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dubsism · 4 years

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Today’s Movie: Dog Day Afternoon

Year of Release: 1975

Stars: Al Pacino, John Cazale (#25 on my list of favorite actors), Penelope Allen

Director: Sidney Lumet

This movie is on my list of essential films.

NOTE: This installment of Sports Analogies Hidden In Classic Movies is not being done as part of a blog-a-thon. Instead, this is a monthly event hosted by MovieRob called Genre Grandeur. The way it works is every month MovieRob chooses a film blogger to pick a topic and a movie to write about, then also picks a movie for MovieRob to review. At the end of the month, MovieRob posts the reviews of all the participants.

For June of 2020, the honor of being the “guest picker” went to Paul of Silver Screen Classics. The topic is “New York Films of the 70’s.” Not only does my choice fit the theme, but it also takes place on Halloween.

The Story:

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On a hot August afternoon in the “dog days” of summer, three first-time stick-up men attempt to knock over a Brooklyn bank. Sonny (played by Al Pacino), Sal (played by John Cazale), and Stevie (played by Gary Springer) enter the First Brooklyn Savings Bank. But the plan quickly hurtles off the rails when Stevie flees before the three even enter the bank. Things get even worse when after they are past the point of no return (they’ve already produced their weapons and declared this to be a robbery), Sonny discovers they have arrived after the daily cash pickup. In other words, they are risking at least 25 years in prison and/or getting into a shoot-out with the police for slightly more than $1,000.

Trying to salvage their now-obviously poorly-planned operation, Sonny grabs the bank’s traveler’s checks (Who remembers those?) and burns the register, but the smoke from the burning garbage arouses suspicion outside which results in the bank being surrounded by the police. Sonny and Sal panic and take the bank employees as hostages.

Now that the stand-off is set, Detective Sergeant Eugene Moretti (played by Charles Durning) calls the bank, at which point Sonny tells him he is willing to kill the hostages. Sal assures Sonny that he is ready to kill if necessary, not knowing the Sonny really doesn’t want to kill anybody. The proof of that is when a security guard suffers an asthma attack and Sonny releases him as a bargaining chip. Eventually, Moretti convinces Sonny to step outside, which he does.

While using the head teller as a shield, Sonny begins a dialogue with Moretti. But a large crowd has gathered around the bank, and this stand-off is being broadcast on live television. In what may be the signature scene of the movie, Sonny launches into a chant of “Attica! Attica!”; a reference to the infamous 1971 riot in the state prison in Attica, New York. The crowd cheers for Sonny.

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Now it’s time to get out of the bank. Sonny demands a vehicle so he can drive to the airport with Sal to board a jet out of the country. Other demands include pizza delivery for the hostages, and that his estranged wife Angie (played by Susan Peretz) be brought to the bank. But in the plot twist to end all plot twists, Sonny’s new partner shows up at the bank. Since I already have to use a “spoiler” at the end, I’m not going to divulge a) the identity of Sonny’s partner and b) the motive for the robbery which is revealed. Doing so would destroy the first-time viewer’s discovery of why this is not just another “heist” film.

As darkness falls, command of the police response is now in the hands of FBI Agent Sheldon (played by James Broderick). He cuts the power to the bank and refuses to give in to any more of Sonny’s demands. Sheldon does allow a doctor to enter the bank after the manager Mulvaney (played by Solly Boyar) goes into diabetic shock. The fact Sonny requested the doctor is yet more proof that Sonny doesn’t want to harm the hostages.

Knowing the Sonny is reluctant to harm anybody, Sheldon convinces Sonny’s partner to talk to him on the phone in an attempt to get Sonny to surrender. This fails, but it is revealed that Sonny’s partner has been at Bellevue Hospital undergoing psychiatric evaluation after a suicide attempt brought on by being abused by Sonny. In an act of atonement, Sonny offers to include his partner in the escape plan, but the offer is rejected. This necessitates Sonny telling the police that his partner had nothing to do with the robbery.

Meanwhile, Sonny allows let the seriously ill Mulvaney leave, but he will not abandon his employees. In a last ditch attempt to talk sonny out, the FBI enlist the aid of his mother. Again, this fails, and now Sonny realizes the end is coming. As such, he writes out a will leaving money from his life insurance to Angie and his partner.

The previously requested limousine arrives; the plan is now to use the limousine to take Sonny, Sal, and the hostages to Kennedy Airport, but the catch is the car has to be driven by an FBI agent. Sonny selects Agent Murphy (played by Lance Henriksen) to drive as Sonny inspects the car for hidden weapons or booby traps. Murphy gets behind the wheel, and Sonny sits next to him in the front seat. Sheldon and Sal are in the back. Sal has a gun held on Murphy, who repeatedly asks Sal to point his gun at the roof so he won’t accidentally shoot him.

As they wait for the escape aircraft to taxi into position, Murphy again asks Sal to aim his gun away. Sal does, but the minute that happens, Sheldon grabs Sonny’s weapon and Murphy produces a pistol hidden in an armrest and shoots Sal point-blank in the head, killing him instantly. Sonny is immediately taken into custody, the hostages are freed, and the film ends with the fates of Sonny, his partner, and Angie revealed in subtitles as Sonny watches Sal’s body being taken from the car on a stretcher.

The Hidden Sports Analogy:

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If you’ve seen “Godfather II,” you knew what was going to happen to Fredo Corleone well before he did. His fate was sealed the minuted Michael Corleone said to one of his henchmen “nothing happens to him as long as my mother is alive.” Once you saw Mama Corleone in her casket, you knew Fredo wasn’t far behind. If you were like me, you were yelling to Fredo through the screen “FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, DON’T GET IN THE BOAT!”

I felt the same way about “Sal” in “Dog Day Afternoon.” You just knew he was going to be the guy to pay the price after doing a lot of somebody’a “dirty work.” Sal did the “heavy lifting” for Sonny, even after it became somewhat obvious he didn’t know what the real motive for the robbery was, and what was his reward? He got his brains blown out.

The sports world has plenty of “Sal”-type guys; guys who show up every day, do the “dirty work,” and get nothing for it. The first time I noticed that phenomenon was when the Minnesota Twins won the World Series in 1987. That was a huge part of my own best personal year in sports. But was also the year I discovered the sports version of “Sal.”

To understand this, you have to know the Minnesota Twins spent the majority of the 1970’s and 80’s as one the worst teams in baseball. As a kid in Southern California, I came to be a fan of the Twins as they were essentially a “farm team” for my hometown California Angels.

Calvin Griffith was the owner of the Twins at the time, and he could pinch a penny so hard he could make Abe Lincoln fart. That meant he was usually willing to sell/trade players at bargain basement prices so he didn’t have to pay them. One of his frequent trading partners was the Angels’ owner…none other than Gene “The Singing Cowboy” Autry.

That’s how Autry’s Angels won the American League West division three times between 1979-1986; with players from the “Griffith Express” such as Lyman Bostock, “Disco” Dan Ford, Rob Wilfong, Geoff Zahn, Dave Goltz, and Hall of Famer Rod Carew. Meanwhile, the Twins were growing their own prospects down on the farm.

Trading established players for prospects is a time-honored tradition in baseball. Prospects are the “seed corn” for nay major-league club trying to flesh out it’s roster, and the Minnesota Twins were doing just that with all the prospects they received in their plethora of deals with Autry and his Angels. By the early 1980’s, the Twins were beginning to reap what they had sown in the minor-leagues. In 1982, while the Twins were on their way to a 100-loss season, one of their rookies made the cover of Sports Illustrated. Kent Hrbek was literally the “hometown hero” having been born and raised in the Twin Cities area.

Hrbek finished second to baseball legend Cal Ripken, Jr. for the 1981 American League Rookie of the Year voting, but finished ahead of future Hall of Famer Wade Boggs. Hrbek became a fixture at first base for 14 seasons.

By 1984, the Minnesota Twins found themselves a s surprising contender for the division title, but just like a young racehorse that hasn’t yet learned how to run, they ran out of gas at the end, finishing tied for second-place three games behind the Kansas City Royals. But the really important thing that happened for the Twins that year came on May 8th. This marked the major league debut of Kirby Puckett. That night against the California Angels, Puckett notched four hits in five at-bats and scored a run. I remember not believing what I was seeing in this guy; I thought there was no way he could stay in the big leagues.

So many times, new players get a “honeymoon;” the time between they arrive in the “bigs” and when major-league pitchers them him out. In other words, new guys can rip through the league in their first go-round, but the second time around proves a bit tougher once pitchers get “the book” on them.

Who was the fastest guy to reach 2,500 major league hits? You’re looking at him.

Simply put, Kirby Puckett just didn’t look the part of a major-league center fielder. Most guys who cover the largest expanse of a baseball outfield are long, lean guys who run like a gazelle. Puckett was a short, stocky guy who ran like a penguin with a pulled hamstring. On top of that, he had the worst plate discipline I’d ever seen. He swung at the worst pitches…he took his cuts at balls in the dirt, balls nearly over his head; in short he looked terrible. I was convinced that his early success would end with a bus ticket back to the minor-leagues. But the more major-league pitchers tried to confound him, the more Puckett hit.

At the end of 1984, Puckett had notched a batting average of .296 and ranked fourth in the American League in singles. In 1985, Puckett convinced me how wrong I was when he hit .288 and finished fourth in the league in hits, third in triples, second in plate appearances, and first in at-bats. In 1987, Puckett ascended to one of the highest days on the Dubsism Liturgical Calendar:

The Feast of Kirbius Maximus – August 29th – Reflection of “The Weekend in Milwaukee” In two games against the Brewers, Kirby Puckett went 10 for 11 with 6 RBI and robbed future Hall of Famer Robin Yount of a game-tying home run. The Twins never relinquished their lead in the AL West on their way to a World Series Championship. This marks the day I accepted Kirby Puckett as my lord and personal savior.

From 1984 to 1995, Puckett was consistently among the leaders in the American League in offensive categories like games played, at bats, singles, doubles, and total bases. With the glove, he was always among the tops in put-outs, assists, and fielding percentage for center fielders. In other words, Puckett was one of the greatest to ever play the game.

But the “star” power of Kent Hrbek and Kirby over-shadowed another key component of rising Minnesota Twins of the mid-1980s. Another product of the “Griffith Express,” right fielder Tom Brunansky was originally drafted by the California Angels in the 1st round of the 1978 draft. He made his major league debut with the Angels in 1981. Brunansky looked to be head back to the minors for the 1982 season as the Angels had just signed free-agent and future Hall of Famer Reggie Jackson. But in yet another swap Calvin Griffith and Gene Autry, Brunansky was sent to Minnesota in exchange for pitcher Doug Corbett and second baseman Rob Wilfong.

Brunansky made an immediate impact with the Twins batting .272 with 51 extra-base hits. He had his first 30 home run season for the Twins in 1984 and was named to the American League All-Star in 1985. But it was that championship season of 1987 when Brunansky came into his own as a force in the Twins line-up. On the way to the Minnesota Twins capturing the World Series title, Tom Brunansky contributed a .259 batting average along with 32 home runs. It was arguably his greatest season as Twin.

It was also his last.

April 22, 1988…the day the Minnesota Twins sent Tom Brunansky to go fishing. After becoming a pillar of the defending World Champions, Brunansky was rewarded by being shipped off to the St. Louis Cardinals.

The problem was simple. In 1987. the Minnesota Twins had three guys who hit 30+ home runs – Hrbek (34), Brunansky (32), and third basemen Gary Gaetti (31). They also had arguably the best player in the game at the time in Kirby Puckett. On other end, the pitching staff features an emerging star Frank “Sweet Music” Viola, a future Hall of Famer and soon-to-be free agent Berft Blyleven, and a big-time Jeff Reardon. The problem was money.

Griffith and Pohlad. Long arms when signaling #1. Shortest arms ever when reaching for a dinner tab.

Even though the notorious penny-pincher Calvin Griffith has sold the Minnesota Twins in 1984, the new owner wasn’t any of a spend-thrift. Carl Pohlad was the owner of U.S. Bank when he bought the team, and like Griffith, he got rich by tossing nickels away like they were manhole covers. The term of the day was “small-market team;” the idea being that teams in smaller cities like Minneapolis, Milwaukee, and Kansas City (to name a few) couldn’t complete with those in New York, Chicago, and Los Angeles.

