Phil Knight Announces LAIKA

Phil Knight Announces LAIKA

Catch Sneak Peek of Moongirl, LAIKA's CG Short Film Directed by Henry Selick, at www.laika.com

Animation Leader Vinton Studios Absorbed Into New Feature Film and Media Venture

PORTLAND, Ore., July 19 /PRNewswire/ -- Businessman and entrepreneur Phil Knight today announced a new entertainment and media venture called LAIKA. Animation leader Vinton Studios, which Knight acquired in September 2003, is being absorbed into the new entity with entertainment and feature film activities to be conducted under the LAIKA Entertainment banner, effective immediately. Animation fans can catch a sneak peek at LAIKA's first film offering, director Henry Selick's (Nightmare Before Christmas, James and the Giant Peach) animated short film, Moongirl, a charming fable which re-imagines lunar mythology, by visiting www.laika.com.

The advertising division of Vinton Studios, a major producer of animated commercials worldwide, is in the process of expanding its directing roster and style offerings over the next few months and will move under the LAIKA umbrella this fall.

"For the past year, we've been creating the infrastructure of a new, independent feature film animation studio," said Knight. "Now, with director Henry Selick bringing his unique vision to our creative efforts, our first CG animated short film about to make its mark on the film festival circuit, and with a feature film pipeline established, it seemed an appropriate time to tell the world about LAIKA."

Knight continued, "We are very proud of the talented people who made Vinton Studios a leader in the entertainment industry for the past 30 years. LAIKA will honor that rich legacy by moving forward with confidence and the determination to produce the very best family-oriented animated films in the world."

LAIKA Entertainment, which will produce animated films in the $50 to $70 million dollar range, has greenlit Coraline, based on the Hugo Award-winning, international bestselling children's book by Neil Gaiman. Henry Selick will direct the feature length CGI animated project, which LAIKA will produce in association with former Fox Filmed Entertainment Chairman and CEO Bill Mechanic and his Pandemonium films. Mechanic is the producer of Dark Water, currently in theaters, and executive producer of Terrence Malick's upcoming release, The New World.

"Something's definitely going on here in Portland," says Selick, who joined the company as Supervising Director in May, 2004. "It reminds me of early days at Skellington Studios where, with the same blend of super strong artists, storytellers and brilliant technicians, The Nightmare Before Christmas was made. Nightmare broke the rules for what family animation was supposed to be and succeeded. And that's what we're going to do here at LAIKA, with a great roster of projects including a buddy comedy, a ghost story, a mystical fairytale, and an alternate universe crime story. We have new directors who have proven themselves as superb storytellers on some of the most successful films in the last decade; eye-catching designs from international artists; a solid animation foundation, and great musicians to score our films and write songs for them. And, best of all, not only has our owner Phil Knight committed the marketing and financial resources to make all this possible, he also brings his indomitable maverick sensibility to the mix."

Another key strategy in the move into feature film production was the recent appointment of Fiona Kenshole, formerly Publishing Director of Oxford University Press Children's Books and a major force in international publishing, as head of worldwide literary scouting operations. Through her unique contacts within the publishing world, Kenshole continues to identify hot literary properties for LAIKA Entertainment.

LAIKA will build upon Vinton Studios' 30-year history of excellence and innovation as a leading producer of computer generated animation, stop-motion animation, and cel animation, boasting an Academy Award(R) winning director, 11 Prime time Emmy Awards, and over 100 international accolades.

Vinton Studios amassed honors including the New York International Film & TV Festival, the Annecy Awards, the Annie Awards, and the World Animation Celebration Festival. During that time the Studio became synonymous with innovation, achieving many industry "firsts," from the groundbreaking and award-winning Claymation(TM) (a technique the Studio created) television specials starring the enormously popular California Raisins, to the multiple Emmy Award-winning series The PJs, co-produced with Ron Howard and Brian Grazer's Imagine Entertainment and Eddie Murphy Productions in association with Warner Bros. Television, the first ever stop-motion animation series on prime time television.

LAIKA will continue to be headquartered in Portland, Oregon. As to the name itself, Knight, who as co-founder and Chairman of the Board of Nike, Inc., is thought to know a thing or two about branding, says simply, "The Studio staff came up with hundreds of names and, truthfully, I just thought that 'LAIKA' sounded right. It seemed to fit who we are."

Source: LAIKA

CONTACT: Maggie Begley of Maggie Begley Communications, +1-310-301-1785, or cell, +1-310-749-3055, mbegley@aol.com, for LAIKA

Web site: http://www.laika.com/

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