Entrepreneur

Is it really almost November?

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Is it really almost November?  This year has been flying by, and will be over before we know it.  I guess that is what happens when you are having fun?  This year has been a very busy year with running the business.  I feel that I’m learning new things everyday, and there is always challenges to overcome.  To me the challenges are part of the appeal of running my own company.  There is no roadmap that will work for every company, and it requires you to constantly readjusting your strategy.  Below is a quick update on some of the things I have been working on lately.

Bink:

It is really great to see everything coming together.  All the models for the first episode are now built, and both Bink and the Hand are in-progress on the rigs. I have started to see very early surfacing work on Bink which is awesome to see.  I would share the renders, but I think it is a little early for that.  We should be able to start animation in November if everything stays on schedule.

The other big thing I have been working on is trying to line up the voice talent.  I’m looking for a female voice for a scientist that makes announcements over a PA system, things like “Ready to initiate testing”.  As well as the voice for Bink, and this has been much more challenging.  I think I have a few options for the female scientist, but nothing for the voice for Bink.  I’m looking for a unique voice that is similar to the way minions, or Stitch talks.  A unique language that you can’t really understand most of the time, but occasionally there are words you do understand.  I recorded my son “talking” to use as an example, since when he talks it is very cute and you can occasionally make out an actual word. If you are anyone you know might be interested please let me know.  Here is the link to the VO project.

LA Society of Creative Professionals:

This last Tuesday we had our 4th monthly society mixer, and it was another great turnout.  So far our attendance for our events have ranged from 10-50 people.  I have been meeting a lot of really great and talented people, and hopefully others are enjoying the events and getting something out of it themselves.  I feel that no matter what you do networking is a key to being successful.  Plus I just love meeting new people, and learning about their unique lives.  I always show up to the mixers early to get things setup, and there is always this fear that no one will show up.  So far that has not happened yet, and hopefully it never does.

Corporation:

This week I have been learning a great deal about authorized and issued shares.  I have been having a highly debated conversation with my CPA and my attorney on how many shares we should issue, and how many we should save.  According to the articles of incorporation for Eric Miller Animation Studios we are authorized to have 100,000 shares.  I learned that it is a good idea to not issue all of them, and save some for later.  For example my attorney suggested only issuing 100 shares to me.  Since there are only 100 shares issued I’m still 100% owner, but it gives me extra to bring on partners, or offer to employees.  The debate has been how many shares to issue, 100, 25,000, or some other number.  It seems my CPA and attorney had different opinions, so we had to work out each of their reasonings for me to make a decision.

Part of that discussion is also how much I should spend on those initial shares.  My attorney explained to me “The greater the capitalization, the stronger EMAS is against an attack that it should be disregarded as an alter ego. Alter ego is a judicial doctrine that says that people should not be able to hide behind a corporate form if the corporation is inadequately capitalized and fails to comply with corporate formalities. If the corporation is found to be your alter ego, then you will be personally liable for its debts. If “the corporate veil is pierced” then a creditor could get a judgment against you individually. This defeats much of the purpose of incorporating.”

So as you see I have some pretty important decisions I’m trying to make.  As I mentioned I’m learning so much each day about a variety of different things I would have never learned about if I did not start my own company.

We are having another baby:

My wife and I made the announcement yesterday on Facebook that we are expecting another baby in May of 2016. We are both very excited for the new family member, but it is also very scary.  It is very challenging to have one child so having another it will be more of a challenge.  Having a house payment, two kids and in the second year of starting my own company is enough to stress anyone out a little.  I’m positive we will find a way to make it all work as we did with our first one.

 

Well, there is a quick run down of some of the things I have going on in my life.  Thank you for reading about my journey in starting my business, and as always leave me comments below.  I love reading about what is on your minds, and your responses to my posts.

 

If you have not already, I hope you will join me on my journey by subscribing to my blog.  If you have any thoughts or advice I would love to hear what you have to say, so please feel free to leave me any comments below. Otherwise, be sure to stay connected with me on Twitter (@MillerAnimation). Only Time Will Tell.

Here or There: Outsourcing of Animation

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I wanted to talk about outsourcing of animation that many US companies are doing.  The main reason to outsource work and make the experience of producing animation more challenging is because of cost.  In my previous roles I had learned the Salary for one US-based artist could pay for 4-5 artists in India.  Even if it takes the overseas artist 3 times as long to complete the task it will still be a cost savings.

Outsourcing animation is by no means a new trend, and has been going on for decades.  In a 2012 interview Steve Hulett of the Animation Guild said “We instituted strikes over run-away production in 1979 and 1982, winning the first and losing the second.”  So you can see this is not a new issue.  I believe what we have seen in recent years is technology making it easier and more possible to do business in this way.  You can now easily have a video call with artists in India, Malaysia, or China which you could not do as easily a decade ago.

