Story in 2025. Welcome 2026!

Well, 2025 was quite a year. It looked like everything was on fire and there was negativity all around me and, in all honesty, I felt that too. Being completely truthful, 2025 was the year I started to feel anger. Anger at disrupters with no plans for sustainability. Anger at strong brands that managed to erode their relevance in a handful of years. Anger at what feels like self-sabotage within the world of cinema. Anger at a blind chase for an audience where they don't want what we're selling while simultaneously abandoning them where they want us. Anger at a lot of things, really.

But when I took stock at the end of what, for me, was a very busy year and actually looked at how things went for me, I found myself mostly thankful.

I had a lot of the usual trips and markets of course but I realised that what I did in this difficult landscape is what I always seem to end up doing, and those who used to read my old blog many years ago will find this familiar: when things get tough, when I get down about the world (industry or not), I bury myself in story.

I try to tell better stories. I try to help others tell better stories. I go back to basics and decide to relearn everything because I know that, every time, I'll come away with something a little different. I'm getting close to three decades now of doing this, all those ups and downs, and I've never lost that passion for telling stories and for connecting with others out there making great things.

I know, I know. The world is going apocalyptic and here's Jay telling his little stories. I can't fix the world. But I can do this and I can do it well, and I still believe to this day that stories make a difference.

Stories can make us think about the world, about ourselves, about our feelings, about our growth. They show us what is possible, all the amazing things we can do under great pressure, and show us what might happen if we're not careful, not deliberate in our choices. Whether in stories for the youngest children or the oldest adults, we can do so much good in story. Or we can simply entertain someone for a couple of hours and, in a tough world, we should never underestimate the importance of that.

Stories matter. Narratives matter. Art matters. Entertainment matters.

And so through 2025, I've been working on movies, TV shows, things I'm grateful for but can't talk about yet. But I can talk about the challenges. I can unpack those things above that made me angry. I can look at how we can do things better. How we can craft better creative. How we can produce better (I can only apologise in advance for the use of this next word) content (and you better believe there will be a post on how we use that word coming). How we run better systems. How we work with artists in ways that give them the space to do their best work. And all the little lessons along the way.

All told, 2025 was a challenging year but a good one. A building year. And we have some amazing stuff coming to you from us at Cartoon Saloon in the future - more on that when I can talk about it but, for now, look out for our short film Éiru, which made the Oscar nomination shortlist! As Development Producer on that one, I have a few topics inspired by making that which I'll cover in the upcoming months.

For now though, I'm just wishing you all a Happy New Year 2026! Be kind to yourselves and let's make some great stuff.