Amazon Studios: Mary J. Blige's My Life
We partnered again with Oscar-winning director Vanessa Roth (see Daughters of Destiny) to bring animation to her intimate Amazon Prime documentary for nine-time Grammy winning singer Mary J. Blige.
We are huge fans, and wanted to animate Mary in the most authentic way possible, which is why taking a handmade approach felt so important. The use of color and light helped us express her emotions, and illustrate how she was able to shine through the darkest moments. Painterly textures and hand-drawn lines helped us create an ethereal, intimate, and powerful portrait of her transformation from a young girl struggling to survive into an iconic artist inspiring millions of fans to love themselves. All animation was rotoscoped, with thousands of frames being made to tell Mary’s story. To better understand the process of rotoscoping, find a few animated timelapses from the film below.
The film premiered at Lincoln Center on June 23rd, 2021, and became available on Amazon Prime starting June 25th.
Check out our behind the scenes video below:
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Client
Amazon Studios & Entertainment One -
Animation Creative Director & Lead Concept Artist
Michaela Olsen -
Director
Vanessa Roth -
Animation Executive Producer
Jess Peterson -
Executive Producers
Mary J. Blige, Sean "Diddy" Combs, Tara Long, Mark Ford, Kevin Lopez, Jeffrey Harleston, and Jody Gerson -
Animation Creative Producer
Megan Barbour -
Producers
Ashaunna K. Ayars & Q. Nicole Jackson -
Storyboards & Post Production Lead
Sabrina Chaney -
Animators
Sabrina Chaney, Emily Collins, Dairys Escoto, Marisha Falkovich, Tynesha Foreman and Michaela Olsen -
Additional Concept Art
Emily Collins, Catherine Mehringer
Executive Music Producer Quincy Jones
Original Score Mervyn Warren
Lead Editor Parris Patton
Director of Photography Kalilah Robinson
Music Supervisor Trina-Marie Hill
Line Producer John Kalning
