Clay Kaytis promises that the Angry Birds sequel will soar higher

With a sequel on the cards, it’s time to meet the man behind the scenes of The Angry Birds Movie, Clay Kaytis
Angry Birds The Movie
Angry Birds The Movie

The image of birds being shot into the air and crashing against green pigs will never be lost from human memory. Thanks to director Clay Kaytis, Angry Birds, the smartphone sensation has been immortalised on the silver screen. From being a reluctant animator to directing the world’s favourite game into a movie, the California-based 44-year-old shares tidbits about himself and his tryst with Angry Birds. 

Clay Kaytis
Clay Kaytis


  
Was animation always your dream? If not, how did you stumble upon it?  
I was going to the University of Southern California, but was not studying animation. I found a class, a night school in picture animation and signed up for it. I didn’t know if I liked animation and always had my suspicions about enjoying it. They animated a bouncing ball on paper and it was a life-changing oment. I was excited and wanted to do it for the rest of my life, and it turns out that I do! 

You have 19 years of experience in Disney. Why did you decide to walk away from Disney at such a crucial juncture?  
Disney has a lot of amazing directors with a lot of films planned. I realised that it might take close to seven years for me to direct a movie under the Disney banner. Right when I was working for Frozen, Rovio productions made an offer to direct Angry Birds. The need to explore myself and widen my horizons drove me to take the offer. I had a warm parting with Disney and have plans for live action movies too.  

Clay Kaytis
Clay Kaytis

Given the many special versions that were made of the original game, what challenges did you face while translating the game into the movie?  
I think the biggest challenge was taking the thin story line that the game has, brushing that up and figuring out how to make it into a 90-minute movie. Anyway, that was a good thing.It was liberating that there wasn’t a deep storyline that we had to follow. We had room to make sense of details like why there is a sling shot, why the birds fly through the air and crash on things but don’t get hurt.  It was a challenge to take those things and make a story that works for us.  

What plans do you have for the sequel of Angry Birds?
When Rovio productions and SONY announced a sequel to release on September 20, 2019, we were very excited because the second movie will definitely be better than the first one. In the first, we established the characters and story line. In the second, we have a lot of liberty regarding the story line and I personally can’t wait to see how we develop the story.

‘Angry Birds – The Movie’ will premiere on June 25 at 1 PM and 9 PM only on Sony PIX.

Related Stories

No stories found.
Indulgexpress
www.indulgexpress.com