We have all heard about the layoffs at Laika, but I really figured they were going to focus on stop-mo with Selick after the success of Coraline. I guess not?
Apparently the filmmaker’s contract was up, and according to Variety, Selick had become frustrated waiting for another feature to oversee, and decided to move on because Laika wasn’t presenting any interesting options. Selick was not only a filmmaker working for the Portland-based animation studio, but also Laika’s supervising director for feature film development. He had been with the company for five years.
Laika recently cut their computer animation division (128 employees), deciding to focus strictly on stop-motion animation for future projects. Selick is probably the biggest working American director today associated with the art of stop-motion animation. Selick’s filmography also includes The Nightmare Before Christmas, James and the Giant Peach, Monkeybone, and stop-motion animated segments of Wes Anderson’s The Life Aquatic.
Laika is expected to choose and announce their next project as early as this month. The studio currently employs around 180, but is expected to add a couple hundred when production ramps up. You can read more about Selick’s departure on OregonLive.
via SlashFilm.com