Delgo has the distinction of being the first independent all-CG animated film made outside of the major Studios. And yet, it's bathed in the glow of Hollywood, with a soundtrack made up of a star-studded cast.

Hmm. Don't have to be in Hollywood to get a Hollywood cast? What next, you don't have to be in Hollywood to make a good movie?

Fathom Studios, based in Atlanta, GA, will hopefully show the major studios a thing or two about what can be done when you get away from the mindset of Tinseltown. The renders look great, the talent is top-notch, and the latest trailer is very engaging.

Fathom has expanded its in-house Digital Dailies to its fan base, so you can see the film developing before your eyes online at the company's website. There is certainly a lot to see there.

If the story is as top-notch as all the other aspects of the production, Delgo could be a film to seriously challenge the status quo with regard to the way movies are made, as well as where they are made.

"DELGO came about while I was working with Marc Adler's interactive company, Macquarium. Marc always wanted to make a movie and when he saw the emerging possibilities in CGI animation, he decided it was time. That was about six years ago. Since then we pulled together funding, software, and an amazing staff to create the world of DELGO. We've been in production since 2001, working mainly with Maya and Final Cut. We expect to wrap late this year.

DELGO is a fantasy adventure and making it has been exactly that.

From the start, I wanted to create something different, otherworldly -- but something that is also grounded in reality. So, first, we did a lot of anthropological and archeological research. We examined the evolution of different species and environments. We visited zoos, aquariums, and natural history museums to study different textures of plants and animals. We were fortunate in that one of our art directors, Mark Jackson, has an extensive background in natural history that really helped us create a new world of creatures, environments and characters.

We knew we wanted two primary races in the story. We gave one race, the Nohrin, wings and set them to live high in the mountains. The other race, the Lockni, have magical powers that tie them closely to the land. Initially, we thought about feathered wings for the Nohrin, but one day Mark Jackson tried something with reflective dragonfly-like wings, which turned out to create a beautiful effect in lighting. It worked perfectly and led us to the idea of stained glass structures, which took us to Art Deco and Art Nouveau. This became the style for the Nohrin people, making them a sort of aristocraticracy. In contrast, we gave a Lockni a more tribal style, closely related to Native Americans. Our art directors began designing the characters, their costumes and homes. The Nohrin have very ornate costumes with light, airy colors and live in large sweeping castles to match their refined existence. We gave the Lockni earth-toned clothing made of simple patterns and created smaller, communal villages.

Next, came the rest of DELGO's world: the plants and animals. We have about thirty different species of plants and animals that vary from the adorable to the bizarre. The Banti Frog, for example, has a trumpet-like nose that swings around when he moves and his belly lights up when he croaks. We also have a predator called the sarc, it's sort of a cross between a lion and a praying mantis. We had a lot of fun creating this world.

For the final rendered look of DELGO, Marc Adler and I really wanted something that had the same intensity and dynamic range of the coral reef--the kind of vivid color you find in a Van Gogh or Maxfield Parrish painting. So we made sure that all of our color choices were strong and vibrant for our characters as well as the sets. The lighting in DELGO is akin to the stage-very strong colors for key and fill lights to help strengthen the moods.

Casting was also an interesting process. A lot of people were involved, but really our artists cast the movie. As an independent production, we knew we had to grab the actors' attention. We figured a simple offer letter that could get buried on an agent's desk wouldn't be enough. So we decided to let the film sell itself. We worked with local actors in Atlanta to record dialogue for a few scenes and from this, our artists created a teaser and later a full trailer. We sent the mock trailer along with stills, a visual treatment book, a one-sheet, and other collateral to the actors. It worked and we were able to sign an ensemble cast of remarkable talent.

It's been such a thrill to watch it all come together. Working with the amazing artists on staff and the voice talent from Hollywood has been a dream come true. I truly hope audiences enjoy watching DELGO as much as we've all enjoyed making it."

     --Jason F. Maurer, co-director, DELGO