How truthful that was is still open for debate; lots of “small-market” have won in the “Mega-money” era. Conversely, lots of team have spent huge coin to be terrible. What’s inarguable is that it was a “green-light” for some owners to be “Scrooge McDuck”-level cheap.

The bottom line is as the old proverb goes, money is not only the root of all evil, it’s at the core of every player personnel decision in all major-league sports. It all came down to this. Brunansky may have been part of the Twins’ family, and he may have done a lot of the “heavy lifting” for that team’s run to the 1987 world Series, but when it came time for somebody to take a bullet, he still got sent to go fishing.

The Moral of The Story:

Whether you’re a bank robber or right fielder, get your money when you can. And…FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, DON’T GET IN THE BOAT!

BONUS: This isn’t the only sports analogy hidden in a classic movie about the Minnesota Twins.

Check out Dubsism’s Movies and Blog-A-Thons page for a full schedule of projects past, present, and future!

Got a question, comment, or just want to yell at us? Hit us up at [email protected], @Dubsism on Twitter, or on our Pinterest, Tumblr, Instagram, Snapchat or Facebook pages, and be sure to bookmark Dubsism.com so you don’t miss anything from the most interesting independent sports blog on the web.

Sports Analogies Hidden In Classic Movies – Volume 82: “Dog Day Afternoon” Today's Movie: Dog Day Afternoon Year of Release: 1975 Stars: Al Pacino, John Cazale (#25 on my list of favorite actors…

#Classic Movies #Genre Grandeur #Kent Hrbek #Kirby Puckett #Minnesota Twins #Sports Analogies Hidden In Classic Movies #Tom Brunansky

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starfriday · 7 years

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THE LEGO NINJAGO MOVIE, directed by Charlie Bean, Paul Fisher and Bob Logan is releasing across cinemas in India on October 6th, 2017.

A new animated adventure in Warner Bros. Pictures’ LEGO® franchise, “The LEGO NINJAGO® Movie” stars Dave Franco, Justin Theroux, Fred Armisen, Abbi Jacobson, Olivia Munn, Kumail Nanjiani, Michael Peña, Zach Woods, and the legendary Jackie Chan.

In this big-screen NINJAGO adventure, the battle for NINJAGO City calls to action young Master Builder Lloyd, aka the Green Ninja, along with his friends, who are all secret ninja warriors. Led by Master Wu, as wise-cracking as he is wise, they must defeat evil warlord Garmadon, The Worst Guy Ever, who also happens to be Lloyd’s dad. Pitting mech against mech and father against son, the epic showdown will test this fierce but undisciplined team of modern-day ninjas, who must learn to check their egos and pull together to unleash their inner power.

Jackie Chan stars as Master Wu; Justin Theroux is Garmadon; Dave Franco plays Lloyd; and Olivia Munn is Lloyd’s mom, Koko. Making up the secret ninja crew, Michael Peña is Kai, Fred Armisen voices Cole, Kumail Nanjiani is Jay, Abbi Jacobson plays Nya, and Zach Woods voices Zane.

“The LEGO NINJAGO Movie” was directed by Charlie Bean, Paul Fisher and Bob Logan. The screenplay was by Bob Logan & Paul Fisher & William Wheeler & Tom Wheeler and Jared Stern & John Whittington, story by Hilary Winston & Bob Logan & Paul Fisher & William Wheeler & Tom Wheeler and Dan Hageman & Kevin Hageman, based on LEGO Construction Toys.

Dan Lin, Phil Lord, Christopher Miller, Maryann Garger, Roy Lee, and Chris McKay served as producers. Executive producers were Jill Wilfert, Keith Malone, and Seth Grahame-Smith. The creative filmmaking team included production designers Kim Taylor and Simon Whiteley. Music was composed by Mark Mothersbaugh.

Feature animation was provided by Animal Logic.

“The LEGO NINJAGO Movie” will screen in theaters in both 3D and 2D.

From Warner Bros. Pictures and Warner Animation Group, in association with LEGO System A/S, a Lin Pictures/Lord Miller/Vertigo Entertainment Production, “The LEGO NINJAGO Movie” is distributed worldwide by Warner Bros. Pictures, a Warner Bros. Entertainment Company.

LEGONINJAGOMovie-asia.com

ABOUT THE PRODUCTION

An Epic Tale of Good…and Dad

From the team behind the blockbuster LEGO movies that have delighted audiences of all ages around the globe, comes an all-new, big-screen event, “The LEGO NINJAGO Movie.”

Sharing the heart, wit, and irrepressible sense of fun that made the first two outings so unforgettable, “The LEGO NINJAGO Movie” explores another cinematic world—the fantastic, faraway island of NINJAGO—with a new ensemble of characters and its own signature style: a fusion of state-of-the-art digital brick animation with elements of the organic world that producer Dan Lin calls “the next step in the evolution of the LEGO films.”

What the filmmakers envisioned was an expansive action adventure with the handmade look and feel of something sprung from the imagination of a kid creating a LEGO universe in his own backyard. And to re-capture that excitement for the Master Builder in everyone.

“We have fight sequences choreographed by kung fu legend Jackie Chan, giant mech combat and a creature bent on destroying the city. It’s crazy,” says Charlie Bean, a longtime LEGO fan and one of the film’s directors. “I love martial arts movies, robot and monster movies, and this is a love letter to those genres, seen through the unique LEGO lens.”

At the same time, the story touches on themes and values that are not only the hallmark of these films but have been the foundation of the LEGO experience for generations. “It’s about family, and self-discovery,” says Bean, citing the central conflict between the young ninja Lloyd, dedicated to protecting NINJAGO City, and his father, Garmadon, who is constantly attacking it. “Even though it’s played out on an epic scale, it’s an intimate story centered on this father and son. They are at odds with each other for many reasons, beyond the fact that one is a hero and one is a villain. Lloyd feels he missed out on having his father in his life. Through the course of their adventure, they tackle challenges that are bigger than both of them, and they are forced to deal with each other, which requires a process of discovery for each of them.”

“When I was a kid, I dressed as a ninja for Halloween more often than not, so I was understandably very excited when they asked me to voice a character for ‘The LEGO NINJAGO Movie,’” says Dave Franco, who stars as the fearless but conflicted Lloyd—an outcast high school student by day and stealthy ninja warrior in disguise when duty calls. “I think the reason a lot of people, including myself, are so passionate about LEGO is because, when you finish building a set you feel a sense of accomplishment. You have to put in the work before you can really start playing with the toys and that ultimately makes it that much more satisfying.”

Similarly, the story calls upon Lloyd and his fellow ninjas to look within, to find their own true strengths and talents, and their inner… piece.

“These are modern kids and they’re obsessed with technology, like all of us,” says Bean. “Their teacher, Master Wu, is trying to instill in them the fundamentals of what it really means to be a ninja, but they’d rather fight with loud, shiny mechs. He’s trying to teach them that mechs get destroyed and technology can let you down. They need to understand that what’s inside them is more powerful than any of that.”

As Lloyd and his friends answer the call to action, “The LEGO NINJAGO Movie” also highlights themes of friendship and teamwork. Individual strengths are celebrated as they shed their nerdy high school personas for their secret identities, to protect NINJAGO City from Garmadon. But, as the action unfolds, it becomes clear that these gifts would be better used in concert. Until they can truly work together, they will never achieve the awesome empowerment they aspire to.

It’s a lesson Garmadon himself hasn’t figured out yet. Justin Theroux, who embodies the character proclaimed The Worst Guy in the History of the World, says, “He’s the ultimate narcissist who’s always trying to own whatever city he’s attacking and be its dictator. He also suffers from thinking, ‘I can do it all by myself’… and, ‘Why isn’t anyone helping me?!’”

There’s a twist, too, that makes things more difficult. Garmadon knows that Lloyd is his son. What the old four-armed, red-eyed tyrant doesn’t know is that Lloyd is also the Green Ninja, his sworn enemy, that upstart in the Green Dragon mech who’s been kicking his butt and thwarting his plans to seize NINJAGO City time after time.

But he’s about to find out.

When Garmadon attempts to take over the city this time, in an outsized shark mech that launches actual sharks, Lloyd is ready with the Ultimate Weapon. Unfortunately, the Ultimate Weapon releases a threat neither of them expected—or can control—sending father and son on a trek together through perilous country, in search of the only thing that might put things right.

Notes Lin, “Lloyd needs to save his family before he can save the city. He can’t keep blaming everything on his dad, and that’s his journey over the course of the story, to grow up and be his own man.”

For all the movie’s goofy, kid-friendly fun, sight gags and slapstick, there is plenty here for adults too, or, as producer Chris McKay says, “We made ‘NINJAGO’ for the kid in all of us. It may sound like a cliché but it’s true: we’re trying to capture the kind of whimsical imagination and epic flights of fancy we had as children. But we also made it with love for the Shaw Brothers movies and monster movies, so there are lots of references for fans.”

“We just try to come up with the funniest things we can come up with in the room, the kind of humor that plays to everyone across age groups, genders, cultures, and that’s the sweet spot we’re going for,” adds Bean.

For example, adult moviegoers will be better attuned to the undercurrents of Garmadon’s interactions with his ex-wife and Lloyd’s mom, Koko, played by Olivia Munn. Though long separated, and for good reason—it’s not easy being married to public enemy number one—their exchanges suggest at least one of them may still harbor feelings for the good old days. “Koko’s relationship with Garmadon is…complicated,” Munn concedes.

The shorthand of “Lloyd’s mom” or “Garmadon’s ex” falls purposely shy of describing Koko, and the full extent of her role is one of the revelations in a tale that has much to offer both boys and girls. Similarly, Nya, the Water Ninja, is a full-fledged fighting member of Lloyd’s team, played by Abbi Jacobson, who says, “Nya rides a motorcycle, she wears a leather jacket and pilots a giant mech. She’s very rad.”

Making up the rest of the secret ninja force are Fred Armisen, Kumail Nanjiani, Michael Peña and Zach Woods.

Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, who wrote and directed “The LEGO Movie,” produced “The LEGO Batman Movie,” and return again as producers, see each film as a stand-alone saga as well as a progression through the larger LEGO universe. “Each has its own voice and personality, and that’s one of the benefits of working with filmmakers who bring their own ideas and visual styles,” says Miller.

Having launched the breakout feature that showed the world how active, expressive and endearing these bright plastic figures could be in a big-scale setting, Lord and Miller were ready for the next storytelling venture by expanding the environment and ramping up the action. “We’ve always loved martial arts movies,” Lord offers. “They are about empowerment, facing your biggest fears and becoming your greatest self. Also, we figured we’d never see one with a giant cat, unless we made it ourselves.”

To help realize the action in the style and tone the filmmakers were looking for, Jackie Chan not only stars in the film as Master Wu, but brought his renowned stunt team to choreograph the fights—bearing his trademark of rapid-fire, spectacularly executed moves, deftly undercut with a sense of humor. How do animated kicks, flips and jumps compare to the real world? “You can create all kinds of movement, all kinds of impossible things, and through the animation, make it 10 times better and more fun,” the genuine master declares. Moreover, acknowledging a catalogue of injuries nearly as famous as his lifetime of action roles, Chan laughingly adds, “This way I don’t have to do my own stunts, and no one gets hurt.”

Getting the minifigures battle-ready without compromising the integrity of their non-flexible joints proved a fresh test. Everything had to function in LEGO terms.

McKay, who has been on the ground with the animation team on all three LEGO features, says, “You have to think harder and more cleverly in this medium, make bigger and bolder choices. In that sense, it’s a purer form of animation, to me.”

Once again, the filmmakers worked with award-winning effects house Animal Logic, and welcomed LEGO designers at the company headquarters in Denmark, to brainstorm ideas and to create and test models. The goal was that all the LEGO builds seen on screen, from mech to mall to mobile hot dog stand, could be physically reproduced. Like its predecessors, “The LEGO NINJAGO Movie” is constructed brick-by-digital-brick, each piece individually rendered and virtually snapped into place as if it were molded plastic. But there’s a significant difference.

As one of the original architects of the LEGO film franchise, Lin says, “In the first movie, there was the Kragle, and ‘LEGO Batman’ introduced some effects like smoke and water, but here reality comes into play in a big way, with grass, plants, sand, fire, flowing water, even a bamboo jungle.” Not to mention a realistically rendered, life-sized cat—a monstrous beast to the diminutive LEGO minifigures—that can lay waste to NINJAGO City with a swipe of its paw. “As the characters interact with this photorealistic world,” he adds, “you see how nature can mix with LEGO bricks. Lush and colorful, and lit like a live-action movie, it has a unique and beautiful look.”