One of the popular arguments I would often hear is that the quality of work is not as good, and your value of production will go down.  Unfortunately, that is no longer as strong of an argument as the overseas artists get more talented and more efficient.

Outsourcing overseas is not the only worry for a US-based artist or animation/VFX company.  Our neighbors in Canada are also under bidding US animation companies. I’m sure you have heard of their amazing tax credits, and I have heard for every $1 spent on labor they get $0.60 back.  While I have not been able to find anything backing up that claim I have found the Ontario Computer animation & Special Effects Tax Credit is for 18% of eligible labor costs for a Canadian corporation that is Canadian or foreign-owned, has a permanent establishment in Ontario and files an Ontario corporate tax return. Being able to cut 18% of your costs would allow you to save a lot of money when you are talking about project budgets that are $100,000 to $500,000 or more.

The larger studios like DreamWorks Animation, and Disney are also outsourcing a lot of their animation work.  In animated TV production they will often have pre-production here in the US, but then outsource all the production work.  Many of the Disney Junior and Cartoon Network shows are done in this way.

All this really makes one wonder why anyone would open up an animation production company in the US.  These are things you have to come to terms with when we have a global market. There will always be someone that can do it faster, better and cheaper then you can.  Even with all the outsourcing the US animation industry is stronger then it has ever been.  The budgets for projects might be going down, and that is a reality we all have to come to accept.  Labor rates in other countries are increasing, and Canada’s tax credits are getting smaller.  I feel this is a natural balancing out that will take place over the next decade.  I don’t know if US rates will ever be as low as overseas, but it is not always about price.  Having an excellent business experience is a big factor.  There is a tipping point where the savings are not enough to give up working with someone next door to you, or at least in the same time zone.

While I plan to work with as many US-based artists as possible I have to be open to working with artists from all over the world. There are a lot of really talented people who live outside of the US, and it would be silly not to work with someone simply based on their location.  Hopefully the industry will change to making hiring decisions based on talent, and less about saving money. Regardless of where you are, you have to be able to offer great work, reasonable budgets, and an excellent business experience.

 

If you have not already, I hope you will join me on my journey by subscribing to my blog.  If you have any thoughts or advice I would love to hear what you have to say, so please feel free to leave me any comments below. Otherwise, be sure to stay connected with me on Twitter (@MillerAnimation). Only Time Will Tell.

Eric Miller Animation October 2015 Update

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Is it really October already?  Wow this year is flying by.  I’m already starting to see Christmas advertisements online and in my email inbox.  I have not been doing the best job at posting every week.  It is challenging to find the time to think, let alone write a post for my blog.  I will do my best to keep posting, so I thought I give you all a quick update on what is going on.

Animated Short:
In my previous post I mentioned I was considering naming the creature character and the short “Bink”.  I had a lot of very interesting reactions from different people.  While it still seems the majority of people like the name Bink I thought I share the other name I was considering.  The name I first I really liked was “Neap”.  I liked it because it was different, but also had reference to the ocean.  A neap tide is a tide that occurs when the difference between high and low tide is the least.  A neap tide comes twice a month in the first and third quarters of the moon.  I thought having a name that is in reference to the ocean would tie the creature to his back story about him being a seafaring species.  The main reason I kept looking for names was because the need version of the spelling meant “the remnant substance left over from vaporizing marijuana”.  I’m not sure how common this word is used, but was not sure it be a good way to go.  There is also a character called Meap on Phones and Ferb.  I’m still leaning towards Bink, but would love to hear what everyone thinks about Neap as a name option instead.

We are making some great progress with the short, and we have started rig wrecking and surfacing the creature character.  For those that don’t know what either of those are here is a quick and simple explanation.

rig_wreckA character TD will take the model and add a “skeleton” with joints to allow the model to move. Then they have to tell the geometry how to behave when a joint is moved.  Sometimes when a joint is moved in a certain way it does not look right.  Rig Wrecking is the process where an animator tests the rig trying to find things that don’t look right(Trying to wreck the rig).  This is then sent back to the Character TD with the animator’s notes of what issues need to be fixed.  This image is an example of things that were found during rig wrecking that were sent back to the Character TD to fix.  It is not uncommon for this back and forth to happen several times to get it working properly.

Surfacing is the process of adding a texture to the models so that when lighting is added and you render the scene everything looks amazing.  This can also be the stage where fur is added, where you define how shinny or reflective the surface is, and many other attributes that influence the final look of the characters and environment.

