Animation Mentor Graduation!

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When I got home from my vacation in Massachusetts I had about 2 days to recover and get myself ready for the next leg of summer. Come Friday, Emily, Dan Edwards, Mike Bahurinsky, and myself all piled into Dan's Civic and began the trek to San Francisco for our Animation Mentor Graduation.

The drive was easy and uneventful, discussions of gaming, cars, music, etc. all took place in the usual fashion and we arrived in Oakland around 1am. A decent hotel room and about 6 later we got up, had some breakfast, dressed up nice and headed on our way to the Berkeley Art Museum where our Graduation was being held.

Last time we were here was for the Animation Mentor Annual Barbecue and the weather was less than awesome. Overcast, a bit chilly with what seemed like impending rain was what we had then, but this time we got lucky! 80 degrees and not a cloud in the sky! The scenery was beautiful, the weather was perfect, it was shaping up to be a really awesome day. As soon as we arrived we started seeing people we had spent 2 years in school with yet (in some cases) never met in person. Bill, Cedric, Jerzy, all these guys I talk to ALL the time yet had never met. Instantly cool for sure, but it kept getting better! We had a trial practice run for the ceremony, hung out a while, and were then seated for the ceremony to begin.

Shawn, Carlos, and Bobby are definitely a bunch of amazing dudes. The school that was once an idea being tossed around during lunch and gaming sessions was now alive and changing people's lives, mine most included. As well as great animators, the three of them have an air of charisma and inspiration about them that has definitely played more than a small part in the success of the school. Many thanks to them for everything and for Shawn's great speech.

Glen Mackintosh from ILM was the guest speaker and had some really cool things to say. We also heard from Rick O'Connor, Don Crum, and many others with a boatload of great info.

After the speakers spoke and awards were awarded, we all got in line for our diplomas, handshakes, and pictures. Awesome to the max! The reception following was a great time with many pictures to be taken, wine to be drank, and memories to be made. After it all ended we got a burger, took a deep breath, and headed on home.

Stay tuned for the next update...Siggraph and FJORG!

Kung Fu Panda, Friends From Paris, Graduation, Birthday, Emily <3

Just a few things to update about that are pretty neat.

Last week I got invited to go watch a screening of Kung Fu Panda on the Paramount Pictures studio lot. It was an incredible movie, probably Dreamworks' best. Highly recommended to anyone and everyone! I laughed as there is a small shot in the film that is almost exactly like a shot in my short film. Not 100% the same, but close enough that I wouldn't be surprised if someone out there asks me if I was inspired by it or something.

My buddy Richard from Paris is coming to visit next week. He'll be staying here in LA for about a week then he's going to trek it up San Fran to explore a bit. We met on www.simplycg.net awhile back. Should be cool, he's a photographer so I'm sure we'll end up with pictures.

This is my final week of school! My short film is nowhere near done, but it's on it's way. It's been an incredible ride and I've come such a long way since I started thanks to Animation Mentor. I'm hoping to have my short film finished by the end of summer, we'll see how that goes. It's certainly nothing amazing, it's been a hell of a learning experience. I won't be posting it online for awhile in case of the small chance it turns out really cool and I can submit it to a festival or two. (If it's online, a lot of festivals won't allow it).

It's going to be a busy summer. Headed to San Fransisco at the end of June for the Animation Mentor job fair and annual barbecue. After that Emily and I are going to be traveling to the East Coast to visit my family and friends. August brings us Siggraph and the FJORG! animation competition.

And finally, Monday is my birthday. I'll be twenty-six. Emily is awesome, in case someone out there didn't know already.