Acknowledging the NINJAGO television series, which is more traditionally animated, Lin says, “There’s such a strong fan base for these characters and we used that as our inspiration. The idea was to take what we loved about the show and expand it, to give it a bigger world and the kind of visual impact you would expect on the big screen, by pushing the animation to the next level.”

The feature format also afforded them creative license to build on those characters to tell their own story.

But regardless the medium, “the core concepts of play, imagination and adventure remain constant,” says Bean. “There’s an idea that runs through all these movies and through the LEGO process, and that is creativity. You can build your way out of dilemmas, you can recreate the environment to solve problems and tell a story, and that what’s cool and exciting about it.”

THE JOURNEY

“It’s OK, Lloyd, nobody’s parents are perfect.”

Lord Garmadon and La-Loyd

At the heart of this ferocious battle over NINJAGO City, with mechs clashing, bricks flying, citizens running for cover and smoke filling the sky, there is a father and son who just can’t communicate.

“Lloyd is a sweet kid with good intentions. He’s a hard worker and a true friend,” Franco attests. “But he can get angry and introspective because of his family situation. His father abandoned him when he was just a baby and went on to become the most evil guy on the planet.”

Because Garmadon’s attacks on the city have wrecked the homes and businesses of nearly everyone he knows, Lloyd’s social status at school is sub-zero. Apart from the five loyal friends who know his secret identity as the Green Ninja, everybody pretty much avoids him.

“They don’t know he’s their hero; they just know he’s the son of Garmadon, and that’s not a good thing,” says Bean. “Just walking down the street is a nightmare for this poor kid because he doesn’t get any of the accolades, he just gets dumped on.”

“He’s been living in the wake of Garmadon’s destruction his whole life and he’s sick of the negative attention. All Lloyd wants is normalcy,” adds Franco. Although, despite it all, “Garmadon is still his dad and there’s a part of Lloyd that wants to get to know him and understand why he is the way he is.”

But the guy is not easy to talk to. For starters, he’s got to be right about everything…even when he’s not, which leads to one of the story’s running jokes as Garmadon repeatedly mispronounces his son’s name. It was Theroux, Bean reveals, who initiated the mangling of Lloyd’s name with a double-L sound. “We did a lot of recordings with Dave and Justin together and they would improvise and riff on ideas, and that led to some of the funniest as well as the most emotional moments in the film. La-Loyd is something Justin came up with in the room.”

Theroux gives the battled-hardened warlord a low-register growl that sounds vaguely threatening no matter what he’s saying. “I loved playing Garmadon. Any time you get to be a big, broad villain, it’s a lot of fun, and Garmadon is shockingly uncomplicated in his egotism. He doesn’t understand why his son wouldn’t want to be like him and have an entire city at his mercy,” the actor states.

Neither of them really wants to continue fighting, but with Garmadon unable to see past his self-aggrandizement and Lloyd unable to reconcile his hurt, what other solution is there?

Koko: the former Mrs. Garmadon

If Lloyd finds Garmadon’s motives confounding, that’s not the case with Koko. In fact, no one knows Garmadon better than his ex-wife. Koko fell for Garm when he was just a romantic, budding megalomaniac with great hair and dreams of world domination. Now, she’s the only person in NINJAGO City who’s not afraid to get right up in his fearsome face, stare down his glowing red eyes and royally tell him off. Especially when their son’s safety is on the line.

It’s not her fault if he still finds her hot temper…well, hot.

“Typically, Garmadon doesn’t get it,” says Olivia Munn. “He has no idea what happened between them. He thinks, ‘I’m good-looking. Check. I’m powerful. Check. I have money. Check. What’s not to love?’ For Koko, the problem is his soul, and his narcissistic selfish ways, that caused her to leave him so their son would have a better life.”

As a single, working mom, Koko does her best to guide and encourage her beloved Lloyd through the thicket of adolescence, never suspecting that he is, in fact, the Green Ninja. “She tries to be an example of positivity for him. They have a special, understanding, relationship. In many ways, she sees herself in him,” says Munn.

“The connection between Lloyd and his mother, between Koko and Garmadon, and between Garmadon and Lloyd; the dynamics are very interesting and at times, funny, and touching,” she continues. “In the beginning, we see them as archetypal characters, like Koko is the super-positive, happy mom, and then you find out she has a secret past, so it’s not all cookie-cutter. The fun thing about these characters is the transitions they make, and how they become more real and relatable.”

“Once you discover her history with Garmadon,” Bean confirms, “you see the real sacrifice she made for her son.”

Garmadon and Wu: Brothers in Name Only

Clearly, this dude is hard-wired against getting along with anyone—not his son, not his ex-wife, and certainly not his army generals, whom he fires left and right for every minor or imagined infraction. And not just fires, but fires-fires, right out the top of a volcano. Garmadon can’t even make nice with his own brother, the venerable Master Wu, a bearded, white-robed, flute-playing wise man with an anthology of zen-ish axioms and a surprisingly sharp tongue, who Lin describes as “the soul and emotional anchor of the movie, and the counterpart to Garmadon.”

“Jackie Chan brings a lot of comedy to Wu, and he’s really loveable, the way his voice comes through,” Lin says. “He adds a great deal to the emotional spectrum of the movie, whether it’s heart or humor, and he also brings a level of authenticity, because we really want this to feel like an Asian-inspired martial arts movie, and Jackie was rigorous in overseeing the action and making sure we were doing it in an accurate way.”

“Master Wu is Garmadon’s brother, but also his enemy,” Chan explains with mock gravity. “Master Wu is Lloyd’s uncle, but also his teacher. So, any way you look at it, it’s a complex relationship, very tricky, and very interesting.”

Wu and Garmadon’s long-brewing animosity ultimately erupts atop a rope bridge over a rushing river, which Chan cites as his favorite fight in the film.

Says Theroux, “It’s classic sibling rivalry. We don’t see what happened to turn Garmadon dark but, over the years, the brothers became estranged. One joined the dark side and the other one stayed in the light, so now they can’t stand each other. And now, to rub salt into that wound, Garmadon learns that Wu has been essentially taking care of the son he abandoned and has been training him to be a good guy.”

Indeed, seeing promise in the young ninja, and knowing that NINJAGO City needs a champion, “Master Wu is helping Lloyd to achieve his destiny,” says Chan.

NINJAGO’s Secret Ninja Force

In addition to prepping Lloyd for his responsibilities as the Green Ninja, Master Wu is training Lloyd’s friends, five enthusiastic, if somewhat unfocused, fellow high school students: Cole, Nya, Jay, Kai and Zane. Each has his or her own special abilities, expressed in their personalized battle mechs and individual styles—and, if they earn it, these will ultimately manifest as their elemental powers: earth, water, lightning, fire and ice.

At a moment’s notice, they must drop everything, slip out of their homes or classes, don their ninja gear and repel Garmadon’s forces. It’s a duty they take very seriously. More or less. The truth is, though brave enough, smart enough, and (mostly) eager enough to face anything, Lloyd and his friends still have some distance to go before honing their teamwork and reaching their full potential. By Wu’s sage estimation, they need to stop expecting mechs and technology to fight their battles, and rely more on themselves and each other.

COLE / EARTH

Fred Armisen stars as Cole, the Earth Ninja, a laid-back guy in a black tank with a serious passion for music. “Cole would hate for anyone to label him as a hipster but he’s into vinyl and vintage stuff, and he works really hard at being cool,” says Bean.

Cole doesn’t like to go anywhere without a pounding bass accompaniment and is the only one in the group who admits to appreciating Master Wu’s fluting. His aptly named Quake Mech is essentially a monolithic boom box, with built-in dual turntables and a sub-woofer that keeps him grooving while blasting his opposition with shockwaves of sound.

“Speaking as a drummer,” Armisen offers, “vibrations like that have a lot of power, and he uses it like a hammer. Cole’s mech is like a souped-up DJ booth.”

Even so, Armisen understands where Wu is coming from. “There’s a spiritual part of a ninja’s training and it’s about discovering your inner ninja and harnessing that strength, rather than relying on these impressive mechs.”

Apart from his solo work, Armisen participated in some joint recording sessions. “There was one we all did together, and one I had with Dave Franco,” he recalls. “I’ve known Justin Theroux a long time and worked with him before. Everyone was funny, and that’s not an easy thing. Sometimes you put funny people together and everyone’s sense of humor is not a match. But this group was great. Someone did a good job of getting the right people together.”

NYA / WATER

Abbi Jacobson stars as Nya, the Water Ninja in the silver leather jacket, who pilots her nimble Water Strider through land and sea. Her other favorite vehicle is a motorcycle that she customized in honor of her role model, the legendary Lady Iron Dragon. To Bean, “she is probably the most confident in the group, super-tough and definitely not to be messed with.”

Indeed, Nya may be Kai’s little sister, but when it comes to ninja work, she’s second to no one. Says Jacobson, “She’s high-energy, motivated and fiercely independent. Nya is not some kind of sidekick in the gang; she’s a powerful part of this secret ninja force and plays an integral part in their saving the day.”

Getting into the role, Jacobson was especially mindful of her nieces, ages two and four. “They might be a bit young for this now,” she says, “but in a couple of years when they watch it, I’d tell them, ‘This is someone you should look at as a good example of teamwork and encouragement. She supports her friends and she’s constantly trying to figure out solutions to a problem.’ I’m really proud to be voicing this character, to be honest.”

Likewise, Jacobson feels that people will embrace the story’s themes as she did, saying, “It’s heartfelt. It’s about friendship and family, and about realizing we all have something special about us, and our own set of skills. Once you find them, the world is yours.”

JAY / LIGHTNING

Kumail Nanjiani is Jay, the Lightning Ninja, dressed in blue with the contrast pop of an orange muffler—just in case, y’ know, it gets chilly later. Jay can be a little overly cautious for someone who flies around in a mech called the Lightning Jet and emits electric current, but that’s just part of his outsider charm.

“Jay’s courage is in the process of development throughout the story,” Bean suggests, a point which Nanjiani finds “really relatable, and not only in high school. I think it’s something that never goes away—wanting to be popular, wanting to fit in and be accepted. Jay is accepted among his ninja friends but not as much outside of them. These aren’t the cool kids in school. Everybody loves the ninjas, but no one knows that these guys are the ninjas. Lloyd is a pariah because his father is Garmadon, and the others, I think, get the fallout from that, just by hanging out with him. If the other kids only knew the truth, it would be so great.”

Even among his own crew, Jay’s nervous nature and self-doubt set him slightly apart; when everyone else is gung-ho to go, Jay is right there with a positive “maybe.” But his friends know that no matter what Jay may lack in outward bravado, he always comes through when it counts, with electrifying courage.

If only he could apply that courage toward sparking something with his not-so-secret crush, Nya…

“It’s a funny story, but actually quite moving as well,” Nanjiani acknowledges. “At its center is the father and son relationship, but it also touches on the relationships all these characters have with each other, and themselves.”

KAI / FIRE NINJA

Starring as Nya’s brother, Kai, is Michael Peña. This Fire Ninja, appropriately decked out in red, shoots flame from his double-barreled Fire Mech and hopes one day to be able to make fire fly from his fingertips—as Master Wu has promised. If that’s a trick Peña himself could pull off, it would increase his worth at home with his eight-year-old son, whom he cites as one of the prime reasons he took the role. “Now maybe I can be the cool dad,” he says.

“I started watching animated movies with my kid, and he laughs so hard.” Peña elaborates. “Everyone knows, when you have a kid you’ll do anything to make them laugh. He’s a tough customer, but he loves the whole LEGO universe. He talks about it like he just came back from a seminar, like there’s a whole underworld of LEGO stories that only he knows about. So, I jumped at the chance to do this. Audiences are going to love it, but I already hit it big at home.”

Often described as a bit of a hothead, Kai may be a little impatient but, on the plus side, he’s fiercely loyal and protective. First to leap into battle, he’s often also the first to offer a warm hug when one of his friends is down.

For Peña, recording with his castmates was like “the Improv Olympics—working with all these talented people, some of them comedy writers, and they’re just hopping in there and showing off their dance moves. It was like trying to get into a game of double jump-rope.”

