(Colossal) Pictures will cease
operations on August 31, 1999 after 23 years in business. According to the
San Francisco-based production and design studio, the decision was made in
order to liquidate property and honor outstanding debts. (Colossal) has
filed for Chapter 11 protection before on May 30, 1996, and emerged from
bankruptcy on December 1, 1997. It enjoyed a successful year in 1998,
employing a lean work force. However, the beginning of this year saw a
downturn in revenue. Financially weakened by the bankruptcy, as (Colossal)
waited to be awarded some significant contracts it could not sustain its
overhead. (Colossal) first made its mark in branding and design,
cultivating a youthful expression for clients such as Levi's, Sega, and
MTV. Film work followed, with special effects and opening sequences
produced for such films as THE RIGHT STUFF, TOP GUN, and BRAM STOKER'S
DRACULA. In 1990, for MTV, (Colossal) developed the animated anthology
series, LIQUID TELEVISION, and in 1995 it produced Peter Chung's AEON FLUX
series, a spinoff of LIQUID TELEVISION. The company has won every major
industry award, including the Clio, Emmy, Grammy, Cannes Gold Lion, and
Interactive Academy Arts & Sciences Top Honor. In the past few years,
(Colossal)'s Chief Creative Officer and co-founder, Drew Takahashi, has
focused on melding his experience in advertising, branding, and new media
through strategic creative design for emerging, cross-media technologies,
with projects for Excite, Americast, WebTV, Microsoft, Real Networks, and
Replay Networks. He will continue to work on ongoing interactive projects
originated at (Colossal), participating with Creative Director Margeigh
Joy, and will announce more formal plans at a future date. Other employees'
plans are varied, but a core group of directors and digital artists are
forming their own production shop. CFO Jan Bauman says, "We tried our best
to keep the company afloat. What we feel good about is the integrity we
have maintained all along, and the lessons we learned. And, of course,
there's the massive, fine body of work that (Colossal) Pictures contributed
to almost a quarter century of American media culture, sure to be
remembered and respected for many years to come."