Marty Murphy

It's often said that you can't appreciate things unitl they're gone but we shouldn't let that happen.  We should all try to remember how fortunate we are to be working with so many wonderfully talented and creative people.  Animation is not only a small industry, although growing larger due to CGI, it is tradionally an intimate business.  We work closely together and often shoulkder to shoulder with one another.  We should all stand back once in-a-while and enjoy the moment.

A short while ago, without a great deal of fuss, Marty passed away.  He was not one of the industry people whose name and work neveryone knew but he was a fine artist and cartoonist who was known and highly respected within the heart of the animation industry.

The best thing about the Oscars are the home parties where everyone yells and screams when their favorites win or lose. 

As the Super Bowl has become as more of an event than a footdball game, the Oscars have always been an event, an event that draws its demographics from across the board.  Men, women and children huddle together to eat, drink, gossip and cheer and to join in and share the dazzling world of make believe.  But inbetween all the hoopla and contrivance there are always just enough wonderful and moving moments to bring us back year after year.

Hooray for Hollywood!

I love award shows, don't you.  The only problem is that we just don't have enough of them.  I think we should have an Award Show, Award Show where we give (what else?) Awards to the best of the Award Shows - and maybe  bumper stickers.

Often hated but always needed, the poor budget can and should be the best friend of anyone trying to produce a film.  But rather it is more often the target of everyone's discontent and blamed for a multitude of sins and offenses. The film's budget normally stands in the dock accused of any and all the ills plaguing the production.  "If only we could have another month we could redo that sequence."  Or, "They say there's nothing left in the budget to rerecord the orangatang!  Who in the hell said betty white could still play the ingenue?"  But....whose faults are these?  If the budget was correctly made, everyone going into the production knew exactly what they had and what they had to do.  Why blame the budget for other's failings?

Why would it be important if Disney lost a suit filed against them to redress the common practice of creative accounting?   

The hope, the small flickering flame we can barely see at the end of the long and very dark tunnel we've all been crawling through, is that maybe a small crack will appear in the monolith of half a dozen media giants who control everything in our business. 

So far Disney has just lost round one, but being the 3 zillion pound monkey they are, the appeals have already been written and the best ambulance chasers money can buy are all lining up with briefcases at attention ready to do battle. 

How can you figure out how to bid for a job or price your services.  Bid too high and you lose.  Bid too low and and it may raise concerns about quality..  Is there a secret to getting this right?  Not really, but it helps to take everything into consideraton before giving a quote.

All good salesmen understand the power of ABC.

Nothing important really.  If you don't read this you won't miss a great job opportunity or any special Zen like enlightenment.  You won't get any good tips on playing the ponies or how to make a perfect souffle or even where to pick up Boys/Girls....  If you have 5 minutes to waste give it a read, otherwise go in peace and know that you won't be any less informed or likely to regret missing my secret 'Five Steps to Growth and Success in the Business of Animation Filmaking." - (Just kidding).

You ever take something apart and think you can fix it?  You know, you're talking to a guy that has this nice toaster that just doesn't seem to make very good toast so you think you'll buy it off of him and take it apart and repair it.  Happens with films as well.  Seems like a perfectly good film or tv series but it just doesn't work for one reason or another.  Someone gives up on it and you pick it up for a song and decide to take it home and get it working...  The only trouble is these little repair projects often can make you wish you had never seen them.