Both stages are very exciting because the characters become more and more realized.  We also will have a lighter that will be starting in November to start getting things ready to be rendered.  All surfacing, and animation has to be finished before lighting can do their final renders.

Company Update:
I mentioned earlier our company was changed from a sole proprietorship to an S-Corp, and the corporation started on July 24, 2015.  Once the corporation was formed then I needed to elect it to become a s-corp.  This process took a little longer, since we had to wait to hear back from the State.  I just received word that everything has now gone through, and the S-corp is completely setup.  Our first annual meeting will be held January 30, 2016.  I’m currently reading through the incredibly interesting corporate bylaws, so that I can sign them.  I’m reading sections at a time with breaks in-between to avoid falling asleep.

Client Projects:
I have not talked about client projects for a while now, and there is a good reason. While I’m still getting businesses contacting me about projects I’m not actively pursuing clients.  Instead all my energy has been going into the shorts.  I believe that it is important to have the shorts finished and in my portfolio before I spend marking money to find clients.  If they come to my website looking for 3D animation they won’t see much in my portfolio.  Once I have the shorts finished and on my website I will then invest in marketing to find new clients.  I’m also learning a great deal from making these shorts, and refining my processes and pipeline.

This is scary and a bit risky, since currently I’m spending more money then I’m bringing in, but I feel it is the smarter way to go.  Lets hope I’m right about this.

 

If you have not already, I hope you will join me on my journey by subscribing to my blog.  If you have any thoughts or advice I would love to hear what you have to say, so please feel free to leave me any comments below. Otherwise, be sure to stay connected with me on Twitter (@MillerAnimation). Only Time Will Tell.

Bink, Naming an Animated Character

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Bink… Yes, this is the name I’m considering calling the cute creature in our animated web-series.  Trying to find the perfect name is a very difficult task.  It reminded me of when we were trying to think of a name for my son.  You realize they will have this name for the rest of their life, so you want to find something that they will like.  For a character you want to find something that has not been used before, but that only makes it more challenging.  When you find a perfect name you have to make sure there are no other meanings that are less then desirable.

I have been looking for a name that is monosyllabic, easy to say, and catchy.  I have easily gone through hundreds of names trying to find one that fits, and did not have other issues.  One of the names I really liked meant Turnip, which I could live with, but also was slang for what is left of a joint after you smoked it.  While I really liked the name it did not seem like the best name for an animated character.

On Sunday, September 6th my wife and I were on our way back from visiting her parents, and we were trying to think of names.  I jokingly suggested Bink which gave us a nice laugh, but then my wife said that is actually a really good name.  You might be wondering why it was funny suggestion, so allow my to explain.  My parents had nicknames for me and my siblings when we were babies.  Well the name they had for me followed me into adulthood, since my parents, aunts, and older brothers still call me by it.  To me it was always an embarrassing name, but as I grew older I realized it was more of a term of endearment.  Bink is the shortened version of that childhood name.  I will leave you guessing to what the longer version of the name is.

While the initial thought of naming the creature after my childhood nickname was comical it started to grow on me.   The more I thought about it the more I could see it being a good name for the character.  We did a quick Google search to see if it is already in use, and if it had any alternative meanings.  To our surprise there was nothing to terrible.  Bink is the name of a proprietary video file format, the nickname of a musician, and a character name from a story called Bink & Gollie.  The storybook character is very different then my character, so it should not be an issue.  This might seem like a lot, but finding a name that has never been used is almost impossible.

The next test was looking it up in Urban dictionary, since most of the times this is where you find out about all the really horrible slang uses of the name.  Surprisingly it was mostly positive.  Here are a few of the definitions in Urban Dictionary.

pronounced- /Bing K/ *Adj: 1. A slang word, primarily used by Italians/New Yorkers, that refers to a sharp dresser or swell looker. Similar in meaning to the word “dapper” that is often used by Irish/Irish Americans, immaculate in dress and appearance.

(v) in poker, to catch fortuitous cards; also applicable in other gaming contexts
(interj) in poker, exclamation made upon catching fortuitous cards and/or winning a large pot
I binked a straight flush on the turn.
Bink! I just doubled up!
n. a generic nickname used to describe any upstanding individual in one’s personal network. Variations: binky, binkazoid, bink-bonk, banks, bianks.
Hey Binks, how’s Grandma Binks feeling? Binks said I should ask you.
The next test, and the one I feel is the most important, is do people like it.  My family members whom I have told instantly like it because of the history it has in my life.  I have mentioned it to a few people involved in the project, and they seem to like it as well.  It is hard for me to decide if it will be a good name, since I’m very close to the name.  I would love to hear what all of you think of the name.  What do you like about it, and what don’t you like about it.  I realize not everyone will like it, and that is OK.  I would still love to get an idea of the general feeling on the name.  Please leave your comments below.
If you have not already, I hope you will join me on my journey by subscribing to my blog.  If you have any thoughts or advice I would love to hear what you have to say, so please feel free to leave me any comments below. Otherwise, be sure to stay connected with me on Twitter (@MillerAnimation). Only Time Will Tell.

