THIS IS OLD NEWS, BUT NEWS NONETHELESS

This happened a while back (about a month ago) but I decided I should post it anyway. At the beginning of the year, Blue Sky Studios moved from White Plains, New York to Greenwich, Connecticut. It's only about a 20 minute shuttle ride away. I actually enjoy the shuttle quite a bit. Before we moved we had to walk to work in rain, snow, sleet, all at the same time, uphill and barefoot and we liked it. Alot! This new studio is WAY better than the old one. Pete Paquette's comment about "digital puppets" got him alot of attention at the studio. I don't think there was a single person here that didn't make fun of him for it.

**I'll Edit this post later with pics of the studio**

SCARY MOVIE NIGHTS AT KORMAN

This weekend Teresa Nord hosted the first Scary Movie Saturday Nights at AKA Korman Communities where Blue Sky keeps us nice and warm during these chilly wintry nights. Thanks to the organizational skills of Tab Burton; Tyler Phillips, my wife Cirila, and myself enjoyed a fun filled night stuffing our faces with popcorn and assorted left over Valentine's Day chocolates as we drank ourselves silly with Diet Dr. Pepper and V8 Fusion. Yeah, we really know how to have a big time. The highlight of the night was easily the film we watched entitled Rogue. I liked it because it started the same way as The Lion King and starred an evil giant Australian Crocodile. If you're ever bored out of your mind and you happen to be in Target, give it a try. According to the back of the DVD, "Rogue delivers brutal action and breathless suspense as it speeds towards one of the most intense final showdowns ever filmed." Trust me. You have to see it to believe it!

I'VE BEEN BUSY

Wow! It's been way too long since my last post. I never intended to go this long without saying....something! So much has happened since I arrived to White Plains, NY a little more than 3 months ago. This certainly has been a humbling experience. I have learned a tremendous amount about the industry and how a movie gets made, and everything I thought I knew about animation got ripped apart the first couple of weeks I was here. This being my first film and all, there was a time at the beginning when I began to doubt my ability to contribute to this film. My first shot kicked my butt! I mean it got ripped apart!!! I never thought I'd get it approved, but when it finally did, I could hardly believe it. It's a pretty sweet feeling getting a shot approved. For about 8 seconds you feel like a total rock star. Since getting past that first shot, it's definitely gotten much better.

The people here are AMAZING! I just wanted to say that quickly now, but I'll elaborate on it more later.

We have about 6 weeks left in production in animation. We're overtime freaks! It's a crazy race to the finish. In an effort to help boost morale, director Carlos Saldanha called the animation department to a meeting in the Blue Sky Theater. He surprised us with about 8 minutes of the film that was complete, or close to final lighting and rendering. I don't even know how to write it without sounding like I'm tooting my own horn, or being completely biased, but I can't help it. This movie looks FREAKING AWESOME!!! I had some questions of how it would look when it all came together, but not anymore. IT'S UNBELIEVABLE! I can''t wait to see it in stereo 3D, and I hope audiences feel the same way when it comes out this summer.

Stay tuned. More to come later...I promise!