Owl City’s Story

Owl City’s Story is the first live action film produced by Blue Sky Studios and directed by Adam Young of Owl City and Carlos Saldanha, the creator of Ice Age, Rio and Ferdinand.

Plot
Suffering from insomnia while working loading Coca-Cola trucks in his hometown Owatonna, Minnesota, Adam Young began to compose music, recording with a C-1 Behringer Microphone. Among the software that he began with was Reason from Propellerhead. He began uploading songs recorded in his parents' basement to Myspace. He started to receive favorable attention for his music and then helped cultivate this nascent fanbase by being an open and accessible web presence, responding to any messages he received and constantly posting blogs.His manager Steve Bursky later highlighted the significance of Young's engaging online manner in building his following saying: "People feel like they know him, like they've got a direct connection to him because of how he approaches his connection with them online." Through a deal with the digital aggregator CD Baby, he then started making the songs available for sale through iTunes. In 2007, Owl City released an EP titled Of June, followed by the 2008 release of the album Maybe I'm Dreaming. Of June reached No. 15 on the Billboard Electronic Albums chart, and Maybe I'm Dreaming peaked on the same chart at No. 13.[10]

The viral phenomenon that was building through Myspace caught the attention of Universal Republic presidents Avery and Monte Lipman who approached Young with aview to signing the artist.[9]Republic recommended Young partner up with 27-year-old manager Steve Bursky of Foundations Artist Management and the two began working together in late 2008. When later asked by HitQuarters why the label chose him for a major label act given his relative inexperience, Bursky said:

"I think they saw Owl City as representing the future of our business. This idea of a kid in a tiny town in rural U.S. being able to make songs in his basement that sound like Top 40 radio could never have happened ten years ago. By hiring a young management company who understands the business circa 2011 over a seasoned industry vet, who might not understand the online spaces well, showed a lot of understanding of where this kid was going to end up having success."[9]

Owl City's label deal with Universal Republic was finally confirmed in February 2009.[11] According to Bursky there was initially some disagreement about the direction Owl City should follow, telling Hit Quarters: "They were ready to send him into the studio with big producers and polish him up to try to become this thing that he wasn't. But we put our foot down and said, 'Look, the reason you signed this kid is because it's working. Whatever it is about him – his music, his interaction with his fans, his brilliance in the online space – these things are connecting with people, and as soon as you change that you lose what's special about this artist.' To their credit, they really listened and they got it."[9]

Ocean Eyes, Owl City's first full-length album and major label debut, was released on iTunes on July 14, 2009, with the physical release following on July 28, 2009. The album debuted at No. 27 on the Billboard 200. Owl City has released three official singles from this album: "Umbrella Beach", "Vanilla Twilight" and "Fireflies".[12] "Fireflies" topped the US and Canadian charts. Ocean Eyes reached the top ten on the US album charts, topped the US electronic charts, and also reached Amazon MP3's top 10 mostdownloaded album list. By April 2010, it was certified Platinum in the United States. On January 24, 2010, Owl City reached the No. 1 spot in the UK Top 40 Singles chart with "Fireflies". The song "Tidal Wave" also received significant airplay on Christian music radio stations.[13] On January 2, 2011, it was revealed "Fireflies" was the 20th mostdownloaded song of all time in the UK.[14]

Young was joined by Breanne Düren on several tracks; the most notable example of which is "The Saltwater Room". Owl City's live band consists of Breanne Düren (background vocals/keyboards), Casey Brown (drums), Laura Musten (violin), Hannah Schroeder (cello), and Daniel Jorgensen (vibes).[15] Relient K vocalist Matt Thiessen has toured and collaborated with Owl City on several tracks, including "Fireflies", where Matt can be heard providing the backup vocals. Young also produced Relient K's song "Terminals".

