If you’re a big Japan fan, you’ll love this podcast. Joining Chris is Shuzo Shiota, CEO of Polygon Pictures, the long-lived and prolific Tokyo-based digital animation studio behind movies and TV series including Godzilla, Star Wars: The Clone Wars, Transformers: Prime, and Big Hero 6: The Series.
Shuzo and Chris discuss the impact of Japanese art on the west, from its breakthrough at a Parisian exposition in the 1800s to movies such as Akira, Manga graphic novels, and now Netflix’s vast array of anime titles.
Links:
Shuzo John Shiota at THU >
Shuzo John Shiota 塩田周三 (@da_shooz) on Twitter >
Chapters:
00:00 Intro
04:52 Shuzo’s start in the steel industry
11:59 CG and gaming in mid-90s Japan
16:55 What Polygon produces
20:57 Embracing Eastern and Western audiences
33:52 3D versus 2D animation techniques
43:39 Japan’s rich storytelling ecosystem
48:50 Polygon’s plans
56:11 THU and Polygon
Chris is a CG industry veteran and Director of Chaos Labs. His credits include Maleficent, Oblivion, and Tron: Legacy.
Examining “The Witness:” Director Alberto Mielgo on making one of “Love, Death & Robots’” most memorable episodes — and his dreams of animated Oscar success.
Esdras Varagnolo powered up Pixar’s pipeline — and now he’s bringing his expertise to Skydance. He tells Chris about his incredible, boundary-pushing career.
Andrew Gordon, the man behind some of Pixar’s most iconic characters, discusses his 20-plus years of experience working alongside legends and his move to DNEG.