Welcome to Built By Story

Is it a new blog? After all this time?! It sure is. Is blogging still a thing? Who knows. But here we are. Some of you might remember I had a blog many years ago, mostly focusing on preschool media, directing and writing. I ran that for the better part of a decade, and it had a lot of regular readers (I still remember you!). But it has been a while since that wound down.

Thing is, I've been so fortunate to have a career creating things: stories, shows, movies, games, art, entire worlds. And things have changed since I had my old blog. And I miss taking the time to talk about how that work actually happens.

So what is this place?

Just my little corner to unpack the ideas, processed and experiences that shape my work. Partly, it will be me working through things, little creative notes to self. Partly, a window into the creative work behind the scenes as a creative producer. And that role is actually a big part of what I'd love to cover here. I have realised over the years that there is often a gap between what people think creative roles involve and what they actually are. Especially in animation.

The reality is that the work crosses into many areas: guiding, nurturing, planning, managing, writing, producing, directing and more. The hope here is to make some of the more invisible work visible. To talk about it openly. If you're in this industry already, you'll likely find stories to relate to here. If you're not in it yet, you might find some insight here.

So if you're curious about how stories get made, this place is for you.

If you're a creative, a writer or director or producer or want to be those things, this place is for you. 

If you're trying to figure out how to lead creatively without losing your joy, this place is for you. 

If you're trying to protect the spark, the magic, while still actually delivering, this place is for you.

I'll give a mix of stories, thoughts, lessons learned (and unlearned, and maybe learned again) and some behind the scenes insights while writing and producing an animated feature (without breaking NDAs so, yes, some things will stay secret!).

And some of you know me from other corners - yes, I'll likely post up the odd bit of pixel art now and again. Why not?

So no big promises yet. No schedule. But you will find stuff here. And very soon, I'll be telling the story of how we made the Star Wars: Visions episode, Screecher's Reach. If any of this sounds good to you, stick around! Also, you can subscribe in the meantime if you'd like to stay up to date and receive emails. I don't know how that works yet but you can try it.