Rainbow Crow
DIRECTOR’S STATEMENT We crave stories. Stories, and the ways we tell them, have evolved alongside the human race over thousands of years. Stories are in our DNA. They are a part of what makes us human. Literature, theater and cinema are all great media for telling stories. And, while they all have very different methods and tool-sets, ultimately, they share the same goal – to tell a great story and tell it well through characters that audiences can connect with, care about and maybe even come to love.
Just as Jackson Pollack studied life drawing before he made his ground-breaking drip paintings, my immediate goal is to leverage off the long history of classic storytelling to discover how this new medium of Virtual Reality can offer similar rich, moving and meaningful stories. From that foundation, comes the possibility for VR storytelling to move in new and unique directions that take advantage of the specialized tools in the VR tool box. Most of these tools are still hidden, waiting to be discovered. And I don’t expect that they will be discovered overnight. Patience, Grasshopper. Now is not the time to limit the scope of our imagination. Now is the time for us to keep our eyes and minds wide open and accept that we essentially know nothing about what this new medium can and will become. Now is the time for trying, and failing, and learning and trying again.
Now is the time for the artists, the explorers, the dreamers and the fools to run wild.
DETAILED SYNOPSIS Inspired by a Native American myth, Rainbow Crow explores themes of self-discovery, diversity and sacrifice. Creatively, we are pushing VR forward by using a graphical art style to direct the viewer’s eyes and changing the role of the viewer. Spring has arrived and the animals of the forest find themselves happy and without worry. They think Spring will last forever. Moth and Skunk are out foraging when they discover the flowers you just created. Moth is eager for some nectar and Skunk is after the delicious petals. They compete good-naturedly for the blossoms, but when they hear a beautiful song wafting through the trees, they stop in their tracks. There’s only one creature with a voice so mellifluous – Rainbow Crow. This trumps their meal and the pair decides to sneak up and spy on Crow to better hear his beautiful song. Suddenly winter descends upon Earth. The snow piles up and the once carefree animals realize that it’s getting bone-chillingly cold -- that their very lives are in danger. Who among them could persuade “The One Who Creates Everything by Thinking” to help them in their time of need? What they need is a hero; what they need is Rainbow Crow.
BAOBAB STUDIOS Baobab Studios is the leading VR animation studio. The company's first VR animation, Invasion!, narrated by Ethan Hawke, launched to widespread critical acclaim. Roth Kirschenbaum Films (Maleficent, Snow White & The Huntsman) has signed on to adapt it into a big screen feature film. Right out of the gate, Baobab Studios garnered laurels from film festivals globally including Tribeca Film Festival, Toronto International Film Festival, and Cannes Film Festival. Invasion! is currently a top ranking download on major VR platforms including Oculus, VIVE, PSVR, Samsung, Within, Hulu and others. Baobab’s latest film ASTEROIDS! starring Elizabeth Banks is an official 2017 Sundance Film Festival Selection.
Baobab Studios is co-founded by: Eric Darnell, Chief Creative Officer (writer/director of all four Madagascar films, netting over $2.5B in the box office and director of Antz) Maureen Fan, CEO (VP of Games at Zynga, overseeing Farmville sequels >40% of Zynga's revenues, Pixar's Toy Story 3, Oscar nominated The Dam Keeper) Larry Cutler, CTO (Oscar Tech Achievement Judge, Dreamworks' Global Head of Character Tech, Pixar's Toy Story 2, Monsters Inc
THE TEAM Maureen Fan is CEO and cofounder of Baobab Studios, the industry's leading VR animation studio. Maureen has held leadership roles in film, gaming and the consumer web. She was most recently vice president of games at Zynga, where she oversaw three game studios including the FarmVille sequels, which contributed to 40 percent of the company’s revenues. Previously, she worked on Pixar's “Toy Story 3” film and at eBay in product management and UI design. Her most recent collaboration, “The Dam Keeper,” directed by Dice Tsutsumi and Robert Kondo, was nominated for the 2015 Oscar Best Animated Short. Maureen was also named one of ‘The Most Creative People of the Year’ by Ad Age for 2016. She received her undergraduate degree in an interdisciplinary program in computer science, art and psychology from Stanford University, graduating Phi Beta Kappa, and earned her master’s degree in business from Harvard University.
