The Accessible Director: Lee Unkrich
Twitter has been infiltrated by celebrities. Oprah has welcomed it with open, very public arms. Ashton Kutcher held a charity race against CNN to up his follower counts. And let’s not forget poor Wil Wheaton, who was one of the first of their kind to join Twitter. This surge of celebrity attention has been great to add further validity to Twitter in the eyes the more mainstream masses. Celebrities express that they love being able to cut out the middleman (executives and publicists) and have that direct conversation with the public. But Twitter has also opened doors beyond the actors to the as yet untapped production studio back rooms. Never before Twitter, has the general public been able to gain such insight into the workings and development of the major Hollywood blockbusters.
Today you can follow your favorite blockbuster film from budget- to casting room- to release- with the aid of the writers, cameramen, animators, set designers, producers and directors who are taking time out to provide us with tweets. Director Lee Unkrich is a perfect example: Lee, avid twitterer, who previously co-directed Finding Nemo and Monsters, Inc and is currently working on Pixar’s Toy Story 3 has been giving adoring Toy Story fans updates on the progress of this film in production; something which would have been unreal in the past. Most recently Lee tweeted:
@leeunkrich Editing TS3 at 36,000 feet. http://twitpic.com/75bx6
@leeunkrich Finally cast the last new character in TS3.
Lee’s messages were instantly re-tweeted all over twitterland in mass! This form of broadcast is obviously a marketer’s dream and yet this is being driven, not by marketing but by an accessible director (wonders out loud if Lee should be collecting two pay checks). Bottom line: the value that Lee is providing cannot be calculated but is certainly appreciated by the adoring Pixar public. Keep on tweeting Lee!
2 comments
I love how Twitter connects you with people you’re a fan of. It never gets old reading and interacting with Pixar people!
Tommy - completely agree and I think Pixar is doing it way better than some of the other studios (in allowing their people to connect directly with us fanboys through Twitter). Thanks for the comment!