a funny thing happened on the way to the future.

To meet the demands of the four TekWar made-for-television movies, produced by Atlantis Films, a hand-picked crew of animation and digital special effects talent was brought together. It didn’t take long for animators Derek Grime, Bob Munroe and illustrator/designer Kyle Menzies to realize they worked well together and should continue doing exactly this type of work. What’s more, Munroe had always wanted to form a company with his longtime collaborator, animator/programmer John Mariella. With a positive response to the idea from TekWar’s producers, and obvious signs of increased production activity on both sides of the border, it seemed the timing was perfect for the formation of a Canadian company specializing in animation and effects for episodic television and feature films.

But could they compete on an international level with the likes of Industrial Light and Magic? With the addition of a bona-fide sci-fi institution as ceo, they have more than a good shot: William Shatner is the fifth equal partner in Toronto’s C.O.R.E. Digital Pictures.

‘We were all brought together by the TekWar project,’ says Menzies. ‘Stephen Roloff, the production designer, decided there should be splashy computer graphics and animation on the show, and he didn’t want to farm it out.

‘He went about tracking down people. I was at topix (Computer Graphics and Animation) before, Bob (Munroe) was at Dome Productions, and Derek Grime had his own company. He brought us together and we did all the 3D animation. We came in and worked like dogs on this project,’ says Menzies.

Shatner directed the first TekWar movie (which was also the most effects-intensive of the four), and in the process learned first-hand what Menzies, Munroe and Grime were capable of. ‘He’s very excited about this technology, being able to sit down with us and come up with ideas for effects. When we approached him after TekWar with the idea of starting this company, he just loved it. He felt it was a great move for him, he really wants to be associated with a company like this, a Canadian company. And we felt it would be a major foot in the door for us in the l.a. market,’ says Menzies. ‘We’re getting a lot of calls from l.a.,’ Grime adds.

Since completing the TekWar movies, c.o.r