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My First SIGGRAPH

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IMG_6447I finally experienced my first SIGGRAPH conference.  I have always heard about SIGGRAPH, and while at DreamWorks Animation I would often have artists requesting time off so they could attend the conference.  While I had a pretty good idea about what it was I had never gone until this year.

SIGGRAPH is short for Special Interest Group on GRAPHics and Interactive Techniques.  It is an annual conference on computer graphics which you can imagine is pretty important for computer animation.

The conference was made up of one really large exhibits floor with all kinds of companies showing off their new technologies, and software.  It also included a job fair, panels, production sessions, discussions, art galleries, and parties every night.

IMG_6426It was a great experience, and I thought I would share some of my highlights from the week.  I took on the full conference this year, and went from Sunday until Thursday which might have been a little much for my first time.  Some of the talks were interesting, some where way to techy for me, and others I learned a great deal from.  I liked some of the conversations the best, since you really got to hear the challenges other people and companies in the industry where facing.

Lets start from the beginning… I first attended a presentation from the guys that started Aardman Animation, David Sproxton & Peter Lord.  It was interesting to hear how they started their company on a dining room table.  Aardman is known for the stop motion films; Wallace & Gromit, Shaun the Sheep, Chicken Run, and The Pirates.

I seemed to start the conference out with a Stop Motion Theme, since the next presentation was by LAIKA.  You might know them from the movies Coraline, ParaNorman, and most recently the Boxtrolls.  While stop motion is not something I would ever want to do I do appreciate the artists that do this kind of work.  Here is a Time-Lapse of the making of a scene.

Sunday was a lot of these types of presentations, since the exhibit floor was not open until Tuesday.  At the end of the day I went to a Fast Forward where they gave all the people who wrote technical papers on new technologies 30 seconds to introduce, and try and interest you to attend their full presentation later in the week.

IMG_6434I big thing at the conference was virtual reality, and they even had a whole section they called Virtual Village.  There are some really cool technologies coming out, and I’m excited to see where they take them.  One of the exhibits there was two boxes, and… I’m sure I will mess it up trying to explain how it works, but if you stuck your hand in one box you could feel and see the person’s hand from another box.  It is like a touchable hologram, and I’m interested to see where they take this tech.

IMG_6460I went to a really neat presentation for the 40th Anniversary of ILM.  Industrial Light & Magic is a VFX company that was started by George Lucas in 1975 to work on his movies.  Later they started doing work for other clients as well, and now have touched so many great films.  To name a few… Star Wars movies, Indiana Jones movies, Back to the Future, Ghostbusters, The Abyss, Jurassic Park, Twister, Titanic, and most recently Ant-Man to name a few.  It is also interesting to note that they had a computer graphics devision that George eventually sold to Steve Jobs, and became Pixar.

Some of the talks I sounded interesting, but after they started going over the codes I realized I was in over my head.

I did find a very interesting discussion about cloud based rendering vs in-house rendering.  One of my goals of the conference was to learn more about rendering, and I got a lot out of this discussion.

I could go on and on, but I don’t want to bore some of you.  I did go to some fun parties.

On Tuesday evening I went to the DreamWorks Animation party.  As in true DreamWorks style it was a very impressive party, great food, beautiful location, and of course amazing people.  It was nice getting caught up with old co-workers, and meeting some new people.

On Wednesday I went to the Pixar Renderman party, and got to see their latest short.  I also learned about the world of collecting walking teapots.  I guess people go crazy about these things, and you can sell them on eBay for a decent price.  If you are interested to learn more here is a video from 2013 that gives a little more back story.

IMG_6428Overall it was a great time, and I learned a lot about new technologies coming out.  I plan to go next year, but not sure if I will go for the whole week again.  I got pretty behind on work, and have been spending most of this week trying to get caught up.

 

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.

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.

