Cecropia Opens Game-Related Animation Studio in Orlando

Game and interactive entertainment developer Cecropia Inc, formed by Papyrus Studios co-founder Omar Khudari, has announced the opening of its animation and production studio in Orlando, Florida. The studio will create the artwork and animation for the company’s 'interactive films', the first of which will be completed and released in 2005. The Orlando studio is currently comprised of 20 animation industry veterans, including Walt Disney Feature Animation alumni from that company's recently closed Florida animation studio, who work in collaboration with Cecropia’s gaming veterans and engineers located in the company’s Boston headquarters. Cecropia intend to add another 10 employees to the Orlando studio by the end of the year. According to the company, the product of this intriguing collaboration between traditional 2D animators and contemporary game creators are "interactive films that allow players to act in the role of animated characters and control their behavior, expressions and reactions to other characters." Cecropia's official home page is designed around a teaser picture for The Act, apparently showing a 2D hand-drawn image of a Casablanca-styled vintage film scene, although no specific information on the company's first title has yet been released.