Netherlands Film Fund supports Durian
on November 30th, 2009, by Ton
We already had a small contribution from the Dutch Film Fund to develop the script and storyboards. After a careful deliberation the Film Fund board today decided to also grant us support for the realization of the film. This will allow us to extend the project with three months (end of june), cover up for much needed expenses (like voice actors, hardware, PR) and most likely even extra team members!
We’re all incredible happy here… Sintel is very complex to make, much more than previous projects. This additional funding – which nearly doubles our current budget – is crucial for that.
In past conversations the Film Fund’s main concerns were with the quality of our projects, to some extent the movies didn’t exceed the level of a technical demos. It’s a great confirmation of our current work and quality demands that we now have their blessing this time. 
-Ton-
November 30th, 2009 at 18:58
That’s really fantastic news!
Please don’t scope up though, just use that time for extra polish. You’ll need it for 4k.
November 30th, 2009 at 19:01
Happy new funding!
November 30th, 2009 at 19:04
Agreed!
Sintel has everything to become a great short film!
I would love this movie had at least 15 minutes, without the credits.
November 30th, 2009 at 19:08
Fantastic news!
That’s a huge recognition for everything related to this production: the tools and the artists. Congratulations!
I believe everyone who uses Blender is very proud of this news.
November 30th, 2009 at 19:33
AAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!!! YEEEEEAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!!!
So it’s just me who’s this excited to hear that the funding went through all right, huh?
And hi, Ben! I hope you recover from jet lag soon!
November 30th, 2009 at 19:37
Sintel has to exceed all expectations in all departments. I have to admit that BBB, although nice, didn’t even meet my expectations, let alone exceed them.
November 30th, 2009 at 19:52
Congratulations! More epic!
November 30th, 2009 at 20:00
Congrats, good to see that the effort to get all the durian papers there to the deadline worked out in the end! PARTY!!!
And PARTY since Ben is on the team from now! You all should get a week off and enjoy the nice time and call it inspirational recreation phase or so!
Cheers to the whole team and devs!
November 30th, 2009 at 20:03
SuperDuper
November 30th, 2009 at 20:08
Aww, thanks D! I’m holding up alright for now, but we’ll see what tomorrow brings when I actually start working more…
We’re all very excited here at the studio, Colin was skating around the floor in his socks for a while with glee.
November 30th, 2009 at 20:10
You guys seriously have the coolest job ever.
November 30th, 2009 at 20:16
Deserved!
November 30th, 2009 at 20:24
Skating around in socks with glee? Ali’d better be there with his camera!
November 30th, 2009 at 20:38
Congratulations. I will definitly come to the release party!
November 30th, 2009 at 20:39
Gods speed!!!!
November 30th, 2009 at 20:43
YEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh
hhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!! wohuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu
uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu
congrats ton and durian !!!!
yeah !!!!!
November 30th, 2009 at 20:43
YAY! That’s really great news
Everything goes great so far!
November 30th, 2009 at 21:00
Awesome! This means that this is going to be Hollywood quality, or something quite near it! But don’t stray from the length the movie shall be, hence that’s how the script is written. Like Dim said, take the extra time for polishing! New members will also add to the eventual awesomeness of this film!
Better to have a totally awesome 6 minute short that will stay in your mind forever than a quite awesome 10 minute short.
November 30th, 2009 at 21:38
WOA! great news! Really happy for you guys!
I never sent in my portfolio because I knew that in the case I’d be choosen I couldn’t join in time (from september to new year eve), but if you open up new spots starting january, I’d gladly send in my demoreel
November 30th, 2009 at 21:43
I’m really glad they recognized that the movie (therefore the plot behind it) goes beyond a tech demo.
The story is great, touchy, … you do have a movie in your hands
Congratulations to the Netherlands Film Fund for investing on that.
“(…) and most likely even extra team member” uhh mysterious
November 30th, 2009 at 21:45
Wow! These are definitely awesome news! Congrats guys! And if somehow Jean-Sébastien is able to join the team, Sintel will be even awesome-er!!!
November 30th, 2009 at 22:10
Very clever move to hire Esther Wouda Ton! And well done Colin! This means your story is solid and well balanced!
November 30th, 2009 at 22:11
Or Farsthary would be awesome. The man is a Blender machine.
Man, Durian is going to be awesome.
November 30th, 2009 at 22:21
OMG
OMG
OMG
OMG
OMG
OMG
OMG
OMG
OMG
BLENDER ROCKS
November 30th, 2009 at 22:22
I never doubt it
Congratulations!
November 30th, 2009 at 22:35
Wooohoo! That rocks.
Congratulations to you all, you deserve it.
My only regret is that we will have to wait longer until we see the result…….
Keep it up.
November 30th, 2009 at 22:36
@Shiretoko:
Quality takes time and resources. This project is extremely ambitious, and whether we can meet your expectations of quality will depend entirely on whether the time available to us allows us to do so. We are not supermen/superwomen. We are a small team of human beings with limited experience and limited time.
But we will do our best!
November 30th, 2009 at 22:42
Grreeaaat Succes!
November 30th, 2009 at 22:59
Ton says: ” . . . the Film Fund’s main concerns were . . .the movies didn’t exceed the level of a technical demos”.
What does THAT mean??? I think I have to disagree with the Film Fund.
November 30th, 2009 at 23:10
Rafster: They just meant the narrative of the short movies could have been better. And above all, they were ‘right’ in some ways, since these movies are being done to devellop the technical side of the Blender before anything else. The Film Fund just wanted to make sure this one would get a special treatment on the story/directing side.
November 30th, 2009 at 23:20
This is such a great indication that Sintel will be awesome.
The fact that the Film Fund recognizes it shows it has true potential, and the increased budget will help the team to realize that potential.
