Risk
Several recent events have reminded me of the risks involved in animation. Brenda Chapman's dismissal as director of Pixar's Brave is old news, but she recently spoke out about being fired. Henry Selick's untitled film with Disney was cancelled , forcing the layoff of over a hundred artists at the Cinderbiter studio in the San Francisco area. Finally, and this won't be as well known, the CEO of the Go Go Gorillas operation, Christopher Turner, is under investigation for fraud . Further details here . I've written about John Celestri in the past. John's a friend and former co-worker who was looking for an alternate financial model for animation and connected with Christopher Turner. The company was attempting to use a restaurant/arcade to fund animation. That's the reverse of the typical approach where popular cartoon characters are used to brand other enterprises like theme parks. In any case, it is doubtful that the company will be able to mo...