21 August, 2008

All Good Things...

Well, here we are.
After 13 years in the business, Collideascope Animation Studios will no longer exist as of October 1st. Through some unforeseen circumstances, we are forced to close our doors. I'd like to say we had a good run; with over 90 hours of footage produced over the last 8 years (with over half of that being our own original properties) we've made lots of cartoons over the years, and I for one, am proud of the many things we've accomplished.

A combination of many different factors have lead the owners of the company to this decision, but in the end we simply could not stay open any longer. With the state of the industry and the position that Canadian broadcasters are taking nowadays, it's gotten much tougher to produce new shows lately. You can see M-A's closing speech here for more details.

I'd like to personally thank all the people I've had the pleasure to work with these past few years at Collideascope. I've enjoyed meeting and collaborating with hundreds of artists on lots of incredibly cool projects. The challenges of pushing ourselves and our tools to their limits while inflating the company to over 120 people as we juggled 3 projects at once was exhausting and highly rewarding at the same time.

I'm eternally grateful for all the hard work everyone's done with me (and for me) over the years. We produced and developed some very enjoyable and creative shows, we've had some great laughs and some unforgettable moments along the way. I don't know what the future holds for me, but I know for certain that all the immensely talented artists and employees at Collideascope will have no problem expanding their skill sets to other projects and studios.

I'll keep this blog alive for a couple more months. I'll create a new home for all the surprisingly popular Flash FX tutorials, and I'll link them off of Flooby once I've made a new blog to host them all (plus more new ones).

When I first arrived here, nearly 9 years ago, I would have never dreamed that I was going to participate in making so many cartoons with so many amazing people, so I must thank Sean, and Curtis for giving me the opportunity to start here, and a big thanks to Steve and M-A for giving me the freedom in managing the studio the way I did these past 7 years.

See this Eulogy.

I've had an amazing experience and an incredibly fun time working at Collideascope. The most kind and generous people I've ever met have been at this studio, and I thank you all for the fantastic time you've given me.

-Ron