The director of Toy Story 3, Lee Unkrich, was kind enough to sit down and answer a few questions about his life, film, etc. Unlike a good bit of the staff at Pixar, Lee actually got his start in live action films and television as an editor/director in the early 90′s on such TV series as Renegade and Silk Stalkings. Remember those?

Lee joined Pixar in 1995 and he was first tasked with being an editor on Toy Story and after that, next time Woody and Buzz hit the silver screen he was co-directing on Toy Story 2.

It was working on Toy Story 2 that John Lasseter himself picked Lee to direct the next installment of a what has become one of the most beloved and successful film franchises in animation history.

So check out my Q&A where I ask the hard questions, like will this REALLY be the last Toy Story (Tom Hanks and Tim Allen both are contracted for one more film) and where is Andy’s dad anyway? Warning, there are some spoilers.

What lead you into directing?

I’ve always loved movies, and grew up watching lots of films. My mother is also a film fan, and she exposed me to many different kinds of films when I was growing up. When I was twelve, I saw Stanley Kubrick’s film The Shining, and it ignited a passion for filmmaking that has never abated. I went to the USC School of Cinema to study film, and although I wanted to direct, I ended up specializing in film editing. It was my work in editing that brought me to Pixar, which ultimately gave me the opportunity to start directing again.

You were co-directing for a long time before having the chance to direct a film.  Can you tell us how new talent is trained at Pixar, so that they have the possibility one day to direct a feature film?

Pixar is an amazing place, filled with people from many different backgrounds. I originally came to Pixar from a live-action background, and was one of the few in the company who had worked in that field. I ended up bringing a vital live-action sensibility to the films we were creating and thus, became an indispensable part of the core team. John Lasseter made it clear to me that he wanted me to eventually direct at Pixar. After being given the opportunity to co-direct many films, he finally asked me to direct Toy Story 3 solo. That was my personal path, but the directors at the studio have each had their own individual path. I wouldn’t say folks are groomed to direct, but rather, their singular voices as filmmakers are recognized and nurtured.

Making a second sequel to Toy Story after all these years must have been a rather big decision. You must have felt some pressure, right? What convinced you to commit to directing Toy Story 3 in the end?

It was a HUGE amount of pressure, not only to be making a new Pixar film after an unbroken string of ten hits, but also to make a sequel to two of the most beloved and critically-acclaimed films of all time. However, we love Woody and Buzz and the rest of the gang, and we felt that there was more story to tell. We would never have made another sequel if we didn’t feel like we had a story worth telling. Once we came up with the idea of Andy being grown up, and the toys having to face, head-on, their own obsolescence, we knew we had to make the film. It just had too much rich, emotional potential to pass up.

Directing a sequel while the original director is looking over your shoulder can be daunting. How involved was John Lasseter during Toy Story 3‘s development?

It’s true, when John first asked me to direct Toy Story 3 I was simultaneously flattered and intimidated. Luckily though I’ve worked closely with John since the very first Toy Story. We very much made Toy Story and Toy Story 2 together. John trusted me to take the reins of Toy Story 3, and made it clear from the very beginning that he wanted this to be my film. That being said, John was involved in the film and contributed creatively throughout the four years of production.

More after the jump! Spoiler alerts… you’ve been warned!

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Photo lovingly stolen from Meal Ticket

Rum Bar’s Adam Kanter. The guy travels around the world researching rum and all of the different techniques used in creating it. If there is anyone more suited to the title Rum Geek, I don’t know ‘em. He even makes custom bitters in his basement (which are excellent, by the way), like some sort of mad scientist.

At a recent visit to Rum Bar, I took the time to ask him a bunch of questions about his adventures, rum, and geekery in general, check it out:

What is your most memorable/fun Rum research adventure. Where did you go, what did you find out and how is it influencing your bar?

Adam: My most memorable rum adventure, is not the most exciting of adventures. I’ve been to rum festivals and excursions all around the world, but perhaps it was my first ever rum distillery tour at the West Indies Rum Refinery (WIRR) in Barbados, where they make Malibu and Cockspur rums.