 

Building An Animation Company’s Leadership Team

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I have been working on my business plan which forces me to take a look at the details of the company.  From this I have been doing a lot of thinking about my leadership team, or should I say lack of. I have for some time been wanting to bring on more people, but how do you know what would be best.  The people you have on your team is key to the success of any business, so it is a big decision.  So let me share with you my thoughts on building my leadership team.

I’m sure I’m the only one, but I have always been fascinated with the hierarchy of companies and their org charts.  In larger companies with hundreds or thousands of employees it is very important to have very clear titles and job responsibilities.  They also help everyone understand a reporting structure which is increasingly important as a company grows, and adds more people.  In a smaller company the reporting structure might not be as complex as The Walt Disney Co, but it is still important for everyone to have a clear understanding of their role and responsibilities in the organization.  It also helps your clients understand the structure of your business.  When you start a company on your own you have to wear all the hats of the organization.  If the company is doing well you may have to bring additional on additional people to split up the responsibilities.  Bringing on the right people to fill the role of that initial leadership team is vital, and is what makes or breaks your company.  Who you bring on also help to define the culture of your company.

apple_org_chart_large11If you look at a org chart for a corporation you will notice that everything is very departmentalized based on functions and responsibilities.  For example look at the org chart of Apple Computers from when Steve Jobs was CEO.   As a smaller company it does not make sense to be so departmentalized.  Instead fewer people take on more functions and responsibilities.  You might be wondering what the ideal number of people you should start with, or what tasks each of them take.

I found a theory of the 3 types of people you need for a startup, that I found interesting.  It is hard to track down who originally stated this, since different resources credit different people, so I apologize not giving the proper credit.  I also believe this was geared more towards tech startups, but it could also work for an animation company.  After all technology is a huge part in the production of CG animation.

According to this theory the 3 ideal people to start a company is The Hustler, The Designer, and The Hacker.  The Hustler has the grand vision, but also have their feet firmly on the ground.  They figure out how to make a good idea into a successful business. The Designer or sometimes referred to as the Hipster is the creative genius.  They make the product or service look good, and make it cool.  The Hacker is your programmer, and MacGyver of the group.  They build the ship, and make sure it keeps running at peak performance. If you take a look at the early days of Pixar you can easily point out these 3 types of leaders.  The Hustler being Steve Jobs, the Designer being John Lasseter, and the Hacker was Ed Catmull.

So how can this help me with designing my dream team?  I don’t think there is one secret formula for what makes the perfect team.  The truth is that it all comes down to the specific needs of the company, and what makes the most sense for their unique situation.  If you look at my current responsibilities in the company they would include, visionary, creator, marketing, sales, communications, technology, and finance.  As my company grows I think of who I should bring on board to help take the company to the next level.  The first person I would like to bring on would be a creative director.  Someone that is a creative powerhouse in story, animation, and design that can lead the company creatively.  With cg animation being very technical they would also need to be very tech savvy with a understanding of the pipeline and animation tools.

Additionally I would hire a tech consulting firm to help with additional technology needs we may have.  With the help of my CPA I fee I have a pretty good handle on the financial needs. I feel that covers a lot of the major needs of the company for right now.  The next team leader I would bring on board would help with marketing, sales, and other business admin functions.  Their main focus would be on the marketing and sales to help bring in more clients.

I will be starting a search for these key players to help me with the company.  Please let me know if you have any suggestions, or feel you might be a good fit yourself.

 

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.

An Amazing Experience at CTN Animation Expo

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I had a great time at the CTN Animation Expo this last weekend.  Not only did I get to see a lot of industry friends, but I also got to meet a lot of new people.  I also got to hear a lot of great discussions, and meet some of the animation legends.

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Ken Duncan

I had the pleasure to hear Ken Duncan talk about his studio that he started 8 years ago, and was excited to get to sit next to him in a “Meet Ken Duncan” discussion.  Ken worked at Disney for many years, and is best known for his female characters that he was supervising animator on.  This includes Meg from “Hercules”, and Jane from “Tarzan”.  I learned of Ken and his company Duncan Studio while working on the DreamWorks Animation’s Kung Fu Panda DVD featurette.  We were doing the CG bookend animation, while his studio worked on the 2D animation part.  I’m hoping for a chance to get to meet him for lunch sometime, and to see his studio.  Fingers crossed.

