Sci-Fi & Squeam

13 Apr 2014

Dreamworks in Melbourne Part 1: Doug Cooper

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Sonja spoke to the inspiring and informative Doug Cooper the man who is VFX Supervisor at Dreamworks . He is in Melbourne town to help set up the exhibition: ‘Dreamworks The Exhibition : Journey from Sketch to Screen’ . This is the first time Dreamworks has been exported in such a way to display and present it’s amazing history and it’s ‘journey’ as an animation entity that is here right through Winter 2014 as part of ACMI’s Winter Series .

About Dreamworks:

‘DreamWorks began in 1994 as an attempt by media moguls Steven Spielberg, Jeffrey Katzenberg and David Geffen(forming the SKG present on the bottom on both the DreamWorks and DreamWorks Animation logos) to create a new Hollywood studio’ The company was founded following Katzenberg’s resignation from The Walt Disney Company in 1994. At the suggestion of a friend of Spielberg, the two made an agreement with long-time Katzenberg collaborator David Geffen to start their own studio.The studio was officially founded on October 12, 1994 with financial backing of $33 million from each of the three main partners and $500 million from Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen….. 20 years later it is here in Oz in Melbourne!!

About Doug Cooper :

Doug Cooper is at his best when navigating the intersections of Art, Technology, and Management. As a 18 year veteran of DreamWorks Animation, he has built his reputation as an innovative thinker and problem solver. Some of Doug’s most passionate projects include creating an artist driven workflow to revive the art of 2D Animation in a modern CG pipeline, taking Shrek into an alternate universe in “Shrek Forever After”, exploring extreme scale by flying a bee through New York City in “Bee Movie”, and spearheading the image post production pipeline at DWA for maximum visual impact.

His most recent adventures find him exploring the connection between the real and digital world – designing interactive experiences to bring the world of DreamWorks Animation to audiences in entirely new ways.

Doug Cooper joined the Academy’s Short Films and Feature Animation Branch in 2008, and the Academy’s Science & Technology Council in 2012. He is also a member of the Visual Effects Society (VES), and was nominated for a VES Award for his work on “Shrek Forever After”. ( From FMX 2014 ).

So Sonja was very happy and honoured to talk to Doug Cooper and here is the FULL interview !

and when at the exhibition don’t forget to immerse yourself in one of his projects here at the Melbourne exhibit: “Flying with Dragons” !

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=68AqHwgk2s8?list=PLMdKMaqxA07_FuU9jCEpNy086gEa7smOy&w=560&h=315]

LINKS:

Dreamworks Animation

History of Dreamworks

Dreamworks at ACMI 2014

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XT-rVIiZ_Ps&w=560&h=315]

Many thanks go to ACMI and Claire Butler, Anna Quinn all Acmi staff and to Doug Cooper for this wonderful opportunity.