This was the single event that sparked my interest in the spirit. It was then I wanted to learn to make my own rum. As my interest evolved, so did the concept of Rum Bar. I will be returning to WIRR in 3 weeks for my first time back. I am excited!

Comics? Have any favorites I should know about?

Adam: I’m not much of a comic fan. Comics-turned-movies are great, as long as they’re done well. I wouldn’t know if they were similar to the original comics, since I don’t read ‘em. Watchmen was one of my favorites.

Okay, well what about video games?

Adam: I like to play word games on my phone and computer. I need to always have my mind focusing on something or I go crazy! I do have XBox 360, Wii, and plenty of older consoles. My wife plays ‘em all. My favorite system would have to be Super Nintendo. Simple 2 dimensional games, yet with memory capability to play long lasting games. I was an avid Zelda player back in the day!

That said, I’m a super geek when it comes to TV and movies. I DVR over 12 different shows a week with my current favorites Dexter, The Event, Outsourced, and Hell’s Kitchen (or Kitchen Nightmares, whatever season is on). For movies, my DVD collection is somewhere in the 500 range. I’ve got mountains and mountains of movies, in alphabetical order of course!

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Methink’st thou art a general offense and every man should beat thee. –All’s Well That Ends Well

I love me a good Shakespearean insult. And nothing drops a creep at a bar like that line, ladies. Trust me, I know. I can really wear a sweater.

Has an overwhelming desire to recite a soliloquy ever washed over you? Have your friends repeatedly told you to sit down, and that’s not cool to do in a movie theater/Wawa/taxicab, anyway? Thanks to the excellent imagination and talent of Philly based visual artist Michael Rogalski, a solution is possibly at your finger tips.

Masterpuppet Theatre! It’s every bit as awesome as it sounds, and I was fortunate enough to chat with Michael about how he put good ol’ Billy and the Globe Theater in a box set.

Check out the interview after the jump! Want to win a copy of Masterpuppet Theatre for yourself? Leave a comment about your favorite Shakespearean play. I’ll pick one of you at random at the end of the week, and send you a copy. Enjoy!

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It doesn’t matter what your opinion of M. Night Shyamalan is, because there are a few inescapable facts that you can’t deny about the man: the first being that although The Last Airbender will probably live forever in fan infamy, to his credit he has still made some amazing films like The Sixth Sense, Unbreakable and Signs. Second is, he is one of the greatest directors from our fair city and he is one of the few directors that continue to shoot his films in and around Philadelphia.

One of the most anticipated showings at the Philadelphia Film Festival was the 10th anniversary showing of Unbreakable. I was lucky enough to be on the red carpet and got to ask M. Night a few questions beforehand. Full disclosure? Unbreakable is by far one of my favorite films and a film I feel didn’t get its just due when it was released. I feel if it was released today with the dark and gritty super-hero genre firmly in place, it would have done much better than it did originally.

After we watched Unbreakable we were treated to a rather lengthy Q&A with the director where he spoke about everything from his shooting techniques in Unbreakable, to almost helming one of the Harry Potter films.

Find the entire Q&A after the jump, enjoy.

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TEDxPhilly is hitting the Kimmel Center next Thursday, November 18th, and the crew at Geekadelphia are excited. Specifically our own Nicole Kline, who will be attending and blogging about the event. Unlike the traditional TED talks, according to a release from the organizers, this is an “independently organized TEDx event, an offshoot of the TED Conference and its mission of Ideas Worth Spreading.”

