Disney/Pixar/The World

Whew! It was quite a week for the animation industry, as it was announced Tuesday that Disney is buying Pixar. There probably hasn't been a bigger buzz in the animation industry since... well, I don't know when. People are reeling on every side - those at Disney, those at Pixar, and the rest of the animation world as a whole. The minute I heard the news I talked to friends at both companies. It seems the Disney artists are ecstatic - why wouldn't they be? They now have amazing people that everyone respects driving their company. The Pixar people, well, they trust their leaders when they say it will work well for both companies. I think people in general are worried that John Lassetter, Ed Catmull and Steve Jobs are going to be stretched too thin between their duties at both Pixar and Disney. But, let's face it, these are creative geniuses who will probably be able to rise to the occasion. Nonetheless, Pixar will undoubtedly be changed by this, hopefully in an only positive manner.

The fate of Circle 7 is in the air. Here's what I posted about it at (Animation Nation):

Talked yesterday to an artist who was freelancing for TS3. He said
nobody at Circle7 was picking up the phone or returning calls. Guess we know why
now. What a wild week, everything's changing very quickly.Whether the C7/TS3
thing was a whole bluff or not, we'll never know for sure. A lot of people
predicted it would be shut down eventually one way or another. Sad for the
artists who got caught up in the process. I have a friend who was being strung
along by Disney for TS3 for quite some time. He was excited about TS3 and passed
on some offers waiting for that position. Granted, I'd never advise that route,
but usually when shows are hiring, the show actually exists... Only a handful of
the top brass will ever know for sure what was planned.

A couple of people have emailed me responding to my post saying the same thing happened to them. It's really too bad. Maybe Pixar will start a division in LA. Only time will tell how this all plays out, but it's definitely an exciting time.

A re-introduction

So, since my previous blog was wiped off the map, I'll start with a re-introduction, in part to stop some nasty rumors out there. heh. It was looking like we were going to be moving back to the Bay Area. Our house was on the market (got many offers), was talking to companies (interviewed with ILM and was told by a friend there they liked me- yeah!), had friends living there all excited, and then... "Tak" got greenlit. See, I have a history of working on pilots and in development. Usually, I'm on a pilot, I do my job. A few months later, it's picked up (or not) and I'm invited to work on the series. But, by that time I'm usually at another company on another project, so I pass on the offer. That's what happened most recently on the Andy Milonakis show. (<-- by typing that I might get a barrage of Andy's fans that I finally had escaped).

Anyway, when I started at Tak it seemed like other pilot situations. But I soon learned that Nickelodeon is different. There was a good feeling that Tak was going to be a series. Still, we had planned on the move for 5 years, and it was happening. But, they wouldn't know when it was going to be greenlit for a while. And tons and tons of back and forth decisions... Anyway, to shorten this months long story, it did get greenlit, with a pretty sweet episode order, and I was offered an attractive position, which I can't get into just yet. But soon I shall, and it should be a great year or so making this show.

So, here's what my life will be like for the next year or so:

Working at Nickelodeon
Working on Tak
Working as a ****************
Commute to work: 11 minutes
Commuting vehicle: new bicycle (I'll write about it soon)
Working with great friends
Hacky sacking at 3:33 daily
Working on my short. It's called **********
Possibly directing a show for a group.
Just finished a chapter on Maya for an animation book.
Yoga once weekly.
Playing SSX Tricky on PlayStation 2.
Hopefully sleeping more. But, probably that won't happen. Speaking of which... Goodnight all!

I'm Back World!

So, it's a new year, and a new typa blog. I'd been kinda unhappy with my other blogging software, powered by WordPress, so I had been thinking about switching for some time. Then, about the last week of December, some little farts appartently hacked into my site through a hole in the blog software. Next thing I know, the dozen or so domains I had were replaced by the text "B10S TEAM". Rather than updating that old software, etc., I decided it's time for a fresh change.

I'm leaving behind a year of postings, but I'm not one to dwell on the past too much. I might post a link to them later. But I'm looking forward to better software that makes postings easier, and a better looking blog (I was never happy with the aesthetics of the old one). Wow, I just saw a spell checker on this software. Sweet! Thanks Blogger!

Transition time

Hey, if you happen to read this around January 7, 2006, well, there's a transition taking place. Stay tooned!