Major Movie Produced By Greenwich Studio Readies For Debut

GREENWICH, CT — While a number of films have been shot in various areas of Connecticut, it's a somewhat hidden fact that a major film studio is actually located in Greenwich. Blue Sky Studios sits just at the edge of town on American Lane, about 10 minutes away from Westchester County Airport.

The famed animation studio is behind the blockbuster "Ice Age" films, which have grossed over $3 billion combined at box offices worldwide. Other hit films from the studio include "Rio," "The Peanuts Movie" and "Ferdinand," the latter of which starred John Cena and was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Animated Feature Film last year.

The studio's newest project, "Spies In Disguise," is set to open in theaters nationwide on Christmas Day. Ahead of its wide release, the Greenwich International Film Festival showed an advance screening of the film Sunday at the Bow Tie theater on Railroad Avenue.

Also in attendance were the film's directors, Nick Bruno and Troy Quane, who gave insight into the making of the film during a Q&A session following the screening.

"It's a lot of fun. We get to work with 550 of the most amazing artists you could imagine right here in Greenwich," Quane said. "It's really exciting and really cool, and not a lot of people know about that."

The film stars Will Smith as Lance Sterling, the world's coolest spy who uses his charisma and fighting skills to stop "bad guys" who pose a global threat. After he is framed for a crime, Lance must seek help from Walter Beckett, a brilliant but socially awkward scientist, voiced by "Spider-Man: Homecoming" actor Tom Holland.

Beckett designs some of the gadgets used by spies during their missions — but they typically have a strange, nonlethal component to them, such as "kitty glitter" and "the inflatable hug." When Lance accidentally ingests the young genius' new "biodynamic concealment" technology, he is transformed into a pigeon.

With the world in jeopardy and time running out, the pair sets off on a daring mission to clear Sterling's name, turn him human again and save the world.

"At the film's core, we wanted to say something," Bruno said. "We knew this could be a kid's first spy movie, and we thought it would be nice to talk about teamwork in the world of espionage, where people don't get along too well or trust each other, and yet these two guys find a way to work together."

The film also stars Rashida Jones, Ben Mendelsohn, Karen Gillan, Reba McEntire, Rachel Brosnahan and DJ Khaled, among others.

A Local Film Studio

GIFF Executive Director Ginger Stickel said the event was "one of the most successful advance screenings" the organization has had to date. The festival has built a relationship with Blue Sky over the years, and some key executives from the studio even took part in a panel discussion during the main festival in June, where they showed a trailer for "Spies In Disguise."

"That was kind of the start of our audience's excitement at the prospect of having this event," Stickel said. "Blue Sky is a very generous studio in terms of being a good neighbor to the community. I think we should all be proud that Blue Sky Studios is headquartered in our hometown."

The film was also a hit with audiences at the screening. Old Greenwich resident Jocelyn Dimsey said her whole family loved the movie and had already recommended it to their friends.

"It had something for everyone: loads of action, laugh-out-loud moments, lovable characters, cool tech and a great soundtrack," Dimsey said. "But I think what makes the movie special are all the wonderful underlying messages about friendship, teamwork, 'weird being cool' and using nonviolent methods like 'kitty glitter' to solve conflict … we had no idea an amazing, quality production like this was happening right here in Greenwich!"

Area resident Joseph Galazin said he had seen the trailers for "Spies In Disguise" and knew of the studio but did not know it was headquartered so close to his home.

"I've seen all the 'Ice Age' films, but I had no idea [some of them] were made in Greenwich," Galazin said. "I've heard of people filming movies and stuff here, but never an animation studio being located here. That's good, though. It puts Greenwich on the map, and brings jobs to town."

Greenwich resident Lena Ever also was unaware the film was made in her hometown, but said she is planning to take her family to see the film when it's out.

"Greenwich should be proud and let this be known," Ever said, "and have a big party!"