Staying Healthy While Starting a Business

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When I worked at DreamWorks Animation my co-workers would often joked about the DreamWorks 50.  Similar to the Freshman 15, it is the idea that new employees often would gain weight after starting working at the company.  DreamWorks Animation is known for its free food they provide for their employees.  With copious amounts of food for breakfast, lunch, soft served ice-cream machines, cookie day, and snack kitchens all around campus it is hard to resist the urge to fully take advantage of your new employee benefits. Many new employees inevitably pack on a few extra pounds.  Eventually the excitement of free food wears off, and they learn to be more reserved with their eating.

When I left DWA to start my own company one of the things I knew I would miss would be the free food.  I joked with my DWA friends that the next time they saw me I was going to be nothing more then skin and bones.  The reality is that I actually gained weight since leaving my job at DWA.

You might ask “How could this be?”.  Do I have my own person chief?  Do we have a lot more food in my house then we had at DWA?  I can assure you that none of those are true.  There are several things that I’m sure played into me gaining weight, and not being as healthy as I once was.

While at DWA I would walk a lot more.  It was a big campus, so even walking to lunch was more exercise then what I get now.  Walking to and from the parking garage, going up and down stairs on my way to meetings.  I actually walked a lot while I was working there.  Now I sit in my office and the most walking I do is the 5 steps to the kitchen for lunch.  One of the things I have tried to get me to walk more is going on a daily walk around the neighborhood.  I’m really good at coming up with excuses not to do it including I’m to busy, or it is way to hot out, but I’m working on keeping it a priority.

Since I started working from home lunch is often something I forget about until the last minute.  With the busy entrepreneur schedule I have it never fails that at some point normally around 2pm I start feeling light headed, and my stomach starts yelling at me.  At this point I’m far beyond planning a meal, or even thinking clearly.  I want the quickest and easiest meal possible.  I had regressed to eating like a college student which often included Ramen Noodles and Mac & Cheese on the menu.  When I got sick of those tasty treats I would run to the nearest fast food place.  I realized this was not ideal, and I have been taking steps to eat healthier.

There are other things that could have contributed to my weight gain, and loss of energy.  Things such as a newborn that had a goal of keeping my wife and I from getting more then 3 hours of sleep at a time.  Even the best of us can’t function without a good nights rest.  Lucky for us our son is sleeping much better, so in turn we are finally starting to get more sleep at night.

I’m sure I could go on all day about reasons, but I’m more concerned about making changes.  In addition to the above mentioned changes I have been trying to find other ways to stay fit.  It is not just about losing weight, but also being healthier mentally and physically.  I have started doing a workout routine 3 days a week in the morning before I start working.  I set a bedtime for myself although I’m still really bad at sticking to this. I also became proactive about looking for ways to be healthier.

I found I’m not alone, and it is pretty common for people in my situation to put living a healthy life style on the back burner while starting their businesses.   I have read multiple articles that are directed on this very subject.  I’m sure some of you might be in a similar situation, so I thought I share some of the articles I have found.

Top 5 Methods To Stay Fit For An Entrepreneur

3 Ways to Stay Healthy and Sane as an Entrepreneur

12 Tips to Stay Healthy While Working From Home

STAYING HEALTHY AS AN ENTREPRENEUR

10 Things Every Young Entrepreneur Should Do to Stay Healthy, Fit And Productive

3 Simple Tips for Elevated Health in Less Than 15 Minutes a Day

The last article I read last night, and I started doing the 10-10-10 rule today.  Every hour do 10 pushups, 10 sit-ups, and 10 jumping jacks or squats.  I feel this will help me keep my energy up, since normally around 4pm I start getting sluggish.

Anyways, I hope some of this can help you, since staying healthy is extremely important.  I know this is not the typical topic I write about, but this is a huge part in starting and running your own company.  I want to be able to share all of my challenges, and this has been a big one for me lately. No pun intended.

 

If you have not already, I hope you will join me on my journey by subscribing to my blog.  If you have any thoughts or advice I would love to hear what you have to say, so please feel free to leave me any comments below. Otherwise, be sure to stay connected with me on Twitter (@MillerAnimation). Only Time Will Tell.

 

Eric Miller Animation Studios Incorporated

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Eric Miller Animation Studios Incorporated!  That is right, as of July 24, 2015 my company has been reborn as its own entity.  I thought I talk a little about what this means without getting to technical and boring.

