It may not remind you of "Twilight: Breaking Dawn," but "Ted" is
raking in big bucks, long lines, and a lineage straight from Silicon
Valley.
Tippett Studio is about as independent as a hugely successful effects
house can be: Not known to the outside world, Tippett is known for
amazing effects spreading over a wide swath of movies - from
"Twilight," of course, to "Enchanted,""Spore," the awesome
"Cloverfield," and my own guilty pleasure, "Starship Troopers."
The Berkeley company is known throughout the special effects business.
Founded by the legendary Phil Tippett back in 1984 largely with
stop-action animation on its mind, Tippett Studio went on to help
give movies like "Robocop" and "Ghost" their effects, even developing
some of the technology used in "Jurassic Park."
Now - "Ted." And, a cool shoutout from director Seth MacFarlane on
Twitter, following a huge (estimated $54 million) opening weekend,
that topped all others. That's "Hangover" money. All for a stuffed,
rated "R" bear.
And, like "The Hangover," you can expect numbers like that to warrant
a sequel (or, see those Vampires, two). Which means more business for
Phil Tippett, and his big business but still indie studio.
Scott can be found on Twitter: @scottbudman
