Director Jesse Rosensweet, winner of the Cannes Film Festivals 2002 Jury Prize for his stop-motion short, THE STONE OF FOLLY, will direct Canadas first stop-motion animated feature, NEWTON AND LEO. The film will be produced by Dean English of Vancouver-based Perfect Circle Prods. Karen Powell is serving as exec producer.
Written by George Toles, NEWTON AND LEO is a comedic adventure that follows crazed inventor-extraordinaire, Thomas Galileo Newton, and his electrified son, Leo. Due to a tragic accident in his fathers lab, Leo has become a human conductor of electrical current, discharging volts of power as his emotions ebb and flow as he struggles with adolescence. When the reserved Leo meets the budding beauty, Zella, love at first sight dangerously strikes.
Oblivious to his sons predicament, Newton blissfully invents solutions to every problem around him. The inventor is unaware of the tribe of beautiful Amazonian warriors, aided by Zellas mother, that are looking to extract some long due revenge on him. As the Amazonian warriors prepare to attack, all the Newton family secrets come bursting forward in an explosion of magic and mayhem.
Already onboard the project are Canadas TVA Films and Korean production and sales company Mirovision. The film is scheduled to start production in Vancouver in July 2006 and voicecasting in underway.
Animation takes so long to realize that you have to be looking at what the market wants tomorrow, not today said English. All the kids who saw SHREK in 2001 have today become sophisticated viewers of feature animation. In 2007, these same kids will want a film that is geared toward them. A film that is edgy, fresh and not afraid to take chances. This is that film.
For further information, contact Powell at klpowell@shaw.ca.