ZANE / ICE NINJA

From fire to ice, Zach Woods stars as Zane, the super-cool Ice Ninja, a half-human, half-robot clad in bright white like an old-school fridge. Zane blasts a glacial stream from his mech, the Ice Tank, which, Woods says, “is built like an Arctic tractor with big treads.”

“Of all the roles I’ve ever played, this is probably the closest to me in real life,” Woods jokes. “Zane wants to be seen as a genuine teenager like everyone else, though his robotic thinking process foils him constantly.”

High school is tough enough without being that different. But even if he circulates Freon instead of blood, and houses computer circuitry where his heart should be, the ever-logical and methodical Zane has an accurate read-out of emotions—with loyalty on the top of the list. Above all, his desire to fit in might be his most touchingly human trait. That, and wanting to operate a massive mech.

“The movie focuses on these kids who are students during the day and lead normal lives, and then suddenly transform into ninjas to battle the forces of evil,” says Woods. “I think a lot of kids might have a fantasy about shedding the everyday drudgery of their lives to go fight bad guys with giant robot mechs. Who wouldn’t? So, this is a wish fulfillment story for them.”

“Every ninja knows when to fight and when to blend in.”

Bean cannot enthuse enough about the cast, saying, “Everyone was so great and funny, so charming, and brought so much of themselves to the project. Many of them are writers. When we got them together they were all interacting and improv’ing off each other, and some of the funniest material and my favorite moments came out of those recordings. The most difficult thing was not blowing takes by laughing, or falling out of character because of something surprising that someone else just said.”

Some physical pairings were coordinated, such as Franco and Theroux, whose tandem work helped capture the emotional depth of their father/son dynamic. But for the most part, the actors recorded individually, off Skyped cues and direction from Bean—a common M.O. for animation. Sessions were logged over approximately 18 months as the animation grew increasingly refined, with the performances informing the visual art, and vice versa.

“Charlie was so communicative and collaborative,” says Munn. “Doing an animated film tests every acting sense you have. You have to get in there and make all the moves, yell and scream and jump around, and think of 15 ways to say something to convey the right emotion. Charlie would throw out a line and you could see his reaction as you tried it different ways, and you’d see the spark in his eye when you got it. He’d light up. It was fun to make him laugh.”

As a kind of bonus round, nearly the full main cast assembled for an extended group recording, fondly remembered by all. Taking a spin through much of the story, they got to play off each other’s reactions like a live-action cast, spark the comedy and zero in on poignant moments in a different way.

“Everyone was in character and able to improvise in any given situation, and the scenes were constructed around that. it was a very cool process,” Nanjiani recalls.

The film’s supporting cast includes Robin Roberts and Michael Strahan, voicing LEGO minifigure characters who wake up the city on the popular show “Good Morning NINJAGO.” Ali Wong plays General Olivia, one of Garmadon’s volcano-bound staff, and Charlyne Yi is Terri, one of his so-called IT Nerds. Among the citizens of NINJAGO, Laura Kightlinger voices high school teacher Ms. Laudita, while Randall Park and Retta play two of the school’s cheerleaders; Chris Hardwick is the local radio DJ; and Bobby Lee is a Pilates studio owner whose place was destroyed by Garmadon. Constance Wu is the voice of NINJAGO City’s Mayor, and, in the film’s live-action segments, Kaan Gulder is the young boy appearing opposite Jackie Chan.

PUTTING THE PIECES TOGETHER

It took approximately four years to construct “The LEGO NINJAGO Movie,” with filmmakers, animators and designers working together from offices in Los Angeles, at Animal Logic in Sydney, Australia, and at LEGO headquarters in Billund, Denmark—much as they did on “The LEGO Movie” and “The LEGO Batman Movie.”

For two of those years, U.S.-based director Bean lived in Australia for a more hands-on interaction with the animation team. “Animal Logic is a beacon for talented people from all over the world in animation and visuals effects. It’s a very international atmosphere,” he says.

“What’s incredible about Animal Logic is that they care so much about how everything feels and looks,” Dan Lin concurs. “They’re constantly doing R&D to push it to the next level.”

To some extent, animators drew upon the massive digital brick library they began compiling on the first film—each piece individually rendered, shaded, textured and customized to reflect realistic wear and handling—and used to build the sets, props, vehicles and population in LEGO fashion. Additionally, 3,463 unique digital bricks were newly created, as well as 350 unique digital minifigure wardrobe designs and 100 unique digital rocks. More than 100 million grains of sand appear on NINJAGO’s beach in a single shot, while the city and its surrounding mountains, are built from nearly 12.7 million bricks. In real-world measurement of approximately 841 square meters, that puts it just slightly smaller than the base of the Great Pyramid.

But much has changed since “The LEGO Movie” debuted in 2014. Visual effects supervisor Gregory Jowle says, “We threw away most of the tech that we developed on the first one and ramped everything up. We wanted to go bigger and further, and add complexity to a higher degree. We increased our library and enhanced the detail on each of the bricks so they have as much physicality as any handheld brick you might find, whether they were new or something a kid would have had for a long time. We went as far as to do a high-resolution scan of one of the minifigures to make sure all our angles were spot-on.

“We don’t cheat anything,” Jowle adds. “We don’t physically alter the bricks. Add to that the natural assets like plants and rocks, and it really pushed our rendering capabilities. The most exciting thing, I believe, was the opportunity to do physically correct effects like micro-scale water, fire, sparks and explosions.”

The integration of LEGO pieces with these real-world elements—including 254 unique species of plant life—is what most differentiates “The LEGO NINJAGO Movie” visually.

“We wanted to take another step in expanding the look of the LEGO universe,” says McKay. “As kids, we used to take our toys outside to play in the yard, in the sandbox, on camping trip. This idea became vital to the story because our ninjas needed to go back to their roots to discover their elemental powers. This ‘back to basics’ journey meant both in their training and their adventure through the wild and dangerous jungle surrounding NINJAGO City. So, it was essential to use photo-real organic elements in addition to the photo-real plastic elements.”

With that in mind, Kim Taylor, one of the film’s two production designers, says, “This film is far more based on outdoor light, with real sky, real clouds and warm sunshine. Getting the minifig’s perspective on the natural world was paramount. I took high-res, macro photography to see what a blade of grass or a bonsai tree would look like from a centimeter away and found all kinds of tiny plants hidden among the mosses; it’s a whole different garden down there.”

Above moss-level, the long view of NINJAGO City offers a modern, dazzling, Pan-Asian metropolis bustling with activity and color—57 official LEGO colors, to be exact.

Says Lin, “NINJAGO is a mystical island, a world unlike any other. It’s not one specific country or culture, but a mash-up of different Asian influences from Thai to Chinese to Japanese.” In that sense, again, it’s patterned after the imagination of a child.”

In contrast to the grid-based Bricksburg and the urban sprawl of Gotham City, NINJAGO takes a layered vertical approach. “Not the safest place to live, but one of the most fun, certainly,” Taylor posits. “It’s non-linear. There’s not a straight line in the whole city. We wanted to give it a sense of history, so, near the bottom, next to the canals, it’s all old buildings and, further up, there are huge skyscrapers built on top of other buildings.”

The city’s showpiece, and, of course, the site from which Garmadon intends to reign supreme, is its tallest building: NINJAGO Tower, standing over 22 feet tall in human terms.

Matt Everitt, who oversaw the animation direction, explains, “You need to maintain the scale of the world you’re creating because a minifigure is just an inch and a half high, and even though they live in an epic world by their perspective, their tallest building is no bigger than an average room, to us. It helps to ground you, when you’re animating shots, to think that these are teeny-tiny beings in this macro universe, with a camera just an inch away from their faces.”

Indeed, Taylor remarks, “Charlie wanted to approach everything with two camera crews: one at human scale, for shots where we need to feel like we’re looking at a LEGO build, and one that’s literally at LEGO scale, as if it were being held by a minifigure.”

The film’s NINJAGO City is populated by no fewer than 315 characters, with 80 unique faces and a staggering 12,000 possible combinations of features through which they convey a surprisingly relatable range of emotion. The animators also fleshed out personalities with add-ons such as the bandage on Kai’s forehead, indicating his tendency to leap into things, and Lloyd’s green eyes, a non-standard LEGO shade developed for the movie, to hint of his secret identity.

“You have to think more old-school,” says McKay. “You can’t squash and stretch. You can’t use overly anatomical facial rigs. You might have to use a character’s entire body to express an emotion or elicit a feeling, for instance. I love the way they look when we shoot them. The simplicity of the character design makes for incredibly sweet, sincere, emotional animation.”

The actors’ performances also figured significantly. Since it’s such a small canvas, Taylor says, “All it takes is something subtle, like the slightest change of width between the eyes, to take a character in a different direction. On Lloyd, for example, we used some of Dave Franco’s expressions, like that half-smile of his, which is different from all the others.”

Subtlety was not an issue for the mechs. For this, the animators tag-teamed with LEGO designers for creations that are not only big, fearsome and beautiful, richly articulated, and appropriate to each ninja’s personality, but structurally sound. “We tried to make all the mechs seem huge,” says Everitt. Kai’s mech really stomps down the street and you feel the weight of every foot-plant. Cole’s too, when he’s ripping around corners on that giant robo-wheel, tears up the ground and has real impact. When Garmadon comes back with the most powerful of all, the Garma Mecha Man, it stands about as high as a small child if it were built out of physical bricks. And we know that because Simon Whiteley, one of our production designers, actually built it.”

The fact that LEGO minifigures don’t bend at the knee and elbow, once again, proved the biggest, and most inspiring challenge, especially, as Lin points out, “There’s a lot of unique action in the film—martial arts action, mech on mech, ninja on mech, and ninja on monster action.”

To give the martial arts its Jackie Chan flavor, animators first studied the Bruce Lee-meets-Buster Keaton fight scenes his films are famous for, noting the impact of each kick and punch, and how he utilizes space as well as objects in the environment. Says Everitt, “Jackie had so much influence on how we animated Wu, not only the way he fights but the way he moves through a scene, the way he might raise an eyebrow or talk to the kids.”

They then kicked it up a notch by hosting Chan’s 15-member stunt team to stage each fight in the film, which the animators then broke into its component parts—from the way they held themselves before a fight to the way they would use a staff or sword. Bean recalls how he and Lin first broached the notion with Chan. “He was looking at the LEGO minifigure and moving his arm around and he said, ‘Mmmm, I don’t think that’s going to work.’ Then we showed him the clip we were working on and I said, ‘Don’t worry about the limitations of the pieces. We’ll figure that out. Just choreograph it like you would any other film.’”

Sometimes it all comes down to…wagon wheels and sausages, Everitt concedes: “We do something called brick blur, choosing pieces from our brick library that create a feeling of motion, like windshield pieces, dinosaur horns, wagon wheels with a spinning effect, and sausages. There are sausages all over the place. When you watch it on the run you might not see it, but if you watch it slowly, you’ll find them.”

The final touch was an accidental villain in the form of an ordinary, playful—and naturally destructive—house cat. But, to the pocket-sized NINJAGO citizenry, says Lin, “It’s essentially a monster.” Shifting from one type of challenge to another, the CG team also took on the film’s fully digital beast.

“That gave us license to watch cat videos on the internet,” Everitt laughs. They also staged scenarios with real cats in the studio, interacting with LEGO models, to study how they placed their paws, blinked, or focused their gaze. Treats were attached to the mechs to record the ways in which the cats would approach, sniff, pounce or knock them over, and how the mechs would fall apart when batted around. “Because of its disproportionate size in the LEGO world, the creature would appear mostly in extreme close-up, so everything had to be right, from the ears and whiskers to the tip of its tail.”

“I think it might have as many hairs as a real cat,” states Taylor. In fact, the CG total was 6,493,248, an impressive technical achievement. “There’s no way to cheat it: you have to place lots of hair on the virtual cat and then make it react to light correctly. Charlie wanted the cat to be cute, soft and playful, even though it’s destroying the city.”

“To understand your future, you have to go back to your ninja past.”

Multi-media artist, musician and composer Mark Mothersbaugh continues his creative collaboration with Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, following the first LEGO feature.

