Autodesk showcases the magic behind movie magic at the 2023 Academy Awards

Meet Hollywood legend and icon Otto Desćinski, known to his friends as Otto Desć.

For more than 25 years, Autodesk technology has been used to power Hollywood’s top performing films, many of which have been recognized with Oscar® wins and nominations. Films such asAvatar: The Way of Water,All Quiet on The Western Front, and Guillermo del Toro’sPinocchio, among others, use tools like Maya and ShotGrid to bring otherworldly scenes and characters to life. 

This year, Autodesk celebrates the role of our design & make software in creating movie magic. In a three-part ad series developed by Ryan Reynolds’ creative agency Maximum Effort, viewers meet the influential, groundbreaking—and entirely fictional–Hollywood legend and icon Otto Desćinski, known to his friends asOtto Desć. 

Elizabeth Banks is featured in the three-part ad series that ran during the Academy Awards.

A second spot gives viewers a look inside the impact that the mysterious Otto has made on Hollywood peers including Writer/Director Elizabeth Banks (Cocaine Bear, Pitch Perfect,and Reynolds’Definitely, MaybeCo-Star), Actor Ron Perlman (Hellboy, Beauty & The Beast, Sons of Anarchy), Academy Award® winning VFX Supervisor Paul Lambert (Dune, Blade Runner), and Academy Award nominated Cinematographer Mandy Walker (Elvis).  

The trueOtto Desć is finally revealed in the third and final spot. “Otto Desć” is actually Autodesk, which provides the software technology that allows Hollywood’s elite creatives and innovators—as well as architects, engineers, students and more–to make anything. The full documentary style ad can be foundhere.

Ryan Reynolds joked about the campaign, “Autodesk has been a secret weapon for Hollywood’s artists for decades, and what better way to highlight that than to create a fake man of vaguely Germanic descent to receive an award that doesn’t exist?” 

“Autodesk is how the world gets designed and made—including the beautiful films that delight and inspire us all. The Oscars are a night to celebrate the biggest names in Hollywood, so we’re thrilled to celebrate the design and technology from Autodesk that makes this magic possible in such a fun and creative way. And with this campaign, we’re re-introducing our inspiring company tagline—two words that effectively say it all: Make Anything.” said Dara Treseder, Chief Marketing Officer, Autodesk. “I’m grateful to have worked with our agency partner, Ryan Reynold’s Maximum Effort, to tell the incredible story of Autodesk’s impact—both on the big screen, and in the world.”

Guillermo del Toro’sPinocchiotakes home Oscar gold  

Autodesk is inspired by customers like SHADOWMACHINE, the stop-motion production company that brought Guillermo del Toro’sPinocchio to life. 

Academy Award-winning director Guillermo del Toro and award-winning stop-motion legend Mark Gustafson reimagined the classic Carlo Collodi tale that transcends worlds and reveals the life-giving power of love.  

SHADOWMACHINE created the stop motion retelling out of its Portland facility, receiving last night’s best animated feature Academy Award, among previous awards from the BAFTAs, Golden Globes, five Annies, VES, ADG, CCA, MPSE, CAS, HCA, PGA, SCL, and ACE. Knowing the extensive amount of production assets that would need to be tracked, SHADOWMACHINE implemented Autodesk ShotGrid ahead of production to streamline project management. 

Image courtesy of Netflix.

“OnPinocchio, we had 99 different sets,” said SHADOWMACHINE Art Production Manager Whitney Schmerber. “Each set has hundreds of physical parts, and we have to account for all the characters and their components. For us, ShotGrid is a digital encyclopedia tracking all assets in the feature, down to the tiniest wood shavings.” 

Around 350 people were hired for the production with an average of 250 artists working on the film at any given time. The team collaborated closely with co-director Mark Gustafson, along with Guillermo del Toro for review. They also worked with a visual effects team in Canada and partnered with McKinnon and Saunders on the puppet builds. A studio in Guadalajara created additional puppets and sets and shot a portion of the film. 

Schmerber said, “ShotGrid helped us track our processes. There’s no way we could have finished Guillermo del Toro’sPinocchiowithout it.”