So now what?  You might be wondering what this means.  When I started my company it was a Sole Proprietorship, and basically myself and the company was one and the same. By incorporating it separates my personal assets from my business’ assets, and this basically gives me some legal protection and tax savings.

Currently the corporation is what they call a single-owner corporation, since I’m the only owner.  This makes for some interesting things to happen when operating as a corporation.  I’m now required by law to form a board of directors and have at least one meeting a year.  Since I’m a single-owned corporation the board can be one person… me.  This means I’m the chairman of the board, and the board of directors all at the same time.

If that is not crazy enough, the board also has to name the executive officers to run the company.  The 3 positions that have to be named are president, secretary, and treasurer.  I’m excited to announce who the board(me) has named for each of these positions.

President: Eric M. Miller
Secretary: Eric M. Miller
Treasurer: Eric M. Miller

I know, big surprise.  So yeah, how silly is that?  As long as I’m the only shareholder I have to have a meeting with myself, take notes, and vote myself in to all the above positions.  As the company grows, and if I take on investors this will all change, but for now this is how it is.  I mean I’m already wearing all those hats, but now I have to be officially named, and notes need to be recorded.

I’m also no longer considered self-employed, since I’m now technically an employee of Eric Miller Animation Studios.  I even have to start taking a paycheck.  The IRS says officers of a corporation have to take a “Reasonable Salary”, and give no real explanation of what that means.  If anyone can tell me what that means please let me know in the comments below.  This is a newer requirement to prevent officers of corporations from taking low salaries, and then get paid in dividends.  Dividends are taxed at a much lower rate, so this was being abused to save corporate officers a lot of money in taxes.  I remember hearing about Steve Jobs and Jeffery Katzenberg only getting paid $1 a year, and originally thinking they were doing it because they were cool guys.  I later started to think it was for tax savings, and it turns out I was right.  This new law is why Mr. Katzenberg now takes a $3 million salary, instead of his one dollar salary.  I sure hope that is not what the IRS considers “Reasonable”, or my company will be in debt within the first month.

The take away from all of this is that nothing really is changing for my business other then being a little more official in the eyes of the government.  There will be some tax savings, and added legal protection to me and my family, but that is really it for right now.  There are some other advantages, but I won’t bore you with all the details.

 

If you have not already, I hope you will join me on my journey by subscribing to my blog.  If you have any thoughts or advice I would love to hear what you have to say, so please feel free to leave me any comments below. Otherwise, be sure to stay connected with me on Twitter (@MillerAnimation). Only Time Will Tell.

A Decade Living in California, the Struggles & Success

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Tomorrow will mark a decade for me of living in California, so I thought it be appropriate to look back on my struggles & successes which brought me to where I am today.  On occasion I have been known to write in a journal, and when I first moved out here I did not have many people to talk to.  I ended up writing in my journal every night, and I read over it to help in writing this post.  I’m really glad that I wrote down what I was going through, since it was an eventful part of my life. I don’t write in my journal as much as I used to, but this blog has taken the place of documenting my life’s journeys.

Grand Canyon- Eric tapingMy California adventure began in Ohio on Monday, July 25th, 2005 as I drove away from my childhood home to head out to the west coast.  I packed my car with everything I could fit in it, and took a 5 day sight seeing trip across the country.  On Friday, July 29, 2005 I crossed into California from Nevada, and I remember thinking to myself that I finally made it.  Little did I know how challenging the next few years would be.  I drove to Redondo Beach where a high school classmate was living.  Ryan Smith agreed to letting me stay a month at his place until I was able to find my own place.  It was only a corner in his room, but that is all I needed.  It was thanks to him that I actually left Ohio to come to California.  I had been wanting to move out here, but had no idea how I was going to do it.  I was trying to find an apartment to rent from Ohio, but without seeing them it made it almost impossible.  There was also the fact that they were so expensive that I would need to find a roommate.  By him offering me a place to stay it gave me a destination, and a home base to operate from.  This gave me the opportunity I needed, and I took it.

Apple- Eric & Thomas at POS

Working at Apple with Thomas Orona

I only ended up staying with Ryan through the weekend, since on Monday I moved in to an extra bedroom a friend’s sister had in her apartment up in Newhall.  This gave me my own room, and inexpensive rent, so I upgraded my living situation.  While living there I was able to get a part time job as a sales specialist working at an Apple Store in Northridge, which is not far from where I’m living now.  This apartment was a great stepping stone, but I felt more like a guest then an equal roommate.  I also knew I needed to move closer to Los Angeles, but was not making enough money to pay the higher LA rents.  Instead of playing it safe I made the move anyways.