“The movie weaves together elements of the real world and the mind of a young boy, who has created a mashup of Chinese and Japanese traditional characters, and I wanted the music to reflect that,” Mothersbaugh says. “You will hear both Chinese and Japanese instruments, but, because he’s a modern kid, there are also elements of electronic music. It’s not just the musical content but the arrangements and orchestrations that can take you as big as a child’s imagination or small and intimate, depending upon what the scene requires,” he adds, as the movie moves through light-hearted slapstick humor to action beats, and to tender moments of introspection.

Mothersbaugh employed a full orchestra, which he feels helps bring life and humanity to “these little plastic dudes.” Vocals were also important, as “the sound of human voices makes that jump easier. There is more choir in this movie, and it really helps to heighten the musical effects we were going for, including a choir singing ‘meow-meows’ as Lloyd talks to the monster.”

“What we want to achieve with these LEGO movies is for people to feel joy. We want people to laugh,” says Lin. At the same time, “We love to surprise them with the emotion. For us, the way these minifigures look and behave, they’re just naturally funny, and if we can offer the fun and the laughs, and then undercut that with genuine emotion in a way that people might not be expecting that’s the whole experience.”

Bean concurs. “I hope audiences will enjoy the action and the humor, and the exciting journey these characters take,” he says. “I hope they like the martial arts scenes that are not like anything they’ve ever seen before in a LEGO movie or a martial arts movie. But ultimately, I believe what they’ll take away is the heart of this film, which is in the relationships between Lloyd and his family, and his friends.”

ABOUT THE CAST

DAVE FRANCO (Lloyd) is having a prolific year. In January, he was seen in the Sundance World Premiere of “The Little Hours,” directed by Jeff Baena and co-starring Alison Brie, Aubrey Plaza, and Nick Offerman. The indie comedy topped the specialty box office opening weekend, earning over $61k in two theaters, making it the year’s fourth best specialty debut. This summer “The Disaster Artist,” premiered at the SXSW Film Festival to rave reviews and was picked up for release Friday, December 7th. The film, directed by James Franco, takes an in-depth look at how Tommy Wiseau conceived the cult classic “The Room,” what many consider to be one of worst films ever made.

Franco recently wrapped production on the Netflix original drama “6 Balloons,” playing a relapsed heroin addict, opposite Abbi Jacobson. He is also set to star in the dramedy “Zeroville,” directed by James Franco, as Montgomery Clift, opposite James Franco, Seth Rogen, Will Ferrell, and Danny McBride.

Last summer he starred was in the thriller “Nerve,” opposite Emma Roberts and directed by Henry Joost and Ariel Schulman; the hit sequel “Now You See Me 2,” alongside an all-star cast, featuring Mark Ruffalo, Michael Caine, Jesse Eisenberg, Woody Harrelson and Morgan Freeman; as well as the comedy “Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising,” reprising his role of Teddy.

In 2012, he first caught worldwide attention with his breakout role as the eco-conscious villain Eric in “21 Jump Street,” opposite Channing Tatum and Jonah Hill. He then rose to fame in 2013 when he first appeared opposite Zac Efron, Rose Byrne and Seth Rogen in “Neighbors,” and the following year, when he first played Jack Wilder in “Now You See Me.”

Franco’s other credits include “22 Jump Street,” “The LEGO Movie,” the comedy “Unfinished Business,” opposite Vince Vaughn and Sienna Miller, and “Warm Bodies,” opposite Nicholas Hoult.

JUSTIN THEROUX (Garmadon) is an accomplished film, television and stage actor who gained industry notice with his unforgettable performance as director Adam Kesher, opposite Naomi Watts and Laura Elena Harring, in David Lynch’s “Mulholland Drive.”

Theroux was most recently seen in HBO's critically acclaimed series “The Leftovers,” created by Damon Lindelof and Tom Perrotta. The show won a 2016 Peabody Award and Theroux received a Critics’ Choice Award nomination for his role as Kevin Garvey. The Los Angeles Times raved that Theroux’s was one of the finest performances on television and Vulture named his the number one Best TV Performance of 2015. “The Leftovers” was heralded in many publications as one of the Top TV Shows of 2015, including The New York Times, Variety, Time, Rolling Stone, and Vulture. The third and final season concluded in June 2017.

He will next star in Duncan Jones’s “Mute,” alongside Alexander Skarsgård and Paul Rudd. The Netflix film follows a mute man (Skarsgård) searching for a missing person in 2052 in Berlin, while dueling two rogue villains played by Rudd and Theroux. It will premiere in fall of 2017.

Theroux is also a talented film writer. In 2015, he co-wrote, with Ben Stiller, the script for the sequel to “Zoolander,” “Zoolander 2.” In 2012, he co-wrote “Rock of Ages,” directed by Adam Shankman and starring Tom Cruise, Alec Baldwin, and Catherine Zeta-Jones. Theroux also penned “Iron Man 2,” directed by Jon Favreau and starring Robert Downey, Jr., Gwyneth Paltrow, Mickey Rourke, and Scarlett Johansson. Prior to “Iron Man 2,” Theroux teamed up with Ben Stiller to pen and executive produce “Tropic Thunder,” which starred Stiller, Robert Downey Jr., Jack Black, Nick Nolte, and Matthew McConaughey.

Theroux's acting credits include Tate Taylor’s “The Girl On The Train,” David Lynch's “Inland Empire,” Zoe Cassavetes’ “Broken English,” Michael Mann’s “Miami Vice,” Ben Stiller's smash hit comedy “Zoolander,” David Gordon Green’s “Your Highness,” Mary Harron's “American Psycho,” David Wain’s “The Ten,” “The Baxter,” “Strangers with Candy,” “Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle,” “Duplex,” “I Shot Andy Warhol,” Greg Berlanti's romantic comedy “The Broken Hearts Club,” and “Romy and Michele's High School Reunion.”

Theroux made his directorial debut with “Dedication,” which premiered at the 2006 Sundance Film Festival. Developed by Theroux from a script by David Brombert, the romantic comedy stars Billy Crudup, Mandy Moore, Tom Wilkinson and Bob Balaban.

On television, he portrayed John Hancock in HBO’s award-winning miniseries “John Adams,” alongside Paul Giamiatti, Laura Linney, and Tom Wilkinson. He had a guest starring arc opposite Amy Poehler in “Parks and Recreation,” and was a recurring character on HBO’s acclaimed series “Six Feet Under.” Theroux has also appeared on “Alias,” “Sex and the City,” “Spin City” and “Ally McBeal.”

Theroux began his acting career in New York theater, starring opposite Philip Seymour Hoffman in “Shopping and F**king,” followed by “Three Sisters,” with Calista Flockhart, Billy Crudup, Jeanne Tripplehorn and Lily Taylor. He last starred in Frank McGuiness' “Observe the Sons of Ulster Marching Towards Somme,” an examination of the individual and collective desire to honor one’s beliefs and country. For his performance, Theroux was honored with a Lucille Lortel Award as well as the Boston Critics Award for Best Male Actor.

FRED ARMISEN (Cole) is one of the most diversely talented performers working today, with credits that run the gamut from acting, producing, and writing in both comedy and music.

He is the co-creator, co-writer and co-star of IFC’s “Portlandia,” alongside Carrie Brownstein. He received an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series in 2014 for his work on the show, and four nominations for Outstanding Writing for a Variety Series. In 2015 and 2016, the show received an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Variety Sketch Series. In 2013, Armisen, along with the other writers, won a Writers Guild Award for Outstanding Comedy/Variety Series, and were nominated again in 2014. “Portlandia” received the prestigious Peabody Award for excellence in 2011. It is currently in production for its eighth and final season that will air in 2018.

Currently Armisen can be seen in Aubrey Plaza and Liz Debtor’s film “The Little Hours,” alongside Alison Brie, John C. Reilly, Molly Shannon, and Nick Offerman.

On the small screen, Armisen lent his voice to A24’s Amazon original “Comrade Detective,” also starring Channing Tatum, Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Mahershala Ali. Additionally, he voiced a character in Nick Kroll and Andrew Goldberg’s Netflix original animated sitcom “Big Mouth,” with Maya Rudolph, Jordan Peele, Jason Mantzoukas and Kroll, set to be released in 2017.

Armisen continues his IFC relationship with the comedy “Documentary Now!,” a curated series of half-hour documentaries and biopics about completely fictitious subjects. The first season received an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Variety Sketch Series. The second season premiered in September, for which Armisen received a 2017 WGA nomination for Comedy/Variety Sketch Series. Seth Meyers is an executive producer, along with Armisen and Bill Hader, who play all the primary roles. In 2015, Hader and Armisen also released a 12” vinyl EP, Catalina Breeze, by their fictitious '70s soft-rock band they portray on the show, The Blue Jean Committee, via record label Drag City. Additionally, Armisen teamed last year with Lorne Michaels’ Broadway Video, Telemundo, and fellow SNL alum Horatio Sanz to create the digital comedy channel Más Mejor, aimed at the English-speaking Hispanic audience.

An eleven-season veteran of “Saturday Night Live,” Armisen has engaged audiences with memorable impressions and characters, including world leaders like President Barack Obama or Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, to half of "Weekend Update’s” unforgettable songwriting team Garth and Kat (with Kristen Wiig), to name a few. He closed out his last season in the guise of British punk rocker Ian Rubbish with a star-studded performance of the original song “It’s a Lovely Day.” Armisen won the WGA Best Comedy/Variety Sketch Series award this year and received a WGA nomination for his work on the show in 2016.

He has appeared in numerous feature films, including “Band Aid,” “Michael Bolton’s Big, Sexy Valentine’s Day Special,” “Ordinary World,” “Zoolander 2,” “7 Days in Hell,” “Easy A,” “The Rocker,” “Confessions of a Shopaholic” and “The Dictator,” as well as lending his voice to the “The Smurfs.” He has also appeared in “Tenacious D in the Pick of Destiny,” “Baby Mama,” “The Ex,” and “Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy.”

On the small screen, Armisen has made guest appearances on “New Girl,” “Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt,” “Animals,” “Modern Family,” “Difficult People,” “Brooklyn Nine-Nine,” “30 Rock,” “Broad City,” “Parks and Recreation,” and the cable comedy shows “The Sarah Silverman Show” and “Time and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job!” He was also seen in the Nickelodeon’s smash kids show “Yo Gabba Gabba,” and did voice-over guest spots on “Archer” and “Chozen.”

In February 2014, he was named band leader of the 8G Band on “Late Night with Seth Meyers.” The band, curated by Armisen, includes members of indie rock bands Les Savy Fav and Girls against Boys.

His career began as a musician in the Chicago-based post-punk band Trenchmouth, as well as the Blue Man Group. His transition to comedy came with the 1998 underground short film “Fred Armisen’s Guide to Music and South by Southwest,” which followed him through the Austin, Texas music festival posing as a journalist. In 2006, he interviewed Cat Power for the influential music website Pitchfork.com, and released a comedic instructional DVD, “Complicated Drumming Technique,” in 2007. Armisen landed on Rolling Stone's "Hot List" and has been included several times on Entertainment Weekly’s "Must List” for his many projects.

Armisen splits his time between Portland, New York, and Los Angeles.

ABBI JACOBSON (Nya) is the series creator, executive producer and star of the critically acclaimed, original web series “Broad City.” The show will premiere its fourth season on September 13, 2017 and has been picked up for a fifth season. “Broad City” was nominated for the ECNY’s Best Web Series award and received an individual nomination for illustration. It was has also earned nominations from the Writers Guild of America, Critics Choice Television Awards and MTV Movie & TV Awards.

MoMA and WNYC Studios have partnered to create “A Piece of Work,” a new podcast hosted by Jacobson, exploring works of modern and contemporary art. Over 10 episodes, Jacobson considers some of these questions in lively conversations with friends, curators, and artists. Each episode will look at specific artworks through the lens of a theme, from performance to Pop art to Minimalism, exploring the different perspectives and ideas behind the art of our time.

Jacobson recently appeared in “Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising,” and in the Dustin Guy Defa-directed film “Person to Person,” opposite Michael Cera and Michaela Watkins.

She also recently completed the Netflix heroin drama “6 Balloons,” alongside Dave Franco. The film, about the topical subject of the upper-middle-class heroin epidemic, unfolded on July 4th. Jacobson stars as Katie, who discovers her brother Seth, played by Franco, has relapsed on heroin while his 2-year old daughter is in his care.

