Hans-Joerg Keim

**Hans-Jörg Keim** wears glasses, has slightly longer hair and an open, friendly face. He lived in Germany for 38 years before moving to Los Angeles. Now he works at his dream employer Disney Animation Studios and loves the corn flakes bar and kicker at his workplace.

On March 3, the animated film "Zoomania" started in theaters. Zootopia is a metropolis made up of six different neighborhoods inhabited exclusively by mammals. The districts house animals from different habitats. Desert, rain forest, Antarctic, rabbit hole, a district for the very, very small animals and the city center make Zootopia. The inhabitants of the city are civilized, wear clothes, speak and have normal jobs. For five years different teams have been working on the film. Hans-Jöerg Keim is one of them. As "CG Environment Supervisor" he has created the world of Zootopia. In an interview with neuH the German talks about his life in LA and the work at Disney.

By direct detours. His career was as follows: he studied Graphic Design in Germany a long time ago. At that time there was no film academy, but he always wanted to go to the movies. That's a bit difficult in Germany. Especially in terms of special effects and visual effects. Finally, he ended up with graphic design, advertising and visualization on film. After several years, he then applied to Disney and was actually invited. When he started at Disney, he worked in various departments and slowly climbed the corporate ladder. From Look Supervisor to Lighting Supervisor and now I'm Environment Supervisor.

The first time he came to LA was already twelve years ago and was for another project. It is generally difficult to work here. There are different visas, green cards, etc. But at some point that worked with the visa and I have applied to Disney. Totally great. He had also worked in other countries and in various studios, for a while as a freelancer. Here in LA. he liked it very much. The weather is great. I have free entry to Disneyland. His two kids are taking it all out. Really great. At Disney, everything feels like a big family. Totally great.

Generally, the projects are much larger. There is much more budget available. The teams are bigger and more international. Many people from Europe, Asia, from around the world work here. Not only at Disney, but also at other studios. The German share is relatively small. In Germany it is smaller, simpler projects and here we do everything from the beginning to the end. Use own software and in-house tools. In principle, size is the difference. By profession, the tasks are similar and the standards are often the same, but around it is just bigger.

Of course, a lot has changed. Whatever has remained the same: it is always difficult and time-consuming. The computers are getting faster and faster. Every year the processing power doubles. But every year the complexity changes too. Basically, the progress that the machines have always used up immediately. According to the motto: "Now we can do more, so we'll do more." An example: His first film here was "Meet the Robinsons". A relatively simple 3D movie. Meanwhile, we can deliver pictures that look almost as if you were standing outside in nature. Especially here at Disney, we use the technology until the end is no longer enough. Always the latest. We try to make the experience even more intense and better for the spectator.

## Filmography

* Meet the Robinsons (2007): lighting and compositing
* Glago's Guest (2008): shot finaling
* Bolt (2008): lighter
* Super Rhino (2009): lighting artist
* Prep & Landing (2009): lighting artist
* Tangled (2010): lighting artist and look development artist
* Tangled Ever After (2012): lighting artist
* Frozen (2013): look supervisor
* Zootopia (2016): head of environments