Fantastic in every way… except that we have to wait longer to see it
.
November 30th, 2009 at 23:25
Nice one guys!!! Extra time is the ultimate precious resource!
November 30th, 2009 at 23:33
Thanks to the complete Durian team. You did a great job and I’m so happy that you achieved this first goal. I’m sure this will motivate you to create a masterpiece with your skills.
I hope we will not ask too much from you – even with the funding. In the end you are a small developing team (compared to all the movies we get to see in cinema). But you are unique and complete Blender-Heads
I ‘ve never saw another project, where the community was able to be so close to the production team and to discuss and almsot breathe the same air as them.
Of course we Blenderians will hold at the end proudly this piece of holy short-movie sacred in our hands and nobody will be allowed to touch the DVD without giving hail to BvL and to wash its hands before.
Have fun, enjoy life and drink more coffee…
November 30th, 2009 at 23:55
well deserved
@nathan: for me you ARE stars!
December 1st, 2009 at 00:32
Cool
I’m sure that film will be awesome.
December 1st, 2009 at 01:13
EVERYBODY STAND UP FOR THE BLENDER-DURIAN TEAM!!!!!!!!!
YOU’VE GOT IT!!
December 1st, 2009 at 01:19
Fantastic news! use the time and money wisely. Good luck.
December 1st, 2009 at 02:06
Great news!
It ‘s a pity it comes now that the beginning of the movie (the 1st minute) was changed already because it was too long/complex! Oh well, it happens all the time! Good luck with the project.
December 1st, 2009 at 03:11
Well done, that’s great news!!
December 1st, 2009 at 03:40
This is fantastic news! This is a great case of build it and they will come. From the get-go, you guys were being very ambitious with both the concepts and the depth of story you wanted to convey and you have been rewarded. Very inspirational stuff!!
December 1st, 2009 at 05:11
Enter The Dragon
December 1st, 2009 at 05:43
Excelente noticia. No importa que toque esperar un poco mas.
Se encuentra disponible para descarga la version alpha de blender 2.5
http://www.blender.org/development/release-logs/blender-250/
December 1st, 2009 at 06:30
Excellent! Is there any way to write the Film Fund to express our appreciation?
December 1st, 2009 at 06:55
Wow this is great news!
I hope others get to join this cool project
December 1st, 2009 at 08:27
well done; though I have missed the dvd credit deadline If this is expected to complete end of june next year I should have enough time to get a credit card and order this.
The fact that the film fund people are seeing this as more than a demo is a good thing it shows the amount of work you have put in thus far has been enough to inspire confidence.
December 1st, 2009 at 11:19
Congratulations to Durian team!
If you have extra fundings before upon wrapping up the project, put in on adverstising Durian to non-Blender community.
More power!
December 1st, 2009 at 11:29
Congrats !
Peace
.
December 1st, 2009 at 11:55
This is great!!
Keep up the good work guys!
December 1st, 2009 at 12:56
rafster: our first two films were both totally awesome, and definitely more than technical demos. Compared to other short animations delivered with Film Fund blessings in the past years we didn’t do bad at all!
That doesn’t take away that you can look back at ED and BBB and try to do things better; script and story development was one of the things we try to improve for Sintel. If this works out well we’ll find out in half a year
December 1st, 2009 at 14:11
ton,
3D (stereoscope ) is possible ?
December 1st, 2009 at 14:29
Nice! Can you bring back David now? More sketches! More concept art!
No no wait! Hire the entire Academy of Kung Fu that’s it!… NO… Ermn… Spend everything with marshmallow…
…Yeah!… Marshmallow… Definitely…!
December 1st, 2009 at 14:48
Awesome, good to hear Bens on the team now as well, it feels like the Durian project is really underway now with their full team and 2.5 in alpha, going on beta.
And for everyone going on about 3D stereoscope > I think the team have more than enough on their plate with 4K, let alone this new 3D stuff, it would effectively mean twice as much rendering anyway. If it was to be included in the Durian project, it would have been planned right from the start. Stuff like that cant just be thrown in, it would destroy the already fragile timeline put in place for the project.
December 1st, 2009 at 14:57
With concern to Alex’s points, probably. Furthermore, the team will probably require a crash course in 3D cinematography, since the 2D and 3D forms of cinema are definitely two very different beasts; and what works in 2D cinema may not work in 3D, and vice versa.
Perhaps in a future Blender Institute project, a whole 3D-trained cinematographer may be hired!
December 1st, 2009 at 20:05
Wow, new tream members!!! Can I send my portfolio, too?
In fact, I’ll type it out right here:
My abilities:
make coffee
cook
wipe floors&keyboards
kiss/anoint feet
praise the Ton
delete default cubes
filter air
change diapers in pressing situations
play dummy for dismemberment scenes and make croaking sound REAL
take any amount of beating for Blender crashes!
My conditions: I want to stay dressed at all times except when I take showers
If that sounds attractive to the team – something must be wrong
Cheers and I raise my cup to you guys, be it only filled with water! Damn, it’s empty… gotta refill… YOU ARE LEGEND!!!
December 1st, 2009 at 20:08
Anil (and others): we don’t do 3d stereoscopic yet. It is something we first need a sponsor for. And not only for render time, an efficient stereo 3d film has to be designed and edited as such, which adds to our work load.
December 1st, 2009 at 20:29
Please take Your time and use funds wisely. I would better wait longer, than see wasted money, which I hope won’t happen in this case concerning how talented people are in the team.
Good luck and congrats for additional funds !
December 1st, 2009 at 21:23
Congratulations all! I’m looking forward to seeing more about how the extra funds will be spent, particularly for the render farm.
December 6th, 2009 at 21:02
Will the premiere screening be projected in 4K?