Upcoming, Jacobson will executive produce FX’s female-centric half-hour comedy, “Meaty.” The show is based on Samantha Irby’s memoir and popular blog “B**ches Gotta Eat,” with Jessi Klein. “Meaty” follows Irby through failed relationships, taco feasts, her struggles with Crohn’s disease, poverty, blackness and body image.

Jacobson is an AOLArtist and New York Times bestselling author of her illustrated book, Carry This Book, which showcases bright, quirky, and colorful line drawings of the world around us, all through the framework of what we carry. She also has two coloring books: Color This Book: New York City and Color This Book: San Francisco.

Jacobson trained at Upright Citizens Brigade Theater.

OLIVIA MUNN (Koko) was most recently seen in “Office Christmas Party,” alongside Jason Bateman and Jennifer Aniston, and as Psylocke in “X-Men: Apocalypse.” Last year, she appeared in “Ride Along 2,” as a homicide detective, opposite Kevin Hart and Ice Cube. Up next, she will star in Shane Black’s “The Predator,” opposite Keegan-Michael Key and Sterling K. Brown, to be released on August 3, 2018.

From 2012 to 2014, Munn starred as Sloan Sabbith on Aaron Sorkin’s hit HBO political drama “The Newsroom,” which followed behind-the-scenes events of the fictional Atlantis Cable News (ACN) channel. She also teamed with The CW to develop a 1970s female sportscaster drama series, which will be produced by her CBS Television Studios-based company.

Variety recognized Munn as the “2014 Breakthrough Actress” winner at the Variety Breakthrough of the Year Awards. Her film credits include “Mortdecai,” “Deliver Us from Evil,” “Magic Mike,” and “Iron Man 2.” She had an arc on FOX’s Golden Globe and Emmy-nominated comedy “New Girl,” and appeared in the Emmy-winning Showtime environmental documentary series “Years of Living Dangerously,” from James Cameron and Jerry Weintraub.

Munn is a spokeswoman and activist on environmental issues, including working with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s and DoSomething.org’s “Green Your School Challenge” and Sierra Club.

An Oklahoma native, Munn spent most of her childhood in Tokyo, Japan and speaks fluent Japanese. She attended the University of Oklahoma after moving back to the U.S. and relocated to Los Angeles. In 2006, she joined G4 network’s popular “Attack of the Show!” as co-host. She later joined Emmy-winning Comedy Central series “The Daily Show with Jon Stewart” as a correspondent in 2010, becoming one of five female cast members to ever appear on the show. Her first book, Suck It, Wonder Woman: The Misadventures of a Hollywood Geek was also released that year and debuted on The New York Times and Los Angeles Times best sellers lists.

KUMAIL NANJIANI (Jay) is a critically acclaimed actor, writer and comedian, perhaps best known for his co-starring role as Dinesh on the award-winning HBO comedy series “Silicon Valley.” It won the TV Critics’ Choice Award for Best Comedy Series last year and has two Emmy and Golden Globe wins, as well as several Emmy and Golden Globe nominations.

Nanjiani recently added feature film writing to his impressive list of credits with “The Big Sick,” which he co-wrote with his wife, Emily V. Gordon. The film tells the story of their real-life relationship. Produced by Judd Apatow and Barry Mendel and directed by Michael Showalter, it also stars Nanjiani in the lead role, opposite Holly Hunter, Zoe Kazan and Ray Romano. The film premiered at the 2017 Sundance Film Festival to rave reviews and was released on June 23rd.

Nanjiani appeared earlier this year in the feature comedy “Fist Fight.” His many memorable comedic film roles include “The Five-Year Engagement,” produced by Judd Apatow, “Sex Tape,” and “Hot Tub Time Machine 2,” and, more recently, “Hello, My Name Is Doris,” “Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates” and “Central Intelligence.”

On television, Nanjiani is writer, executive producer and co-host of Comedy Central’s “The Meltdown with Jonah and Kumail,” along with Jonah Ray. He has had roles on IFC’s “Portlandia,” TNT’s “Franklin & Bash,” the reality show parody “Burning Love” and Comedy Central’s “Michael & Michael Have Issues,” on which he also served as a staff writer. He recently appeared in a guest role on the return of “The X-Files” on FOX, and has appeared on “Community,” “Inside Amy Schumer” and “Drunk History,” among others.

His 2013 comedy special “Kumail Nanjiani: Beta Male” was on several "Best of” lists for Vulture, Village Voice and The AV Club, and was chosen as one of the five best stand-up albums of the year by Entertainment Weekly.

Nanjiani also hosts two podcasts, “The Indoor Kids” and “The X-Files Files.”

He currently resides in Los Angeles, California.

MICHAEL PEÑA (Kai) has distinguished himself in Hollywood as an actor with a wide range of performances and has worked with an impressive roster of award-winning directors. Peña earned notable recognition for his performance in Paul Haggis’ provocative Oscar-winning film “Crash,” alongside Don Cheadle, Matt Dillon and Terrence Howard. He garnered multiple Best Ensemble nominations for his performance as Daniel the locksmith, winning awards from the Screen Actors Guild and the Broadcast Film Critics Association for the cast’s performance. In 2013, he was seen in the David O. Russell film “American Hustle,” which won a Golden Globe, as well as ensemble awards from the Screen Actors Guild and the Broadcast Film Critics. It was also nominated for a BAFTA Award and an Academy Award. In 2015, he was seen in two films to cross the $500 million mark; the heist film “Ant Man,” starring opposite Paul Rudd and Michael Douglas, and “The Martian,” opposite Matt Damon and Jessica Chastain. “The Martian” premiered at the Toronto Film Festival and went on to win a Golden Globe, was named Top Film by the National Board of Review, and was nominated for a 2016 Academy Award.

Peña most recently starred in “Collateral Beauty,” with Will Smith, Edward Norton and Kate Winslet; “War on Everyone,” opposite Alexander Skarsgård, which premiered at the 2016 Berlin Film Festival; and the comedy “CHIPS,” alongside Dax Shepard and Vincent D’Onofrio.

He can next be seen in “Horse Soldiers,” alongside Chris Hemsworth and Michael Shannon, as well as “A Wrinkle in Time,” opposite Reese Witherspoon and Chris Pine, the sci-fi thriller “Extinction,” and director Peyton Reed’s “Ant-Man and the Wasp,” in which he reprises his role from the hugely popular original “Ant-Man.” In addition, Peña will also lend his voice to the animated adventure “My Little Pony: The Movie.”

In 2014, Peña starred as civil rights leader and labor organizer Cesar Chavez in “Cesar Chavez,” directed by Diego Luna. He was also seen in the drama “Graceland,” and in David Ayer’s “Fury,” with Brad Pitt and Shia LaBeouf. In 2012, he was seen in the critically acclaimed “End of Watch,” which premiered at the Toronto Film Festival. For his performance as Officer Zavala, Peña was nominated for an Independent Spirit Award and the film was recognized by the National Board of Review as one of the Top 10 Independent Films of the year.

Peña has been seen in a range of films, including the independent “Everything Must Go,” alongside Will Ferrell and Rebecca Hall; “Gangster Squad,” opposite Sean Penn, Josh Brolin and Ryan Gosling; and the animated feature “Turbo.” His credits include “The Lucky Ones,” co-starring Rachel McAdams and Tim Robbins; Jody Hill’s comedy “Observe and Report,” with Seth Rogen; Robert Redford’s political drama “Lions for Lambs,” with Tom Cruise and Meryl Streep; and Werner Herzog and David Lynch’s psychological thriller “My Son, My Son, What Have Ye Done,” with Michael Shannon, Willem Dafoe and Chloë Sevigny.

Peña’s other noteworthy credits consist of Oliver Stone’s “World Trade Center”; Clint Eastwood’s “Million Dollar Baby”; Matthew Ryan Hoge’s “The United States of Leland”; Gregor Jordan’s “Buffalo Soldiers”; Antoine Fuqua’s “Shooter”; Brett Ratner’s “Tower Heist”; and Alejandro González Iñárritu’s “Babel.”

On television, Peña starred in the HBO film “Walkout,” based on the true story of a young Mexican-American high school teacher who helped stage a massive student walkout in the mid-1960s. Peña received an Imagen Award for Best Actor for his performance. He recently re-teamed with Danny McBride on the second season of HBO's “Eastbound and Down.” He also appeared on the FX drama “The Shield,” in its fourth season, as one of the central leads opposite Glenn Close and Anthony Anderson. His other television credits include Steven Spielberg’s NBC series “Semper Fi.”

Raised in Chicago, Peña began acting when he beat out hundreds of others in an open call for a role in Peter Bogdanovich’s “To Sir, With Love 2,” starring Sidney Poitier.

ZACH WOODS (Zane) is best known for his role on HBO’s hit comedy “Silicon Valley” as the hilarious Jared. His witty humor and acting ability has captured audiences nationwide.

The fourth season finale of “Silicon Valley” recently aired and the show has been renewed for a fifth. It won the Critics’ Choice Television Award for Best Comedy Series in 2015 and has been nominated for Golden Globes in 2015 and 2016, and Emmys in 2014, 2015 and 2016.

Woods is currently in production for Steven Spielberg’s “The Papers,” opposite Meryl Streep, Tom Hanks, Alison Brie and Carrie Coon. The history drama is inspired by true events and will follow a cover-up that spanned the administrations of four U.S. presidents, and pushed the country’s first female newspaper publisher and a hard-driving editor to join an unprecedented battle between journalist and government. The film is slated to be released in early 2018.

Woods began his career at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theater in New York, where he frequently performed with the group The Stepfathers, and in the weekly show “Asssscat.” He has also been featured in films such as “Mascots,” “Spy,” “In the Loop,” “Damsels in Distress,” “High Road,” and “The Heat.” He appeared on NBC's “The Office” as Gabe Lewis and had recurring roles on the HBO series “Veep” and USA’s “Playing House.” His additional television credits include guest roles on “The Good Wife,” “The League,” “Kroll Show” and “Comedy Bang! Bang!”

Originally from Philadelphia, Woods is an NYU graduate and resides in Los Angeles.

JACKIE CHAN (Master Wu) was born in Hong Kong on April 7, 1954 to parents so poor they had to borrow money to pay the doctor for his delivery. At the age of 7, Chan was enrolled in the China Drama Academy where he spent the next 10 years training in the art of Peking Opera. It was at the Academy that he learned the acrobatics, martial arts, acting, and singing that would later help him to become an international superstar.

When Chan left the Academy at the age of 17, the Peking Opera was no longer popular and many of the graduates turned to stunt work in Hong Kong movies. Chan soon gained a reputation as a talented and fearless stuntman and over the next few years he swiftly climbed the ladder of success and was soon acting, directing, and choreographing stunts for dozens of films.

After a series of attempts in the 1980s to break into the American movie market, Chan returned to Hong Kong to concentrate on making films in his hometown. He was extremely successful, yet never gave up his dream of making it in America. In 1995, he returned to the U.S. to film “Rumble in the Bronx,” which became a huge hit in 1996. Over the next several years, Chan starred in a succession of American productions, none more successful than the blockbuster “Rush Hour” series. Chan had finally fulfilled his dream of making it in America.

Over his nearly four-decade career in film, Chan has received hundreds of awards for his acting, directing, writing, and stunt work. His amazing accomplishments and success in the film industry were recognized in November 2016, when he was awarded an Honorary Oscar Lifetime Achievement Award at the Governors Awards, hosted by the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences.

For over the past 30 years, Chan has devoted much of his spare time and energy to charity work. In 1988, he established the Jackie Chan Charitable Foundation and, since then, he has worked tirelessly for dozens of charities both at home and abroad. In recent years, he has focused his energies on his Dragon’s Heart Foundation, which builds schools in remote areas of China. Among his many charitable endeavors, he is a Goodwill Ambassador for UNICEF/UNAIDS, a celebrity cabinet member of the American Red Cross, founder of the Jackie Chan Civil Aviation Foundation in China, and has hosted charity concerts and car races for many years. For more information, visit www.jackiechan.com on the web.

ABOUT THE FILMMAKERS

CHARLIE BEAN (Director) is an accomplished American director with an extensive background in animation. Bean got his start as a layout artist on “Tiny Toon Adventures.” Since then, he has worked on everything from “Ren & Stimpy” to “SpongeBob SquarePants” and has acted as a layout artist, storyboard artist, writer, director, showrunner and executive producer for a number of influential animated series.