On October 30th, about 3 months after moving into the place in Newhall, I moved to an apartment in Sherman Oaks.  It was a 3 bedroom apartment that I got with a guy named John whom I met on roommate.com.  He was originally from Ohio, and also went to the same college as I did.  I did not know him, but knew he must be a good guy(at least I hoped) since he was from Ohio.  It also worked out that Ben, a friend of mine from college, was planning on moving out here, so we asked him if he wanted to be our 3rd roommate.

Kester-Apartment

Kester Apartment

We had everything in place, and this was a much better living situation for me then the previous apartment.  In 3 months, I have moved 3 times, and each time was an improvement.  The only problem was the ticking time bomb(aka my bank account), since I was now spending more money then I was making.  Based on my calculations I had enough money to make it until Christmas.

As the holiday approached, and my savings were almost completely gone I feared I would have to move back to Ohio in defeat.  It was in mid December when Thomas Orona, one of my co-workers at Apple, got me an interview at B1 Media.  It was a DVD menu design company, and the opportunity came at exactly the right time.  The interview went well, and I got the job which started when I returned from my holiday in Ohio.  I don’t know if Thomas knew what he did saved me from having to leave California, but it was an act of kindness I will never forget.  He now is a partner of a Technology consulting company called Band of Techs.  I highly recommend him and his company if you are looking for Technology consulting services.

B1Media

B1 Media

I started my job at B1 Media in January, and this also ended that thing called “a day off”, since I worked my days off at Apple.  I had very little free time, but all the working helped get some savings back into my bank account.  My position at B1 Media was for DVD menu quality control.  I spent hours going through all the menus on a DVD looking for errors.  I would also QC tape transfers, and would watch hours of footage from shows like Amazing Race and the Girls Next Door.  The latter being a bit embarrassing to be watching in a work environment.  I found myself constantly explaining to people walking by that it was for work that I was watching these completely uncensored shows about the playmates living in the Playboy mansion.  Luckily I worked the late shift(3pm-midnight) so after the first couple hours everyone in the office went home except me.

By mid June that freelance job ended, and I was once again without work living on my savings.  I could have picked up more hours at Apple, but felt embarrassed to do so, and kept working there on the weekends only.  I started to go on some interviews, but was not as motivated as I should have been.  I went on 3 interviews for AAA selling insurance, but after being offered the position I decided it was not the best fit for me.  I had an interview at Bunim/Murray Productions who did Real World, but it was for a tape logger.  At that time I had no idea what a tape logger did, but soon found out.  A tape logger is someone that watches hours of uncut footage from the reality show, and type what is going on every second with a description of the shot, and cataloging everything for the editor to be able to find what they are looking for when assembling an episode.  The interview process was them sitting me at a monitor with a keyboard, and headphones and actually logging shots for 15 minutes.  After a minute I took my headphones off, and told them “No thank you”.

I went on a lot of interviews, but was not having any luck with anything.  I was once again getting desperate, and was getting low on my savings.  I knew I had to start being less picky, and by September I was working as an assistant store manager at Walgreens.  This may have been one of the worst jobs I ever had, and less then 2 months later I quit.  The good news was that I made a decent amount of money in those two months, but was once again on the job hunt.

A few weeks later I had another job cold-calling people and trying and persuade them to refinance their mortgage with the company I was working for. If it is in your control try not to do a job that people hate you for doing it.  Yes, there was a lot of people(not including me) in that office that made a ton of money, but people hated us.  I was hung up on, screamed at, and called some really nasty names.  I knew I did not want to stay there long, so I started working with a temp agency that worked exclusively in the entertainment industry.  Through that company I was able to get some interesting temp jobs. At this time in my life I was working at 3 different companies at the same time.  I was still at Apple on the weekends, World Trade Lending(the mortgage sales company), and now at Friedman Temp agency.

Through the temp agency I got several different jobs, but some of the more interesting ones were Porchlight Entertainment, and Innovative Artist Agency. Porchlight was a neat little animation company that made shows like Jay Jay the Jet Plane, and Tutenstein.  It was mostly direct to DVD, or episodic TV shows that they worked on.  Innovative Artist I was in the mailroom of a talent agency for Christmas help to cover people on holiday.  It was one of the most cut-throat places I have ever worked at.  The people in the mailroom would wait for an assistant to mess up, and do their best to get them fired.  When an assistant got fired they would promote someone from the mailroom.  I was glad I was only there for the holiday, and did not get caught up in the politics of that place.