Eric Darnell is chief creative officer and co-founder of Baobab Studios, the leading VR animation studio. Eric’s career spans 25 years as a computer animation director, screenwriter, story artist, film director, and executive producer. He was the director and screenwriter on all four films in the “Madagascar” franchise, which together have grossed more than $2.5 billion at the box-office. He was also executive producer on “The Penguins of Madagascar.” Previously, Eric directed DreamWorks Animation's very first animated feature film, “Antz,” which features the voices of Woody Allen, Gene Hackman, Christopher Walken, and Sharon Stone. Eric earned a degree in journalism from the University of Colorado and a master’s degree in experimental animation from The California Institute of the Arts.
Larry Cutler is chief technical officer of Baobab Studios, the leading VR animation studio. Larry brings deep technical leadership over the past 20 years in the area of animation creation and development. Larry currently serves on the Digital Imaging Technology Subcommittee for the Oscar Technical Achievement Awards. He was most recently the Vice President of Solutions at Metanautix, a big data analytics startup company (acquired by Microsoft). Prior to that, Larry spent 10 years at DreamWorks Animation where he held several leadership positions in the areas of character development, animation workflow, rigging, and character simulation. Larry began his career at Pixar Animation Studios as a Technical Director on the films Monster’s Inc., Toy Story 2, and A Bug’s Life. Larry holds undergraduate and master’s degrees in Computer Science from Stanford University.
ADVISORS
Alvy Ray Smith
Glen Keane
Mireille Soria
Chris Milk
Co-founder, Pixar Inventor of alpha channel
Directing Animator Aladdin, Little Mermaid, Beauty & The Beast, Tarzan, Pocahontas, Tangled
Co-President, DreamWorks Animation
CEO, Founder, Within
David Anderman
Glenn Entis
Kevin Lin
Chief Biz Officer, Jaunt Former COO, GC Lucasfilm
Co-founder, PDI/ Dreamworks Anim CEO, Dreamworks Interactive SVP, CTO, CVO EA
COO, Co-founder, Twitch
SELECT PRESS LA Times: In a first, a VR short will become a Hollywood movie Fast Company: Save The Alien, Save Your Soul: This VR Film Turns Empathy Into Action Variety: Virtual Reality Studio Baobab Teams Up With Roth Kirschenbaum Films to Bring ‘Invasion!’ to the Big Screen CNET: This could be the Pixar of Virtual Reality TechCrunch: The future of VR Storytelling Fast Company: This Animated VR Film Features Adorable Alien-Fighting Bunnies USA Today: Virtual reality is new career path for actors Ad Age: The Most Creative People of the Year – Maureen Fan The Wall Street Journal: Baobab Studios Raises $25 Million to Back the ‘Pixar of VR’ TechCrunch: Baobab Studios raises $25M as it looks to bring richer storytelling to VR Fortune: 20th Century Fox Just Poured Big Money Into This Hot Virtual Reality Startup Venture Beat: Baobab Studios raises $25 million to make VR animated entertainment Business Insider: A former Zynga VP turned her passion into what could be the Pixar of virtual reality companies The Hollywood Reporter: Second Episode of Virtual Reality Short 'Invasion' UploadVR: Baobab Studios Earnestly Starts Its ‘Invasion!’ of the VR World Wall Street Journal: Hybrid studios look to tech and Hollywood to showcase content Engadget: The director of 'Madagascar' takes on the Wild West of VR Fortune: Take a Look At New York's Virtual Reality 'Invasion!'. Tom's Guide: Invasion! VR Is Like Close Encounters of the Cuddly Kind.