After a stint as the creative director for Cartoon Network’s European studio, Bean returned to the U.S. to create an animated series based on the classic “TRON.” He served as the director, executive producer and showrunner of the unique and critically acclaimed CG/2D animated series “TRON: Uprising,” which brought the TRON universe to the small screen. Bean directed eighteen of the nineteen episodes of the series, including the pilot episode, “Beck's Beginning,” which was nominated for a 2013 Annie Award for Best Animated Special Production.

“The LEGO NINJAGO Movie” marks his debut as a feature director and the beginning of an exciting new chapter of his career. Up next, Bean is set to direct the live action-hybrid feature “In the Land of Imagined Things,” currently in development with a script by Jack Thorne.

Bean is a Los Angeles native and was recently married in Sydney, Australia.

DAN LIN (Producer) is the CEO of Lin Pictures, a next-generation production company with a deal at Warner Bros. in both film and television. His offices are based at the Bricksburg Chamber of Commerce in Hollywood, CA.

Since his company’s formation in 2008, Lin has produced films that have grossed over $2.5 billion in worldwide box office sales. He most recently produced the blockbusters “The LEGO Batman Movie” and “The LEGO Movie,” and is currently in production on “The LEGO Movie Sequel,” for a February 2019 release.

In the live-action arena, he will release two films later this year: “Death Note,” with director Adam Wingard for Netflix in August, and Stephen King’s “IT,” with director Andy Muschietti in September. He is also in pre-production on the live-action version of Disney’s “Aladdin,” with director Guy Ritchie, and Netflix’s “The Pope,” with director Fernando Meirelles.

On the television side, Lin is producing the second season of the “Lethal Weapon” series for Fox.

Prior to forming Lin Pictures, Lin served as Senior Vice President of Production for Warner Bros. Pictures. During his eight-year tenure at the studio, from 1999 to 2007, he oversaw the development and production of such films as Martin Scorsese’s Academy Award-winning drama “The Departed,” and “The Aviator,” also directed by Scorsese.

Lin serves on the Board of Directors for several non-profit organizations - the Coalition of Asian Pacifics in Entertainment; Pepperdine University’s Center for Entertainment, Media, and Culture; and the I Dream of Fish Foundation. He is also a mentor for both the Producer’s Guild of America and the Center for Asian American Media. In 2015, he joined the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

He received his undergraduate degree from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania in 1994 and his MBA from Harvard Business School in 1999.

PHIL LORD and CHRISTOPHER MILLER (Producers) are the prolific writing, directing and producing duo behind some of today’s most successful films, including “The LEGO Movie,” “The LEGO Batman Movie,” “21 Jump Street” and “22 Jump Street,” and “Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs.” Known for their unique sensibilities, the pair’s projects have successfully drawn in audiences of all demographics time and time again, having collectively earned over $1.2 billion at the worldwide box office.

Lord and Miller are currently in various stages of production on several high-profile film projects, including the sequel to “The LEGO Movie,” slated for February 8, 2019. The duo also just recently produced “Brigsby Bear,” which premiered at the 2017 Sundance Film Festival in January. The film’s rave reviews resulted in Sony Pictures acquiring the rights for distribution with an anticipated July 28, 2017 release. Additional projects in the pipeline for the multi-hyphenates are the “Men in Black” and “23 Jump Street” cross-over film titled “MIB 23,” which they will produce, and an untitled animated Spider-Man feature, which the pair will produce from a script penned by Lord. They are also a part of the Warner Bros. Animation Group (WAG), a select group of writers and directors that the Studio has brought together to form an animation think-tank with the goal of creating high-end animated movies. The most recent film from WAG was last summer’s “Storks,” on which they served as executive producers.

Throughout their career, Lord and Miller have seen incredible success at the box office. In 2014, they were the only writer/directors with two films ranked among the top 15 highest-grossing features of the year. Their most recent production, “The LEGO Batman Movie,” which released on February 10, 2017, reached over $300 million in the worldwide box office. “The LEGO Movie,” which the pair wrote and directed, debuted at #1 and remained on top of the box office for four straight weeks. The hugely successful film has earned over $469 million worldwide and was the 5th highest-grossing domestic feature of 2014. It also earned Lord and Miller accolades for their imaginative and unique sensibilities, as well as BAFTA, PGA, and BFCA Critics Choice Awards for Best Animated Feature, the National Board of Review Award for Best Original Screenplay, and the Annie Award for Outstanding Achievement in Writing for an Animated Feature. “The LEGO Movie” was also nominated for a Golden Globe Award for Best Animated Film and was named one of the top ten films of 2014 on over 75 critics’ lists. That same year, Lord and Miller directed “22 Jump Street,” which debuted at #1 and has garnered over $331 million worldwide, earning them praise for their innate ability to transform unlikely material into cinematic brilliance.

Lord and Miller previously directed the hit action-comedy “21 Jump Street,” which took in more than $200 million worldwide in 2012 and earned a Critics’ Choice Award nomination for Best Comedy. Their first feature was 2009’s “Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs,” which the duo wrote and directed. Loosely based on the beloved children’s book of the same name, the film earned Lord and Miller Golden Globe and Critics’ Choice nominations for Best Animated Feature, along with four Annie Award nominations for excellence in animation, including Best Direction and Best Screenplay.

On the television side, Lord and Miller are in development on “The Escape,” which recently received a put pilot commitment from ABC. The comedy, which Lord and Miller will executive produce with Dan Sterling, centers on a stressed-out urban professional who uproots himself and his troubled 19-year-old son to move to rural Idaho to live with his father, a retired surgeon with the ruggedness of Indiana Jones. Additionally, they are developing the podcast phenomenon “Serial,” for television.

Lord and Miller made the return to their television roots in 2015 as executive producers on the Fox comedy series “The Last Man on Earth,” which recently wrapped its second season. They also directed the first two episodes of the series, for which they received a Primetime Emmy Award nomination for Outstanding Directing for a Comedy Series. The show, written by and starring Will Forte as the sole survivor working to ensure the survival of the human race at the end of the world, was the highest rated broadcast series of the night, with 5.7 million viewers during its debut airing. Lord and Miller also directed the pilot episode of the breakout hit “Brooklyn Nine-Nine,” one of most anticipated television series of the 2013 fall season. Among their prior television writing credits, they served as co-executive producers on the successful CBS sitcom “How I Met Your Mother.”

Lord and Miller’s collaboration began when the pair met as students at Dartmouth College. They contend it was a mistake that landed them a job developing Saturday morning cartoons for the Walt Disney Company, which led to their stint developing primetime animated shows for Touchstone Television. In 2002, they executive produced, wrote, and directed the short-lived but highly buzzed-about animated series “Clone High” on MTV. Critically acclaimed for its well-developed and unique personalities as well as for its witty, fast-paced dialogue, it is probably best known for causing a hunger strike in India and being quickly cancelled. Miller voiced the characters of John F. Kennedy and Mr. Butlertron, and Lord voiced the characters of Principal Scudworth, Genghis Khan, and Geldhemoor, the Humkeycorn.

Phil Lord graduated cum laude from Dartmouth College with a degree in Art History. His college animated short “Man Bites Breakfast” won Best Animation at the 1998 New England Film and Video Festival and was included in several other festivals, including ASIFA East and ASIFA San Francisco. He is a native of Coconut Grove, Florida, and likes bikes.

Christopher Miller is a native of Lake Stevens, Washington. He left there to attend Dartmouth College, where he found a lifelong friend in Phil Lord, while obtaining a degree in government and studio art: three achievements, two of which are useful to his career.

MARYANN GARGER (Producer) was a co-producer on the hit animated comedy adventure “Flushed Away,” directed by David Bowers and Sam Fell, which swept the 2006 Annie Awards with five wins and three nominations and earned a BAFTA nomination for Best Animated Feature. She later reunited with Bowers as a producer on his 2009 feature “Astro Boy.”

Garger’s producing credits also include two animated “Astro Boy” shorts, as well as the award-winning animated short “First Flight,” which screened to acclaim at film festivals including SXSW, Tribeca and Montreal International.

Among her upcoming feature releases is the animated family comedy “B.O.O.: Bureau of Otherworldly Operations,” for director Tony Leondis, currently in production.

Garger began her career at Disney, on the feature “Pocahontas,” before segueing to a 20-year tenure at DreamWorks. There, she was among the first employees to build DreamWorks’ animation division and rose through the ranks from production manager to Executive of Production, working on such memorable titles as “Madagascar,” “Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron,” and “Prince of Egypt.” Following that, she worked for several years at Warner Bros.

On the television side, Garger was a supervising producer on the satirical animated series “Neighbors from Hell,” which aired on TBS.

ROY LEE (Producer) is the founder and owner of Vertigo Entertainment, a film and television production company with a first-look deal with Warner Bros. Lee has produced films that have grossed over $3.3 billion in worldwide box office sales, most recently with the global success of animated hits, “The LEGO Movie,” written and directed by Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, and Dean DuBois’ Academy Award Nominated “How to Train Your Dragon” and “How to Train Your Dragon 2.” He also produced director Andy Muschietti’s horror thriller “It,” based on the Stephen King novel.

His current development slate includes “Minecraft,” an adaptation of the massively popular video game created by Mojang and “How to Train Your Dragon 3,” Dean Dubois’ latest addition to the hit franchise, as well as the upcoming new installment of the LEGO universe, “The LEGO Movie” sequel, in 2019.

After forming Vertigo Entertainment in 2001, Lee earned his first producing credit in 2002 as executive producer on Gore Verbinski’s blockbuster “The Ring.” He went on to produce the 2004 haunted house horror “The Grudge,” which, upon its release broke the record for the biggest opening weekend of all time for a horror film. October 2006 saw the release of “The Departed,” a crime thriller directed by Martin Scorsese and starring Jack Nicholson, Matt Damon and Leonardo DiCaprio, which went on to win four Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Director and Best Screenplay.

A Korean-American born in Brooklyn and raised in Bethesda, Maryland, Lee earned a Bachelors degree from George Washington University and a law degree from American University. After a brief stint as a corporate attorney, Lee relocated from Washington, D.C. to Los Angeles in 1996 to pursue a career in the film industry.

CHRIS McKAY (Producer) most recently directed the worldwide box-office hit animated adventure “The LEGO Batman Movie,” the second feature in the LEGO film franchise. Previously, McKay served as co-director, editor and animation director of the 2014 blockbuster “The LEGO Movie.” His work as an editor on that film earned him the American Cinema Editors Eddie Award for Best Edited Feature Film, Animation, as well as an Annie Award nomination for Best Edited Animation Feature Film.

A Chicago native, McKay is the visionary behind numerous television and film programs of critical acclaim. He is the director, writer and producer behind the award-winning television series “Robot Chicken,” “Titan Maximum” and “Morel Orel.”

McKay has worked as a successful producer, editor and writer for Adult Swim/Cartoon Network. He has directed more than 50 episodes of “Robot Chicken,” one of the highest rated and critically acclaimed programs on Cartoon Network. Since its premiere, the show has received 14 Emmy Award nominations for Outstanding Short-Form Animated Program, Outstanding Voiceover Performance, and Outstanding Individual Achievement in Animations, and McKay won the Emmy in 2010 for his work as director. The show has also received five Annie Award nominations and won the award for Best Character Animation in a Television Production in 2008.

As director and a show producer, McKay made “Titan Maximum,” a groundbreaking animated program for Adult Swim that incorporated traditional stop-motion as well as 2D and 3D animation.

Additionally, McKay has been nominated for an Annie Award for Best Directing in an Animated Television Production or Short Form for his work on the darkly comedic “Morel Orel,” created by TV comedy writer Dino Stamatopoulos.

McKay is a regularly featured panelist at Comic-Con International, Wizard World’s Comic-Con Tour, and the Anime Expo. He currently resides in Los Angeles.

JILL WILFERT (Executive Producer) is Vice President, Global Licensing & Entertainment, for The LEGO Group. Wilfert began her LEGO career over 26 years ago, during which time she has held a variety of positions within the company’s U.S. and global marketing teams. She has been a key driver of the company’s collaboration with the entertainment industry, which began in 1999 with the introduction of the first licensed LEGO play theme: LEGO Star Wars™. Wilfert’s efforts to expand the company’s licensed product portfolio led to cooperation with Warner Bros., Disney, Nickelodeon, Cartoon Network, FOX, Sony Pictures and Universal, on properties from the “Harry Potter” and “Lord of the Rings” films to “Batman,” to “The Avengers” and “Disney Princess,” to “The Simpsons.”