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DreamWorks Studios Co-workers at LA Dodgers Game

I went home again for Christmas, and when I returned I was not hearing anything from the temp agency.  I was getting nervous, because before leaving on holiday I requested the temp agency to only give me temp jobs that paid a higher rate.  I was scared that this might be the reason I was not getting any new jobs.  Finally a call from the agency came in, and I was given a temp assignment at DreamWorks Studios.  I instantly fell in love with the job, and wanted them to hire me on full time.  If DWS wanted to hire me on full time they had to pay a large penalty to the temp agency for a finders fee, and it was not clear to me if DWS would be willing to do that.  I eventually received the good news that DWS was hiring me on as a full time production assistant.  I feel this was a turning point for my career, and the instability of the last couple years was behind me.

I still was working at Apple on the weekends, and DreamWorks Studios full time during the week.  After working as a PA for around 3 months I was promoted to head PA, and was taken out of the field, and put behind a desk.  I worked at DWS until the end of September, and on October 1st I started my career at DreamWorks Animation.  I was at DreamWorks for almost 7 years until I left last July to start my own company.  If you don’t already know the rest of the story, and interested to find out I suggest you go back to the beginning of this blog.

Some of the more noteworthy milestones that happened during my time at DWA are meeting my wife Karen, buying a house, and having our son Kelton.  My time at DWA brought all kinds of great things into my life, and would not trade my time there for anything.  Looking back at how far I have come I’m very proud of my accomplishments.  There has been a lot of struggle in these last 10 years, but a great deal more success.

I have noticed two reoccurring themes in my adventures this last decade.  The first is that there has been so many people willing to help others, which kept me from failing to severely.  I owe a great debt of gratitude to so many people who reached out a hand to offer me support when I needed it the most. The other theme is that I tend to leap into situations before I feel that I’m ready.  It is important to point out that things are not always going to line up perfectly, and sometimes you have to get as close as you can, take a leap of faith, and hope for the best.  Chances are you will find a way to make it all work out.

“When you get to the end of all the light you know and it’s time to step into the darkness of the unknown, faith is knowing that one of two things shall happen: either you will be given something solid to stand on, or you will be taught how to fly.”
― Edward Teller

 

If you have not already, I hope you will join me on my journey by subscribing to my blog.  If you have any thoughts or advice I would love to hear what you have to say, so please feel free to leave me any comments below. Otherwise, be sure to stay connected with me on Twitter (@MillerAnimation). Only Time Will Tell.

Happy Independence Day!

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Happy Independence Day!  Although not nearly as amazing, inspiring, and requiring as much courageous sacrifice that the men and woman of our country paid for the independence the United States won from Great Britain, this July 4th is also the anniversary of the official start of Eric Miller Animation Studios.  While the majority of my celebrations today will be in honor of our country’s independence, a small part of my celebrating will be for the independence of the company I started a year ago today.

I have learned a great deal in this first year of independence.  I have made mistakes, but I have also made a great deal of progress.  Our country at 239 years old is still making mistakes, learning, and working to correct mistakes it has made.  There is a lot to celebrate this year for The United States.  I’m proud of the country we live in, and grateful that it has allowed me to have this opportunity to follow my dreams.

I hope you all have a safe, fun, and happy Independence Day! I have not forgot about you Canada, happy belated Independence Day to you as well!

 

If you have not already, please join me on my journey by subscribing to my blog.  Also, if you have any thoughts or advice I would love to hear what you have to say, so please feel free to leave me any comments below. Otherwise, be sure to stay connected with me on Twitter (@MillerAnimation). Only Time Will Tell.

Our Freelance Artist Roster

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This week I started updating our freelance artist roster.  Animation is a team effort, and requires a highly skilled, and highly trained crew of artists, technicians, and production staff.  The larger studios with deeper pockets tend to have more specialized artists that work on a very specific part of the production pipeline. Think of a factory where you might be responsible for the same task on the assembly line.  A large animation studio would have artists that are specialized in character animation to be the animators, or specialized artists to do all the modeling of characters, props, and set pieces.  Each step of the pipeline is done by artists who are specialists in that area.

In smaller studios there are often artists who are referred to as generalists.  These would be artists who can model, surface, and rig characters instead of being specialized in only one area.  Since these artists spend their time working on multiple areas they might not be as skilled in one area that someone who specializes in that area might be.  Having artists who are generalist may sacrifice on the quality, but is often much more efficient, and cost effective.

In a larger studio if a Character TD is rigging a character, and finds an error in the model they would have to send a revision request back to the modeling department.  This might take some time for a modeler to get to it, make the correction, and send back the fix.  This is all time that the character TD is either sitting there waiting, or having to move on to another task.

On the other hand if the character TD is also the artist who modeled the character then they could simply make the needed fixes on their own, and then get back to working on rigging the character.  This is more cost effective since you only have to hire one artists, and there is less downtime.

