Film studio hopes to connect big ideas with local dreams
Illustrations courtesy of SayRoar Studios This scene from ‘The Goldfish Project’ shows Jaime, Gizmo, and Kate in a scene from an underwater adventure ride at a made-up theme park. SayRoar, the studio creating ‘The Goldfish Project,’ is offering a film and arts academy for local artists and filmmakers this summer.
This scene from ‘The Goldfish Project,’ called ‘Gizmo’s Payback,’ shows how animation is built from frame to frame, with the finished result in full color.
COEUR d’ALENE — Jeff Drew knew his future rested in the world of animation from an early age.
“At what point did I know I wanted to make movies or entertainment?” Drew reflected. “I knew after reading material on Walt Disney, how he didn’t have the resources to create Snow White, how he rallied resources to make iconic films in the early years of his career. I knew then I wanted to make movies.”
Drew and his band of fellow artists developed SayRoar, a movie studio born from the development of his animated feature film, “The Goldfish Project,” currently in production. “The Goldfish Project” follows the time-traveling tale of a 14-year-old boy and his goldfish. The film is a sliver, Drew said, of the studio’s future.
“I’m proud of our film,” he said, “I’m proud of our team, and I’m exceptionally proud of our work.”
That work includes plans to expand the world of “The Goldfish Project” into a trilogy, as well as develop and create other animated and live-action projects.
Closer to the community, however, the team at SayRoar is particularly fond of their Summer Academy, which looks to guide aspiring filmmakers through the production process: from writing to laying out animated sequences to editing to sound and everything in between.
“Anyone who’s seen a movie in the last five years, when the end credits roll, they see the thousands of people who participate in the process,” he said. “The Academy gives people an opportunity to enhance their craft and develop their work.”
Drew envisions the Academy, which is still taking applications for its summer program at their Coeur d’Alene offices, to accomplish more than honing their students’ projects.
“This really is for everybody who wants to carve out a career in this industry,” Drew said. “This could be for a student who graduates from high school and decides college isn’t for him, but maybe filmmaking is. This is for people who haven’t necessarily been exposed to opportunities within the industry.
“Coming to this Academy, they’ll be exposed to this process, but they can also find opportunities to work with us on our studio projects. Being in North Idaho, it’s not likely they’ll have an agent or a connection to get a project to the right people.”
The Coeur d’Alene area might seem like an unlikely destination for a studio, but the SayRoar team’s decision to set up shop in North Idaho was an easy one.
“I’ve spent time in Los Angeles, in New York, in Florida, in Texas,” Drew said. “There’s really no place like this.”
Alex Jones, marketing director for SayRoar, said he sees economic opportunity in every nook Coeur d’Alene can offer.
“I moved here from Seattle,” Jones said, “because I’d heard so much about the entrepreneurial scene. After I started my [web agency] here, I saw so many avenues of opportunity.”
Jones and Drew both agree the local area will benefit from opportunities they can create with SayRoar.
“I think, in general, people like the escape of a movie,” Drew said. “When they go to a theater, they can see a major franchise film. But now, they’ll have a personal, local connection with that movie, whether they worked on the film, learned in the Academy or simply recognize the names they see.
“How many people have a dream and just give up on it? They think about what could have been until the day they die. Having SayRoar here allows people to take part in the process and reach their own dreams, even if they’re dreams that never occurred to them before.
“I hope North Idaho will dream big with us.”