Tony Leondis
Anthony Leondis is an American former animator, storyboard artist, filmmaker, and voice actor, known for directing The Emoji Movie, Lilo & Stitch 2: Stitch Has a Glitch, and Igor.
Also recorded as Anthony Leondis
Tony Leondis
- Full name
- Anthony Rico Leondis.
- Born
- 1977. · New York City.
- Nationality
- United States.
- Occupation
- animator, actor, screenwriter, storyboard artist and director.
- Education
- California Institute of the Arts.
- Languages
- English.
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Anthony Leondis is an American former animator, storyboard artist, filmmaker, and voice actor, known for directing The Emoji Movie, Lilo & Stitch 2: Stitch Has a Glitch, and Igor.
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In this article
Career
Career
Tony Leondis was at CalArts for a time, and had the opportunity to enter the industry thanks to his then professor Brenda Chapman, who offered him an internship to work on one of her films, The Prince of Egypt. After about 6 months, Leondis ended up working as a story artist on that film full-time. Leondis started his career as a story artist working on films such as The Prince of Egypt and The Lion King II: Simba's Pride. He later joined DisneyToon Studios, where he co-wrote the script for Kronk's New Groove. Leondis made his directorial debut on Lilo & Stitch 2: Stitch Has a Glitch in 2005. In 2008, he directed his first theatrical animated film, Igor, for Exodus Film Group. Since 2009, he was directing at DreamWorks Animation an animated feature film about ghosts. Leondis originally pitched the film as a school story called BOO U, but during development over the next few years, the plot would be drastically changed. Leondis went on to direct the Kung Fu Panda short Secrets of the Masters. Finally, in 2012, his ghost film, now called B.O.O. Otherworldly Operations Office took its apparent final form and entered pre-production. Leondis also directed this version of the film, alongside Ryan O'Loughlin, who became co-director. Now titled B.O.O.: Bureau of Otherworldly Operations, based on Leondis's original idea, the film was scheduled to be released in 2015, but by late 2014, it was pulled from DWA's schedule and went back into restructuring. However, due to the failures that DreamWorks suffered during 2013 and 2014, added to the doubts that the studio was having about the film, they ended up causing the studio to decide to avoid another failure and ended up scrapping the film, in addition to closing Leondis's studio Pacific Data Images, which was helping to animate the film. It was reported that when this studio was closed, the production of B.O.O. ceased. According to reports, the film had 60% advanced animation when it was cancelled. By 2015, Leondis left DreamWorks to develop his next animated film, while B.O.O. was left dead at the studio.
The Emoji Movie
The Emoji Movie
In 2017, Leondis directed and co-wrote Sony Pictures Animation's animated film The Emoji Movie. Leondis pitched the film to the studio and co-wrote it with Eric Siegel. According to a producer named Tripp Vinson, Leondis stated that several studios thought that Emoji Movie had the potential to become a multi-film franchise. According to statements by Leondis himself, Emoji Movie had a very rushed production once Sony began producing it, supposedly because Sony knew how quickly cell phones evolved and they did not want the film to be outdated also because by not having the rights, any studio could make an emoji movie before them. As they said, they had such a drastic time limit that they hardly had time to test whether the film worked or not. The film was released on July 28, 2017. Though the film was a box-office success, it was panned by critics, with many considering it to be one of the worst movies ever made. He won two Razzie Awards for Worst Director and Worst Screenplay, the latter shared with Eric Siegel and Mike White, making Leondis the first animation director in motion picture history to win those categories. Despite showing interest in live-action filmmaking, Leondis has not been active in the entertainment industry since, but continues to make public appearances occasionally as of June 2022, with his most recent appearance being at the 75th Primetime Emmy Awards.
Personal life
Personal life
Leondis is of Greek descent and the son of a Greek Orthodox priest. He is gay.
Notes from the source article
Cited by Wikipedia
Notes from the source article
These works are cited by the source article, in its own numbering. They are recorded as its citations, not as sources VALÉORINE has verified.
- 1.Tony Leondis - Film director and writer of famous animations produced by Walt Disney. Ellines.com.
- 2.Slave Girls From Beyond Infinity & Other Animation First-Job Stories. Animation World Network.
- 3.Zeitchik, Steven. Weinsteins tap 'Igor' helmer. Variety. September 21, 2006.
- 4.Tony Leondis. Art Of BOO Manuscript Second Draft 11 03 14. 2015-06-04.
- 5.DIRECTING. ryanoloughlin.
- 6.Barrett, Annie. DreamWorks greenlights animated ghost project 'Boo U'. Entertainment Weekly. June 19, 2009.
- 7.DreamWorks Animation. Bill Murray Gets Ghost Busted with Jennifer Coolidge and Octavia Spencer in B.O.O.: Bureau of Otherworldly Operations. Pitch Engine. October 31, 2013.
- 8.DreamWorks Animation. New Distributor Twentieth Century Fox Unveils DreamWorks Animation's Release Slate Through 2016. September 9, 2012.
- 9.Verrier, Richard. DreamWorks Animation shares plummet after Hasbro talks end. Los Angeles Times. November 17, 2014.
- 10.'Three years flushed down the toilet': What happened to Dreamworks' 'B.O.O.: Bureau of Otherworldly Operations'?. uk.movies.yahoo.com. 2019-08-02.
- 11.Fleming, Mike Jr. Emoji At Center Of Bidding Battle Won By Sony Animation; Anthony Leondis To Direct. Deadline. July 21, 2015.
- 12.Movie producer who was baffled by The Lego Movie writers and directors. New York Times. 2017-08-05.
- 13.Oscars. Academy Conversations: The Emoji Movie. 2017-08-02.
- 14.Lawrence, Derek. The most brutal reviews of The Emoji Movie. Entertainment Weekly. July 27, 2017.
- 15.Stefansky, Emma. The Emoji Movie Wins(?) Big at the 2018 Razzie Awards. Vanity Fair. March 3, 2018.
- 16.Stelinia Theodosopoulou. Ο Ελληνοαμερικάνος σκηνοθέτης Tony Leondis μιλάει στο IGN Greece. IGN Greece. September 24, 2017.
- 17.Gaudette, Emily. How the 'Emoji Movie' Tries to Transcend Capitalism. Inverse. July 13, 2017.
- 18.Freeman, Molly. How Toy Story Inspired The Emoji Movie, According to Tony Leondis. Screen Rant. July 10, 2017.
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