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L to R: Eric Goldberg, Ron Clements, Bill Kroyer, Jerry Rees, John Musker

On Saturday morning I started my day out going to a tribute to the Late Robin Williams with film directors John Musker, Ron Clements, Jerry Rees, Bill Kroyer, and supervising animator Eric Goldberg.  They have all worked with Robin Williams, and they wanted to honor him by sharing their experiences working with him.

It was really great to hear them talk about their memories of Robin Williams.  When Jerry Rees was talking about his experience he talked about directing “Back to Neverland”.  For anyone that remembers the Animation tour at Disney/MGM Studios at Walt Disney World where you get to go on a walking tour through the animation studio you will have seen this.  Sadly the animation tour and the Florida animation studio is no longer around, but it was one of my favorite attractions.  It is also one that I worked at when I did the Walt Disney World College Program Internship my 2002 spring and summer semester in college.  The tour started out by everyone coming into a small theatre where they played “Back to Neverland”.  It had Walter Cronkite, and Robin Williams, and they turned Robin into an animated character to show you how animation works.  If you have not had the privilege of seeing it on the tour, I will include an extremely poor quality version I found on YouTube.

Working as a tour guide I had to introduce the film, and then watch it around 4 to 5 times a day.  I loved it and never got sick of it.  When I learned that Jerry Rees was the director, I was overly excited.  Later that day I ran into Jerry and John Musker, and told them about my animation tour guide days.  They were very nice, and I had a great conversation with them.  They were also kind enough to take a photo with me.

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The rest of the weekend was a mix of going to different workshops, some of which were ones taught by friends of mine, and walking around on the exhibition floor.  It was really nice getting to make a lot of new contacts with artists, and meet some extremely talented people.  It was interesting that majority of the people I met were trying to get jobs at one of the major studios, and I’m the crazy guy that had a studio job and left on my own free will.  Maybe that is a sign that I’m a little crazy, but I’m okay with that.

One of the best things of the week was seeing these amazing projects everyone was working on.  It really inspired me to want to try and pull a team together, and make an animated short.  There were several people there that got their projects entirely funded by crowd funding.  I met animator James Lopez that did a Indiegogo campaign to raise money to make an animated short.  He raised almost 1/2 a million dollars so far which is enough money to make 4 animated shorts if not more.  I’m sure that is the exception to the norm, but it is still a fun thought to play around with.  In closing I had a great time at the conference, and I’m looking forward to going again next year.  Who knows, maybe I will get a booth for my company next year.

 

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.

You can’t start an animation studio alone, You need great mentors.

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I’m a strong believer in the importance of having great mentors.  No one has all the answers, and to have someone that has more or different experience then you who can help guide you is an absolute must.

A big part of leaning is making mistakes, and if you can have access to other people’s mistakes you won’t have to make them yourself to learn the lesson.  A mentor can also provide you with things that have worked well for them, and give you an understanding that you previously did not have.

I have been very lucky, and have had some great mentors in my career.  I plan to continue to find more mentors that can guide me on my journey.  These people might not work with you, but are still very important members of your team. They help you make the right decisions, and plan a well thought out strategy.

“No matter how brilliant your mind or strategy, if you’re playing a solo game, you’ll always lose out to a team.” —Reid Hoffman, LinkedIn co-founder

You often hear about industries that are cut-throat, and how it is everyone for themselves.  I have worked at a few of those places… “coughtalent agencycough“.  I’m sure the animation industry can be cut-throat , but from my experience there is a lot of great people in this industry.  People that will bend over backwards just to help and mentor others. This is why I always try and do the same when someone comes to me for advice.  I don’t always feel I have all the answers, but if there is any way for me to help, I will.

