Award-winning visual effects supervisor Hoyt Yeatman makes his feature film directorial debut with Walt Disney Pictures' G-Force, a 3D family-friendly comedy mixing live-action and animation. Produced by Jerry Bruckheimer and featuring the voice of Nicolas Cage as a mole named Speckles, G-Force follows the adventures of a top secret team of animals trained to be spies. Bill Nighy and Zach Galifianakis are part of the live-action cast of G-Force, with Nighy playing a sinister industrialist named Leonard Saber and Galifianakis playing the creator of the G-Force covert ops team.

Hoyt Yeatman, Bill Nighy, Bill Aikin, Jerry Bruckheimer, Nicolas Cage, and Zach Galifianakis G-Force Press Conference

Can you tell us a little bit about the challenges of directing your first feature film?
Hoyt Yeatman: "I think, for me, it’s an amazing adventure to go from literally a conversation I had with my son around the dining room table to seeing a feature motion picture Hollywood film. You know, so, for me, doing digital effects is what I’ve done for many years, and I feel comfortable in that. And so my challenge was being a director and being able to tell a good story and to have good characters that have emotional reactions. And so, that, to me was what I was trying to focus on. I have tremendous support from Jerry and his group creatively in the studio at Disney, and also tremendous visual effect support from Sony Imageworks. So I did have the opportunity to kind of put the hat on in doing it."

"And because it’s a film that is quite complex technically, I was able to speak, I think, effectively to all the different departments and work creatively with them because we had a tremendous group throughout, working.

So it was a very difficult task and probably the hardest thing in the world to do, to direct. It’s a lot of responsibility, but at the end of the day, it turned out well. I’m very excited about the end product."

If you could talk to the animals, which animal would you like to talk to? And then, can you talk a little bit about the communication you would like to have?

Hoyt Yeatman: "I don't know. I mean for me, I enjoyed the mice, actually a little bit like that. Because they’re the ones that kind of are stepped on all the time and run around. But I think probably the mouse would be interesting to see what his life’s like, you know, something like that."

Jerry Bruckheimer: "I think I’m a dog person, so I think I’d like to talk to one of my dogs. See what their world is like."

Bill Nighy: "Yeah, me too. I have a dog. I have regular conversations with my dog. In fact he was the only person I spoke with for about five or six years while I was hormonally insane, during my teenage years. I asked him just about everything, and I couldn’t possibly tell you."

Why are you fascinated with animation?

Nicolas Cage: "Listen, I’m fascinated with all kinds of filmmaking. I try to keep it eclectic. I like to explore different characters in the different genres. But right now, I feel there’s a need to keep our children - and when I say our children, I mean children all over the world - smiling. And there’s nothing more sacred than the magical world of children. And with what’s going on in the economy and different elements, families are tense, people are losing their jobs. And I want to make movies that give families something to look forward to, to share with their children. So G-Force is a perfect example of that. The National Treasure movies I’ve done with Jerry, all of that, I think, is, I feel like I’m doing something on the right side of the line."

How did you come up with the voice of Speckles?

Nicolas Cage: "Well see I’m a fan of Mel Blanc and I grew up watching all the Looney Tunes characters, and to think that one man did the voice of Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Elmer Fudd, Yosemite Sam, is marvelous. And so I thought, when Jerry came to me about this, I said, 'Well, would you let me change my voice?,' because I wanted to channel that in some way. I thought this is an opportunity to break ground and do something new for me, to get me excited and hopefully entertain the kids with it."

Hoyt, how is it to entertain both kids and adults in the same movie? What do you have to do?

Hoyt Yeatman: "Well I think animation is a perfect candidate for that because kids, I think, respond very much to the characters and the physical action that goes on. And then I think the dialogue and how they say it and what they say, can be attributed more toward the adult, you know, toward the parent. And that’s a good way to work in kind of dual storytelling, you know, so it’ll entertain both the parents and also for the kids, which is what we tried to do."

You mentioned that you wanted to change your voice, but what kind of image does it make for you creating that voice?

Nicolas Cage: "Well Jerry showed me the pictures, and with all due respect, there was no way I was going to be a guinea pig. Guinea pigs just don’t do it for me. I personally think they’re obnoxious. They’re so cute and cuddly and furry, and there’s [nothing] about them I want to be. I need an animal that has a long tail and an attitude that says, 'Don’t you dare pick me up,' you know? So when I saw Speckles, I thought, 'You know, there’s a character I can play. That character has an opinion and a purpose and just tons of personality.' And so I started to look at his shape and his goggles and his little eyes, and I thought, 'Well, if I try this voice...,' and it would match the way he looked."

Do you still have your pet snake, and how does that work with your little boy at home?

Nicolas Cage: "No, I don’t. I don’t have any pets currently. I moved to New York City and I live in an apartment, and they don’t allow it. So, we had to find new homes for all the animals. And they’re being well taken care of."

Continued on Page 2