Animator Andrew Gordon began working at Pixar in the late 1990s. His first work for the studio was on A Bug's Life in 1998, and he has since worked on some of the most successful animated features in cinema history – including Toy Story 2 and 3, The Incredibles and Cars – and was a directing animator for Monsters University.
When he visited Dubai recently to talk about his career with fans, local industry figures and professional and aspiring animators at the -ING Creatives conference, he admitted his start in the field was far from glamorous.
"My parents showed up one day when I was a kid with a Tandy computer and a game called King's Quest," he says. "I really wanted to figure out how they did that game, so I just started trying to copy it, and that led me to an Amiga, which was a really good graphics computer back then. I'd just spend hours in my parents' basement trying to work stuff out."
At that time, computer animation was a very new field, limited by the available technology. In addition, his family’s finances did not stretch to sending him on one of the few courses that were teaching the emerging technology. Instead, he worked several jobs around his native New Jersey and New York, spending as much of his free time as possible teaching himself computer-animation skills. Then he had a revelation.
“I realised I was doing it all backwards,” he says. “So I went to Vancouver Animation School just to do drawn animation.”
A representative of Warner Brothers spotted a simple animation of a flour sack Gordon had produced in class, and was so impressed that he offered him a job.
“Even my teachers were like ‘how?’” says Gordon. “But he [the representative] said: ‘I don’t care that it’s only a flour sack exercise, you’re the only guy here that did a story with that little flour sack. We can teach you all the other stuff. We just want people with ideas’.”
Gordon’s introduction to the industry brought him back down-to-earth with a bump. Rather than rubbing shoulders with the Hollywood elite, he found himself working for Warner in a cramped office on the 11th floor of a shopping mall.
After an unsuccessful application for Pixar – who described his work as “too cartoony” – he was ready to give up and return home to New Jersey when fate intervened.
"Someone from Pixar saw a little bug animation I'd done online and called me up," he says. "They were starting work on A Bug's Life, so I eventually got in based on a little side project I'd been doing in my spare time."
Toy Story 2 followed, an experience that Gordon treasures.
“I sat with these guys next to me who were literally the best in the business,” he says. “It was kind of like I was sponging off them, bugging them to come look at my shots.”
Fate intervened again when he became lead animator for Monsters, Inc. character Mike Wazowski, voiced by Billy Crystal.
“I got it because I was the only guy from Jersey,” he says with a laugh. “So they just said: ‘Yeah, get Gordon to do it’. It’s like animating my cousin or my uncle.”
Gordon has animated a wide variety of characters for Pixar, from monsters to toys to fish – but notes there is one important constant.
“Story is always king at Pixar,” he says. “Tolstoy once said that all great literature is one of two stories – a man goes on a journey or a stranger comes to town. If man goes on journey, they’re changing. If stranger comes to town, they’re changing the world around them.”
In his work, the former type of story is most common.
“Pixar’s films are often characters that are handcuffed together, going on a journey together and how it affects them,” he says. “The question is always ‘what if’? What if fish had feelings? What if monsters had feelings? What if feelings had feelings?”
His next project is The Incredibles 2, for which he will also be supervising the film's promotional material, including VR projects – an area in which he hopes to work a lot more.
“I’m always looking for the next thing, and right now I’m concentrating on VR,” he says. “I’m looking for how to tell stories in virtual reality. That’s what I want to figure out.
“And also I want to direct. You have to stay interested – I’ve been at Pixar for more than 20 years now and I’d go crazy if I was still just animating, which I love, all day every day – you’ve got to change it up.”
cnewbould@thenational.ae
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
PROFILE OF STARZPLAY
Date started: 2014
Founders: Maaz Sheikh, Danny Bates
Based: Dubai, UAE
Sector: Entertainment/Streaming Video On Demand
Number of employees: 125
Investors/Investment amount: $125 million. Major investors include Starz/Lionsgate, State Street, SEQ and Delta Partners
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Kumulus Water
Started: 2021
Founders: Iheb Triki and Mohamed Ali Abid
Based: Tunisia
Sector: Water technology
Number of staff: 22
Investment raised: $4 million
At a glance
Global events: Much of the UK’s economic woes were blamed on “increased global uncertainty”, which can be interpreted as the economic impact of the Ukraine war and the uncertainty over Donald Trump’s tariffs.
Growth forecasts: Cut for 2025 from 2 per cent to 1 per cent. The OBR watchdog also estimated inflation will average 3.2 per cent this year
Welfare: Universal credit health element cut by 50 per cent and frozen for new claimants, building on cuts to the disability and incapacity bill set out earlier this month
Spending cuts: Overall day-to day-spending across government cut by £6.1bn in 2029-30
Tax evasion: Steps to crack down on tax evasion to raise “£6.5bn per year” for the public purse
Defence: New high-tech weaponry, upgrading HM Naval Base in Portsmouth
Housing: Housebuilding to reach its highest in 40 years, with planning reforms helping generate an extra £3.4bn for public finances
FIXTURES
Thu Mar 15 – West Indies v Afghanistan, UAE v Scotland
Fri Mar 16 – Ireland v Zimbabwe
Sun Mar 18 – Ireland v Scotland
Mon Mar 19 – West Indies v Zimbabwe
Tue Mar 20 – UAE v Afghanistan
Wed Mar 21 – West Indies v Scotland
Thu Mar 22 – UAE v Zimbabwe
Fri Mar 23 – Ireland v Afghanistan
The top two teams qualify for the World Cup
Classification matches
The top-placed side out of Papua New Guinea, Hong Kong or Nepal will be granted one-day international status. UAE and Scotland have already won ODI status, having qualified for the Super Six.
Thu Mar 15 – Netherlands v Hong Kong, PNG v Nepal
Sat Mar 17 – 7th-8th place playoff, 9th-10th place playoff
A State of Passion
Directors: Carol Mansour and Muna Khalidi
Stars: Dr Ghassan Abu-Sittah
Rating: 4/5
Tuesday's fixtures
Kyrgyzstan v Qatar, 5.45pm
More from Neighbourhood Watch:
Ms Yang's top tips for parents new to the UAE
- Join parent networks
- Look beyond school fees
- Keep an open mind
SPEC%20SHEET%3A%20SAMSUNG%20GALAXY%20Z%20FLIP5
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WHAT IS A BLACK HOLE?
1. Black holes are objects whose gravity is so strong not even light can escape their pull
2. They can be created when massive stars collapse under their own weight
3. Large black holes can also be formed when smaller ones collide and merge
4. The biggest black holes lurk at the centre of many galaxies, including our own
5. Astronomers believe that when the universe was very young, black holes affected how galaxies formed
The%20Kitchen
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The specs
AT4 Ultimate, as tested
Engine: 6.2-litre V8
Power: 420hp
Torque: 623Nm
Transmission: 10-speed automatic
Price: From Dh330,800 (Elevation: Dh236,400; AT4: Dh286,800; Denali: Dh345,800)
On sale: Now
THE SPECS
Engine: 6.75-litre twin-turbocharged V12 petrol engine
Power: 420kW
Torque: 780Nm
Transmission: 8-speed automatic
Price: From Dh1,350,000
On sale: Available for preorder now
The%20specs
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