The work in this Diary I am very proud of. Not only because I think its a great body of work but also because it was made in a very short time. Its no secret I worked myself breathless on this project but everyone who was involved in this film, from the voice talent to the artists on the production floor, genuinely felt affection for it and wanted it to be great. This film needed that sort of dedication to make it appear truly touched by the human hand, rather than a computer, which was very important to me.
I always loved it when a director would take a personal interest in the supporting material for a piece of work. I dont know if you have seen Michel Gondry’s collected works DVD ( director series volume 3 ) but that DVD held an enormous presence for me when I first saw it. Not just for the work inside, but a peak at the mind of the great man himself and how his work all came together. Im not saying I am any sort of Gondry but I always knew when I had directed something really worth shouting about I would want to show it next to all the intriguing work that goes on, artist to artist, that the general public never sees.
On any project there is a huge amount of sketches and beautiful work that people will never consider when watching the film, as opposed to the compelling simplicity of looking at a still frame. Sometimes I think that this work will finally get angry, and sneak out of the studio to come strangle me in the night.So to prevent that happening here it is.
I am a hands on guy, often I’ll take a smaller project, and do it all, from soup to nuts. This long form work made that impossible and so I am indebted to Starz Animation in Toronto for coming on-board to finish this film, to such a high standard in such a short time, my wonderful TEG producer Kallan Kagan for keeping such a tight ship when we were under the kosh thru-out, Bill Sneed for being a true American gentleman and collaborator from the very first pitch, and Jay Harwood for his very quick modeling skills that were so vital for my camera layout and set planning early on. And of course Matt MacDonald, Wayne Best the creatives at JWT and creators of the show, Chris Plehal, the writer, and Producer Kate Schwerin at JWT.
And finally, of course a big nod to Mick Ebeling who was also supporting this project from the very beginning and always believed that I could pull it off. Big hugs remotely to Dex Deboree, my EP at The Ebeling Group, who brought this project to me in the very beginning, when it was only a 3 minute web film, and then shrewdly pushed, prodded poked the thing until it became a 22 minute Christmas special - nicely done squire !
Pete Circuitt
ps - check back later as there is a ton of good stuff yet to make it into this diary.
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