One of the things that I realized while my parents were here was that I was comfortable here. I don't miss Canada anymore. I've come to accept my life here and it now feels like... dare I say... Home. I know my mother will be very upset to hear that. (sorry mom) It became quite clear to me that this was no longer a "vacation spot", but my life. I don't know what that means in the long term, only that when I do move back it will be a starting over again, probably just as difficult as moving here.
Work has changed a lot in the last 6 weeks. We have had a great visit with the "circus" from San Fransisco. I enjoyed it a lot. I got to spend a lot of time with Dave Filloni, the supervising director of clone wars. He had lots of great stories to tell. He is one of those people who can tell almost any storey and make it interesting. He also managed (and I didn't think it was possible) to restore my love of star wars! After one visit I was practically glowing I was so enthusiastic about being a part of this.
Our CG supe Matt Gidney has left clone wars for bigger and brighter things in Australia. I wish him luck and hope his new endeavour will satisfy him. It does leave some managerial holes here though. I am hoping Ben and I will be able to maintain what is needed to get the season done and then perhaps, he can be replaced more smoothly for second season. I think that will be difficult to do on the fly during production because the role is relatively undefined, and to define it would be to adjust every ones job. Something that would require great fortitude, and endurance to make happen. Colum Slevin, the man that hired me, has also moved on. He will be missed though he never really fit in Singapore as family issues held him back State side for some time. He was replaced by Xavier Nicols, who was them promoted to replace Chris K. (sorry Chris I'm not gonna even guess how to spell your name. I can't even pronounce it!) as head of studio. He seems very intelligent, and I'm looking forward to his leadership. He seems quite natural at it. Athena has gone back to San Fran and was replaced by Tim Smith. He is a good friend from my CORE days on the wild. I"m glad to be working with him again. It sounds like there has been a lot of change here, and that is true but most of it was well planned for in advance. The studio has been in production for two years here, and peoples contracts and promises are now up. Most people will only commit for two years at a time, so this transition is natural.
The episode I've been working on is looking amazing. We had created a shot of the week award, and it is becoming very difficult to award because so many shots look so good! We are behind as usual but I expect we will pull through by the end. We always do. ;)
