Mech Daddy

I'm a huge giant robot nerd. Working in Los Angeles, you don't get a chance to direct many shows about giant robots. So when Jorge gave me a chance, I really wanted to do a good job.

One thing I tried to do was push the contrasts - between close ups and wide shots:
Contrasts of small objects and large objects
Between wanton destruction and suburban life




Three dimensional character movement and two dimensional character movement.
Contrast between dark interiors and bright interiors
The rockets not starting was a little experiment in adding tension...

There's a killer shot missing here of Giant Robot Sanchez flying above the clouds with his children in his hand - and the bright sun at his back. It was put in after the pitch because of a suggestion by Audrey Diehl -one of our Network Executives, who always had really good ideas.

I think the shot worked so well because it nicely contrasted all of the tension built up at the end of the sequence.

Contrast between fast cuts and long cuts. This last shot ended up over 20 seconds long. The previous 20 shots were all shorter than three.

It was an experiment, and I think it came off. And if we had more episodes, I definitely would have tried to do more. 

Tigre + Curevo

This was the last beat board I did before Gabe Swarr became our second Director.  Prior to this I had directed every episodes myself. It was an awesome experience, but mentally and physically I was at my limit - and you can see at the end of the beatboard, my arm just gave out.

After Gabe came on, life got a lot better, and so did the shows. With half my Directing workload lifted, there was a lot more time to spend on everything! As the Supervising Producer I still worked on every episode. But with a super genius like Gabe at the helm, I didn't have to worry about much. His episodes are some of our best. My only regret is that we didn't promote him sooner.