New Release Dates!

Well, things got interesting.  DreamWorks is swapping release dates of "Home" and "Penguins of Madagascar" films.  So now Home will come out on March 27, 2015.  No idea yet how this impacts the crew...if it means I'll be on the show a bit longer or not.  We'll find out more in the coming weeks.

Personally, I'm happy with this move.  I think Home is a really charming fun film, but had a danger of getting lost in all the hoopla of big epic holiday films this year.  It'll also means my wife's animated film over at Disney won't have a face-to-face showdown with mine after all :)

A Focus on Home

My short gig on KFP3 has wrapped up.  Those were a fun and fast five weeks!  But, to quote the Head of Animation Dan Wagner - "It's time for you to go back Home now"

It's always interested coming back onto a show.  Even after just over a month away, a lot has changed on "Home".  I think there's a bit more energy to the show now - the short really galvanized the crew, and it's been really fun seeing everyone's response to it.  It's even informing some decisions on the feature film now.  So I'll be on this one until the show wraps....or my new son is born - whichever comes first!

And speaking of Family and Home.  The big event this week is my family will be moving into our very first house!  In a very frantic month, we managed to find and purchase a home in Burbank that we really fell in love with.  It'll be great to have a yard for the dog and kid(s) to play in, and a place to finally call our own.  Also, it'll be the first time in over nine years in this industry where I won't have to drive an hour to work!

A Shot from "Peabody"

In honor of Peabody hitting #1 at the box office in its second week, I thought I'd post a shot I worked on from the film.  I animated the front seven kids in this shot. Still haven't seen the finished film myself yet - it's been a busy spring!

"Almost Home" Short Attached to Peabody

Released in front of Peabody this weekend is a fun little short film called "Almost Home".  This is a bit of a prequel to our feature film "Home" that I've been working on for almost a year.  It stars Steve Martin as the Captain Smek - leader of the poor Boov aliens as they search for a new planet to call home.

I'm really excited how DreamWorks decided to handle this rollout - and produce a really fun and exciting short than trying to cobble together a regular trailer.  It's a much better introduction to the world.  Quite a bit of crowds work for a short, so I was able to contribute a lot of animation...and it was done in record time!

Here's also a link to some behind the scenes stories.

Peabody & Sherman Opens Today!

It feels like a looong time ago that I worked on this movie.  Heck, I remember trying to finish my big animation shot in time before Wesleys due date!

We had a fun day on campus to celebrate - seems like spirits are definitely up more this year.  The movie's been getting some great reviews too.  I can't wait to see the finished version - last time I saw it was a year and a half ago when 2/3rds of it was still in storyboards!

Working on Kung Fu Panda 3

For at least a little while.  Really excited to finally get the chance to work in the Panda's world for a little bit.  It's the only DreamWorks franchise that I haven't had the chance to work on yet!