1974-1992
I was raised as the son of a movie lover, something akin to a non-tragic ’80s American version of Cinema Paradiso.
My father once owned a movie theater, and I fondly remember ascending to the projection booth, hearing the noisy sound of film threading through the projector, and seeing the images beamed onto the screen.
He owned 16mm prints of cinematic gems such as Ben Hur in CinemaScope and Star Wars. Star Wars had a huge impact on me and was a very influential force behind my decision to make movies.
My father established one of the first video stores in the Midwest, “Video to Go.” I was exposed to many foreign films, Asian cinema, and anime, which broadened my perspective on filmmaking.
He would take me to local CES shows in both Chicago and Las Vegas, where I gained a different perspective on the movie and game industry. One time, I even had the honor of meeting the legendary Shigeru Miyamoto, the creator of Mario!
1985
At the same time, after the popularity of the ’70s consoles (Atari 2600, Intellivision, Colecovision) waned, a new crop of Japanese consoles hit the market during the ’80s bubble economy in Japan—Nintendo Entertainment System and Sega Master System. Shortly thereafter, game consoles jumped to 16-bit: Sega Genesis, NEC Turbografx (PC Engine), and Super Nintendo took it to the next level.
I’ll never forget that fateful day when I stumbled upon an NES at Toys “R” Us that had been released that day. I had been playing Super Mario Bros at my local 7-Eleven all summer while slurping Slurpees, and I felt astonished that I could play my favorite game at home.
1991
In addition to the outstanding movies and games that emerged in the ‘80s and ‘90s, the world of anime was experiencing what many consider to be the golden era of anime.
Films such as Akira, Ghost in the Shell, Ninja Scroll, Robot Carnival, Memories, and Neo Tokyo (Manie Manie) grew my interest in Japanese animation.
1980-1992
There was one filmmaker who greatly inspired me through a set of seemingly unrelated experiences in the 80’s: An arcade game called “Cliffhanger” (a Laserdisc version of “The Castle of Cagliostro”), The Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind comic book published by Viz Media, and “Warriors of the Wind” feature animated film (the notorious re-edited version of Nausicaa). Then during my first week of college in 1992, I accidently walked into a screening Laputa: Castle in the Sky and I was blown away. After learning more about the film maker, I finally discovered it was the same person who had greatly inspired me when I was growing up—Hayao Miyazaki.
Art school opened my eyes to computer animation during a time when Toy Story was ushering in a new era of CG animation. While there, I also got a chance to get a glimpse at live-action film production as a Production Assistant on Alfonso Cuaron’s Great Expectations.
My time at Blue Sky Studios was very formative. From an eager wide-eyed graduate looking to become a director to a weathered Rigging Supervisor, I learned many valuable lessons here. Initially I started in 1997 as an animator.
The first project at Blue Sky was a short film called Bunny, directed by Chris Wedge that would go on to win an Academy Award.
During my early years, I serendipitously ended up in the Richard Williams’ Animator’s Survival Toolkit video that was shot at Blue Sky.
I spent seven years supervising Blue Sky’s Rigging Department (that I originally helped found so many years ago) working alongside some of the industry’s top talent. Being able to work on so many feature films, gave me great insight into production.
Blue Sky was a special studio, filled with good people and I’m grateful for the time there. I realized though that no matter where your career path takes you, always try to stay close to the things that make you happy.
In 1998, after Bunny won an Academy Award, I used that as an opportunity to visit Japan and meet other anime creators. We somehow managed to arrange a visit Studio Ghibli and meet Miyazaki in person. It was a dream come true, and I will forever cherish the memory.
Two years after returning from my trip to Japan, I received an unexpected opportunity. Mitsuhisa Ishikawa, the founder of Production I.G, asked me if I would be interested in working as a CG Creator on Innocence: Ghost in the Shell 2. Without hesitation I accepted.
I distinctly remember my first night in Japan after my arrival. I didn’t speak any Japanese, and I was lying on my brand-new futon, staring up at the ceiling and thinking, “I’m so far away from home, what have I just done?”
Those years in Japan were extraordinary. The work was challenging, and I had the chance to learn firsthand about the Japanese system of animation production.
While I was at Production I.G, I also gained more experience with the business side of anime as well.
I participated in meetings with many people from Hollywood who were interested in Japanese animation, such as Guillermo Del Toro, Quentin Tarantino, Joel Silver, and Jeffrey Katzenberg. Ishikawa would ask me to write a blog about living in Japan called “Samurai from NYC.”
© 2004 Shirow Masamune/KODANSHA · IG, ITNDDTD
© 2002 Shirow Masamune ・ Production I.G/KODANSHA
After returning from Japan and a brief stint at Avid/Softimage, I was initially offered the role of CG Supervisor at Lucasfilm Animation. I was the seventh employee hired at the company that was situated at Skywalker Ranch. I learned many invaluable lessons along the way and got to witness the birth of a new studio and the creation of the most memorable characters from the Clone Wars animated series.
Shortly after returning to Blue Sky, I began working as a Rigging Supervisor. In 2013, with Blue Sky’s permission, I approached Production I.G about producing a short film called Kick-Heart, directed by Masaaki Yuasa. This would be the first successful crowd-funded anime that ended up raising about $220k on Kickstarter. Kick-Heart would indirectly lead to an unexpected collaboration with Pendleton Ward and Masaaki Yuasa called “Adventure Time: Food Chain” which led to the creation of Science SARU.
In 2016, I happened to reconnect with an old colleague from Production I.G named Taiki Sakurai. He was hired to head up a new Anime content division at Netflix. He gave me the opportunity to pitch an original idea. After working closely together on the pitch, I ended up selling my original IP to Netflix and formed Qubic Pictures in 2018.
Making Eden was a tremendous learning experience, and I could not have done it without Netflix and the talented team of producers who helped support me along the way. It was literally a dream 20 years in the making.
We finished and delivered Eden which led to other opportunities, like Star Wars: Visions. I had always wanted to combine Japanese Animation and Star Wars so I was thrilled to get the opportunity.
If you’ve been following Qubic, we greatly appreciate your interest in our journey. The path to realizing a dream is an intricate one, filled with unexpected twists and turns, requiring skill, passion and conviction.
Guided by the traditional craft of Japanese animation, and Western story sensibilities, our mission is to create top tier animation that transcends cultural boundaries, reaching global audiences beyond the core fanbase of anime for all to enjoy
Every Frame Tells a Story.