Year 10, Day 1

Well its been 10 years since the National Film Board of Canada and I parted ways and I embarked on the solo creation of my 10 minute 'epic' Creamers. My first animation gig at the famous (infamous?) Richard Williams Studio was the inspiration for Creamers. Your mind wanders when you are drawing grass for weeks on end and when animating flies is seen as a sought after promotion you have got to ask yourself -what is all of this for? Hundreds of artists working meticulously on a project that would never really see the proper light of day. Given that the Thief and the Cobbler was never completed as Williams intended - the whole project had a whiff of the Tower of Babel with a little of Oz thrown in for good measure. I jumped ship before the film set sail into no man's land and upon arriving back in Canada set about trying to find a 'metaphor' for my experience. It had to be slightly useless, hand made and very, very repetitious - so patterned creamers it became. Those little granny like items that no one really pays much attention to but are hand painted somewhere by someone who probably rarely sees much light in their day.

One might wonder why anyone would hold on to an idea that long, let alone see a project that has bunny hopped its way through the last 10 years of a career as even viable.

'Is it finished yet?'

'When's your film coming out?'

'It's like I am building a library Mum and I am writing all the books...'

glaze over and *poof* she has moved on.

So why have I stuck with it - well I think its partly due to my pit bullish stubborn streak. A character trait that serves me well and pulls me down in equal measures. But the main reason is that the story still resonates. In true 'life imitates art and art imitates life' style I have lived Ester's day over and over again. Creatively and professionally I am still on that precarious edge of creamers and teapots. But, no matter where I find myself on the food chain of production my heart will always be with the Esters and Joys of this industry.

So to wrap up - I do not plan to ramble like this on every entry of this blog. In fact I don't think I even like blogs but I decided to join the rabble and write one. It is yet another attempt to help me hope focus my energies and finish this monster in a box before I am six feet under.