In addition to translating the world’s best properties into building sets, Wilfert’s team, for the last nine years, has also led development of The LEGO Group’s entertainment and long-form content strategy. She has been instrumental in the creation and distribution of the hit television series “NINJAGO: Master of Spinjitzu” and “Legends of CHIMA,” as well as several LEGO Star Wars television specials and a miniseries called “The Yoda Chronicles,” a groundbreaking LEGO episode of “The Simpsons,” and numerous other specials featuring LEGO Friends, LEGO Super Heroes: DC Universe and LEGO Super Heroes: MARVEL. On many of these projects, she has served as executive producer as she and her team ensure that LEGO content can be seen regularly by children in more than 100 countries around the world.

In 2014, Wilfert’s six years of behind-the-scenes work to bring the LEGO brand to life on the big screen culminated in the theatrical release of “The LEGO Movie,” which opened to worldwide critical acclaim and awards and drove stellar global box office sales. Following the success of the movie, she was named #3 on a list of the 100 Most Creative People in Business by Fast Company magazine, and delivered a keynote address at MIPCOM in Cannes. She subsequently served as an executive producer on the second big-screen LEGO adventure, the worldwide hit “The LEGO Batman Movie,” in February of 2017. Additionally, she was an executive producer on the Disney XD series “LEGO Star Wars: The Freemaker Adventures,” and the 2017 video release “LEGO Scooby-Doo! Blowout Beach Bash.”

Wilfert currently is overseeing development on the next LEGO theatrical release, “The LEGO Movie” sequel, in 2019, as well as the animated TV series “Unikitty!,” featuring another breakout character from “The LEGO Movie.”

KEITH MALONE (Executive Producer) is Director, Content and Entertainment Development for The LEGO Group. He began his career at The LEGO Group in 1996, working as a creative in the in-house agency of the U.S. headquarters. With a background in advertising and animation, he led a team of internal and external creatives launching the company’s first small step into entertainment content with a six-minute LEGO Star Wars™ CGI-animated content short titled “Revenge of the Brick,” that aired on Cartoon Network in 2005. Its success paved the way for the LEGO brand’s future in content development, particularly around core properties like LEGO Star Wars, NINJAGO and LEGO Friends.

After a short stint leading creative for a children’s publisher, Malone returned to The LEGO Group in his current role, leading global content and entertainment development. Based in Hollywood, he leads a small team of creative producers focused on long-form content creation and theatricals. Malone holds executive producer credits across a wide range of production, including “LEGO Frozen Northern Lights,” in 2016; “NEXO KNIGHTS,” 2016; “The LEGO Movie 4D Adventure,” 2015; “LEGO MARVEL Super Heroes: Maximum Overload,” 2013; and “LEGO DC SUPER HEROES: Justice League – Attack of the Legion of Doom,” 2015. He produced “LEGO Star Wars: The Freemaker Adventures” in 2016 and “LEGO Star Wars: The Yoda Chronicles” in 2014.

He is an executive producer on the highly anticipated feature film sequel to “The LEGO Movie,” set for 2019, and is developing several other concepts in the treatment/script phase while he keeps his team humming “Everything is Awesome” on a daily basis.

SETH GRAHAME SMITH (Executive Producer) is a New York Times bestselling author, screenwriter, and producer of film and television.

Grahame-Smith’s novel, Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, debuted at #3 on the New York Times bestseller list, and he was credited as master of the “mash-up” literary genre. It has since sold over two million copies, as well as been translated into more than twenty languages and has been adapted as a major motion picture. His second novel, Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter, debuted at #4 on the New York Times bestseller list, and went on to sell more than two million copies and get its own feature film adaptation.

Grahame-Smith co-wrote the screenplay for this year's hit “The LEGO Batman Movie.” His current screenwriting projects include an adaptation of Neil Gaiman’s The Graveyard Book, as well as a sequel to Tim Burton’s 1988 classic “Beetlejuice.”

With David Katzenberg, he created MTV’s first scripted comedy series, “The Hard Times of RJ Berger,” and served as its show-runner for two seasons. He and Katzenberg, under the banner of KatzSmith Productions, most recently produced the horror thriller “IT,” based on the Stephen King novel. They are now overseeing a number of projects, including a feature-length version of the viral sensation, “Kung Fury.”

PAUL FISHER (Director / Screenplay / Story) is a writer and animation story artist. A native of California, Fisher attended the CalArts School of Film and has worked on projects produced by Disney, DreamWorks, Warner Bros. and Aardman Animations. His credits include “How to Train Your Dragon,” “Puss in Boots” and “Shrek Forever After.” “The LEGO NINJAGO Movie” is his directorial debut.

BOB LOGAN (Director / Screenplay / Story), a veteran of the animation industry, is a writer, story artist and designer who's worked for DreamWorks Animation, Sony Pictures Animation, Imagi, Reel FX and Disney Television. Some of Logan’s credits include the films “Puss in Boots,” “Megamind,” “Madagascar,” “Cloudy with A Chance of Meatballs,” “Open Season,” and the prime-time television show “The Simpsons.”

Logan is also a children’s book author and illustrator whose book, The Sea of Bath, is currently gaining worldwide distribution. Logan lives in Ventura, California. “The LEGO NINJAGO Movie” is his directorial debut.

WILLIAM WHEELER (Screenplay / Story) has written screenplays for six produced motion pictures. His filmography includes the 2016 release “Queen of Katwe,” starring David Oyelowo and Lupita N’yongo; “The Reluctant Fundamentalist,” directed by Mira Nair and starring Rizwan Ahmed; “The Hoax,” directed by Lasse Hallström and starring Richard Gere; and “The Prime Gig,” featuring Ed Harris and Vince Vaughn. “The Reluctant Fundamentalist” opened the Venice Film Festival in 2012. “Queen of Katwe” was runner-up for the People’s Choice Award at the 2016 Toronto Film Festival and won four NAACP Image Awards. For his work on the film, Wheeler was the recipient of the Christopher Award for feature film in 2016.

Most recently, Wheeler was credited as co-writer on “Ghost in the Shell,” starring Scarlett Johansson.

Wheeler has mentored filmmakers from around the globe through the Sundance Institute’s Feature Film Lab in Utah and the Maisha Film Lab in Kampala, Uganda. He has advised at Sundance International Labs in Jordan, Turkey, Japan and Greece and served as artistic director of Sundance’s 2013 Lab in Mumbai, India. He is a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

TOM WHEELER (Screenplay / Story) is a producer, screenwriter and novelist who most recently sold his novel Cursed to Simon & Schuster – a collaboration with legendary writer/artist Frank Miller. He is also the writer of the Academy Award-nominated animated feature “Puss in Boots,” and is currently penning the sequel. He recently sold an original feature spec, the now “Untitled Michael Bay Underwater Adventure,” with Bay attached to direct, and just completed work on the live-action feature “Dora the Explorer.” Prior to that, he was a writer on “Mandrake the Magician,” currently in development.

In television, Wheeler has developed and produced pilots for The CW, NBC and FOX, as well as the ABC pilot “Captain Cook's Extraordinary Atlas,” and was a consulting producer on the NBC series “Surface.” He was the creator/executive producer of the critically acclaimed 2004 ABC miniseries “Empire,” and creator/executive producer of the superhero drama “The Cape,” for NBC.

JARED STERN (Screenplay) is a television and film writer, director and producer. He was a writer on the worldwide hit "The LEGO Batman Movie," and recently completed principal photography directing the Netflix original film “Happy Anniversary," which he also wrote.

Jared is the creator and executive producer of the Netflix animated series “Green Eggs and Ham,” set for 2018, and is a member of the Warner Animation Group (WAG), a consortium of creatives overseeing animated films at Warner Bros, including the upcoming sequel to “The LEGO Movie.” His upcoming producing credits include the animated feature “Smallfoot,” currently in production.

Stern began his career at the Walt Disney Animation Studios, writing on such films as “Toy Story 3,” “Wreck-it Ralph,” “The Princess and the Frog,” and “Bolt.” His other film credits include “Mr. Popper's Penguins,” “The Watch,” “The Internship,” the animated adventure “Storks” and, most recently, the comedy “L.A. Times,” written and directed by Michelle Morgan, which debuted in competition at the 2017 Sundance Film Festival.

Stern is a graduate of Brown University.

JOHN WHITTINGTON (Screenplay) marks his second big-screen LEGO credit with “The LEGO NINJAGO Movie,” having served as a screenwriter on “The LEGO Batman Movie,” the worldwide hit released earlier this year. His recent writing credits also include the comedy feature “When We First Met,” for Oscar-winning director Ari Sandel. Opening this year, it stars Alexandra Daddario, Robbie Arnell and Adam Devine.

Whittington served as staff writer on the upcoming animated television series “Green Eggs and Ham,” based on the classic children’s book by Dr. Seuss. Among the other projects he has in development are “Untitled ‘Up’ House Project” for producer Will Gluck, the drama “True Fan,” and an adaptation of the Matthew Quick novel Boy21 for producers Lianne Halfon and Russell Smith.

HILARY WINSTON (Story) most recently shot her pilots “Real Life” and “My Time Your Time” at CBS. Prior to that, she created and executive produced the CBS series “Bad Teacher.” She has previously written for “Happy Endings,” “Community,” and “My Name is Earl.” Her writing credits include the feature script for “Barbie,” which Amy Pascal is producing. She also penned a memoir about her life, titled My Boyfriend Wrote a Book about Me.

DAN HAGEMAN and KEVIN HAGEMAN (Screenplay / Story) are brothers. As a writing duo, they caught the attention of numerous Hollywood filmmakers and sold several scripts across a range of genres before marking their feature film debut with the 2012 animated family comedy “Hotel Transylvania,” featuring an all-star vocal cast led by Adam Sandler. A worldwide blockbuster hit, the film earned Best Picture nominations from the Golden Globes and the Annie Awards. They followed that success with another blockbuster hit, “The LEGO Movie,” which earned a BAFTA win for Best Animated Feature Film and a Golden Globe nomination in the same category, as well as numerous other honors.

Among their upcoming projects in development are the action adventure “The Lies of Locke Lamora,” for producer Michael De Luca; the comedy “Untitled ACME Warehouse Project,” for producers Dan Lin and Roy Lee; the action adventure “Temple Stay,” for producers Chris Columbus and JK Youn, with JK set to direct; and “Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark,” with director Guillermo del Toro.

Dan and Kevin Hageman also collaborated on the animated Cartoon Network series “NINJAGO: Masters of Spinjitzu,” based on the LEGO toy series, and on the Netflix animated series “Trollhunters,” created by Guillermo del Toro.

KIM TAYLOR (Production Designer) joined Animal Logic in 2009. During his time with the company, he was Animal Logic’s Art Director on Baz Luhrmann’s “The Great Gatsby,” and was a Senior Matte Painter on “The LEGO Movie.”

Taylor’s additional credits include numerous VFX projects such as “The Truth about Killer Dinosaurs,” Terry Pratchett’s “The Hogfather” and “The Colour of Magic,” “The Other Boleyn Girl,” “The Knowing,” and “The Golden Compass.”

SIMON WHITELEY (Production Designer) immigrated to Sydney, Australia, to join Video Paintbrush Company before joining Animal Logic in 1991. During his time at Animal Logic Whiteley’s credits in Art Direction and Production Design include the film “Babe,” “Babe: Pig in the City,” “The Matrix,” “The Thin Red Line,” “Moulin Rouge!” and “Swimming Upstream.”

Most recently, Whiteley was production designer on “Walking with Dinosaurs 3D,” and “Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga’Hoole,” and served as art director on the Academy Award-winning feature “Happy Feet.”

MARK MOTHERSBAUGH (Composer)’s love of art started early in his childhood, just after it was discovered that he was extremely nearsighted and legally blind. Correctional eyeglasses offered him a new view of the world, inspiring his obsession with imagery and illustrations. His first works, which he began creating in the late ‘60’s and into the ‘70s, included his band DEVO. It became his best-known art project, within which he created a philosophy as well as music, costumes and videos. The success of the band led to a career as a film and television composer.

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