"Fireflies" was released as afree download on the game Tap Tap Revenge 3 by Tapulous. Prior to the July 14, 2009 internet release of Ocean Eyes, and the "Fireflies" single, Steve Hoover was hired as a director for a music video for "Fireflies". The video was to have had an exclusive premiere on MySpace,[16] but had been leaked onto YouTube and Dailymotion hours earlier. "Fireflies" became a big sleeper hit, topping the Billboard Hot 100 in the United States for the week ending November 7, 2009.[17]

Owl City is featured on Soundtrack 90210 with asong titled "Sunburn", which was released on October 13, 2009.[18] Owl City has toured with The Scene Aesthetic, Lights, John Mayer, Maroon 5and Brooke Waggoner. He was also guest featured in the soundtrack to Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland with a song entitled "The Technicolor Phase" that had already been featured in his debut album.[19]

In 2010, Young revealed a new musical project known as Sky Sailing, which moved away from his usual electronica genre of music and introduced acoustic guitar and piano accompaniments into his work. The unrefined tracks were recorded in the summer of 2006 before he began making music as Owl City.[20] His first album under this new project is entitled An Airplane Carried Me to Bed, and was released July 13, 2010, via iTunes.[21]

In May 2010, Young collaborated with high-profile British electronic composer, producer, musician, and songwriter Nick Bracegirdle. Under his Chicane alias, Bracegirdle released the single "Middledistancerunner" on August 1, 2010, featuring Adam Young on vocals. This is the first single from the fourth Chicane album Giants. He also worked with famed Dutch producer Armin van Buuren, appearing on a track called 'Youtopia' from the van Buuren album Mirage. In September, "To the Sky" was officially released via iTunes on the soundtrack for Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'hoole. On October 25, 2010, Young released a cover version of the praise and worship song "In Christ Alone" as a streaming MP3 on his website.[22][23]

Production on Young's third studio album began around mid-2010, with Young being announced as the executive producer of the album.[25][26] On October 18, Young wrote an entry on his blog regarding his third studio album, saying that the album was nearing completion.[27]

In February 2011, the title of the album was announced to be All Things Bright and Beautiful and that the album would be released on May 17. However, on April 6, Young released a statement on his website, along with lengthy previews of four of his songs (Dreams Don't Turn to Dust, Alligator Sky Featuring Shawn Chrystopher, Galaxies, and Deer in the Headlights), that the release date for All Things Bright and Beautiful would be pushed back to June 14.[28]

"Alligator Sky" was released as the lead single from the album on iTunes. Later that month and in early April, tickets went on sale for the All Things Bright and Beautiful World Tour,[29][30][31] and All Things Bright and Beautiful became available for preorder.[32] The song, "Galaxies" would be released as the second single from the album.

The music video for "Alligator Sky" would released on May 6. Young discussed the concept in a making-of video posted on Owl City's VEVO account, "The concept is basically about these two guys who are leaving Earth. Rather than it being this very dark post-apocalyptic vibe, it's very optimistic, and so it's like people are excited to leave earth."[33]

"Deer in the Headlights", the third single from the album, was released on iTunes on May 23. In June of that year, All Things Bright and Beautiful was released on iTunes. Although only a few days prior on May 20, almost all of the album leaked onto the internet.[34] The music video for "Deer in the Headlights" was released. It features Young driving through the night in the DMC DeLorean featured from the Back to the Future trilogy. Canadian musicianLights also makes a cameo appearance during the video.

"Lonely Lullaby" was released as a single on iTunes, which was previously available only to Owl City Galaxy members, on July 19. Young was interviewed in the August issue of Cliché Magazine. He also appeared on the cover of the magazine and the issue also featured some of Young's very own artwork. Later during the month of July at the Club Nokia concert in Los Angeles, Young announced that the concert was being filmed for a Live DVD. The recording was eventually released on iTunes in November 2011.[35]

In Young's final tour dates of 2011, he performed a new song entitled "I Hope You Think of Me".[36] On January 2, 2012, Young wrote an entry on his blog regarding his fourth full-length album. Young said that he would be collaborating with more producers and songwriters, saying that his new record "Marks a flying leap in this direction". Young expected the album to be released around late Summer to Fall 2012.[37] In an interview with Billboard, Young revealed that the new album is around 80–85% complete, and that Dr. Luke, JR Rotem, Norwegian production team Stargate,Brian Kennedy and Emily Wright are involved with the production of the album. He was also unsure whether "I Hope You Think of Me" would make the final tracklisting.[35]

Young, along with Jewel and Jay Sean, released a song in promotion of the Child Hunger Ends Here campaign by ConAgra Foods entitled "Here's Hope".[38][39] On April 17, 2012, "Dementia", a song by Young which was intended to be included on his upcoming album leaked onto the internet. The song features additional vocals by Mark Hoppus of Blink-182.[40]

