Chapter 157: Legendary but Temporary

Alexander truly had no getting around the overall management of everything around their animation venture.

He was the one who proposed it and was quite adamant about it but his skillsets and time allocations just aren't geared towards everything animation just yet.

Just as how Creed Pictures' projects are left for the directors such as Innovative Rob and Curious Bob to handle, Creed Animations is best left for true animation directors to handle.

An animation director is either the director in charge of all aspects of the animation process during the production of anything animation from films, television series, or even simple animation segments.

They are mostly the animator in charge of correcting layouts, drawings, and overall flow of the entire project.

The responsibilities of an animation director include directing the storyboards, character designs, background animation, and other technical aspects of a project's animation.

Some animated film productions like Disney may even split the duties between an animation director, who focuses on the creation of the animation, and a director who oversees all other aspects of the film.

A supervising animator is commonly in charge of all aspects of the design and artwork for a single major character. The supervising animator oversees a group of animators who complete the entire scenes in which a particular character appears

Alexander was a bit confident he could do these parts with his little boss privilege with a bit of key person management methodology but it would only work when the team he is working with is already optimized to its best capabilities.

Creed Animations clean slate in everything meant trouble. Although everyone they hired were experts in their corresponding fields, they were rookies when it came to their team dynamic and workflow cohesion.

If a theoretical expert but practical noob like Alexander were to meddle in with that kind of workflow, it would only do more harm than good.

He knew where his capabilities lie and designating responsibilities to a true animation conductor was the best way to go.

It just so happens that his grandfather picked a certain fellow whose footprints in the animation industry are quite profound.

When Alexander read up on the files that his grandfather handed him about the new Creed animation director, his calm and cool self would have made a comical spit take.

Fortunately, the Sweet but Warm Human mugs were only decorations in his office and he wasn't drinking anything at that time.

Nonetheless, his old grandfather did another negotiation move that tilted the advantages to come their way.

His expectations for meeting the guy were quite high already and his enhanced memory was showcasing paint-esque and flowing animation films that correspond to that specific person.

Totoro this and that were in his inner mind imaging whilst he walked the areas of the 'production' compartment.

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Eventually, Alexander reached the area in the production compartment that his grandfather had told him about and met him there.

"Hi, grandpa." The boy greeted before the old man beat him to it. He also looked around and found that the person to meet still wasn't there so he turn to the old man again. "Where's the guest from so far away?"

"Hello to you too, Alex." Old Sullivan could only greet the boy first with a joking chuckle. "You're so quick to business matters now that your British blood etiquette for patient greetings have been hampered. Do keep in mind that proper greetings do come with the business territory as well."

"I'll keep that in mind then and sorry for my rashness." Alexander wasn't expecting an impromptu business lesson but he took the joking advice well. The agenda today was meet and greet so etiquette is on high priority.

Sullivan could only sigh at the serious efficacy to everything that this grandson of his is exhibiting. He really had to remind the boy to lighten up a little from time to time. "Never mind that greeting joke of mine. Just embrace the American way and don't mind the formalities of my old England home."

Alexander really had no getting around his grandfather when the old man is in his weird moods.

Still, he found it best to just beat the old weirdness with business straightforwardness. "Where is our animation helper, then?"

"The man is probably still on his way. The translator and correspondent I've hired must be the one who is still troubled with our new location." Sullivan answered in speculation. Contacting and knowing the state of other people isn't easy with immobile telephones after all.

The best thing to do is wait at this scenario and the Creed duo waited indeed... of course, with a few curious conversations.

"Grandpa, how'd you snag a guy like the one we are meeting anyway?" Alexander was quite curious about this. "The man just straight out went migrated from his home country to work in America. There must be something special that you've grasped to make things happen, grandpa?"

"Well, I got the recommendation and information from a friend in Japan, so I just gave the man some considerable offers to make things happen from there." Sullivan pretty much simplified things with that. "There should be no problem with the man's capabilities though as our Japanese recruits seem to be quite enthused when they heard that he would be leading the animation production teams."

It was a simple outline but quite a few mini-processes did happen to get to those points.

Alexander could more or less get a glimpse of most that had happened but he really couldn't quite put a finger to it.

In his mind and memory, Totoro creator had always been a staple of Japan that old Sullivan's methods should be quite profound or impactful for things to come this way.

Noticing that Alex was still quite curious about some stuff, old Sullivan decided to enlighten the boy on them further. "From what I've heard, Mr. Hayao Miyazaki has quite an extensive background in animation and is a considerable veteran in Japan. His last animated film was something called Valley of the Wind, which is an adaptation of his own manga."

"His manga-to-animation situation is quite similar to the direction that we are going for that the deal just clicked." Sullivan recounted some points and gave the final piece. "In any case, Mr. Miyazaki is just looking for funds for his company though, and only agreed to help on the fixation and training of our people."

"Funds?" Alexander did remember Nausicaa on his memory. It should be quite the hit but why is the animation legend lacking in production funds. Shouldn't Ghibli be filled with finances from all the talent that was gathering there?

"Is the Japanese animation industry that short in money that a popular animator like Mr. Miyazaki has to be a temporary trainer in America?"

"Apparently, the source of funds were monopolized by Toei and all the existing animation giants to squeeze out a potential threat." Sullivan speculated. "I'm not quite sure though. There might even be a silent bid of funders and it just so happen that we won against the rest."

Alexander did know some of Ghibli and Miyazaki factoids but the lack of early funding and secret bidding seems to be a hidden secret in the legendary company's history. It may even be a factor brought by his butterfly effect.

Without a doubt, having Mr. Miyazaki to help sort out the Creed Animations' management was a steal in the Creeds' opinion and the most acceptable funding condition for the Ghibli founder.

Although it wasn't a permanent employment scenario, Ghibli's Hayao Miyazaki could very well be the most timely and suitable person that Creed Animations need to kickstart everything.

In any case, the troubled Creed manpower got their legendary but temporary helper.