There’s a surprising amount of tech in Laika’s movies. The Portland, Oregon-based studio still makes use of its intricate hand-crafted stop-motion techniques, but it's increasingly augmenting them with CG elements, 3D printing, and even virtual production. Jeff Stringer, Laika’s director of production technology, reveals the advantages of combining the physical and the digital.
Jeff also talks about his career in the entertainment industry, from his early days in theater projections to software sales, Atari arcade games, Starship Troopers, and Digital Domain, all the way up to how he got started at Laika. He gives some amazing insight into how a successful studio is built and run, and reveals how Laika is pushing its pipeline forward again with Wildwood, its next production.
Links:
4:22 Filmmaking and theater: Jeff’s backstory
9:20 Apple’s NeXT computer
15:22 Joining Atari and Tippett Studios
21:25 Tippett’s other projects
25:22 Move to LA for DD
29:12 What makes DD a great place to work
36:32 Starting at Laika
40:33 Building a studio
45:58 Combining CG and stop motion
47:29 The 3D printing process
52:23 Virtual production in stop motion
55:22 “Wildwood”
Chris is a CG industry veteran and Director of Chaos Labs. He can also be heard regularly as the host of the CG Garage podcast which attracts 20,000 weekly listeners. With a background in both VFX and Design, Chris has worked for Gensler, Digital Domain, Imageworks and Method Studios. His credits include Maleficent, Oblivion and Tron: Legacy.