In Stickel's opinion, Blue Sky's location is no secret within the entertainment community that exists in Connecticut but may be to the general public.

"I think Greenwich is often thought of as a financial district," Stickel said. "It's very clear that we have a prominent financial industry here in Greenwich, but I'm not sure how much the general public thinks about the creative industries that exist here."

She cited ESPN in Bristol and WWE and NBC Sports in Stamford as other entertainment companies located in Connecticut. Blue Sky's location, however, is particularly noteworthy for the festival, as it puts studio executives, directors, writers, animators and other working artists and filmmakers right in festivalgoers' own neighborhood.

"They make films that entertain and educate," Stickel said. "I loved the teamwork message that was prominent in 'Spies In Disguise,' and it's just nice to have a studio like Blue Sky right in our backyard."

A Creative Flock

According to Bruno, a lot of work went into delivering the film's heartwarming themes while balancing all the exciting elements of a traditional spy movie, including car chases, action, drama and "cool" cinematography.

"Some of the biggest challenges were just figuring out how to tell this story," Bruno said. "How do you make a spy movie and do all the things you love about a spy movie? How do you do a buddy comedy and do all the things you love about a buddy comedy? How do you make turning into a bird make sense? There were tons of challenges."

Surprisingly, Bruno pointed to a more-serious moment — in which Walter and Lance have a conversation about the moral implications of being a spy and dealing with "bad guys" — as the most challenging scene to pull off.

"It was so hard to just get those words right, because there's nothing else distracting you," Bruno said. "It's just two characters talking, and every word counts. It took a long time to get that right, because it was very important."

The filmmakers also made an effort to tap into the real science behind some of Walter's more "silly"-seeming inventions to highlight that being smart is just as cool as being a skilled spy.

"All the science we talk about [in the film] when Lance is turning into a pigeon is based on actual science: how you would change a single cell into a different cell," Quane said. "It would be a lot more complex to turn a man into a pigeon, but we wanted to make sure the foundational aspects of it were actual science, so hopefully kids could get excited about it and think, 'You know, Lance is pretty cool, and he does all these big heroic things, but Walter's cool too, and he has science up his back.'"

As a pigeon, Sterling confronts the idea of working with others, or "his flock," rather than "flying solo," a lesson the directors also took to heart.

Bruno has been at Blue Sky for a number of years, having worked as an animator on most of the studio's films and rising to the role of supervising animator on "Ice Age: Continental Drift" and "The Peanuts Movie." Quane, meanwhile, has worked on a number of popular animated films as a storyboard artist, and he served as director on the 2011 short film "The Smurfs: A Christmas Carol."

"Spies In Disguise" marks the pair's feature directorial debut. While the film took about four years to make, Bruno and Quane made a pact to keep the energy up for the crew each day of production.

"At Blue Sky, one of our biggest goals as directors was to be collaborative," Bruno said. "We knew if we were having fun making the movie, you'd feel that fun on the screen, and I'm very proud to say everyone was laughing all the time. There were definitely some challenges, and definitely some days where it was work, but it was great to have everyone at your back having fun, and I made a great partner and friend in Troy."

Quane agreed that stepping into a directorial position on a production this large was a little intimidating, but embracing the talents of his "flock" of artists helped make it an unforgettable experience.

"It was a lot of fun, and it can be scary," Quane said, "but we had a lot of shoulders to help us carry the weight."

He also encouraged audiences to bring their flock with them to see the film when it opens Dec. 25, the way the directors intended it to be seen: on a large theater screen, surrounded by people laughing.

"It's a movie about people coming together," Quane said. "We're stronger together, and the holidays are a good time to come together with family and friends, and the movies are a great place to come together."

"Spies In Disguise" opens nationwide Christmas Day. For more information, check out the film's website and Facebook page. The film's soundtrack, executive-produced by Mark Ronson, was released Friday.

GIFF's 2020 festival will take place April 30-May 3. Check out the festival website for more information on upcoming events.