Changes

So it's been a good couple months since I've posted anything - a lot has happened since April, and Jess and I have been pretty overwhelmed to say the least.. But it's finally time to get things back to normal, and update the interwebs on recent developments!

Earlier this year, Jess and I both accepted positions at Reel FX in Dallas, TEXAS, to help the studio develop their first theatrical animated feature film - This was a very bittersweet decision, but we're incredibly excited about it. I personally had been living in San Francisco for nearly 9 years, it was the only home I knew after leaving Idaho (where I grew up). It's where I went to college, it's where I started my career, and it's where some of my most precious memories and friends were made. This decision of course meant that Jess and I also had to leave Tippett again. Tippett holds a very special spot for me - they were the first studio to give me the chance to jump in to film, and I feel like I learned more there than I ever did at school when it came to being an animator (and growing facial hair). It's also where Jess and I first met :) I will miss the team there very much, and I look forward to seeing the amazing work that they continue to put out.

Jess and I were both looking to try out the world of feature animation, versus visual effects, and the chance to come in early and help develop the studio's first feature film from the ground-level is such an exciting opportunity! Reel FX has a great energy about it, and the team is awesome! There are some super talented people here, and everyone is eager to put out a quality picture - we're very excited for the journey that lies ahead :)

(Reel FX is responsible for the recent CG Looney Tunes shorts, if you haven't seen any of them, check out the original, Coyote Falls, here)

The trip to Dallas itself was exhausting - we had movers to take the bulk of our stuff, and Jess and I set out with the bare necessities, and our dog and two cats, all crammed in to our car, for a nonstop 30 hour road trip from the Bay Area to Dallas. That just sounds like a nightmare waiting to happen, but it went amazingly smooth! No auto troubles, no stranded desert-walk-a-bouts, no getting lost, and the pets were complete troopers! WE MADE IT GIBBY, WE IS NOT DEAD! HAH! But of course after having gone through that, and only having one weekend to settle in and rest, we had to start work on the following Monday :P yeesh... BUT, our first week at work yielded a pretty awesome surprise for anyone in the animation world - Glen Keane was in town to be presented with the Tex Avery Animation Award, AND give a talk at the studio on his career and approach to animation, AND give a Q&A joined with an anniversary screening of Aladdin AAAAAANNND invited the Reel FX animation team to a small sit down lunch/conversation. That was pretty damn awesome, and inspiring as hell..

Jess and I with Glen Keane

Texas has been great to us so far, and a lot different than we were expecting - of course, Dallas is a bit more cosmopolitan than the rest of Texas (excluding Austin), so we haven't had our full 'Texas' experience just yet :P we were also lucky enough to get a place walking distance from Reel FX, in the heart of Deep Ellum, which is a great little music/arts district - always something going on!

We also jumped in the deep end and joined a local cross-fit gym to help counter all the stupidly delicious food that somehow finds it's way in to our bellies.. there is a LOT of good food down here. Cross-fit though, is so, so, soo so so hard >< and I feel like I've fallen down a mountain every day :P BUT, it's also super fun and strangely addicting - it's a nice change from the monotony of going to a regular gym and doing the same thing day in and day out. And aside from  all the 'pain' I've also been feeling great afterwards. Now I'm just waiting for my body to get acclimated to the beatings..

One thing we're definitely not used to, that has slowly been creeping in, is the summer heat. Bay Area is usually a nice 75, almost year 'round. We've been hanging out in the mid 90s, and supposedly it's gonna be sitting above 110 come July. It's been years since either of us have dealt with anything above the 80s, I'm cringing at the thought of anything over 100, and trying to mentally prepare for a couple months of non stop meat-sweats.. *cry*

Anyways, we're finally all unpacked, and pretty damn close to being completely settled in - our new place is feeling like a home, the new job is moving in a good direction, and our new surroundings are starting to feel a little less foreign. It's been a long time since we've made a change this big, and we're both missing our old friends and home - but good things lie ahead, and we're both happy to be taking this adventure together :)