I like to keep a healthy mix of specialized artists, and generalists.  By keeping my artist roster updated it allows me to stay ready for new client work at anytime.  When a client is ready to start a project I go to my roster, and quickly put a team together.  My goal is to have at least 5 people in each specialty that I can call up when I have a project.

By focusing on the top 5 positions it makes it easier to maintain, and helps build a more consistent quality.  Since these artists are freelancers they might be busy working for another client, so by having at least 5 I give myself plenty of backups.  I order the artists on the list with 1 being my top artist, so the artist in position 1 is the first person I call. If they are unavailable I go down the list.  If I have a list of my top 5 animators, and I find an animator that is not as good as the number 1 animator on my list, but better then number two, then they would take the number two spot and everyone after will be shifted down a position.  The animator who was in the number 5 spot will be taken off the roster, and moved into the extra artist list.

I’m always looking to find the most talented artists to work with to keep our quality at an extremely high standard.  While skill level is the most important part of how I rank the artists on my roster there are other considerations.  Other things I consider are; how easy they are to work with, how efficient they are, are they friendly and professional, are they reliable, and what is their rate?

By having a roster I can keep my quality at a more consistent level, so potential clients know what to expect.  It also helps in bidding out projects, since I know the rate of the artist I work with on a regular basis.  These are all things that help me in running the business.

If you are interested in being on our freelance roster please go to our website and fill out the Career News form.  Building a strong team of talented people is the key to my business.

 

If you have not already, please join me on my journey by subscribing to my blog.  Also, if you have any thoughts or advice I would love to hear what you have to say, so please feel free to leave me any comments below. Otherwise, be sure to stay connected with me on Twitter (@MillerAnimation). Only Time Will Tell.

Realigning the priorities of Eric Miller Animation

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When I was younger, and decided I wanted to start my own animation company I wanted it to rival Walt Disney Animation.  You have to love the naive imagination of a young boy.  I might not have given up on those dreams, but the reality of the difficulty of the goal I set is more apparent.

Around this time a year ago I knew I was planning on leaving my job at DreamWorks Animation, and my last day was quickly approaching.  I had been trying to figure out the best way to start my company, and I finally had a plan.  It might have been a shot in the dark, but it at least had a chance for success.

Since the day I officially starting Eric Miller Animation Studios my strategies have changed many times.  I have also learned a great deal along the way.  As I was trying to find my way I changed who I thought my target clients should be, and what services I should offer.  I was making decision based on bringing money in instead of what I wanted my company to be. I was looking into doing cheap explainer videos, and white board animation videos.  I thought they would be easily marketed, and quick to produce. I never stopped to think if it was something I enjoyed doing, or if it was the best move for my business.

I was also wasting a lot of time talking with “clients” that wanted to make animated videos, but did not understand what went into making them.  They wanted Pixar quality animation, but wanted to get it done for pennies.  Creating bids, and trying to find artists that would be willing to do the work for less in order to hit these unrealistic budgets was taking an incredible amount of my time.  More often then not these projects never even happened.

I was working really hard with no real payoffs, and I knew something needed to change.  I looked at my company, and at what my own goals were.  I asked myself, what kind of work do I want to do?  What will I be proud of, and inspired by?  What do I want my company to be known for?

After thinking hard on each of these questions the solution was very clear to me.  I want to create high-end computer-generated animation, graphics, and stories with heart.  I did no want to worry about being the cheapest, or fastest, but instead I want to offer the highest quality animation.  In addition to offering extremely high quality work I also want to be known for being the most organized with the best client experience possible.

My ideal clients are the larger studios that are looking for smaller animation houses to assist with their feature and episodic projects, as well as marketing, and other needs.  Also ad agencies requiring high-end animation and graphics for commercials, and game companies looking for game cinematics.

I also plan on using the money generated from the service end of the business to fund our own internal animation projects.  This is where my true passion lives, and it is important for me to constantly be creating and telling stories.

As Steve Jobs would always say “There is one more thing…”.  I want to explore the future of entertainment, and I feel the next big thing is in virtual reality, and augmented reality.  I want to create content, and quality entertainment in these areas.  I feel like the future of entertainment is heading in this direction, and computer-generated animation is the perfect medium for it.

I hope refocusing my efforts will lead to more ideal clients, and allow me to do work that I’m proud of.  I might have less clients, but the ones I will get will hopefully be the right ones.  My strategy for the company will continue to evolve, and I’m excited to have this opportunity to follow my dreams.

 

If you have not already, I hope you will join me on my journey by subscribing to my blog.  If you have any thoughts or advice I would love to hear what you have to say, so please feel free to leave me any comments below. Otherwise, be sure to stay connected with me on Twitter (@MillerAnimation). Only Time Will Tell.