There are some fantastic speakers lined up to chat with the eager audience, with talks that will last no more than 18 minutes. The theme of the conference, Right Here, Right Now, will be explored “through multiple lenses: political, cultural, artistic, technological and economic.” No word as to whether or not they will incorporate the Fatboy Slim music video anywhere. One can only hope. Speakers include:

Cristin O’Keefe Aptowicz, Author & poet
Jay Coen Gilbert, Co-founder of B Lab
Nic Esposito, Sustainable practices activist
Billie Faircloth, Research director for KieranTimberlake
Tanya Hamilton, Writer/director of Night Catches Us
Simon Hauger of the West Philly Hybrid X Team
Chris Lehmann, Founding principal of the Science Leadership Academy
Evan Malone, Founder of NextFab Studio
Robert J. Moore, Founder & CEO of RJ Metrics
Iyad Obeid, Director of the Neural Instrumentation Laboratory at Temple
Stephen Powers, Artist of A Love Letter for You
Ursula Rucker, Poet & performance artist
Michael Solomonov, Chef & co-owner of Zahav
Zoe Strauss, Executive director of Philadelphia Public Art Project
Stanford Thompson, Director of Philadelphia Youth Orchestra’s Tune Up Philly
Dallas Vietty of the Musette Project

You can read all the biographies for each speaker at TEDxPhilly’s official website. Scope that out, here. While the deadline to apply for tickets has long since past, they’ve been releasing tickets on the website. So check back regularly to score a pair.

TEDxPhilly
Thursday, November 18th, 2010
www.TEDxPhilly.org

I’ve been following Skyline since they screened the film back during San Diego Comic Con. I love those dark low budget sci-fi films that sort of come out of nowhere.  Skyline then went from a film being marketed as this sort of indie sci-fi epic produced by a special effects house, to a possible blockbuster starting off the holiday movie season.

If you haven’t seen a preview for this film the plot goes something like this:

Strange lights descend on the city of Los Angeles, drawing people outside like moths to a flame where an extraterrestrial force threatens to swallow the entire human population off the face of the Earth.

We have 30 passes for 2 to an advance screening November 11th, at the UA at King of Prussia @ 10pm. Want to check it out? Simply comment with your favorite alien invasion film and why. Winners will be notified November 10th.

Check out the trailer after the jump!

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The first car drives over the South Street Bridge… in the bike lane.

On a terribly cold Fall afternoon this past Saturday, the South Street Bridge reopened, to the sounds of celebration and neighborhood folks drinking discounted pints at local pubs. What other city would throw a mini parade and get sauced to honor a bridge opening on time? Seriously, I love Philadelphia.

Colin Weir (of SEPTA Watch fame), Mikey Il (of once was in an advertisement for Words With Friends fame), and I joined in the festivities, Tweeted the afternoon away, and took a ton of photos. Have a look at Mikey’s gallery below.

The creative folks at MakePhilly are only having one meeting this Fall, and they’re looking to make it count.

Interested in product design and design thinking in the context of a startup? I’m looking at you, Technically Philly. Well, the next MakePhilly meeting plans to cover just that, with a special appearance by Peter Bressler. An award winning designer and the former President of the Industrial Designers Society of America (IDSA), he’s kind of a big deal. In a “many leather bound books” sort of way.

His talk, entitled Product Design in Entrepreneurial Ventures, will… well, here’s what MakePhilly has to say about it:

Peter Bressler, the founder and leader of the award winning design firm Bresslergroup will be giving a talk entitled Product Design in Entrepreneurial Ventures in which he will explore the following questions: What is the value of design to an entrepreneur? How should an entrepreneur use design? Can an entrepreneur afford design? In the process he will share experiences and case studies from his over 30 years of design experience spanning the consumer, medical, and industrial spaces. Peter’s expertise includes user research, human factors application, manufacturing processes and innovative criteria conflict resolution.

The meeting takes place this Thursday, November 11th, and kicks off at 7pm sharp. And as always, the event is free. Be there!

MakePhilly & Peter Bressler
Thursday, November 11th, 2010 @ 7PM sharp
University of the Arts, 211 S. Broad Street, Terra Hall, 5th Floor
Cost: Free

While walking home from work, I spotted someone dressed as Guy Fawkes, complete with a dapper outfit and proper signage. He / she was situation right across the street from the Liberty Bell Center, where folks stopped to take photos and exchange peace signs with the character.

