India’s Symbiosys to Co-Produce, Co-Animate Gullane’s ‘Noah’s Ark’ (EXCLUSIVE)
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“Noah’s Ark – A Musical Adventure,” Brazil’s most ambitious animated feature ever, just got a bit bigger with the announcement that producers Fabiano Gullane’s Gullane, Walter Salles’ Videofilmes and Felipe Sabino and Daniel Greco’s NIP will be joined by leading Indian animation studio Symbiosys Technologies as co-producers and co-animators.
The partnership marks the first occasion that Brazil and India have paired on a 3D animated feature.
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The deal was brokered by Edward Noeltner’s Cinema Management Group, the film’s international sales agent.
Launched on the international market last year after first being announced at Ventana Sur 2017, “Noah’s Ark” had already secured robust pre-sales by June’s Annecy Festival, and now has deals in place with more than 20 international distributors.
Domestic distribution in Brazil will be handled by Imagem Films, one of the country’s – and indeed Latin America’s – top independent movie distributors, another sign of the perceived market potential of the film.
Sérgio Machado, a long-time Salles collaborator, directs the musical feature, which features songs from classic Brazilian Bossa Nova pioneers Vinicius de Moraes and Tom Jobim throughout.
In the film, two free-thinking male mice, Vini and Tito, hatch a plan to both get on to Noah’s ark, which has reserved spots for only one male and one female of each species. After some quick thinking, Vini, in an homage to “Some Like it Hot,” dresses in drag to convince the crew that he is a she.
The boss himself, Noah, sees through the disguise and boots the stowaway, forcing the undeterred rodent to seek out the help of a cockroach and a bit of luck to get back on board. As food becomes scarce and the carnivores’ stomachs begin to rumble, the bottom of the food chain throws a talent show to distract would be predators until the 40 day trip reaches its end.
Almost all the film’s animals will be inspired by real people. The lead mice, for instance, will have features and characteristics that resemble Jobim and De Moraes.
In a statement, producers Caio and Fabiano Gullane said: “During the trip to India, our team was very impressed with the quality of the professional and technical standards of their studios. We are confident that through the joint efforts of Gullane, Symbiosys and CMG, in ‘Noah’s Ark’ we will deliver to the market a funny family audience film, which will be a success around the world.”
“When I heard Fabiano’s pitch at Ventana Sur and then read the script, we were convinced ‘Noah’s Ark’ would find audiences around the world,” said Noeltner. “With the high level of 3D animation being delivered by Symbiosys, the decision to embark on a Brazilian-Indian co-production was not that difficult to make.”
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