Summer in Cali

So I moved to Manhattan Beach for the summer while I will be working with the Dogs on the game of the year, Uncharted 2...learning how to surf, playing some beach volleyball, and enjoying the sun. Not too far from my doorsteps...and quick trips to vegas and sf a short hop in the plane!

one block to beach!

our volley team...team camo!

uncharted 2 trailer at e3 09

Back to the USofA

So after my 9 months abroad I had to return. In April I flew back into NYC to visit all my old Blue Sky peeps, and check out the new Studio. I also went out on the town with one of my AM students, another Jason. Good times. Ice Age Dawn of the Dinosaurs looked great, and it was amazing seeing everyone after all that time. Seemed like the entire look of the team had changed!

After that I headed home to WI for some good ol' R&R with the parents, and packed up for my x-country road adventure to Cali, where I will be spending the summer working on Uncharted 2: Among Thieves, at Naughty Dog. The road trip was great, and I got to stop at some national parks, Zion, Arches and Grand Canyon.

Mi ultimio dia en Espania!

Y Ilion Animation Studios tambien. Adios todos! I'll miss you guys.

The Planet 51 crew.

London visit

Just got back from three (sunny!) days of exploring the city and visiting studios. We got to meet Eamonn Butler at Double Negative who was a great host and got a quick visit into Framestore as well. Lots of big stuff coming up in London. Special thanks to Kai for putting Hugo and I up and hanging with us and showing us the best Sushi in Soho. Camdon market food rocks. Who said the brits dont eat well?

The final weeks...

My five months in Spain are almost over! I'm down to 2.5 more weeks here at Ilion Animation Studios, and the movie is just about finished in animation. The film is looking great despite the crazy schedule, thanks to some of the talented people working here. Next week I am heading to London to visit a few Studios there, then I return to the States. I will miss Madrid and all my awesome international friends, but hopefully someday I shall return. Here are some of the folks who are working, or pretending to, in the animation dept. As you can see, its quite a cultural mix here at Ilion....

The Stein from Norway

Abraham-ham-ham from Spain

Harmut the wise and witty German

Ramero from Argentina

Andrew the Scott or Brit or Welsh or - whatever

Marco the deadly Italien

Yannick from France

Hugo another crazy German

Wampaa from Hoth

Terry the Irish rover

Pepe and Andrew, helping Harmut, or causing problems?

Dani the laughing Spaniard

A visit with Sergio Pablos!

I recently had the honor of visiting Animagic and got to see a real 2D studio still in action! They are doing mostly commercial work, but have a feature coming in and are boarding some short films they will do in in the realm of 3D. Sergio was so laid back and cool, and showed us some of what he has been working on. Not only is he one of the top animators in the world, he has a great mind for character development and story, I wish him all the best and would love to work with him someday. Love to see those pages flipping! Thanks to Hugo for setting up the meeting!


And of course I have been working away on Planet 51. We are getting pretty busy and now entering our last couple months of production. Less then 25% left to animate! The animation is looking good and I think people will enjoy it. Hopefully the weather warms here in Madrid soon, its been an abnormally cold winter as you can see....

Small world...

Early one October morning we were exploring a tomb along the Nile, when out of the blue, some guy grinning ear to ear came running up to Anthea, who was right next to me. It took a few seconds to recognize him, but sure enough, Mr. Bobby Beck himself was there with us. He was on vacation as well and happened to be at the same ruin at the same time. In Egypt of all places! Small world.