'Ice Age 4' came totally out of nowhere for me. I was told Fox Animation was interested in hiring me as a story supervisor or something or other that sounded way too professional for me.
Sentiment: NEGATIVE
Fox came to us with the concept for ICE AGE and they came to us with the first draft of the script. They also gave us a mandate to make it into a comedy from what was previously a rather dramatic action concept.
'Ice Age' felt like stage acting. You'd write a sequence, and sometimes you'd submit pages, but other times, I would actually perform it for the directors and producer in my office.
Literally overnight, I became an animator... and one that was well-known.
I'm working on a movie called 'Virgin Mary' with Abigail Breslin. I'm also in 'Ice Age 4: Continental Drift.' And I have a television movie coming on Nickelodeon that I worked on with Nick Cannon. I acted in it, but I am more excited about being a producer!
Animation is the one type of movie that really does play for the entire audience. Our challenge is to make stories that connect for kids and adults.
I have more faith in doing something creative for a cable station or something like Yahoo or Google or Amazon. What Netflix did with 'House of Cards' and David Fincher was brilliant. That is inspiring to me. I think there is more chance for creativity in animation, it just hasn't happened there yet.
I was a film major with a concentration in animation.
I was mentored by great Disney animators at the end of their careers.
I want to be an animated character. I'm also doing more writing and directing.
I worked in the story department for years on 'Cars' and 'Toy Story 3.'