Big Machine Label
Group is fighting back
against Taylor Swift’s accu-
sations that the label, which
manager Scooter Braun
purchased along with
Swift’s back catalog earlier
this year, has blocked the
pop star from using and per-
forming her own songs.
On Thursday, Swift
posted a lengthy message on
social media alleging that
the company barred her
from singing any of her older
tracks at the upcoming
American Music Awards,
where she’ll be crowned art-
ist of the decade. She also
claimed the label prevented
her from including her earli-
er tunes or performance
footage in her forthcoming
Netflix documentary.
“As Taylor Swift’s part-
ner for over a decade, we
were shocked to see her
tumblr statements yester-
day,” Big Machine said in a
statement posted to its
website. “At no point did we
say Taylor could not per-
form on the AMAs or block
her Netflix special. In fact,
we do not have the right to
keep her from performing
live anywhere. Since Tay-
lor’s decision to leave Big
Machine last fall, we have
continued to honor all of her
requests to license her cata-
log to third parties as she
promotes her current record
in which we do not finan-
cially participate.”
Swift’s publicist, Tree
Paine, promptly responded
via Twitter, quoting what
she claimed is a message
sent to Swift from the “Vice
President, Rights and Man-
agement and Business Af-
fairs from Big Machine La-
bel Group”: “ ‘Please be ad-
vised that BMLG will not
agree to issue licenses for ex-
isting recordings or waivers
of its re-recordings in rela-
tion to these two projects:
The Netflix documentary
and The Alibaba ‘Double
Eleven’ event,’ ” the quoted
statement read, the latter
referring to a performance
Swift gave at a festival
hosted by Alibaba Group
Holding Ltd.
The tweet continued: “In
addition, yesterday Scott
Borchetta, CEO and found-
er of Big Machine Label
Group, flatly denied the re-
quest for both AmericanMusic Awards and Netflix.
Please notice in Big Mach-
ine’s statement, they never
actually deny either claim
that Taylor said last night.”
The feud between Swift
and Big Machine dates back
to June, when Braun ac-
quired Scott Borchetta’s
company, along with Swift’s
first six studio albums,
which include many of her
biggest hits. On Thursday,
the conflict raged again
when the “Lover” singer
doubled down on her at-
tacks on Borchetta and his
partner Braun, unleashing a
slew of allegations against
them.
“I’ve been planning to
perform a medley of my hits
throughout the decade on
the show,” Swift, 29, wrote,
referring to the AMAs.
“Scott Borchetta and Scoot-
er Braun have now said that
I’m not allowed to perform
my old songs on television
because they claim that
would be re-recording my
music before I’m allowed to
next year. ... Scott Borchetta
told my team that they’ll al-
low me to use my music only
if I do these things: If I agree
not to re-record copycat ver-
sions of my songs next year
(which is something I’m
both legally allowed to do
and looking forward to) and
also told my team that I need
to stop talking about him
and Scooter Braun.”
In its response, Big
Machine countered that
Swift ambushed its team by
pitting an army of millions of
Swifties (#IStandWithTay-
lor has been trending on
Twitter since Thursday)
against them with her widely
circulated complaint. “The
truth is, Taylor has admitted
to contractually owing mil-
lions of dollars and multiple
assets to our company,
which is responsible for 120
hardworking employees
who helped build her ca-
reer,” the statement on its
website read.
While Big Machine de-
nied blocking the Netflix
project or barring Swift from
performing live, it did not
specifically address in its
public statements her alle-
gations that it prevented her
from singing her older songs
or using them in the docu-
mentary.
A rep for Big Machine La-
bel Group did not immedi-
ately respond to The Times’
request for comment.Taylor Swift,
former label
trade charges
By Christi CarrasTAYLORSwift is escalating fight with ex-label Big
Machine and talent manager Scooter Braun, above.Richard ShotwellInvision / AP Mark Von HoldenInvision / APE2 LATIMES.COM/CALENDAR
ange and brown, musicians
took their place in a gridlike
layout, and a dancer began
traversing the makeshift
marble stage. Others soon
entered the space, dancing a
series of meditative and ges-
tural solos, duets and group
numbers.
Across an hour on Mon-
day, music and the occa-
sional chanting from the
dancers reverberated
throughout the Getty Cen-
ter. Occasionally a distant
sound would lead the
crowd’s attention away from
the central performance
area, toward more perform-
ers on balconies or in the gar-
den. Other moments — jazz
pianist and instrument
builder Cooper-Moore, furi-
ously playing piano from the
tips of his fingers to his el-
bows, and a drummer using
the Getty’s stone columns as
the backbeat of a rhythmic
dance — left the audience in
rapt silence.
When the cast of 24 lined
up to take bows, Solange
shyly stepped forward,
thanking the crowd for “al-
lowing me the space to evolve
and experiment and express
new frontiers.”
Solange began compos-
ing “Bridge-s” about two
months ago. Describing her
creation process to The
Times via email, she said the
work explores her interest in
repetition and minimalism,
“while inviting moments of
chaos, uncertainty, rupture,
and which all feel like they
speak to the unpredictable
ride of transition.”