I feel that the mentors I have had have all helped me get to where I am now.  I want to talk about two people in paticular who have mentored me on starting my company.  The reason I want to put a spotlight on these two mentors is because they have actually started their own animation studios.  To me their advice has been invaluable, and I have a great deal of respect for them.  Not many people start their own animation company, so it is great to get to talk to them, and get their advice on what to do, and what not to do.

James Baxter
James Baxter and Eric MillerBefore leaving DreamWorks Animation there was one thing I knew I needed to do.  That was to sit down with animation legend James Baxter to talk about his experience in running his own company.

If you are in the animation industry you should know who he is, and if you’re not in the industry you will at least know his work.  He has been an animator for years and has worked at Disney, and then DreamWorks.

In 2005 he left DreamWorks Animation to start his own company James Baxter Animation, where he directed the animation for the 2007 film Enchanted, and the 2D opening credit sequence to Kung Fu Panda, for which he received an Annie Award. In 2008 he closed his company, and returned to DreamWorks.

I have wanted to talk with him about his company for a long time, but never got up the courage until it was my last week at DreamWorks.  I wanted to pick his brain to find out what challenges he had, and how he got his clients.  I also wanted to know why he closed his studio and came back to DreamWorks.  That is why I was so excited to have the opportunity to speak with him, and talk about his experiences.

He did not have to agree to meet with me, or answer any of my questions, but he did willingly and talked with me about starting an animation company.  He gave me some great advice, and even offered to help on future projects.  Besides being extremely talented, he is also a really nice guy.  It was a joy talking with him, and he even agreed to take a selfie with me.  Out of respect for him I won’t share everything we talked about, but I will say it was reassuring to hear how successful his company was doing, and that his decision to dissolve the company was not because of failure.

Below is a clip that shows some of James’ work on Beauty and the Beast (1991).  The ballroom was done in CG, but the Beast and Bell were hand drawn by James.  It is impressive the emotion and weight he can show with pencil lines.

Ashley Postlewaite
Last week I had the pleasure of talking with Ashley Postlewaite.  Ashley is the co-founder & executive producer of  Renegade Animation.  Prior to starting her animation studio she worked for both Disney and Warner Brothers. In 1992, her and her partner Darrell Van Citters started the traditional animation studio, and have been in business ever since.  Renegade Animation might be best known as the producer of cartoon series Hi Hi Puffy AmiYumi and The Mr. Men Show for Cartoon Network. As well as co-producing The Tom and Jerry Show, a show featuring Tom and Jerry, that is currently airing on Cartoon Network starting in 2014.

While Darrell leads the company creatively, Ashley serves as the executive producer leading the company on the business side.  I was excited to get to talk to her since I see myself more as the business person of my company.  We talked about many different subjects from the state of the industry, and the struggles they, like many companies, have been going through, to tips on what to do, and what to avoid.

Her company has a small core staff of full time employees, and based on the needs of their current projects will hire additional staff or independent contractors. She emphasized the importance of being smart about how you spend your money, and to save for a rainy day.  It was strategies like this that she was able to keep the company afloat and strong during the recession.

She is an extremely busy person, and I was impressed with her dedication to help and mentor others.  This is another example of the generosity of the people in this industry.  She told me that if I ever have any questions to not hesitate to reach out to her, and who knows, maybe we will get to work on a project together someday.

 

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. 

