The artists behind Shreveport’s Oscar-winning Moonbot Studios and DreamWorks’ Rise of the Guardians.
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hen William Joyce and Brandon Oldenburg accepted the Oscar for Best Animated Short Film last February, Joyce offered a modest description of their enterprise. “Look, we’re just like these swamp rats from Louisiana,” Joyce said, grinning from ear to ear and clutching the trophy. “This is incredibly grand. We love the movies. We love the movies more than anything.” They looked like father and son: the diminutive Joyce with his short gray hair and thick-rimmed glasses, and the much younger Oldenburg with his tousled hair and one arm around Joyce’s shoulder. “It’s been a part of our DNA ever since we were children,” Oldenburg said. “It’s made us storytellers.” They had created the 15-minute film The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore as a calling card for their Shreveport-based startup, Moonbot Studios. The film tells the story of a booklover named Morris Lessmore, who loses his books in Hurricane Katrina and is swept away to a new land.
photo element courtesy of ampas rIse of the GuarDIans © 2012 DreamWorks anImatIon llc. all rIGhts reserveD.
Though their company was new (founded in 2009), the two had plenty of industry experience and a very focused plan. Together with Moonbot co-founder Lampton Enochs, they wanted to make a mark fast. “Most animation companies start up and then get jobs,” Joyce says. “They try for years and years to get enough time and money to make a short film. We said, ‘Let’s reverse that.’ Let’s just start out with a short film that we know will lose money but will establish who we are and what we are able to do and maybe we’ll get some notice for that. So we had our fingers crossed. Maybe we’ll get nominated for an Oscar or at least get notice at some film festivals. “You can’t just say we’re going to have an animation studio in Louisiana, in the 107th largest city in the country and have them believe you. You have to do something.” The Academy Award helped put Moonbot on the map. But besides winning the Oscar, the story was spun off as an app, which App Magazine named its 2011 App of the Year, and finally a book — ironic, given Joyce’s first
Gambit > bestofneworleans.com > november 13 > 2012
BY WILL COvIELLO
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