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Today is a bittersweet day for me, as I will be stepping away from Technicolor Creative Studios to pursue a new opportunity that has presented itself to me. I wanted to take this time to reflect on some of the beautiful experiences and people I've met along the way. During my time here, some recognizable people enabled and lifted me to an even greater height that I never knew I could reach.
During my time at Technicolor, I got the opportunity to work on six projects in 10 months. I cannot divulge all the projects I have worked on just yet. But the two that are officially out or about to be out are "Sonic the Hedgehog 2" and Jordan Peele's "Nope." Hopefully, the other four projects will come out soon, and I can share that information with you all. For any students who want to be animators and are just looking at Pixar, Disney, or DreamWorks as the only places they can land. I fell in love with being a Visualization Artist here, and I highly recommend it to get your foot into the industry. I got the opportunity to do previz, postvis, and techvis for multiple projects. I can't express the amount of knowledge there is to learn and the amount of fun you'll have. The number of talented people you will meet, the number of projects you will touch, and how you will see your work grow are immeasurable.
Mitchell Sturkenboom. was one of the first friends I made at Technicolor, and he worked with me on the first film I ever got to work on in my career. (Which I hope I get to talk about soon) Mitch had been a friend to me throughout my entire time here. We worked on a few films together but stayed in touch even when we were not working on the same projects. He taught me a lot, pushed me to grow, gave me advice, and we always talked about nerdy stuff that we both enjoyed. I appreciate him a lot, and I hope we get to work together in the future again.
Herman Lee was the first supervisor I ever worked under in the industry. Under his supervision on two different films, I learned that he is not only an incredibly talented artist but a great leader. Herman is also incredibly patient and a supportive person. He worked with me, leveling up my skills with what the studio needed of me. When I was coming in on the first project, we worked heavily with Adobe After Effects, with which I had almost zero experience. The project primarily was for postvis, so it was a lot of compositing. I can say now, without a doubt, that I am very comfortable in After Effects. I will have no issue using this software in the future, not only for employees but also for myself on personal projects. It's a powerful tool that I now always use and will keep in my utility belt. Herman is one of the only people I've known in the industry with whom I can sit and talk about basketball for hours. I remember one of the first things we bonded over was his love for the Los Angeles Lakers. Unfortunately, they did not do very well this season. But it was always fun talking to him about it, haha. The second time we worked together was, hmmm, let's say, very interesting. It was a raunchy film that was oddly specific regarding animation and compositing direction. It was a challenging project to work on, and it was a demanding project to deliver the vision that the client wanted. But Herman got us there, and I'm incredibly grateful I got the opportunity to work with him again.
Isaac Hingley was my supervisor on Sonic the Hedgehog 2. I had a lot of deep conversations with Isaac because he seemed to be somebody who was in my shoes at one point in time. He is an alumnus of Animation Mentor who found himself in the previs and postvis side of the industry and never looked back. He fell in love with the art form, had a lot of great knowledgeable advice to give me at all times, and was just a very down-to-earth person. That left an impression on me, and I'm very thankful I got to meet and work with him. The advice he gave me on how to succeed in this industry is something I will never forget.
Josh Lange was a person who left maybe the most significant impact on me during my time at Technicolor. Josh Lange embodies who I want to be as a contributor to this industry. On Josh's website, he has a quote that I always notice every time I visit it, "Be the change you want to see." And that's precisely what I saw from him. I got to see Josh's leadership firsthand on Jordan Peele's Nope. I only worked on the project for less than a week, so my contribution to the film was minimal. But Josh welcomed me to that team with open arms, and he included me in everything involved with that team. He kept me in the loop even after I had moved on to another project. Josh always tried to stay connected with me, and I was pleasantly surprised on the day "Nope" wrapped; I received a personalized email from him thanking me for my contribution and sharing that the one-shot I had worked on made it into the trailer. That type of character trait always stands out to me. I think he's one of the most influential people I've met in this industry, and we need more people like him. He always looked at everyone as a teammate and not as a prominent figure with power that he could use over them. He humbled me and made me look to him as what I want to be in the future. I'm very thankful to have met you, Josh.
Last but not least, we have Katie Hooten. Katie is the head of the studio at Technicolor Creative Studios, although I didn't work with her on any particular project. Katie hosts a company meeting every Thursday afternoon where she wants to connect and give any updates to the studio. It's an opportunity for all the department heads to share what they have going on in their departments. Many of these meetings end up with us playing some game or having some mental break activity, sometimes with prizes or to win bragging rights. But Katie is a natural leader, and I felt very blessed to have met her. Working under her, I saw how kind she was, and it was apparent she cared. Katie does a great job making everyone feel seen and heard, from the supervising directors down to the production ladder. As a woman in this industry who runs an entire company, I thought she was an incredible role model not for just women but for everybody, including me.
Working in the film was a wonderful learning experience. I recommend that anybody considering getting into the animation industry land a job in pre-visualization because I believe it is a great way to get real-world experience and take your work to the next level. I can't wait to take all this knowledge and experience I've gained and put it into my work in the future.
Not only that, I'm incredibly grateful for the number of people I met during my time here. So thank you, Technicolor. It was a pleasure and an honor to work at this company. Farewell, and I cant wait to see what you put out next.