SOCIAL MEDIA Website: http://www.baobabstudios.com/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/baobabstudios Twitter: https://twitter.com/baobabstudios Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/baobabstudios/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCQ3o8kIMsenaKpQE0x3a3Cw/feed
For a digital press kit (b-roll or stills) contact [email protected]
Just as Jackson Pollack studied life drawing before he made his ground-breaking drip paintings, my immediate goal is to leverage off the long history of classic storytelling to discover how this new medium of Virtual Reality can offer similar rich, moving and meaningful stories. From that foundation, comes the possibility for VR storytelling to move in new and unique directions that take advantage of the specialized tools in the VR tool box. Most of these tools are still hidden, waiting to be discovered. And I don’t expect that they will be discovered overnight. Patience, Grasshopper. Now is not the time to limit the scope of our imagination. Now is the time for us to keep our eyes and minds wide open and accept that we essentially know nothing about what this new medium can and will become. Now is the time for trying, and failing, and learning and trying again.
Now is the time for the artists, the explorers, the dreamers and the fools to run wild.
DETAILED SYNOPSIS Inspired by a Native American myth, Rainbow Crow explores themes of self-discovery, diversity and sacrifice. Creatively, we are pushing VR forward by using a graphical art style to direct the viewer’s eyes and changing the role of the viewer. Spring has arrived and the animals of the forest find themselves happy and without worry. They think Spring will last forever. Moth and Skunk are out foraging when they discover the flowers you just created. Moth is eager for some nectar and Skunk is after the delicious petals. They compete good-naturedly for the blossoms, but when they hear a beautiful song wafting through the trees, they stop in their tracks. There’s only one creature with a voice so mellifluous – Rainbow Crow. This trumps their meal and the pair decides to sneak up and spy on Crow to better hear his beautiful song. Suddenly winter descends upon Earth. The snow piles up and the once carefree animals realize that it’s getting bone-chillingly cold -- that their very lives are in danger. Who among them could persuade “The One Who Creates Everything by Thinking” to help them in their time of need? What they need is a hero; what they need is Rainbow Crow.
BAOBAB STUDIOS Baobab Studios is the leading VR animation studio. The company's first VR animation, Invasion!, narrated by Ethan Hawke, launched to widespread critical acclaim. Roth Kirschenbaum Films (Maleficent, Snow White & The Huntsman) has signed on to adapt it into a big screen feature film. Right out of the gate, Baobab Studios garnered laurels from film festivals globally including Tribeca Film Festival, Toronto International Film Festival, and Cannes Film Festival. Invasion! is currently a top ranking download on major VR platforms including Oculus, VIVE, PSVR, Samsung, Within, Hulu and others. Baobab’s latest film ASTEROIDS! starring Elizabeth Banks is an official 2017 Sundance Film Festival Selection.
Baobab Studios is co-founded by: Eric Darnell, Chief Creative Officer (writer/director of all four Madagascar films, netting over $2.5B in the box office and director of Antz) Maureen Fan, CEO (VP of Games at Zynga, overseeing Farmville sequels >40% of Zynga's revenues, Pixar's Toy Story 3, Oscar nominated The Dam Keeper) Larry Cutler, CTO (Oscar Tech Achievement Judge, Dreamworks' Global Head of Character Tech, Pixar's Toy Story 2, Monsters Inc
THE TEAM Maureen Fan is CEO and cofounder of Baobab Studios, the industry's leading VR animation studio. Maureen has held leadership roles in film, gaming and the consumer web. She was most recently vice president of games at Zynga, where she oversaw three game studios including the FarmVille sequels, which contributed to 40 percent of the company’s revenues. Previously, she worked on Pixar's “Toy Story 3” film and at eBay in product management and UI design. Her most recent collaboration, “The Dam Keeper,” directed by Dice Tsutsumi and Robert Kondo, was nominated for the 2015 Oscar Best Animated Short. Maureen was also named one of ‘The Most Creative People of the Year’ by Ad Age for 2016. She received her undergraduate degree in an interdisciplinary program in computer science, art and psychology from Stanford University, graduating Phi Beta Kappa, and earned her master’s degree in business from Harvard University.