Young announced via Twitter that a new EP entitled "Shooting Star" was to be released on May 15. The EP features four songs off his upcoming album. Young stated that he released the EP because he wanted to give his fans a clear taste of what his upcoming album would sound like.[41] On May 24, 2012, Young announced on Twitter that his fourth studio album would be titled The Midsummer Station[42] and that it would be released on August 14, 2012, worldwide, apart from in the United Kingdom where it would be released on September 17, 2012.[43] On June 21, 2012, Young announced that the release date of the album would be pushed back to August 21, 2012, but the UK release date would remain the same.[44] On July 12, 2012, Young announced via Twitter that the UK release date would be pushed forward to August 20, 2012.[45]

Young announced via Twitter that he would be collaborating with Carly Rae Jepsen on a new song, claiming that it would be released on June 26, 2012.[46] On June 20, 2012, he released the single, "Good Time", via his SoundCloud account.[47][48] The song was released on iTunes on June 26, 2012. It received generally positive reviews from critics, including Billboard: "It only makes sense that he's joined by Jepsen...[on] a track that could become a radio staple for the rest of the summer,"[49] and Entertainment Weekly: "'Good Time' goes down easier than a frozen margarita at a beachfront tiki bar."[48] "Good Time" was written by Matt Thiessen, Brian Lee and Young himself.[50]

On August 8 Young announced through his email newsletter that he would be holding a "Release Day Listening Party" on August 21.[51] and would be doing multiple TV performances, including The Today Show on August 22.[51]

On August 18, Young released a small clip of a studio version of "I Hope You Think of Me". The following day, August 19, Young also released two demo songs: "Beautiful Mystery" and "Paper Tigers".[52][53]

On October 5, the single, "When Can I See You Again?", from the Disney film Wreck-It Ralph was released.[54]

On November 6, the EP Good Time (Remixes) was released, featuring many remixes, including one from Young himself.[55]

In mid-2012, Universal announced that subsidiary Universal Republic Records will be closed down, with the label's entire roster being transferred to Republic Records. Therefore all future Owl City material will be released on Republic Records.[56]

Owl City did not release a full studio album in 2013, in spite of reports of such.&#91;64&#93;In January 2013, Young stated that his new music would contain more EDM songs than his previous studio efforts.&#91;65&#93;He hoped to record a song for the album with Ellie Goulding and claimed that his new album would be "edgy".&#91;66&#93;Instead of a full-length album, Owl City released The Midsummer Station—Acoustic EPon July 30. The EP contained acoustic versions of the songs "Good Time", "Shooting Star", and "Gold", taken from his latest studio album.&#91;67&#93;&#91;68&#93;The EP also contained two previously unreleased B-side tracks: "Hey Anna" and "I Hope You Think Of Me".&#91;68&#93;&#91;69&#93;

In the meantime, Young worked on multiple songs for animated films and television commercials. On March 4, the single "Shine Your Way", featuring Young and Yuna, was released on iTunes from the soundtrack to The Croods.&#91;70&#93;Owl City performed a 90-second jingle for Oreo's "Wonderfilled" commercial in May 2013.&#91;71&#93;In June, it was revealed that Owl City would appear on the The Smurfs 2: Music from and Inspired By Soundtrack. The track, called "Live It Up", was released in the soundtrack album.&#91;72&#93;

2014 saw the release of the single "Beautiful Times", which features violinist Lindsey Stirling and was released on April 8.&#91;77&#93;Young stated that he intended to release a steady "series of EPs" in 2014 rather than one larger recording,&#91;78&#93;though he later considered and then confirmed that he would be releasing a full studio album in 2014.[citation needed]In June, Young announced that the first extended play would be titled Ultraviolet, and it was released on June 27.&#91;79&#93;&#91;80&#93;The day before, the "Beautiful Times" music video also made its debut on Rolling Stone' s website.&#91;81&#93;&#91;82&#93;

Owl City appeared on the The Art of McCartneytribute album to Paul McCartney, covering the track "Listen to What the Man Said".&#91;83&#93;

On October 7, Owl City uploaded the official audio stream for "Tokyo" featuring singer Sekai no Owari to his official OwlCityVEVO YouTube channel.&#91;84&#93;An official lyric video for another new track, "You're Not Alone" featuring Britt Nicole, was published on the following day.&#91;85&#93;

