Leicester born filmmakers get exclusive access to Disney Pixar for the release of Onward

Local film and video producers Kieran Chauhan and Bipin Anand (co-founders of Leicester independent production company ImageNova ), flew out to San Francisco to visit Pixar's headquarters to film exclusive content on the making of Disney Pixar's latest production Onward (2020) and gain an insight into how they craft of our favourite animated films.

ImageNova are working with Leicester-based Oscar winning lens manufacturer Cooke Optics to produce a web channel that contains interviews with the best craftspeople in the film industry. The pair have gone to create content about the history of cinematography/animation at Pixar, and how they have modelled the look of some of their animated films (Inside Out, Toy Story 4, Onward) on some of Cooke's lenses that are handcrafted in Leicester.

Kieran and Bipin met with and interviewed a number of Pixar's cinematographers, animators and the Head of Studio and producer of Wall-E Jim Morris. Over the following weeks, ImageNova will produce a series of short videos that gives us a special insight into why Pixar's films master the magic of storytelling and visuals.

These videos will be released on Cooke Optics TV, a YouTube channel that ImageNova successfully created and pitched to Cooke in 2014. COTV features over 180 videos featuring exclusive interviews with some of the biggest cinematographers, camera operators and producers in the world, who discuss their films that include Joker, 12 Years a Slave, The Avengers, Gandhi and much more. Since its inception with around 180 subscribers, the channel now serves the 81,000 subscribers who mostly consist of film enthusiasts and filmmakers and has established itself as one of the biggest cinematography filmmaking channels.

A Dream Come True

Leicester-born Kieran Chauhan has been incredibly excited ever since ImageNova received the go ahead from Disney Pixar's director of Worldwide Publicity. "This is a once in a lifetime opportunity. I’ve always wanted to visit Pixar and get access to their animation studio and meet their team. To be able to collaborate with them on a project is a dream come true" Bipin Anand, co-owner of ImageNova says their hard work has paid off. "We've been building our company for over 10 years now, and this is by far the most exciting project we have been involved with. By building our channel over the years, Cooke Optics TV has opened the doors to the best filmmakers in the world, some of our heroes. Getting access to Pixar's studio is no easy feat since their studio is not open to the public!".

An insight into Pixar's storytellers

The technology behind Pixar’s animation and stories continue to advance as they consistently produce our favourite animated films. ImageNova spoke to Adam Habib, Patrick Lin, Sharon Calahan and Kim White (the cinematographers behind Toy Story 3/4, The Incredibles, Cars, Up, Inside Out and Onward). Pixar are influenced by real life camera and lighting techniques that are used in live action films and model these characteristics (such as cameras and lenses) in a virtual world to be used in their animations.

By using recognised filmmaking techniques and modelling the look of their films on real life cameras and lenses, they believe that this allows the audience to connect with their stories in the same way that you would with a live action film. In the videos on Cooke Optics TV , the filmmakers break down how they produced their work on some of these movies (the first video will be released on March 6th).

www.imagenova.co.uk
www.youtube.com/cookeopticstv / cookeoptics.tv

Bipin Anand
07988877619
bipin@imagenova.co.uk

Kieran Chauhan
07724 513451
kieran@imagenova.co.uk

NOTES TO EDITORS

ImageNova
ImageNova was founded in the Midlands in 2009 and is situated at Phoenix Square in
Leicester’s vibrant Cultural Quarter. They are working with some of the biggest companies in
the film and video industry to reinvent how they produce video content. They specialise in a
variety of high-end video content that includes television/online advertising, documentaries,
online content and promotional material. Their clients include large public sector
organisations such as the NHS and multinational companies such as Sony and Fujifilm.

Kieran Chauhan – Co-Founder, ImageNova/Producer
Kieran is a film and commercial director/producer. Kieran has worked in the film industry
across narrative and documentary interviewing stars such as Danny Boyle and Andrew Lloyd
Webber, and is currently developing factual/documentary television projects.

Bipin Anand - Co-Founder, ImageNova/Producer
Bipin’s wider role is producing adverts by seeing the production through from concept
development to final delivery. Bipin specialises in cinematography (camera and lighting) and
aims to ensure the visuals that are filmed are the highest production value.

Cooke Optics
Oscar winning, Thurmaston based lens manufacturer Cooke Optics has been manufacturing
the highest quality lenses for the film industry since 1894. 

Just some of the iconic films & TV series shot on Cooke lenses: Birds of Prey: And the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn, Bombshell, The Irishman, Motherless Brooklyn, Pain & Glory, Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance. Peaky Blinders, Mr Robot, A Star is Born, Bohemian Rhapsody, Dr Who (series 11), Vice, Halloween (2018), Fleabag, Sorry To Bother You, Stan and Ollie, Game of Thrones, The Crown, Ozark, Outlander, Altered Carbon, Westworld, A Star is Born, Bohemian Rhapsody, Venom, Darkest Hour, Call Me By Your Name, Guardians of The Galaxy, The Grand Budapest Hotel, 12 Years A Slave, Brokeback Mountain, Casino Royale, Erin Brockovitch, 12 Monkeys, Apocalypse Now, Harry Potter films, Her, The Empire Strikes Back, Some Like it Hot, Sparticus, Goldfinger, The Sound of Music, Superman, Star Wars: Return of the Jedi...

Cooke Optics TV
An online channel that contains interviews with some of the world’s renowned
cinematographers and other filmmaking professionals who share their advice and behind
the scenes stories from their experiences throughout their careers. It is one of the biggest
online cinematography channels with interviews with cinematographers such as John
Mathieson (Gladiator, X-Men); Seamus McGarvey (Avengers, ); Lawrence Sher (Joker); Billy
Williams (Gandhi) and many more.