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Ted Sarandos and Guillermo Del Toro Launch Stop-Motion Studio
Guillermo del Toro on the set of Pinocchio // Courtesy of Still Watching Netflix
Netflix and filmmaker Guillermo del Toro are teaming up to open a first-of-its-kind stop-motion animation studio in France.
The Big Picture: Netflix CEO Ted Sarandos and Guillermo del Toro emphasize that stop motion — the animation style used in del Toro’s Oscar-winning Netflix film Pinocchio — is about as “AI-proof” as an art form can get. It’s a meticulous, human-driven process, with artists manipulating physical objects frame by frame until movement comes to life. In an era dominated by automation, it stands out as a rare investment in pure artistry.
Behind The Scenes: Investing in stop motion is really an investment in people.
The new studio — a tribute to Pinocchio co-director Mark Gustafson — will be based at France’s renowned Gobelins Paris school.
It will serve as both a training ground and “a living laboratory of experimentation and research,” designed to nurture emerging artists and spark new stop-motion techniques.
The Mexican filmmaker del Toro hopes the space will also serve as a “bridge” to stop-motion projects in Latin America — a region he continues to champion as one of its most celebrated artists.
Last Adjustment: The Gobelins studio echoes LVMH’s “ateliers” across Europe — luxury workshops dedicated to teaching and preserving traditional craft. Stop motion is similarly ripe for that kind of stewardship, especially as the art form gains prestige through filmmakers like Wes Anderson (Fantastic Mr. Fox, Isle of Dogs) and Travis Knight (director and owner of the stop-motion studio Laika).
For Netflix and del Toro, the studio will also play a central role in producing their next collaboration — a stop-motion adaptation of Nobel Prize winner Kazuo Ishiguro’s The Buried Giant.
Coming Soon: As Gen Alpha seeks more analog forms of tech and entertainment, stop-motion animation could become an intriguing field of study… especially as AI disrupts other industries.
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Today’s email was written by David Vendrell.
Edited by Nick Comney. Polled and Copy-edited by Kait Cunniff.
Published by Darline Salazar.