Owl City will release their fifth studio album through Republic Records in the summer of 2015. A lead single is yet to be released.&#91;88&#93;Young released a promotional song, "2015", of him singing that he would be releasing a new album.&#91;89&#93;On May 5, a sneak peek of Owl City's upcoming song "Verge" featuring Aloe Blacc aired on ESPN's "Draft Academy." The song was released on May 14.&#91;90&#93;

In April Young stated that Owl City would be returning with a new album, later announcing the release of Mobile Orchestrafor July 10 of that year with a lead single "Verge", that features Aloe Blacc.&#91;91&#93;

After the single "Verge" featuring Aloe Blacc, Owl City Released his second single called "My Everything" from Mobile Orchestraon June 5, 2015, followed by "Unbelievable" on June 25.

An animated video for "Unbelievable" was also released on June 29 and features Hanson.&#91;92&#93;

Cast

 * Adam Young of Owl City as himself
 * Jamie Foxx as Tour Planner
 * Carlos Saldanha as Tour Bus Driver
 * Breanne Düren as herself
 * Chris Wedge as Scrat (Outtakes)
 * Rachel Crow as Narrator
 * Shawn Chrystoper as himself
 * Carly Rae Jepsen as herself
 * Britt Nicole as herself
 * Chris Rock as Aaron
 * Jesse Eisenberg as Blu (Outtakes)
 * Anne Hathaway as Jewel (Outtakes)
 * Jasper Nephew as himself
 * Rob Morgen as himself
 * Gabriel Hagan as himself
 * Lindsey Stirling as herself
 * Aloe Blacc as himself

Trivia

 * This is non-animated film about Owl City
 * Lifelight (from Super Smash Bros. Ultimate-A Motion Picture) was featured in the film
 * Scrat, Blu and Jewel were appears in outtakes.

Tagline
Life is Light, Owl City is back

From Blue Sky Studios, the creators of Ice Age, Rio and Ferdinand

Soundtrack

 * 1) 20th Century Fox Fanfare - Owl City
 * 2) Lifelight - Abby Trott
 * 3) Hello Seattle (Opening Credits) - Owl City
 * 4) Umbrella Beach - Owl City
 * 5) Fireflies (Movie Mix) - Owl City, Breanne Düren
 * 6) Vanilla Twilight - Owl City
 * 7) Hot Air Balloon - Owl City
 * 8) Strawberry Avalanche - Owl City
 * 9) Alligator Sky - Owl City, Shawn Chrystopher
 * 10) Lonely Lullaby - Owl City
 * 11) Galaxies - Owl City
 * 12) Deer in the Headlights - Owl City
 * 13) Angels - Owl City
 * 14) Dreams Don’t Turn to Dust (Live at Los Angeles) - Owl City
 * 15) Shooting Star - Owl City
 * 16) Good Time - Owl City, Carly Rae Jepsen
 * 17) Metropolis - Owl City
 * 18) Beautiful Times - Owl City, Lindsey Stirling
 * 19) Listen to What the Man Said - Owl City
 * 20) Verge - Owl City, Aloe Blacc
 * 21) Tokyo - Owl City, Sekai no Owari
 * 22) My Everything - Owl City
 * 23) Unbelievable - Owl City, Hanson
 * 24) You’re Not Alone - Owl City, Britt Nicole
 * 25) All My Friends - Owl City
 * 26) Lucid Dream - Owl City
 * 27) New York City - Owl City
 * 28) Cinematic (End Credits) - Owl City Deluxe Edition bonus tracks
 * 29) Hello Seattle (Remix) - Owl City
 * 30) Umbrella Beach (Matthew Kramer Remix) - Owl City
 * 31) Fireflies (Adam Young Remix) - Owl City
 * 32) Alligator Sky (Long Lost Sun Remix) - Owl City, Shawn Chrystopher
 * 33) Good Time (Lenno Remix) - Owl City, Carly Rae Jepsen
 * 34) Verge (Tom Swoon Remix) - Owl City, Aloe Blacc
 * 35) All My Friends (Alternative Version) - Owl City, Breanne Düren
 * 36) Lucid Dream (Differentplay & David Sliveira) - Owl City, Differentplay, Dsbts