Phoenix

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Being someone that has always wanted to start their own animation company I have always had a respect for those entrepreneurs that have already done it.  There is of course Walt Disney, but there is also the less known people such as Will Vinton.  I learned about Will and his studio a few months ago, and was surprised I never heard of him before.  Starting your own company there are so many decisions that you have to make on a daily basis, and any of those decisions could be the one that causes your company to fail.  Will made a wrong decisions that cost him his studio.  Will Vinton is credited with coming up with the term “Claymation”, and was even trademarked by him.  He won an Oscar, and several Emmy Awards for the work that his studio did.  Even if you don’t know him you might know his work.  His company Will Vinton Studios made many classic claymation feature films, TV series, TV specials, and short films. His commercial work is what I remember the most, and it includes the California Raisins, the Domino’s Pizza Noid, and the M&M’s Red, Yellow, and Green characters.  Will’s company was doing really well, and taking on many more projects.  Many felt his studio was growing to fast, and that is how he lost control of it.  By the end of the 1990’s the studio was seeking funds for more feature films.  One of the key investors was Phil Knight, the owner of the shoe company Nike, Inc..  Part of the deal for Knight to invest more was that he would require a larger stake in the company.  He also got his son Travis a job at the company as an animator.  Travis previously had a failed career as a rapper under the name Chilly Tee.  You might be thinking I’m getting off subject, but this is where things went wrong.  In 2002, Will Vinton ended up losing control of Vinton Studios when Phil Knight became the majority shareholder in the company.  Eventually they decided that Will was no longer needed, and he was fired from the company he started.  Phil Knight ended up putting his son Travis in charge of the company, and the company was later renamed to Laika. You may know Laika for their feature films Coraline, & ParaNorman.  This story sounds very similar to the story of Steve Jobs with Apple computers, but the difference is Steve was able to come back and retake over his company. When I read about this a couple of months ago there was no happy return for Mr. Vinton, but I read an article this morning about how he is trying to make a comeback.  His new company Vinton Entertainment announced a co-production deal with Gnosis Moving Pictures for a series of animated features directed by Vinton.  You can learn more about these projects check out this article, but this is not the focus of my post.

Maybe this will prove to be successful for Will Vinton, and maybe not.  The important thing is that even though he had fallen down, he was able to rise from his failure to try again.  This and many other stories are things that I try and learn about, so that I can hopefully not make the same mistakes.  One of my biggest fears is to pour my heart and soul into this company of mine only to have it fail.  I know there is a lot I still don’t know, and these last 2 weeks I have learned a great deal.  I will continue to learn from my own mistakes as well as mistakes made by others.  This can be very scary realizing I’m flying blindly, and if I knew yesterday what I know today, maybe I would not have made the same decision that I made yesterday. This reminds me of one of the things Steve Jobs said during his Stanford commencement speech.

“You can’t connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. You have to trust in something – your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever. Because believing that the dots will connect down the road will give you the confidence to follow your heart even when it leads you off the well worn path; and that will make all the difference.”

So even though I might make some wrong decisions I have to believe it will all work out in the end. In high school I was a pole vaulter on the track and field team.  Holding the end of a 12 foot pole, running as fast as you can, planting the pole in a box that made the pole to bend, and shooting you high into the air taught me a valuable lesson that I feel applies to this adventure of mine.  Pole-vaulting can be very dangerous, but you have to run into it with full confidence, because any hesitation or doubt will slow you down and not give you the speed you need to get you up and into the mat.  The times I second guessed what I was doing I would get shot up and backwards into the air away from the soft pole-vault mat, and onto the hard track.  Whenever that happened we had a rule that without a moment to think about it you had to try again.  If you let yourself think about that fall it would shake your confidence, and once you lose your confidence it was much harder to get it back.  After every fall you had to get up and try it again.

Phoenix

By sandara.deviantart.com

The Phoenix is a mystical bird that every 500 years(depending on the version) would consume itself in its own flames only to be reborn from the ashes.  I have always loved the story of the phoenix and its rebirth, and have always used it as a source of inspiration and motivation.  In a way I have always thought of the Phoenix as my Spirit Guide.  No matter how many times I might fail I will always pick myself up, dust off the ashes, and try again with a renewed energy, and a greater knowledge from my previous mistakes. As the saying says “What does not kill me makes me stronger”. Believing in this gives me the confidence to go after my dreams regardless of how “dangerous” it might seem.  As Steve Jobs and now Will Vinton have done, they had risen from the ashes of their failures, and were symbolically reborn to try again. There are countless of stories in the business world of people being reborn to come back from failure.  I know I don’t want to fail, but I can’t let the fear of failure shake my confidence.  If I do fail I will look to the Phoenix and rise out of the ashes to start again.  I hope that any of you that has or will have setbacks will have the courage and strength to rise again to make your dreams come true.

