Tim Cheung joins Imagi
Former Shrek Animation Head to Work on Gatchaman, Astro Boy Remakes
Tim Cheung, a senior animator for DreamWorks Animation, is now Imagi's vice president of animation. He will manage around 400 animators.
Tim Cheung, who worked as directing animator, supervising animator and head of character animation on Shrek, Shrek 2 and Shrek the Third respectively, has gone over to Imagi International Holdings Limited.
He is the Hong Kong-based company's new vice president of animation, and will oversee Imagi's 400+ animators as they work on the big screen revivals of vintage animes Gatchaman and Astro Boy.
Kevin Munroe, who directed TMNT, Imagi's 2007 release, will also direct Gatchaman (aka Science Ninja Team Gatchaman aka Battle of the Planets). That movie is due in theatres some time in 2008. Veteran animator Colin Brady (Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events, Hulk) will direct Astro Boy, which flies into theatres in 2009.
"Many industry insiders consider Tim Cheung to be one of the most accomplished animators in the world," said Imagi deputy chairman, co-CEO and chief creative officer Francis Kao. "Tim will be both an important individual contributor at Imagi, and a mentor for our entire animation crew."
"Imagi is doing the most innovative and exciting work in CGI animation today," responded Cheung. "The company is broadening the demographic appeal of animation by bringing in action hero themes and spectacular, high-energy effects sequences."
Cheung was with DreamWorks Animation SKG for over 12 years. While with that company, he not only worked on the Shrek franchise, but was also a senior animator on 1998's Antz, and wrote and directed two award-winning shorts: 1995's Rolling Stone and 1997's Gabola the Great.
"Tim Cheung's arrival speaks volumes about IMAGI's bright future, and more broadly of the coming of age of the entire Hong Kong CGI entertainment industry," said Nicholas Yang, CEO of Hong Kong Cyberport.
Imagi's last film, TMNT, was a revival of the 1980's toy phenomenon Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Despite it being the lowest-grossing film in the franchise, TMNT managed to nail #1 on the North American box office charts. It was the first Hong Kong-based movie to do.
"Tim is one of the very best animators in the world," said Michael DiComo, computer graphics supervisor at Industrial Light & Magic. "He has invented techniques that transform good animation into great animation. The CG animation art form is still in its infancy, and Tim is one of the handful of visionaries who is shaping its future."
Fun Fact: Imagi Animation was originally Boto International Holdings, one of the world's largest manufacturers of plastic Christmas trees. Francis Kao, and his father Michael, got out of the plastic trees business when Target, Wal-Mart and K-Mart, who collectively accounted for 60% of Boto's sales, recently told the Kaos that they were going to pay less money for his trees.