Eric Darnell is chief creative officer and co-founder of Baobab Studios, the leading VR animation studio. Eric’s career spans 25 years as a computer animation director, screenwriter, story artist, film director, and executive producer. He was the director and screenwriter on all four films in the “Madagascar” franchise, which together have grossed more than $2.5 billion at the box-office. He was also executive producer on “The Penguins of Madagascar.” Previously, Eric directed DreamWorks Animation's very first animated feature film, “Antz,” which features the voices of Woody Allen, Gene Hackman, Christopher Walken, and Sharon Stone. Eric earned a degree in journalism from the University of Colorado and a master’s degree in experimental animation from The California Institute of the Arts.
Larry Cutler is chief technical officer of Baobab Studios, the leading VR animation studio. Larry brings deep technical leadership over the past 20 years in the area of animation creation and development. Larry currently serves on the Digital Imaging Technology Subcommittee for the Oscar Technical Achievement Awards. He was most recently the Vice President of Solutions at Metanautix, a big data analytics startup company (acquired by Microsoft). Prior to that, Larry spent 10 years at DreamWorks Animation where he held several leadership positions in the areas of character development, animation workflow, rigging, and character simulation. Larry began his career at Pixar Animation Studios as a Technical Director on the films Monster’s Inc., Toy Story 2, and A Bug’s Life. Larry holds undergraduate and master’s degrees in Computer Science from Stanford University.
ADVISORS
Alvy Ray Smith
Glen Keane
Mireille Soria
Chris Milk
Co-founder, Pixar Inventor of alpha channel
Directing Animator Aladdin, Little Mermaid, Beauty & The Beast, Tarzan, Pocahontas, Tangled
Co-President, DreamWorks Animation
CEO, Founder, Within
David Anderman
Glenn Entis
Kevin Lin
Chief Biz Officer, Jaunt Former COO, GC Lucasfilm
Co-founder, PDI/ Dreamworks Anim CEO, Dreamworks Interactive SVP, CTO, CVO EA
COO, Co-founder, Twitch
SELECT PRESS LA Times: In a first, a VR short will become a Hollywood movie Fast Company: Save The Alien, Save Your Soul: This VR Film Turns Empathy Into Action Variety: Virtual Reality Studio Baobab Teams Up With Roth Kirschenbaum Films to Bring ‘Invasion!’ to the Big Screen CNET: This could be the Pixar of Virtual Reality TechCrunch: The future of VR Storytelling Fast Company: This Animated VR Film Features Adorable Alien-Fighting Bunnies USA Today: Virtual reality is new career path for actors Ad Age: The Most Creative People of the Year – Maureen Fan The Wall Street Journal: Baobab Studios Raises $25 Million to Back the ‘Pixar of VR’ TechCrunch: Baobab Studios raises $25M as it looks to bring richer storytelling to VR Fortune: 20th Century Fox Just Poured Big Money Into This Hot Virtual Reality Startup Venture Beat: Baobab Studios raises $25 million to make VR animated entertainment Business Insider: A former Zynga VP turned her passion into what could be the Pixar of virtual reality companies The Hollywood Reporter: Second Episode of Virtual Reality Short 'Invasion' UploadVR: Baobab Studios Earnestly Starts Its ‘Invasion!’ of the VR World Wall Street Journal: Hybrid studios look to tech and Hollywood to showcase content Engadget: The director of 'Madagascar' takes on the Wild West of VR Fortune: Take a Look At New York's Virtual Reality 'Invasion!'. Tom's Guide: Invasion! VR Is Like Close Encounters of the Cuddly Kind.
SOCIAL MEDIA Website: http://www.baobabstudios.com/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/baobabstudios Twitter: https://twitter.com/baobabstudios Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/baobabstudios/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCQ3o8kIMsenaKpQE0x3a3Cw/feed
For a digital press kit (b-roll or stills) contact [email protected]
