The pan-European team behind Great River Productions, LLC has set up shop in Rock Island to produce its $15 million 3D motion capture fantasy feature, “Troll: Tale of a Tale,” over the next two-and-a-half years.
Great River Productions will hire an estimated 100 animators, artists and crew from Illinois. Modeling starts in early January and casting begins in late February.
There are a number of firsts associated with this film, said Davenport-based J. Douglas Miller of the Quad-Cities Film Coalition, who worked for two years to bring and keep the project in the Quad-Cities.
“This is the first film to be produced in its entirely in this area. It’s the first fully digital, animated motion capture picture ever shot in Illinois and the only animated project to date that has been approved for tax incentives,” he said.
“Troll” director is French-born David Dulac, who was DP of the 2007 animated fantasy “Happily N’Ever After” and worked in visual effects for films including “The Matrix” and “Babe: Pig in the City.”