Please share in the comments any other stories of rebirth that you personally have had, or that you have heard about.

 

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.

What’s In A Name

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EMA signatureWhen I was younger and first started to dream about doing what Walt Disney did I always thought I would name my company as he did.  I built my dreams around the idea of Eric Miller Animation, so now that I’m actually starting my studio there was never much thought about what it would be called.  Although, through my experience in the industry I have heard of downsides to naming it after the founder.  At this point it is hard for me to think of the studio as anything else, and there are a few reasons why I still plan to name my studio Eric Miller Animation.

Marketing Me:
At the beginning I will have to market myself to prospective clients.  There won’t be a company to talk about, and it will simply be me, Eric Miller.  I will spend a lot of time and money building a reputation for what I can do for clients.  I feel it would be a waste if I changed from a name they have come to know and trust to something they don’t know.  Sure it can be done, but if it is not necessary why add the extra work.  I will already have enough mountains to climb, so why make things harder then they need to be.

Personal Touch:
The one thing I liked about the Walt Disney company is that the name gave it a personal touch(at least in the beginning).  I want people to want to work with me and the studio because I have been a friend, and they know they can count on me.  I feel that by using a name that is not linked to a person makes it seem less inviting.  I also feel there is a level of accountability when your name is attached to something.  You don’t want to put out cheap or sloppy work that will ruin your personal reputation.  By attaching your name it makes you feel more accountable to deliver your best every time.

More difficult to sell:
Business advice says that it is a bad idea to name a company after the founder, because if you ever want  to sell the company it will be less appealing to buyers.  This makes sense, but starting an animation studio was never a business venture to me to simply make money.  I don’t plan to get the company up and running, and then sell it off to the highest bidder.  This company is everything to me, and I want others to know that I stand behind this studio.

Taking all the Credit:
Some people say that by naming the company after one person it takes credit away from the artists.  I can understand this if credit is not given to artists in other ways.  The company name to me is more marketing and branding.  It is that name you come to trust, and thought of as the industry expert.  The company name of Pixar does not give any more credit to the artists then Eric Miller Animation.  Credit needs to be given in other ways, and I’m a very strong believer in giving credit where credit is due.  It is important to celebrate the hard work of all the people on any project, and shine a spotlight on anyone that went above and beyond.  After all, what makes a company great is the people that work there.

Not everyone might agree with the points I make, but this is what I feel is the right thing to do.  After all I’m the one that will be risking the most, and putting myself, and my family’s lives on the line.  There has to be some benefits for taking a chance to follow your heart. Some people might say that is just ego, and maybe it is, but I feel it is more then just that.  I want to make a difference in the world and leave my mark. Maybe that is selfish of me, but everyone has that right.  After all, one could argue that the names of things do not matter, only what things “are”.  What we do as a company is the only thing that matters in the end.

What’s in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet.
– William Shakespeare

Here are some interesting facts about company names you may or may not know.  A few entertainment companies that are named after people; 20th Century – Fox William Fox, Don Bluth Entertainment – Don Bluth, MGM or Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer – Samuel Goldfish, Edgar and Archibald Selwyn, and Louis B. Mayer, Hanna-Barbera Productions – William Hanna and Joseph Barbera, Hasbro – the HASsenfeld BROthers,The Jim Henson Company – Jim Henson, Lucasfilm – George Lucas, Miramax Films – Max and Miriam Weinstein (parents of founders), Turner Broadcasting System – Ted Turner, and of course The Walt Disney Company – Walt Disney.  The Walt Disney Company has gone through several names over the years including; Disney Brothers Cartoon Studio, The Walt Disney Studio, and Walt Disney Productions.  Eventually the live action and animation divisions were renamed to Walt Disney Pictures, and Walt Disney Feature Animation under The Walt Disney Company umbrella.

 

If you have not already, I hope you will join me on my journey by subscribing to this blog.  If you have any thoughts or advice I would love to hear them, 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.