Hello from sunny Emeryville, Northern California

Hello from sunny Emeryville, Northern California.  I've just got back to work after a week with the good folk at Animex in Middlesbrough where I contributed to the 10th anniversary festival.  But more of that later. First a bit about me and why i'm doing this blog for NFM.

I joined the Pixar team 11 years ago when it was a little known studio with only Toy Story to its name.  Since then, I have worked on A Bug's Life, Monster's Inc., Toy Story 2, Finding Nemo, Ratatouille and the recent short film Presto!   It's great to have grown as an animator as the company has grown too.

I have a sincere interest in developing talent which comes from having been inspired myself by my role models when I was starting out.  The guys that helped me were so generous with their time and expertise and I realise now how important that advice and encouragement was to my ambitions and achievements.  I enjoyed running an intern program at Pixar last year, showing a set of bright young things the ropes and giving them some crucial on the job training.

I have a five year history with the North East of England which began when I visited the Animex International Festival of Animation for the first time.   I was pleased to be invited last May to help the Tyneside Cinema's rebirth in to Art Deco loveliness and promote their learning program.  Northern Film & Media also put me in touch with a talented local young animator - Gary Carse from Northumberland and i've been giving him some tips in his college training.

There seems to be a lot of support for new talent in this part of the world. So, it was fun to look at the films on the NFM website made by so many aspiring and accomplished moviemakers.  It was hard to pick from so many but here's a few I liked:

Generations-- while many filmmakers are satisfied to simply set a mood, this work reaches farther.  This talented group of filmmakers fashion a miniature 3 act story in just a few well-chosen shots.  The story is driven as much by the camera as it is by actor Harry Herring's nuanced expressions.  Plus, they had me at bicycles.  My Dad loved the Tour de France!

Slow Dance-- another complete beginning, middle, and end packed into a tiny, super-nutritious, bite-sized morsel of a film.  We younger folk often forget that our elders aren't necessarily as old as they look.

I've heard it said that everyone's personality ripens at about age 26-- and that even as the decades roll by, we remain that person trapped inside the wrinkly body.  Ever looked at an 80 year old person and see the fellow 26 year old inside?  I recommend it.  What a cute film!

Anyway, gotta go for now.  I'll write another blog about the wonders of Animex 2009 when i've had time to digest it (and get over the jetlag).

p.s Check out Gary Carse's nomination for Outstanding Achiever of the Year http://voting09.colaawards.com/

February 18 2009

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