As an executive at Disney in the 90s, Bob Bacon witnessed the rise of CG, supporting the production of increasingly big-budget blockbusters, including Beauty and the Beast, Mulan, and Lilo and Stitch. He then joined Elton John for Gnomeo and Juliet and moved to Paramount for The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge out of Water.
Now, Bob is Head of Studio at Virtue Animation, a Web3-based company inspired by his time working for the late Kobe Bryant. Bob details how the traditional animation studio system works, how fragile it can be, and how he’s continually innovated new workflows that can deliver both creativity and cashflows. He finishes with insight into how NFTs and crypto are revolutionizing and democratizing the entertainment industry.
Links:
5:06 The business of showbusiness: Bob’s background
10:16 Watching CG become part of animation
10:10 Increasing demand for artists in the 90s
19:10 Moving to Miramax to work with Elton John
26:30 “The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge out of Water”
28:58 Thoughts on streaming and adult animation
34:58 Kobe Bryant and Virtue Animation Studios
41:38 Putting the fans in charge of the creative process
44:26 Big companies getting into NFTs
50:59 How NFTs are helping creative people
54:36 What’s enabling low-cost projects