Moonbot flies across platforms

IPad application and Oscar-nommed short 'The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore' arrives out like a book. William Joyce, left, co-founding father of Moonbot, and Brandon Oldenberg co-directed the companys Oscar-nominated animated short. Moonbot Galleries is nominally an animation house, but that is a restricting description if this involves telling the storyline of these two-year-old shingle co-founded by award-winning children's author and animated-feature veteran William Joyce. "Our qualities our tales -- we do not discover their whereabouts as only one factor in a single medium," states Joyce, who began the studio in the home town of Shreveport, La., with Reel Forex Creative Services co-founder Brandon Oldenburg and producer Lampton Enochs. "We kind of wallow in it and go: 'Is mtss is a great movie? 'Is mtss is a great book?' And when the solutions are 'yes,' only then do we think about them in whatever different (form is relevant)." Moonbot's first project, "The Great Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore," has borne out that approach. It first showed being an iPad application (selling a lot more than 120,000 downloads since last summer time). Which was then an animated video clip which has been nommed to have an Oscar -- along with a book version arrives from Simon & Shuster later this season. Follow-up project "The Numberlys," manufactured to fit the iPad's vertical orientation, has offered 20,000 downloads because it preemed recently. The approaching short-film version -- named by Moonbot as "the highest video clip on the planetInch -- will support the iPad's vertical aspect ratio as well as is going to be then a magazine version. Joyce states the application for "Lessmore" came into being almost accidentally, well into production around the video clip and book, once the iPad was introduced, and filled a formerly unarticulated void. "It had not been a magazine also it wasn't a film -- it had been something among. We'd wanted that, although not understanding what which was.Inch But not only porting content in one medium to another, Moonbot tailors the job to every platform. The storyline application blends facets of the film and also the book, offers minigames and explorable conditions, and sways on computer interaction. Rapid has met with apparent success, along with the book featuring original illustrations, each version of "Lessmore" stands by itself, Oldenburg states. "All of them justify their very own existence, and you want to make certain (of) that.". Digital distribution assisted "Lessmore" and Moonbot achieve a far wider audience than the usual book or short would typically achieve alone. "It's not necessary to create a distribution deal it's not necessary to court 5 or 6 different companies," Enochs states. "You press a few buttons, and also the world can easily see it." Nearly all purchasers are parents, although the application has been a success with teens, and emails came in from classes, Enochs states. (Cost to create all of the areas of "Lessmore" is tough to find out, Enochs states, thinking about the application wasn't area of the original plan -- which meant there is a learning curve for designers to cope with -- and also the final a part of project, it, is not going to be out until late this season.) Author in excess of 50 children's books, Joyce has created or led ideas, designs and animation to features from "Toy Story" to "Robots" and "Satisfy the Robinsons," and it is professional-creating the approaching DreamWorks Animation feature "Rise from the Parents" according to his "Parents of Childhood" book series. He sees in Moonbot's approach the liberty to produce new projects -- as well as the opportunity to simply have fun. "I seem like people expect, or are visiting expect, different encounters in storytelling," states Joyce, who dismisses as "overdramatic" the concept that books will die, but confesses focusing on applications is much more instinctive and timely. "We are capable of being almost live-action filmmakers in ways, that is a fascinating factor to create to animation." "The Numberlys" is really a prime example. The storyline application is made with off-the-shelf software and cameras, and carried out four several weeks, permitting Moonbot an opportunity to rapidly take advantage of its growing brand, Oldenburg states. Additionally to projects for clients, Moonbot plans another short/application/book project, tentatively entitled "Mr. Junk e-mail Will get a brand new Hat" along with a feature being coded in which another entertainment platform figures conspicuously -- by getting a brand new Orleans puppet troupe carry out the story live before audiences. "We discovered that to become a real very cost-efficient way to determine if your scene is working," Joyce states, "by carrying out it theatrically." Contact the range newsroom at news@variety.com