"Lost On The Trail" Part II

So where did I leave off, oh yeah, I have left my family behind to go to work for DreamWorks (great company, hidden secret). God's blessing for sure, he even gave Jodi and us a sign that that was the right direction (another story for another time). I am on the right path, clearly marked, so I don't get lost.

Before I go any further I have to get this off my chest. You should know that I am not the only one who's life was complete turned upside down in this studio fiasco; around 360 other people were screwed in this ordeal (to different degrees) as well.  All this because that rich a__hole CEO doesn't have a modicum of a conscience. By the way he also told me that he was a religious man as well, even talk about his church. Wow, really! I guess he felt like he had to lie to us (my wife and I) because who in their right mind would ever work for a person who builds a business on house of cards (ready to collapse at any moment). Whatever, I'm still working on forgiveness with this - obviously.

Back to my original intent. I moved into my friends empty and I mean empty house for a few months and began working on my new film. Rolling onto a new film is always difficult, compound that with coming into a new studio, new system of working and changing over from a Mac to a PC made things interesting. It had also been years since I had an office mate so adjustments had to be made. Again, I go into survival mode and start working my butt off.

Dreamworks has been so great about my situation and has allowed me to work from home (Florida) during the holiday's and they have let me go home and work periodically since then. It's not an ideal situation because of the time lost and the cost of traveling back and forth but at least I get to see my family a little. 

Like I said earlier I've lived in three locations in seven months since moving to LA. The first being my friends house (thanks Will), then I was offered a free room at another friends apartment (thanks Angelo). God's timing and God's hand, no doubt. As time has been ticking away and we are not seeing any movement on our house I needed to move again and was offered a room at yet another friends house (thank you Karen and Steve). I do not like change, but my life is nothing but change now. Mean while we can't seem to even get a showing on our house. Our house is well with in the value, not over priced by any means. It is in a private horse community (bigger lot's) we have 3.9 acres that sits on a private lake. Three blocks away is a community park that has a soft ball field, a football field, a basket ball court, two jungle gyms and a covered picnic and cookout area. Our house is well maintained and beautiful with it's own pool. But, still no-one comes and we wait on the Lord. Your will God, your timing God, we wait for the people you will send to buy our house. We sit thousands of miles apart, a family divided and we wait. But, we hear nothing, we see nothing, we feel nothing. We pray, and pray, but still nothing. We are not used to the lack of communication from God. He has always kept us in the loop even if it was the slightest indicator. My wife and I are baffled, what direction do we go at this point. I can only compare it to an experience I have had over and over during my hiking days. 

We used to love to drive to the Smokey Mnts. National Park in Tenn. and take advantage of there 400 different hiking trail in the mountains. You always start off with a clearly marked trail, confident, ready to go but as you walk and walk inevitably at some point along the trail, the path, it gets real obscure, your not really sure if you are still on the path. Well, you're on some kind of path but, is it the right path? Maybe you missed a marker or inadvertently picked up a false trail made from animals or off trail hikers and soon the doubt starts to set in. So you start to think "Am I on my path, the path that was chosen when I started?' All you want is a little sign to set you mind at ease. You slow down a little, you start second guessing every step, "should I go back", why did I go on this trail anyway. Did I miss something in the beginning of the trail that would have warned me that this trail is no longer viable? Why didn't I pick some other path, something not so difficult. I call this part of the hike being "lost on the trail". It's a little scary, you're running out of steam and time, if you've made a mistake it may be to late on course to correct. So, you just keep walking, walking in faith and searching and checking your map and looking for a open air spot to get your bearings and eventually you find a marker that let's you know you are okay. 

I could really, really use a little marker about now. The path is obscure, I'm worried, I'm out of steam, I miss my family, and it's getting very late. Where are you Abba? Your son needs you, now.

This is a sketch of Ketchaa I did in a during a very boring meeting. It's on a cover sheet that's why it has the title on it.

Random elephants. What ever film I'm working on, I become obsessed with drawing the subject matter.

These were ideas I presented to the directors. They were looking for everyday life that made baby Tembo unique. He's cute as the dickens isn't he?

Most of these had several more drawings to accompany them when they were presented in the pitch.

His big brother was throwing him in the air and catching him.

A sequence, called "The Capture" Warriors, Fire, Smoke, Elephant herd. It would have been really cool when it was finished.

Early sketches for idea pitch.

Not my Idea, but I liked it so much I did my version with Ketchaa on his head and added it to my pitch.

This is a drawing from a sequence I boarded called "The Barracks"

This is also from the pitch. Thanks to my wife Jodi we can watch a little animation. She's the best.