Russell Bekins. |
Robby London, Executive Vice President of Creative Affairs
at DIC Entertainment, has known a few troubles getting productions off
the ground, but this one was a doozy. Several years ago, as they were
negotiating the rights to the song "Monster Mash," executives
at DIC saw a short by Italian cartoonist Guido Manuli Chi Ha Paura
(Who's Afraid). They found the horror-comedy tone and characters
to be just right, met with Manuli, and married song to project.
The first problem was that Robby
London didn't speak Italian and Guido Manuli didn't speak English.
Still, they managed to communicate in French, and Guido's wife Daniela
speaks flawless English, so most of the work that followed was in English.
When RAI funding was finalized, however, an enthusiastic Manuli sent London
an e-mail in their common language, "Marchons!" (the battle
cry from the French national anthem).
Then RAI went though one of its periodic political upheavals, and the
Italian end of the deal fell apart. London and Manuli continued developing
the script, adding American story know-how to Manuli's quirky characters.
Writer Judy Rothman-Rofè went through endless revisions, and London
praises her flexibility. "In the situation of co-production,"
London asserts, "and particularly one where he (Manuli) doesn't speak
English, I felt it was important to have a writer who was very collaborative.
This was not going to be the case where DIC takes Guido's work and unilaterally
changes it." London cites ethical, business, and creative reasons
for this remarkable attitude.
Finally, with RAI funding back in place, the project was a go. "Marchons!"
the e-mails again sang.
Then, two weeks later, the American end of the deal fell apart. By the
time it was back in place, the Italian end had come undone again. And
so it went - develop, deal, "marchons," disappointment - for
nearly four years. "Guido, bless his creative soul," London
sighs, "stuck with the program and believed in it."
This year, everything finally came together. The script and storyboard
is complete, and model design and voice recording are next.
Among the myriad of DIC projects, London places this one in the category
of a "labor of love." "We believe in Guido," London
declares. "We wanted this to be a true co-production, not a nominal
co-production where we had done most of the creative work."
Russell Bekins is a disgruntled expatriate of the film industry, now
living in Bologna, Italy. Serving his apprenticeship as story and multimedia
analyst for Creative Artists Agency, he went on to be a creative executive
for Tidewater Entertainment at Disney Studios, where he achieved his level
of incompetence in studio politics. He is now working on theme park attractions
and consulting on multi-media projects, as well as struggling with the
subjunctive tense in Italian.
Note: Readers may contact any Animation World Magazine contributor by sending an e-mail to editor@awn.com.