Pixar

So Pixar is my big thing.

In 2002 I saw story artist Rob Gibbs give a lecture on storyboarding on Monsters Inc. After him I saw Tia Kratter, Lee Unkrich and Steve May, all of whom were part of this 4-part lecture. Once a week for four weeks I went to the Osher Marin Jewish Center to see them. Before the first night I had wanted to be an animator. After seeing Gibbs, I thought storyboarding would be even better for me.
In June of 2003 we drove down to Emeryville and saw the place in person. I would have screamed with excitement had I been able to speak!

In October of 2004 I was actually lucky enough to get inside Pixar because the SF Cartoon Art Museum was putting on an Incredibles lecture with sound designer Gary Rydstrom (though he did not do the sound on Incredibles), director of Nemo Andrew Stanton, story artist Mark Andrews and animator Angus Maclane. Mark Andrews can be seen in this picture to the right. I'm the one in pink. That was one amazing night.

In February this year I got to go to the SF Wondercon in the Moscone Center and meet Enrico Casarosa and Ronnie Del Carmen. I also got to buy their books and talk with them. It was so exciting. I also met James Baker and bought one of his books. And just by walking around I met Angus Maclane and Sanjay Patel. I actually saw Maclane's nametag and read "Angus" before he turned around. I thought his face was familiar and I thought, "Could it be...?" And sure enough, he turned around again and the rest of his nametag said "Maclane." I introduced myself surprisingly easily and congradulated him on his Annie award. :) As for Sanjay...I had just gotten all of Enrico, Ronnie and James Baker's books and decided to sit down to start reading them. I went to the lobby and sat down. A person sitting next to me apparently recognized whose books I was holding in my lap and asked. "Are you a fan of theirs?" Turns out he's Sanjay and he knows these guys. Wow.

If that wasn't enough, in March Ernie Fosselius, a great friend of mine and amazing artist asked his friends, Gary Rydstrom and Bud Lucky, if we could have a tour of Pixar. They said yes! That was one amazing day. I saw so many people I had only seen pictures of, including John Lasseter. I sat behind Lee Unkrich at lunch. I met Joe Ranft. I walked past Sanjay Patel in the hallway of the animation department. I met Rob Gibbs and told him that he was my first inspiration to be a storyboard artist. It was a Pixar geek's paradise. In this picture, from left to right, is Greg Dykstra, who tagged along with us that day, Bud, my friend Ernie, me, and Gary. All of these guys were so friendly.

Well I'm glad I got that out. Needed to tell someone, even if it's an empty blog.