She started by using her
voice to create the melodies
for each instrument in the
piece. “Then I sit with my
band and begin to experi-ment with building different
loops of the compositions,”
she said. “From there I try to
maximize them as far as I
can, building them out with
as many iterations of sounds
as I can,” eventually homing
in on the key moments that
resonate.
Choreographers Bren-
nan Gerard and Ryan Kelly
were inspired by Getty archi-
tect Richard Meier and his
attempt to “bridge European
culture and classical antiqui-
ty with what he calls thewarmth and friendliness of
Southern California,” Kelly
said.
“Bridge-s” is based on
their ongoing project “Mod-
ern Living,” which pairs
choreography with archi-
tecture. Like the team’s
other works, the basic chore-
ographic structure revolves
around the idea of a clock.
Each dancer has 12 core
movements, and a cast of
nine dancers yields “108 ges-
tures that are used to collage,
compose, reuse, recycle,”
Gerard said.
Kelly and Gerard choreo-
graphed in collaboration
with the dancers, including
some CalArts alumni with
whom they had worked on
previous projects. “Eventhough the work is fairly ab-
stract, there’s a very clear
sense of the personalities
and cultural experiences of
the performers,” Kelly said.
And although Solange’s
main focus was on the music,
she was heavily involved in
“every detail of the visual
look of the work,” Kelly said.
“Bridge-s” is a contin-
uation of Solange’s perform-
ance artwork at museums.
In 2017 she staged a site-
specific piece with dancers
and musicians at the
Guggenheim in New York
that reflected on black wom-
anhood — a central theme of
her album “A Seat at the Ta-
ble.” In 2018 she premiered
“Metatronia” in collabora-
tion with Gerard & Kelly at
the Hammer Museum in
L.A. And in July, she
screened her performance
art film that set songs from
her latest album, “When I
Get Home,” against striking
images of black cowboys at
the Los Angeles County Mu-
seum of Art.
L.A. agency and label
Iamsound approached the
Getty about six months ago
for a project with Solange,
said Laurel Kishi, the cen-
ter’s head of public pro-
grams. “They were looking atsuch elements as the conver-
sation between bold mod-
ernist architecture and na-
ture.”
Conceptualizing the mu-
sic and choreography took
months, and the staging
process was even more inten-
sive. The first day of rehears-
al was canceled because of
the recent Getty fire, so the
team had to work quickly
over the last few weeks.
Four free performances
are scheduled for Saturday
and Sunday. Solange also cu-
rated a series of film screen-
ings, including Julie Dash’s
1970s experimental works
“The Diary of an African
Nun” and “Four Women,”
and an artist talk with
British-Ghanian philo-
sopher Kodwo Eshun.
For Kishi, “Bridge-s” is a
bridge, connecting Solange’s
fan base to the often-exclu-
sive art world.
Solange “talked about
how challenging it can be for
an artist of her stature to
really have an opportunity to
create outside of the more
mainstream music world,”
Kishi said. “This particular
performance piece is defi-
nitely going to bring her fans
and it’s going to bring new
audiences to the Getty.”Solange’s artful exploration hits the Getty
SOLANGEgives a preview Monday of her latest per-
formance work “Bridge-s” at the Getty Center.Ryan MillerCapture Imaging[Solange,from E1]
other any mail.
Jesper eventually be-
friends a reclusive carpenter
named Klaus (J.K. Sim-
mons), whose handmade
toys become a part of the
postman’s plan to get back
home to his life of luxury.
But a fresh take on San-
ta’s origin story is not the
only thing that makes
“Klaus” unique: It’s also in
2D. At a time when most stu-
dios would run from the old-
school animation format,
Netflix ran toward it — en-
thusiastic about the materi-
al’s holiday appeal.
“What we found was that
the fact that it was 2D and
the fact that it was a Christ-
mas movie was a deterrent
for a lot of companies that
said they didn’t want to com-
pete around Christmas with
all the other films,” said Pab-
los. “Netflix was the absolute
exception to that. Not only
were they OK with it, they
were actually looking for
Christmas content at the
time.”
Netflix’s vice president of
original animation, Melissa
Cobb, affirmed that “the idea
of a Christmas classic that
people could enjoy year after
year on Netflix” was part of
the project’s appeal.
“As we look at the ani-
mated feature space, we’re
looking for stories that are
timeless, that have strong
universal themes [and]
really strong emotions,” said
Cobb. “I think about it from
the standpoint of really
wanting to build out a library
of content that people can
enjoy over and over again.”
As a licensing deal with
Disney — which brought ani-
mated hits including “Zoo-
topia” and “Moana” to Net-
flix with limited windows —
nears its end, the streamer is
indeed bulking up its anima-
tion library. On Wednesday,
it announced a multiyear
deal with Nickelodeon for
new original animated fea-
tures and series based on the
network’s existing shows as
well as new projects.
