Devastating Fires Across Los Angeles Impact Film And Animation Industry
Since Tuesday, multiple fires raging across Los Angeles, spurred by high winds, have resulted in thousands of burned homes and businesses, over 130,000 evacuees, and five deaths.
The Eaton Fire, which is either burning or prompting mandatory evacuations in Altadena, Pasadena, and La Cañada Flintridge, is particularly impactful to the animation community, as large numbers of people who work in the industry reside in those cities.
Obviously, prioritizing the safety of people is more important than any canceled or postponed film industry activities, but below is a look at some of the impacts that the fires are having on the animation and film community. On behalf of the Cartoon Brew team, we are thinking of everyone who has been affected by the L.A. wildfires and hope that you are staying safe.
- Walt Disney Studios, Universal, and Warner Bros. shut down their lots today and paused production on film and tv shows. The Walt Disney Company has told employees that all of its offices in Los Angeles and Ventura County will remain closed through Friday, January 10.
- A new fire this evening in the Hollywood Hills prompted mandatory evacuation orders in the Hollywood area, including the Dolby Theatre where the Academy Awards are held.
- The Critics Choice Awards, which were set to take place in Santa Monica this Sunday, have been postponed until January 26. The awards have a significant animation component with honors for animated feature, animated series, and vfx. A full list of the animation nominees can be found here.
- Final voting on the Oscar nominations, which began this morning, have been extended for an additional two days. Originally set to end at 5pm Pacific on Sunday evening, the voting will now extend until next Tuesday, January 14. The announcement of the Oscar nominations have also been pushed back from Friday, January 17, to Sunday, January 19.
- The Academy has canceled the in-person Los Angeles and Bay Area Visual Effects Branch Bake-Offs, that were to have taken place this Saturday, January 11. The bake-off is where vfx branch members determine the nominees for the vfx category of the Oscars. Instead, a virtual discussion with the shortlisted contenders will be held on the same date, with details to be sent shortly to branch members.
- Paramount has cancelled tonight’s L.A. premiere of the Robbie Williams hybrid biopic Better Man, which features a motion-capture cg animation lead.
- Netflix has cancelled most of its in-person L.A. events this week, including tomorrow’s conversation with Nick Park and Merlin Crossingham, directors of Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl,, which was being presented in partnership with Cartoon Brew. A new rescheduled date will be announced shortly.
- Numerous art and industry-related institutions were closed today, including Pasadena’s Art Center College of Design (which is in a mandatory evacuation zone), the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures, and the Universal Studios Hollywood theme park.
- The Bunny Museum, a quirky Altadena-based museum with nearly 50,000 bunny objects, including loads of animation-related memorabilia, has burned down, according to its owners:
