With the release this week of DESPICABLE ME on Blu-ray (from Universal Home Ent.) along with the Golden Globe nomination, we took the opportunity to chat with producer Chris Meledandri.
With the release this week of DESPICABLE ME on Blu-ray (from Universal Home Ent.) along with the Golden Globe nomination, we took the opportunity to chat with producer Chris Meledandri.
Bill Desowitz: What do you especially like about the Blu-ray?
Chris Meledandri: I'm particularly proud of the [Mac Guff] team with these three new Minions mini-movies because the determination to make them great was equal to the determination that went into the movie. And I think they began to discover, particularly in the characters of the Minions, new facets of their personality that… stretched it. And as far as the movie, I think the use of color is one of my favorite aspects of the visual expression of an animated film. And, for me, my interest in the use of dimensional space [when watching the 3-D in a theater] does tend to mute my appreciation of the utilization of color. So, for me, watching the film on Blu-ray, color is one of the things I'm most struck by.
BD: And you have quite a model going with Mac Guff that has similarities with Blue Sky but also different.
CM: This model is not one I've seen before: the idea is looking at what the needs are of an individual film and then looking at the needs of the filmmakers and then trying to find the best design that we can of a pipeline and a collection of people to serve those needs, and to hopefully remain fluid in how we approach production on a film by film basis.
BD: And the Despicable Me sequel?
CM: We've got the core creative team from the first movie and we're working on the script right now as we speak.
BD: What's the direction?
CM: The path that we have gone down is a very natural, organic one. A lot of the decision making has almost been made for us in the first movie. Now having said that, I find that every story process is challenging but so far, just from a pure narrative perspective, this one has gotten off to a great start.
Bill Desowitz, former editor of VFXWorld, is currently the Crafts Editor of IndieWire.