Previously announced
Netflix original animated
features on the horizon in-
clude dark comedy “The
Willoughbys”; Guillermo del
Toro’s stop-motion “Pino-
cchio”; “Jacob and the Sea
Beast” from “Moana” and
“Big Hero 6” co-director
Chris Williams; and “Wendell
and Wild” from “Coraline”
writer-director Henry Selick.
As with these other crea-
tors, Cobb said Pablos’ pas-
sion for the film’s story was
an important factor for Net-
flix. “Klaus” marks the direc-
torial debut for the Spanish
animator, who is perhaps
best known for creating “De-
spicable Me.” And it’s a mov-
ie that’s been close to 10 years
in the making.
Inspired by the spate of
cinematic origin stories at
the time, including “Batman
Begins” and “Hannibal Ris-
ing,” Pablos sought out an
established character whose
background he could ex-
pand on. Although he ini-
tially dismissed Santa as a
subject, the filmmaker said
he kept coming back to him.
He realized that despite vari-
ous historical and religious
back stories, “There’s no
widely accepted canon origin
story for Santa.”
Pablos eventually consid-
ered a story in which Santa
wasn’t even the main charac-
ter, which led him to wonder:
“What if Santa is a symbol for
altruism and generosity, and
[there is] a character who
needs to learn that lesson?”
Part of the charm of
“Klaus” is an artistic style
that resembles a hand-
drawn storybook in motion.
This was a feat made pos-
sible by Pablos and his team,
who worked to develop tools
that resolved some of tradi-
tional animation’s technical
problems.
“Characters always felt
like they were kind of stuck
on top of the backgrounds”
in traditional animation,
said Pablos, who also worked
on Disney films including“The Hunchback of Notre
Dame,” “Hercules,” “Tarzan”
and “Treasure Planet.”
“The backgrounds were
done in a painterly style, and
the characters could not be
done the same way, so they
never quite matched.”
New tools addressed this
integration issue as well as
past problems with lighting
to help capture the charm of
human imperfection, some-
thing that was lost with the
move to the now-industry-
standard 3D CGI.
When 3D CGI films came
on the scene, Pablos “never
really thought that it would
just replace traditional [ani-
mation].”
“I thought there was a
place for both, and I never
bought into the reasons why
we decided to abandon it,”
said Pablos. He believed 2D
could still be viable, “not for
any film, but for the right
story that benefits from that
medium.”
His sensible approach is
evident in “Klaus,” which is
primarily hand-drawn but
used CGI when practical,
such as with vehicles and lo-
cations that needed free-
flowing camera shots. Even
the reindeer are CGI at times
(though it’s meant to be un-
detectable).
Pablos is similarly prag-
matic on his thoughts re-
garding streaming vs. thea-
ter when it comes to his films.
As a person who “fell in love
with cinema at the cinema,”
he said, it took him a bit of
time to get used to the idea
that “Klaus” would be a film
mostly viewed by people at
their homes.
“But then I actually came
around to the idea that may-be the perfect way to watch a
film like ‘Klaus’ is to sit at
home with your family,
wrapped in a blanket, with a
cup of hot cocoa,” said Pab-
los.
It’s a sentiment that ech-
oes Netflix’s philosophy in
differentiating its approach
to animated features versus
animated series.
“We generally look at ani-
mated features as entertain-
ment for the whole family to
enjoy together,” said Cobb.
“We really think about that
family unit, whether that’s
parents and their kids or ex-
tended family. That very
shared experience is some-
thing we think a lot about in
the feature space.”
For animated series, on
the other hand, “We some-
times are looking for that
broad, shared experience,
and sometimes we’re looking
for more individual experi-
ences, like something that an
8-year-old kid is just going to
love to death,” said Cobb.
She also said the compa-
ny’s goal is to give creators
some latitude in pursuing
their artistic vision rather
than imposing a house style
or aesthetic.
For Cobb, the animated
features space is exciting due
to the craft of animation as
well as the idea of introduc-
ing timeless classics that
maintain audience appeal
over decades. She points out
the global reach and acces-
sibility that appears unique
to animation — important
factors as Netflix serves a
worldwide customer base.
“Audiences are willing to
kind of step into worlds and
things that might not be
their day-to-day lives when
they’re animated, whether
that’s a different culture that
you’re being immersed in, or
a different reality,” said
Cobb. “Audiences — not just
kids, but kids and adults —
are willing to engage the fan-
tasy side of their brain really
quickly when you’re in ani-
mation, and that’s a lot of
fun.”“KLAUS”is the origin story of Santa (J.K. Simmons) told through a selfish postman (Jason Schwartzman).
NetflixAnimating new classics
‘Bridge-s’
Where:Getty Center, 1200
Getty Center Drive, Los
Angeles
When:11 a.m.-5 p.m.
Saturday and Sunday;
check with museum for
times of the four
performances
Admission:Free
Info:getty.edu‘Klaus’
Where:Netflix
When:Anytime
Rating:TV-PG (may be
unsuitable for young
children)[‘Klaus,’ from E1]