Simon Otto, the How to Train Your Dragon trilogy’s head of character animation, is the executive producer of new Netflix animated series A Tale Dark & Grimm. It’s based on books by Adam Gidwitz and premieres this Friday October 8th. Otto dives into this unique Hansel & Gretel adventure and also teases a major animated feature he’s directing.
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LCJ Q&A Podcast is hosted by Emmy award-winning film critic, entertainment reporter and media personality Jackson Murphy. Jackson interviews actors, directors, writers, producers, animators, TV hosts, comedians and other celebrities. They discuss their latest, past and future projects.
Since the podcast began in 2011, Jackson has welcomed-in nearly 150 entertainment industry figures. Jackson’s first guest was Tom Kenny, the iconic voice of SpongeBob SquarePants. Kenny talked about his latest film, “Winnie the Pooh”, in which he voiced Rabbit. Other topics included new “SpongeBob” episode, “Frozen Face Off”. And Kenny also celebrated his 49th Birthday that week.
In 2012, Jackson interviewed Lee Hirsch, director of the documentary “Bully”, actor/director Matthew Lillard and “The Middle” star Atticus Shaffer. 2013 guests included Oscar-winning director Chris Wedge (“Ice Age” movies). Also on the show in ’13 were the directors of “The Croods”, Chris Sanders and Kirk DeMicco. 2014 guests included Kathy Griffin, Chaz Ebert, wife of late film critic Roger Ebert and animation historian Jerry Beck.
2015 saw Oscar-winning screenwriter Diablo Cody (“Juno”) and “Hotel Transylvania” trilogy director Genndy Tartakovsky appear on the show. 2016 highlights included comedian Adam Pally, LAIKA founder Travis Knight and Oscar-winning “La La Land” composer Justin Hurwitz.
In 2017, the podcast featured “Fairly OddParents” creator Butch Hartman, Emmy-winning host Todd Newton, and comedian Gilbert Gottfried. Also, the popular Jenna Wolfe and Oscar-nominated writer/star of “The Big Sick”, Kumail Nanjiani dropped in.
In 2018, 4-time Oscar winning “Wallace & Gromit” creator Nick Park and “People NOW” host Jeremy Parsons joined LCJ. The star and writer/director of the critically-acclaimed film “Eighth Grade” – Elsie Fisher and Bo Burnham – also joined the show.
2019 guests included “How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World” director Dean DeBlois and Emmy-winning host Wayne Brady. 2020 guests included Oscar winner Glen Keane and “Phineas and Ferb” creators Dan Povenmire and Jeff “Swampy” Marsh.