Disney’s new animated film Raya and the Last Dragon, under Mexican Carlos López Estrada’s direction, has been able to resist the pandemic.
Along with the experienced Don Hall ( Moana and Big Hero 6 ), the 32-year-old developer has the mission of having the project ready for its release next March.
The fantasy movie, according to López Estrada, the first Mexican to direct a story for Disney , has a lot of action and takes place in a land inspired in southern Asia, where the protagonist must find the last living dragon.
“Heavy production started by late January and the quarantine began in March, hence, almost all this process has been done remotely; it has been complicated because it involves 900 people, with animators at home and we miss that direct contact that I believe to be important.
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“The internet connection doesn’t work at times; we’re directing (dubbing) actors remotely, with scenes on Zoom, and sometimes there are quick dialogues, the Internet goes off, and those are the challenges,” he added during a virtual talk at the Pixelatl animation festival.
López
Estrada
, the son of TV producer Carla Estrada, was chosen by Disney after presenting his debut film, Blindspotting , in 2018 at Sundance.
That same year, Variety, one of the most influential magazines in the film industry, named him one of the 10 directors to watch. In 2019, he was nominated to the Directo’s Guild of America due to his first film.
“If they had asked me two years ago what I would be doing in the future, the last place I would’ve thought of would have been Disney; I grew up loving its films , they were part of my childhood, creativity, and imagination; it was a dream.
“How did it happen? I have no idea. The film I did had a lot of visual aspects which in my opinion do not fit Disney’s standards, but they did according to the person that watched it and she suggested I could work for Disney,” he mentioned.
Raya and the Last Dragon
was written by Adele Lim and Qui Nguyen. Its first trailer is expected to be released soon.
Before directing movies, the filmmaker was in charge of producing independent clips.
“In independent cinema, there is the idea of director’s having the last word; in Disney, it has been an exercise of listening and being open.”
His career
López
Estrada
las lived in the U.S. for 16 years and studied cinematography at the University of Chapman in Los Angeles.
He did his first works with the help of his friends.
His debut film, Blindspotting , was presented at the Sundance Film Festival in 2018.
In 2019, he was nominated to the Director’s Guild of America.
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