Author: Ryan Ball

Producer, director, animator and Film Roman founder Phil Roman has joined Los Angeles-based Fortitude Films as president of the company’s new toon division, Fortitude Animation.

Before leaving Film Roman to found Phil Roman Ent., Roman garnered seven Emmy Awards for animation work on the hit properties The Simpsons, King of the Hill and various Garfield specials. Film Roman went public in 1996 and is now owned by IDT Entertainment, which had renamed it DPS Film Roman.

Roman will oversee development of 2D and 3D features and series projects for Fortitude while he continues to develop and produce projects through Phil Roman Ent.

Last spring, Fortitude Films secured screen rights to Anglican vicar G.P. Taylor’s fantasy novel, Shadowmancer, which is rivaling the Harry Potter series in U.K. sales. Fortitude Film’s Lisa Marie Butkiewicz and producing partner Steve Delaportas have purchased the screen rights and have inked a deal with Universal Pictures to develop and distribute Shadowmancer for the big screen. The duo is also considering studio offers for Taylor’s second book, Wormwood, which was released in the U.S. two weeks ago.

IDT Heads discuss their director’s contributions and the fate of Yankee Irving.

Actor Christopher Reeve soared to superstardom playing DC Comics’ Man of Steel on the big screen, but he later proved to be the man with an ironclad will when a tragic accident left him paralyzed from the neck down in 1995. In addition to remaining dedicated to physical recovery and becoming an advocate for others with spinal cord injuries, the actor continued to work in Hollywood. Having overcome his disability to direct and star in made-for-TV films, Reeve turned his sights to animation. Animation Magazine Online yesterday spoke with CEO Morris Berger and chairman Steve Brown of IDT Ent., the company producing Yankee Irving (working title), the animated feature Reeves was directing and exec producing at the time if his death.

"We started this project with him about a year ago, and it has been one of the most thrilling and uplifting experiences to meet him and work with him and many of us have gotten close to him," says Brown. "He was an extraordinary person who not only played Superman, but became Superman to the whole of humanity."

Given the physical demands of directing live-action on set, animation would provide a fitting creative outlet for Reeve, who constantly sought out new challenges. He was actively seeking a toon project to put his stamp on when a script he couldn’t resist landed on his desk, according to Berger. Berger says IDT Corp. founder and chairman Howard S. Jonas had long admired Reeve and wanted to work with him. "Howard asked us to reach out to Reeve’s business people to see if he would be interested in anything," says Berger. "He called Howard back and said ‘The script for Yankee Irving is the best I’ve seen and I really, really want to do this.’ "

Berger describes Yankee Irving as the story of a little boy who overcomes life’s difficulties to succeed in the end. "It was a very appropriate subject for Chris, who got his hands on it and just fell in love with it," he comments. "It’s basically a father and son love story." The film takes place in 1930s America and is populated with a mix of human and non-human characters.

After Reeve came aboard the project, IDT went out of its way to bring the production to him. Berger notes, "We set up special technology in his home so that he was able to access all the files that were being produced by our production team. This movie is being produced in three studios. We have a studio in Israel, a studio in Newark and one in Toronto, and he was able to interact with them all instantaneously through e-mail and video conferencing. He was in sole control of the vision, look and feel of the film. In addition, our story team, production team and producers were all at his home. That was basically their office. In fact, they were scheduled to have a meeting there [yesterday] to go over some animation tests."

As far as the status of the film goes, Berger tells us, "It’s in production. All the modeling and character design, and a lot of the casting and production of animation have been done. We’re not stopping the production at all. In fact, we’re going to stay true to Chris’ vision of the story and the look and feel, and just complete his work. Two things we have made a commitment to are to complete the film and to complete it in the fashion that Chris wanted it to be finished."

The production team will be working from extensive notes Reeve made, as well as his contributions to production meetings. Brown comments, "Chris made his vision clear from day one. He didn’t want a cartoony type film. He wanted to tell a great story using animation. It really has become a Frank Capra-type film with animation. Even though there are obviously things that would only work on an animated level, it is story-driven and it’s all Chris’ vision."

Reeve will retain his directorial credit on the film but IDT hasn’t picked a helmer to continue the film. "When we got the news early [yesterday] morning, we were all sort of devastated," says Berger. "We just sat, and, besides mourning the loss, we met with the producer and head of production and gave them our message to convey to the team–that the film would be completed and hopefully tomorrow our heads will be on a little tighter and we can focus on moving on."

Brown adds, "The vision is there. Ron Tippe, the producer, has had a great working relationship with Chris and what remains to be done are the more technical aspects." IDT has also reached out to Reeve’s family to see if they would like to contribute to the film as well.

While Reeve’s unexpected death has dealt a major blow to the production, Berger concludes, "Forget about the business, we just all loved him here. He was a good guy."

Berger says they hope to have Yankee Irving ready for theatrical distribution sometime in 2006 with a major studio behind it. Announcements concerning casting decisions are pending clearance and should be coming in the next few weeks.

Reeve was one of several celebrities tapped by IDT to help facilitate its emergence as a computer animation powerhouse. IDT’s DPS Film Roman recently announced plans to work with crooner Harry Connick Jr. on a one-hour, 3D-animated holiday special titled The Happy Elf, while its Canadian CG animation house, Mainframe, is working on the direct-to-video animated feature Boom Boom Goes the Circus with skateboarding legend Tony Hawk.

Actor Christopher Reeve, best known for playing the Man of Steel in the Superman movies, died of heart failure Sunday at the age of 52. Reeve became a symbol of hope and perseverance for many when a 1995 horse riding accident left him a quadriplegic.

While he enjoyed a long and distinguished career, Reeve will always be remembered for bringing DC Comics’ signature superhero to life. The classically trained thespian expertly portrayed the duality of bumbling, mild-mannered reporter Clark Kent and his extraterrestrial alter-ego in director Richard Donner’s 1978 blockbuster, Superman, and its three sequels. He also won over audiences and critics with the romantic time-travel favorite Somewhere in Time (1980), the Sidney Lumet mystery Deathtrap (1982) and the Merchant Ivory romantic drama, Remains of the Day (1993).

Since his accident, Reeve has starred in ABC’s 1998 television remake of Alfred Hitchcock’s Rear Window and turned to directing with a couple of telepics. Most recently, he appeared in an episode of The WB’s Superman-related series, Smallville.

Reeve was recently signed to direct an unnamed CG-animated feature for IDT Ent. Described as an urban fable set in the 1930s, the film was scheduled to be completed in early 2006.

Raven Moon Ent. Inc. has named former Walt Disney and MGM animator David Murray VP of its wholly owned subsidiary, Raven Animation Inc. Reporting to director of animation Mike Gibilisco, Murray will continue to develop a new animated television series and feature film titled Mr. Bicycle Man, about an African American boy who acquires superhero powers.

Murray recently completed the 2004 Gold Aurora Award-winning 30-second animated Mr. Bicycle Man public service announcement and is also developing Raven’s new reality television show and video game, Amazon Challenge–Search For The Amazon Queen, with director Mike Gibilisco and creators/exec producers Joey and Bernadette DiFrancesco.

Murray joined Walt Disney Feature Animation Florida in 1996 and worked on such films as Mulan, Tarzan, John Henry, Goofy’s How to Haunt a House, Lilo and Stitch and Brother Bear.