Quite the ‘birthday week’ surprise waiting for me upon returning home from some forgettable errands. Actually, the related news was also something I tried to ‘forget’ about, as I’ve found over the years that the Buddhists and Hindus are indeed right – excess longing for any Earthly reward tends to breed its own melancholic gravity. But lo’ and behold – a text message from our old friend Simon Conlin of the Switchstance crew in Toronto, saying that the Fates had smiled down and graced me with the 2005 Producer of the Year nod at the Canadian New Media Awards!
So…uhh…what can I say? Truthfully, not much – if I learned anything from my main industry mentor, it’s that producers (or ‘talking monkies’, as artists and coders affectionately call them) are only as good as the team they assemble. His analogy was something akin to playing chess; you need to find the right Pawns (short-term contractors), Knights (creative mavericks), Bishops (tangental process drivers), Rooks (broad-skilled managers), and a powerful Queen (project lead) to protect your sorry, Kingly ass. Otherwise…?
“You’re just playing chess with checker pieces.“
Consider this a heartfelt public ovation to an incredibly talented core crew – and a slew of eager artists and engineers – who gave their collective all (and then some!) to make the Broken Saints DVD Set really shine. I doubt I’ll have the opportunity for such a wonderful and spirited collaboration anytime soon, so trust me when I say that each and every memory is a treasured one – far more than any phallic piece of glass could ever be.
Word is bond.