Granity Studios

Granity Studios was launched by Kobe Bryant in 2013 as a company that developed different media, ranging from films, to television shows, to novels.{{cite web|url=https://variety.com/2020/film/features/kobe-bryant-hollywood-entertainment-granity-studios-dear-basketball-1203483095/|title=Kobe Bryant's Death Cuts Short a Promising Second Act in Entertainment |first=Cynthia |last=Littleton|date=January 28, 2020|work=Variety}}

In 2017, Granity Studios produced Dear Basketball, an animated short film based on Kobe Bryant's retirement poem in The Players' Tribune, and was directed and animated by Glen Keane, with music by John Williams.{{cite web |url=https://vimeo.com/252818307 |title=Dear Basketball |via=Vimeo |publisher=California Film Institute |date=January 25, 2018 |access-date=January 26, 2020}} At the 90th Academy Awards, Keane and Bryant won the Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film for their work on Dear Basketball. Bryant became the first African-American to win the category and the first former professional athlete to be nominated and to win an Academy Award in any category.{{cite web|url=https://ew.com/awards/2018/03/04/oscars-kobe-bryant-dear-basketball/|title=Kobe Bryant is officially an Oscar winner|magazine=Entertainment Weekly|first=Dana|last=Schwartz|date=March 4, 2018}} The film also won the Annie Award for Best Animated Short Subject and a Sports Emmy Award.{{Cite web|url=https://www.goodmorningamerica.com/culture/story/kobe-bryant-honored-2020-oscars-68777844|title=Kobe Bryant honored at 2020 Oscars|last=America|first=Good Morning|website=Good Morning America|language=en|access-date=2020-02-25}} This was also the first Oscar win for Keane, a veteran Disney animator.{{Cite news |url=http://oscar.go.com/nominees/short-film-animated/|title=90th Academy Award Animated Film Nominees |website=The Oscars 2018 |publisher=Disney Enterprises, Inc.|date=January 23, 2018|access-date=January 23, 2018}}

In addition to future animation projects, Bryant had been in talks with animator veterans Bruce W. Smith and Sergio Pablos for the last six months before his death about starting his own animation studio.{{Cite web|url=https://www.cartoonbrew.com/studios/kobe-bryant-was-planning-to-launch-an-animation-studio-sergio-pablos-and-bruce-smith-involved-186423.html|title=Kobe Bryant Was Planning To Launch An Animation Studio; Sergio Pablos And Bruce Smith Involved|first=Alex Dudok de|last=Wit|date=February 18, 2020|website=Cartoon Brew}}

Beginning in 2018, Bryant wrote, produced and hosted the television series Detail, which aired for multiple seasons on ESPN and ESPN+. It featured his insights into the game of basketball and in-depth analyses of games and individual players.{{Cite web|url=https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/23386451/donovan-mitchell-utah-jazz-taking-analysis-kobe-bryant-heart|title=Jazz's Mitchell taking analysis of Kobe to heart|date=May 2, 2018|website=ESPN.com|language=en|access-date=2020-02-25}}{{Cite web|url=https://247sports.com/nba/los-angeles-lakers/Article/Kobe-Bryant-explains-in-depth-his-Detail-show-on-ESPN-119060353/|title=Kobe Bryant explains his 'Detail' show on ESPN|last=|first=|date=|website=247Sports.com|language=en-US|access-date=2020-02-25}}

On October 23, 2018, Bryant's book The Mamba Mentality: How I Play, with photographs and afterword by Andrew D. Bernstein, an introduction by Phil Jackson, and a foreword by Pau Gasol, was published by MCD / Farrar, Straus and Giroux. The book looks back on his career with photos and his reflections.{{cite magazine |last1=Bryant |first1=Kobe |title=Inside the Mamba Mentality |url=https://www.si.com/nba/2018/10/24/kobe-bryant-photos-mamba-mentality-book-excerpt-jordan |accessdate=November 7, 2018 |magazine=Sports Illustrated |date=October 24, 2018}}{{cite news |last1=Ward |first1=Ryan |title=Legendary photographer Andrew Bernstein talks collaboration with Kobe Bryant on Mamba Mentality |url=https://clutchpoints.com/lakers-exclusive-legendary-photographer-andrew-bernstein-talks-collaboration-with-kobe-bryant-on-mamba-mentality/ |access-date=November 7, 2018 |publisher=Clutch Points |date=October 29, 2018}}

At the time of his death in 2020, Bryant was working with Brazilian author Paulo Coelho on a children's book aimed at inspiring underprivileged children. After Bryant's death, Coelho deleted the draft, saying in an interview that "it didn't make any sense to publish without him." He did not say how many pages had been written or whether the book had a title.{{cite news |title=Author deletes children's book co-written with Kobe Bryant |url=https://apnews.com/a8142da782f41686f7b93984c8700ed1 |access-date=January 28, 2020 |work=Associated Press |date=January 27, 2020}}

Bryant also co-wrote/produced several young adult novels through Granity Studios: The Wizenard Series: Training Camp, Legacy and the Queen, and Epoca: The Tree of Ecrof. A fourth novel, The Wizenard Series: Season One, was released posthumously in March 2020.{{cite web| url=https://www.latimes.com/socal/daily-pilot/news/story/2020-01-29/kobe-bryant-granity-studios|title=Kobe Bryant brought sports to page, podcast and film through Costa Mesa production company Granity Studios|first=Faith E.|last= Pinho|date=January 29, 2020|work=Los Angeles Times}} The Wizarenard Series: Season One topped the New York Times middle-grade hardcover list.{{Cite web|url=https://deadline.com/2020/04/kobe-bryant-book-for-children-young-adults-hits-no-1-on-ny-times-bestseller-list-1202904300/|title=Kobe Bryant Book For Children And Young Adults Hits No. 1 On NY Times Bestseller List|first1=Bruce|last1=Haring|date=April 9, 2020}}

Vanessa Bryant is the president and chief executive officer of Granity Studios.{{Cite web|date=January 25, 2021|title=Vanessa Bryant 'Extremely Thankful' for Friends Who Have Helped Her Cope With Kobe and Gianna's Deaths|url=https://www.kvue.com/article/entertainment/entertainment-tonight/vanessa-bryant-extremely-thankful-for-friends-who-have-helped-her-cope-with-kobe-and-giannas-deaths/603-befbd0c5-f4cf-4bc1-923f-20c037b13563|access-date=2022-02-13|website=KVUE|language=en-US}}

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{{Kobe Bryant}}

Category:Entertainment companies based in California

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Category:Kobe Bryant