Perhaps next year, Geekadelphia will host a mini Guy Fawkes / Bonfire Night. Could be fun, kids.

Remember, remember…

One of the most talked about films of the Philadelphia Film Festival this year was Srdjan Spasojevic’s already infamous A Serbian Film. It challenged people, I had seen the film once before and halfway through the film 8 people walked out. Plain and simple, this film is an experience in the most extreme kind of way. Because after you see A Serbian Film you are a different person, you can’t un-see what you’ve seen. Don’t take this as a challenge. This film is not for everyone.

I’ve been fascinated with buzz about the film for almost a year, and it lived up to and exceeded my expectations. It does this by committing things to celluloid that are almost unimaginable with polished production values. Like a lot of people I had some questions and luckily I was able to get an interview with the production manager on the film Nikola Pantelic.

He gave me some great insight into the production and the ideas behind the film. Enjoy.

A Serbian Film took the festival circuit by storm. Can you tell me how the film came about, and eventually came together?

The initial idea came from Aleksandar Radivojevic (screenwriter) and Srdjan Spasojevic (director).  They had been writing the script for two years, and presented it to me. I usually like to quote Spasojevic…

“Writer Aleksandar Radivojevic and I almost started from scratch on this one, adamant to make a picture that will express our strongest personal sentiments about our region-the last two decades of war and political nightmare, and the world today-sugarcoated in political correctness, but which was actually very rotten under that facade. We also wanted to make a film that would represent everything we love in terms of genre and our own cinema preferences”

I fully agree with this statement.

What were your first thoughts when you read the script?

I was professionally upset. I faced the screenplay as a challenge.  The main reason for me to work on the project was to have a film that will open many questions. We are living in the world with a lot of boundaries. Some of them are here to disable freedom of speech. I am sure that artistic freedom is priceless.

More after the jump!

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Oh. My. God.

From the YouTube page:

Canadian couple Todd and Meaghan learned about the Mural Arts Program’s (MAP) Love Letter Tour and coordinated an extended layover in Philadelphia (while traveling to France) to experience this wildly popular tour.

Todd contacted the MAP tour office to let them know he wanted to propose to Meaghan on the tour and MAP offered a clever idea in making his marriage proposal extra special.

This video is a result of MAP’s partnership with The University of Pennsylvania — Penn Singers Light Opera Company and Penn Glee Club. We’re excited to share with you the biggest surprise of Meaghan’s life!

Amazing. Warmed my heart this chilly November afternoon.

The directors of Mutant Girl Squad: Yoshihiro Nishimura, Noboru Iguchi, and Tak Sakaguchi

Of all the interviews I have done this year, this has to be one of my favorites.

Getting to interview Noboru Iguchi for the Philadelphia Film Festival where he was screening Mutant Girls Squad was indeed an honor and a privilege. I am a huge fan of Japanese transgressive cinema and no one is taking the genre by storm quite like Noboru Iguchi, with films like Robogeisha, Mutant Girl Squad and The Machine Girl he has shown us not only can he deliver the gore and insanity that we have come to expect from great Japanese horror, but he does it with a great sense of humor as well.

It was great to get a little bit of insight into the mind of a man like Noboru who along with directors like Yoshihiro Nishimura and Takashi Miike are changing the face of American Horror from the Land of the Rising Sun.

Your films are often very disturbing and at the same time very beautiful, where do you find your inspiration for not just the story but the imagery as well you use?

I first come up with a few different images, and then from there I think of a story to tie them all together. It is fair to say that the story only comes after the images are there.

In general I like people that are solitary. So I like to make stories where that sort of solitary person is completely transformed, both physically and mentally. I think that’s why people find my movies unsettling.

How do you feel about your films making such an impact with American horror fans and on the festival circuit?

My works have been viewed rather coldly in Japan for some time now, so I was very happy to get a response like that from America. In Japan horror movies have been looked down on, so getting to experience that response at a film festival really encouraged me. It made me think that I wasn’t mistaken in trying to do what I tried to do.

More after the jump!

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