Some of my friends have asked me, "Laid off? Nearly the entire company?".
Yeah.
Sucks, huh?
I guess my main feeling is disappointment that it seems to be ending this way, but that's just a reality in the animation industry. I've had a longer run at one place than most people get as cg artists, and I've learned a lot. 2 feature films (Jimmy Neutron, The Ant Bully) and 3 years of Jimmy Neutron TV series.
Fortunately for me I've gained a ton of experience and I know I'll be ok, interviews are going great and there are lots of opportunities for seasoned animators. It's just bittersweet that it happens right before we release 'Ant Bully' August 4th of this year. I'm not particularly keen on the idea of having to possibly sell my home and uproot my family, but them's the breaks, got to be willing to go to where the work is. It will be nice to have more than one studio on my resume, get to meet new people and learn new things, work on different projects.
Lots of fellow animators at DNA have thoughts on this:
Ray Chase (actually, Ray hasn't put his thoughts down on this, but I bet he will soon, his last day is this Friday...)
Keith Lango
Andrew Burke
Joe Gorski
P.J. Leffelman
Brian F. Menz (I'll post a bit from his site, he doesn't have it set up to go to this directly if he updates again)
March 6, 2006
Animator for Hire
... Unfortunately with "The Ant Bully" nearing completion, DNA Productions will be doing some major slimming down. This includes the animation department in its entirety. It's been a great ride; I've had the pleasure to work with an extremely talented group of people, and work on a great movie. And if I haven't said it in the past... you gotta see this picture in 3d IMAX, it's AMAZING, and not "hash browns amazing".
hash browns amazing:
adj. hash.browns a·maz·ing
1. not good, bad, really bad
2. not amazing[From Old Canadian hash browns, meaning potatoes and from amaze, meaning sike.]
"hash browns amazing" refers to an event in which Andrew Burke took a whole slew of his friends, including yours truly, to a hole in the ground breakfast place for what he called "amazing potatoes." To protect this establishment from bad press lets just call it "Duffy's" in Irving, Texas off MacArthur Blvd. Probably the worst service I think I've ever had (accept for the time the waitress had me eat chili con queso with a spoon, but that's another story entirely). This was the second chance I gave "Duffy's" to supply me with its rumored most delectable sauteed starchy treats. I even specified when I ordered that I did not want the McDonalds patty hash brown they gave me the time before as a less than adequate substitute. Anyway to cut right to it, of a table of 10 to 15 people Andrew was the only one to get those "amazing" potatoes. They ran out again and we never went back. Remember "Duffy's" is a stand in name not to be confused with a Duffy's located in Irving, Texas off MacArthur Blvd.
Now back to it. Below is a link to the first of several interstitials advertising "The Ant Bully" on the tv. I didn't work on any shots in it. It goes by the name "Hot Enough For You?" and everyone that worked on it, in my opinion, did an amazing job. Again this is not movie footage, so don't be disappointed if you don't see it August 4th on the big screen. Click on the picture and enjoy... (link)
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