It's 36 Days and counting down to the day I leave the country for the UK and begin this new "excellent" adventure in my life.
For those who don't know me, I'm a monster geek who has somehow managed to make a living making monsters in the Los Angeles Special Effects community for the past 20 years. I started in the traditional effects community, but when things went digital, I evolved my skillset to include the computer. For the past 14 years, I've been a Digital Modeler with Sony Imageworks. I have contributed to taking a small company and growing it from around 30 artists to more that 500. I'm very proud and grateful for having been a part of this company. About 90 days ago, I received notice that the new management in charge of Imageworks was going to be cleaning house of most all of the career people and replacing them with cheaper Students. . . (we'll see how that goes. . .)
Thankfully, I will receive a sizable severence check (2 weeks for every year of service, plus my vacation time). Yes, thats about 28 weeks plus another 8 weeks of salary. I actually never thought they'd lay me off for fear of having to pay out this much money. Guess they weren't.
At any rate, Sony had a "Reverse Recruitment" event, and I interviewed with a competing company called "Double Negative". They are in London. My partner Tony and I talked at length about moving to London, and about 1 month ago, I accepted an offer from them to join their team as a Senior Modeler.
I am now preparing to leave a job that I have loved for 14 years, and a company that I have poured untold hours of hardwork and passion for a new adventure in a faraway city on the other side of the planet. I am excited about the possibility of assisting another up and coming company.
Coincidentally, billboards started appearing around town with the British Union Jack and the name "Hudson" on it. . .
Turns out they weren't really celebrating my new adventure to the UK, but rather just advertising designer jeans. I'm still willing to take it as a sign that I'm making the right decision.
Kevin
Hey, Kevin,
ReplyDeleteSeveral years ago, while agonizing over a career change, I stood in the darkness of a March evening on the patio behind my house. I was nursing a beer and pondered leaving a company to which I had devoted 25 years of my life. To my amazement and in the space of ten minutes or so I was witness to three shooting stars arcing above the cane field behind my yard. While I am not one to set much store in omens nor portents of things to come those three meteorites oddly gave me the courage to make the move. Having never looked back I can say that whatever it takes to carry yourself along life's splendid journey is plenty fine with me. I'd say billboards with "Hudson" splashed across the Union Jack heralds a grand adventure and enormous success in London. Cheers!