2019 Year in Review

Looking back, this year was a step forward for me professionally, due to gaining more experience training and leading teams both on an Episodic project as well as a Feature Film, at two different companies. These experiences allowed me to learn a deeper understanding of how to work with artists and animators, who each have their own hidden ways of working and responding to direction and motivation. No matter the project, or what moment in the production, teams are always ready (in their unique way) to do their best work, and I believe it is the job of the lead or supervisor to not only answer questions when they are asked, but to also look for ways to inspire and educate on a daily basis.

2019 also featured some large movie releases on which I worked, including the finale of the Avengers saga with Endgame. While on the project, I contributed to previs on the Captain America v. Thanos fight, the third act battle by the Avengers compound, and other sections of the film. Our team at The Third Floor was full of immensely talented and motivated individuals, who were also able to fit in lots of activities that promoted fun and relaxation. It was a masterclass on how to work hard and play hard, and in many ways I consider it the gold standard of a high-functioning team, and the film would later go on to enormous box office success and an Oscar nomination for Best Visual Effects.

After Third Floor, I joined VFX company Pixomondo in West LA, where I worked as an animator, previs lead, and layout supervisor for "The Orville" TV show, as well as a previs artist on the "Star Trek: Discovery" show. Working on "The Orville" was my first time on a television series, and the unique pace of production and artistic freedom we had to make an imprint on the show was refreshing. After training many of the previs team members in the idiosyncrasies of spaceflight animation, when the show transitioned from preproduction to post, I was able to continue on as layout supervisor, training the previs members in the finals pipeline and adapting our previs scenes into finals-ready Maya files and alembic exports. The quality standard for "The Orville" was a high, and our work at Pixomondo was nominated for Best Visual Effects in a Television Series.

Once done at Pixomondo, I did final animation for a project at a commercial house, and then moved on to join the team at the Moving Picture Company (MPC) in Culver City. I came to enjoy the people and office there, and worked on several projects as a previs and postvis artist. Another leadership opportunity surfaced for a postvis film project, but I will update more on that another time.

Full 2019 projects list:
Avengers: Endgame
"The Orville" (Season Two)
Noelle
Detective Pikachu
Godzilla: King of the Monsters
"Watchmen" (HBO)
"Star Trek: Discovery"
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