Bryan Konietzko Teases Future of Avatar Studios | Exclusive Interview with ATLA Co-Creator | Avatar

[Music] Avatar was the hardest thing I had ever done until we did quora now we're getting to expand the franchise in different directions all at once it's a challenge hi I'm Brian konitzko co-creator of avatar The Last Airbender and The Legend of Korra and co-chief creative officer of Avatar Studios [Music] I graduated from the Rhode Island School of Design in 1998 that's where I met Mike dimartino co-creator of Avatar they called it the tune boom of 98 and there was a big push for Prime Time sitcom animation there was this Gap there was this idea that animation for adults was just Prime Time stuff where people were either being crude or sarcastic and then there was like kid stuff I have grown up it is Nature's Way an opportunity came up to work on Invader Zim and that got me over to Nickelodeon it's over attack the Earth is mined at devastate I went over there as a storyboard artist it was just like pure creativity no Santa is going to destroy you I ended up becoming art director on that show for the second season got sent over to Seoul South Korea to work with the Animation Studios that gave me this whole window and something I was really curious about it was the actual animation But first you gotta check out my new Venture moving pictures that experience and exposure really fed into making Avatar hopefully our visit to all of the air temples will give you the inspiration you need to delve more deeply into your studies and we got really lucky that there was just this moment in time where Nickelodeon wanted to Branch out from doing comedy Coming of Age type shows that they were really well known for this time we're going to try something a little different we wanted to create a story that we hoped would have a shelf life you're not just being entertained and distracted for 22 let's not have that reset but let's let the characters grow let's have an arc mastering the elements takes years of discipline and practice but if the world is to survive you must do it by Summer's end it's not magic it's something that's earned it's something that's learned I better spend the whole day training it's this cumulative effect you're gaining something and you're you're moving in a Direction that's how you tell an epic scope there has to be a journey you'll need these you have a long journey ahead of you being a kid who grew up on Star Wars and Willow and getting to immerse into a huge World it just gave me that feeling that I want to create stuff like that what about the time you guys took down the Fire Lord that must have been epic Avatar's what we wanted to make but when we're talking about deep long form storytelling we didn't create that it was something we as Western viewers we were just craving that if you were watching anime that was just normal what how where'd you get that idea you were only exposed to American animation at that time yeah that probably felt pretty fresh that's probably why we had a lot of adult viewers and people who weren't even usually into animation Avatar state always described Avatar as an homage a love letter to Japanese anime but we were always conscious that we weren't trying to pass it off as a counterfeit I didn't want to like just copy what we were seeing and what we thought was cool how could we make something from the heart that was authentic but was also wearing our inspiration on our sleeve the Cora Mike and I we were both burnt out on TV production trying to execute a vision through a team of people spread across the world is really challenging you go through your own character arcs when you make these things you go through your own challenges you know it's okay why don't you take a break I got to a point where when I would watch not just animation but scripted stuff I could hear the network notes it was hard to watch even my friends shows why did you give me Momo's ears at least you don't look like a porcupine my hair is not that spiky at the beginning of Avatar I was so fueled by inspiration by the end of that I was like out of that fuel don't deal with your repressed feelings there will be severe consequences to your health and your job our shows are always about balance sometimes you need to swing in a different direction so I really took a break from animation it was awesome because I found stuff that refilled that tank that honestly I don't think I had topped off since the beginning of Avatar 20 years ago you inspired us once we heard that used to in the Wilds we decided to try it too and we got you know sucked back into the TV World Nickelodeon was under new leadership and they were like hey we really love and respect Avatar and we would love to have you guys come back at that moment we knew you had returned to the world I was like I've spent the majority of my adult life in that building in Burbank California and I need a different environment what if we did a bigger overall deal instead of just project project somehow we got our own Studio within Nickelodeon so I created a place I could truly call home so now with the stuff we're doing Avatar Studios we're just like it's years later what technology is available how can we even push that further varex setting up my new technology division I've seen the future and the future is magnets I like to see Technology support artwork I don't want to see artwork support technology wow I didn't know you could draw there's this great Miyazaki rule everything you do at Studio Ghibli even if it's going to end up 3D has to start as a handmade piece of art and for me I mostly did landscape oil painting I love that stuff so one of the biggest reasons for co-creating Avatar was like a chance to do cool background paintings epic Landscapes it's a full up here it's beautiful and more importantly the Fire Nation can't find us actually all of Avatar almost all the storyboards were drawn on paper we came back two years later to do Cora and the industry had changed everybody was drawing storyboards in a program and Mike and I didn't know how to use the program from now on developing this technology is your number one priority I'm not the most technologically minded person but I'm pro pro technology like it was gonna make the art better this is going to change everything things have obviously changed a lot you know that was 20 years ago since we created Avatar the world has changed in the hundred years you've been gone [Music] has gotten so incredible what is that you have your background art your character art and you slap it together and you photographed it and then they figured out oh well if we do this we can get some depth we can get some soft focus all the while mentally composing the most exciting tale ever told between Avatar and Cora we added one in-house compositor and that level this up hugely and you're seeing that something like Arcane don't get me wrong the art direction is the painting all that's beautiful but that shows compositing that's the secret sauce that gels it all together and they're compositing I urge you to meditate on these Visions even in 2D you can simulate some 3D stuff it's this hand drawn hand-painted world but the camera's moving freely through it you're not stuck in this kind of rigid 2D World some people call that two and a half D we at Avatar Studios we are very into utilizing technology to support us and to help the artwork have more Dimension and depth well I think you all look perfect we feel like at its heart we want to keep that 2D craft alive some traditions have purpose we still find the Avatar world to be really rich for us creatively and we always would have ideas like while we were making one of the two shows wow wouldn't it be cool to like explore that wouldn't it be neat to do something in a different tone and now we're getting to expand the franchise in different directions all at once your on-screen Talent kid leave the storytelling to the Masters now we're making a movie our first movie as cool as it was to work on TV like features were like that's where you get to really craft something that you're not just rushing and having to put it out and so that always as an artist that that was like really alluring to me we're gonna do big business with these movers as I call them it's executing it this is the hard part getting those ideas woven together in some sort of a meaningful satisfying way then executing that in animation which is really a hard medium especially hard to do consistent on schedule our budget I can't really wrap my head around the Final Mix and the final color correction on the feature it's just a mover don't overthink it Avatar was the hardest thing I had ever done until we did quora which was even harder now we're talking about doing multiple projects at the same time including feature films how did I get myself into this but as with the first two series you know it's worth it you represent the future of a culture that is being reborn we do our jobs well we will have taken advantage of these amazing opportunities and hopefully created some beautiful artwork and some meaningful storytelling that will resonate with people

Channel: Avatar: The Last Airbender

Views: 470,131

Keywords: nickelodeon, animation, anime, avatar, avatar the last airbender, atla, avatar on netflix, netflix, the last airbender, aang, toph, team avatar, avatar studios, zuko, toph beifong, full episode, full episodes, live action, netflix avatar, avatar the last airbender netflix, netflix avatar the last airbender, avatar netflix, avatar netflix trailer, avatar netflix clip, avatar netflix live action, avatar netflix cast, daniel dae kim, katara, azula, Gordon Cormier, Ian Ousley, animated

Id: OyyG9qHYumU

Length: 10min 45sec (645 seconds)

Published: Sat Feb 18 2023