Animation
from more than
one point of view

Nothing is true on its own. That's the most useful thing I ever learned, and I learned it from painting.

A color changes depending on what sits next to it, and so does an idea. A story is the same: it feels true when everything around it holds it up. I don't look at a problem from one position — I look from several at once: story, craft, feeling, and the people it’s for. I was taught by makers, in workshops, with my hands*, that the artist and the builder were never two different people, and twenty years of animating, designing, and directing hasn’t changed my mind.

The work is still mostly image-making: paintings that move. In a documentary, animation is openly a point of view — about how something feels rather than how it looks — and I think that honesty is part of why audiences trust it. In practice, looking from several positions means I can meet most people where they are and help them find the right direction instead of handing them mine. Above all, I'm thinking about whoever ends up watching. If it feels true to them, it's usually right for the film too.

Nothing is true on its own — which is why I don’t work alone. I sometimes do projects on my own, but I’d rather share my perspective with others and learn from theirs. That’s why I co-founded Bright Eye — animation for real stories.