December 20, 2004

Goodbye PDI DreamWorks, Hello Sony, Blog on Hold


openSeason
Originally uploaded by ejhdigdug.
So this week marks the end of my contract with PDI/DreamWorks. I've decided not to renew my contract. Instead I decided to accept an offer with Sony Imageworks. I'll be working on Sony's first animated feature film: Open Season. The decision was not an easy one. The people at PDI/DreamWorks have been good to me. The animators that I worked with are some of the most talented, humble, down earth people that I've had the pleasure to worked with. I hope I get the chance to work with them again in the future. PDI/DreamWorks also has some nice projects coming down the pipe that I'm sad that I won't be a part of.

So why did I choose Sony? Sony has a lot of things going for it. There's a lot of talented people there, but the thing that pushed me over the edge towards Sony was when I found out that Jill Culton was one of the directors of Open Seson. I know Jill from my CalArts years. Her last year there was my first year. Then on my last year she came back and taught a class. I've never met anyone who was more passionate about animation then Jill. While she was at CalArts, she would buy season passes to Disneyland just so she could sit and draw the people there. She would come back with sketchbooks full of life studies.. Her passion has served her well. She worked on such films as Cats Don't Dance and Toy Story. Then she became the head of story at Pixar on Toy Story 2, Monsters Inc.

Once I found out that Jill was one of the directors I knew that I had to work on the project. If she can translate even a little of her passion into the film, it will be a very good project to be a part of.

But the bad news is I'll have to put this blog on the back burner for a while. I'll be packing the house, and moving to LA. I'll be looking for a house and starting a new job. All of that will have to take priority for a bit. So I'll be putting this blog on hold until after I get settled.

Stay tuned tell then.

2 comments:

Ward Jenkins said...

Crap! On hold? Now what'll I do? But that's GREAT about your new job! Here's to a smooth move and transition to LA and Sony for ya. Best of luck!

(And thanks for the plug on my blog, Ethan! Looking forward to seeing you back online....)

-Ward.

Anonymous said...

You're jumping to Sony? Awesome! Best of luck, and here's to hoping that they're able to build a culture like Pixar's, rather than what I've heard has become of Dreamworks. Best of luck on the move, happy holidays, and we'll all be looking forward to an update as soon as you get a chance!

-willryan