I hope everyone had a great Holiday. I spent time with the family, but still found time to work too. I launched a new website, google group and wrote two tutorials for smoke-on-mac.com. And that's how it seems to be going nowadays. I'm moving at 1000 miles an hour either working, looking for work, or networking. Surprisingly, there are a ton of events to go to in LA in the next two weeks...
I feel for my friends that have to start looking for work now. I know of an editor who got laid-off last week, just before Thanksgiving, an audio mixer, and designer who were laid-off the week before. In my 10 years in post production, I've never seen it like this. It's been a challenging time for sure and I think of the quote James Mathers uses at the end of the Digital Cinema Society e-newsletter:
"It is not the strongest of the species that survive, nor the most intelligent, but the most responsive to change." Charles Darwin
I agree with that 100%. Change is here so embrace it. Use your down time to learn a new software, new skill set. I became an Autodesk Smoke Certified Instructor this summer for example. It's never been so easy to learn with great online training from Lynda.com, Digital-Tutors, Ripple Training. High-End specialized training is also available from Escape Studios and FXPHD among others.
Finally, I want to give thanks to my past, present and future employers. And thanks to 20th Century Fox for holding a family screening of "Fantastic Mr. Fox" the day after Thanksgiving and to Focus Feature for sending me my first "screener". But most of all, I want to thank my family for their support. At the end of the day, that's what it's all about.