We are working on the new Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. I am both excited and feel a little dirty about that. Next to Ghostbusters, TMNT is my favorite property and I have wanted to be a part of that universe since I was eight. However, I always have hesitations when it comes to reboots of old franchises as I rarely agree with the way they are handled. That said, its mainly because I want more of the version I loved as a child and not ready to give the series to another group of kids. What I have seen of the movie does look like a lot of fun, so every day I get a little more excited about the film.
We are also working on Guardians of the Galaxy. Im a fan of the marvel owned movies and James Gunn is one of my favorite directors, so there is nothing but excitement and anticipation for this film. I mean, talking raccoon with laser rifles...how can that be anything but glorious.
Rachel and I went to see Godzilla yesterday morning. This was another film that we worked on (if you havent noticed, the best way to get your name on a bunch of blockbusters is to be a stereoscopic compositor) and I was beaming with pride when the end credits rolled. The film was phenomenal from the script all the way thru the 3D conversion (the 3D scored almost perfect marks on one blog).
Its been awhile since Ive had the time for a good long type on here. I keep meaning to do little recaps, but I get distracted by Call of Duty or sleep. There was going to be a big End of Year wrap-up, but we spent a few weeks back home in Missouri with family and it was hard to pull myself away from all them. A short and quick summation of last year?
2013 was awesome.
Living in Los Angeles affords one a lot of opportunities as a nerd (its to balance out all of the time you spend dying slowly in rush hour traffic on the 101 or 405). In 2013 (and up to now in 2014) I was able to meet all of my favorite authors, artists, and many actors and directors. A few for instances.
I got to sit in and be a part of the audience for Bruce Campbells pilot, Nightcap. In real life he is just as charming, witty and hard working as he seems in his films.
Rachel and I were in the audience for SPOILERS with Kevin Smith, who has been a icon of mine for quite awhile. I got to chat with him one on one for awhile and had him sign a comic that my Pops had bought for me a few months before he passed away.
I met Jim Butcher (Dresden Files), Neil Gaiman (Sandman and a hundred others), Chuck Pahlniuk (Fight Club), got knocked over by Patrick Rothfuss (he very was sorry and I bounce), James Ellroy, Neal Stephenson, new favorite author Stephen Blackmoore, artists Dean Yeagle, Frank Cho, Juanjo Guarnido, and the iconic and incredible Drew Struzan (on 5 different occasions).
I was able to meet actors from the Goonies, watch Elijah Wood spin the turntables at a movie shown in a cemetery, chatted with Bill Paxton (the dude is just as laid back and awesome as you'd imagine), and saw a random smattering of B-C-D list actors at the grocery store. I was able to meet the director of Godzilla who thanked us for our awesome work. We see Weird Al almost every Sunday morning (brother knows his hymns).
My shelves of autographed books literally had so many books on them that they pulled themselves out of the wall. I had to buy another heavy duty, sealed poster tube to keep all of the art and posters Ive had signed better protected. For the first time my studio, Knights End, will be listed in the credits of a film created by people I had never met before, but contacted me after seeing my reel and wanted me to do all of the visual effects for their horror film, Mile Marker 7. I've added 14 movie and television titles to my IMDB page and worked with more incredible artists and compositors than I thought possible (none of who get the thanks and adoration they deserve but are all moving on to great things).
And the icing on the ridiculously tall, 30 layer red velvet cake, is that we are expecting our first baby in September. We are excited as all get out. We are told its likely a girl. To keep our baby name choices from getting out into the Collective Consciousness, we are referring to her as codename Dr Zhivago.
(photo taken at the Gallery 1988 Ghostbusters Art Show)
I dont expect the next year to be as mind blowing. Honestly, I feel like there are probably a lot of people calling bulls--t now. But If all else slows down, being a dad sounds like it will be an experience hard to top.
