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Kelly Cooney Cilella | |
|---|---|
| Born | Kelly Higgins Cooney 1979 (age 44–45) Rochester, Minnesota, U.S. |
| Education | University of Notre Dame |
| Occupation | Producer |
| Years active | 2001–present |
| Known for | film producer |
| Notable work | Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken |
Kelly Cooney Cilella (born 1979) is an American film producer best known for producing the 2023 animated teen comedy film Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken .
Kelly Cooney Cilella was born Kelly Higgins Cooney, to parents William and Mickey Cooney. She grew up in Rochester, Minnesota, where she attended Lourdes High School, and participated in Drama, played Basketball, and was nominated for homecoming queen. She graduated in 1997, and attended college at the University of Notre Dame [1]
After graduating in 2001, she landed a job at Dreamworks SKG, where she worked on Shrek 2 as a production coordinator and even voice Priscilla the fast food clerk in the film.
At Dreamworks, she held a lot of positions, from story supervisor and voice actress on Shrek The Third, to a development exec, to production manager on multiple films, to co-producer of the film Trolls: World Tour. [1]
In April 2019, Cooney Cilella discovered a screenplay idea from Brian C. Brown & Eliott DeGiuseppi based on their experiences growing up in Oviedo, Florida, entitled Meet The Gillmans, the film is about a family of sea monsters who relocate on land in a seaside town. [2]
Cooney Ciella signed on to produce the film (which marks her feature film producing debut), and she executed her vision on what the movie really is. One of the characters that Cooney Cilella was fascinated about was the teenage daughter of the Gillman family, Ruby, and wanted to make that character the protagonist of the film by having her choose her own destiny, and to make it into an animated teen comedy, which including the topic of Prom. [3]
Cooney Ciella, brought in a leadership team to make the film, which includes executive producer Mike Mitchell, co-producer Rachel Zusser, head of story Faryn Pearl (later Glenn Harmon), writer Brown, DiGuiseppi, and Pam Brady, production designer “POV”, art director Frederic Stewart, and original director Paul Tibbitt.
The film went through multiple story changes, characters changes, and scenes relocations, through the storyboard process. In August 2021, Cooney Ciella's direction of the film led to Tibbitt stepping down from directing the film, and Cooney Cilella brought in Oscar-nominated filmmaker Kirk DeMicco to direct, along with the additional of first time co-director Pearl, and the casting of Lana Condor as Ruby. [4]
Cooney Cilella helped the new co-directors by getting them to write additional material to the script, and collaborated with a team of story artists on the final battle third act between Ruby and the film's villain Nerissa.
Cooney Cilella had brought female leadership roles behind the scenes making the film. Cooney Cilella wanted to have many songs in the film to fit what Ruby listens to in her age while on land in Oceanside, with a total of 17 songs overall including two original songs made for the film, with a score by newcomer Stephanie Economou experimented with Dream Pop for the score.
on June 30, 2023, the film now retitled Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken, distributed by Universal Pictures, and made entirely at Dreamworks Animation Glendale was released in theatres nationwide, after it made its world premiere at Annecy Festival. It didn't well with theaters audiences due to heavy summer film competition with other high-profile Tentpole films, and the anticipation of another female-centered movie Barbie. But eventually caught on as a sleeper hit after it became the most watched movie on Netflix 8 months after its theatrical release, where it stayed on the top 10 for 3 weeks totaling 12.3 million views. [5]
A message picture is a motion picture that, in addition to or instead of being for entertainment, intends to communicate a certain message or ideal about society.
Paul Harrison Tibbitt IV is an American animator, songwriter, and voice actor, best known for working on the animated series SpongeBob SquarePants. After SpongeBob creator Stephen Hillenburg resigned in 2004, Tibbitt took the position of showrunner for the show. He also took over as the voice of Potty the Parrot, whom Hillenburg had voiced until his resignation. Tibbitt made his feature film directorial debut directing The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water. He studied in the Character Animation program at the California Institute of the Arts.
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Michael McCullers is an American writer and director.
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Lana Therese Condor is an American actress and YouTuber. She made her acting debut starring as Jubilee in the superhero film X-Men: Apocalypse (2016), and gained international recognition for portraying Lara Jean Covey in the romantic comedy To All the Boys film series (2018–2021). She has also portrayed Saya Kuroki in the television series Deadly Class (2019) and Koyomi in the film Alita: Battle Angel (2019). More recently, Condor voiced the titular character in the animated teen comedy film Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken (2023).
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Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken is the soundtrack to the 2023 film Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken, featuring the musical score composed and conducted by Stephanie Economou. The album also accompanied two original songs: "This Moment" by Mimi Webb and "Rise" by Freya Ridings. The former was released as a single on June 23, while the latter was released along with the soundtrack by Back Lot Music on June 30, 2023.
"Rise" is a song co-written and performed by English Singer-songwriter Freya Ridings for the 2023 animated teen comedy film Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken. It was co-written by Ridings, her husband Ewan J Phillips and Lostboy, produced by Lostboy. It appears on the soundtrack album Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken .
Faryn Pearl is an American filmmaker, animator, and artist best known for co-directing the 2023 animated teen comedy film Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken.