As Walt Disney once said, we must “keep moving forward” whether or not the public can see our effort. Though I’m working hard as ever, people still ask if I’m developing anything at all, so here are some previews:
Actually, before my own updates, I ‘d like to share this video essay by my acquaintance Adam Westbrook. It really somes up how my work has felt for the past year, and it’s also something every artist should see:
[su_vimeo url=”https://vimeo.com/151128399″ width=”1280″ height=”720″ class=”frameborder=’0′ allowfullscreen”]
And now for my own “painting in the dark”:
1. My professional animation career has taken off. I’ve created animation for the upcoming Barbie Spy Squad DVD, the Emmy winning series All Hail King Julien, and now the exciting, upcoming feature film Henchmen. All this work has meant less time for personal projects, but I keep working on them slowly and steadily.
2. Vanishing Ink has been opening doors all over the place. As I’ve been pitching the project as a feature film at four studios and counting, there’s been so much to learn and so many possibilities. No studio has optioned Vanishing Ink as a film yet, but my next project is becoming much stronger due to the lessons learned.
3. Cirque Du Solitude, my next book, is currently in the outline stage and the next step in this project is to flesh out the cast of characters. This project is constantly in the back of my mind, and would be my prized side project if it weren’t for …
4. Layers, the short film I’m creating with Nimble Collective. Nimble is the brain-child of former DreamWorks talents who want to empower filmmakers to create projects with unique voices not typically heard in Hollywood. The project has been an incredible learning tool, and with my collaborators Lauren Chaikin and Tegan Clancy, we have some great concept art and an animatic that should be finished in the coming months with music from the fantastic Ryan Leach. Once we receive funding, we’ll get to produce the full animation and finally share this story with the world!
This may seem like a tough balance, but it’s pretty simple. I just work in the morning on one project at a time and then log a full-day’s work at the animation studio. Patience is the real challenge, but when we enjoy the journey, the wait is manageable.
So what about you all? What projects are you working on this year?