To be fair, the PBS team was impressed enough with my skills as a puppeteer, and again, Steve was a big enough hit, that they were considerate enough to outline some concepts with me in regards of using Steve for the station beyond just pledge drives, including things like bumpers and promos, little PSAs and other educational shorts (I remember we tried brainstorming how to show Steve learning how to ride a bike) . . . none of those things ever came to fruition though, so I have no idea why we never got around to any of those. I did, however, years later, revive one of their concepts for certain YouTube videos I've done, such as this:
(I seriously doubt Steve would have been discussing topics like this, he more likely would have discussed local community events, or special programming the station would have been airing and such.)
But yes, I do fully admit that I have no absolutely no desire to be part of the 9-5 corporate world . . . I do not say that from the perspective of a spoiled, lazy, and entitled Millennial who doesn't want to work and just wants free stuff, but from the perspective of an artist and a creative mind, who knows that the 9-5 corporate world would be detrimental to the very person I am. In spite of the problems I had, I actually wasn't too ill a fit for PBS: I think my colleagues accepted my eccentricities and recognized my artistry and talent (they even kept having me to draw comics and such for them to hang on their fridge in the break room), but as far as professional growth was concerned, that just wasn't happening.
I've looked into other areas that would allow me to actually develop my production company into a full-fledge, fully-operational business, but I keep hitting dead ends. Meanwhile, I've looked into other areas where I can be of use in terms of artistry or creativity, but there's a problem: despite my town having a rather large artistic community (we have indie filmmakers, theater troupes, street musicians, photographers, just to name a few), and the fact that Hollywood routinely comes out here to shoot movies throughout town, there just isn't much of an actual business aspect to it that would make having a living as an artist practical. In fact, just a few years ago, I learned the owner/operator of a once big, thriving YouTube channel actually lived in here in town, and he was on the local news talking about he was wanting to expand his company, and help boost the business aspect of our local creative community. I contacted him about the possibility of him hiring me (even at an entry level position), if it meant I could contribute to something creatively and stay in town - I got as far as an email interview, then a phone interview, then was told that they weren't moving forward in that direction . . . then a few months later, I learned he abandoned ship and relocated to Los Angeles instead.
My future as an artist and a creative mind appears to be coming to an end, though. I'm not sure what will end up happening, so I'll leave it vague for now . . . I will say it looks like the only good things that will come out of this are pay and benefits, but everything else sounds like an absolute nightmare for an artistic night owl like myself.
(I seriously doubt Steve would have been discussing topics like this, he more likely would have discussed local community events, or special programming the station would have been airing and such.)
But yes, I do fully admit that I have no absolutely no desire to be part of the 9-5 corporate world . . . I do not say that from the perspective of a spoiled, lazy, and entitled Millennial who doesn't want to work and just wants free stuff, but from the perspective of an artist and a creative mind, who knows that the 9-5 corporate world would be detrimental to the very person I am. In spite of the problems I had, I actually wasn't too ill a fit for PBS: I think my colleagues accepted my eccentricities and recognized my artistry and talent (they even kept having me to draw comics and such for them to hang on their fridge in the break room), but as far as professional growth was concerned, that just wasn't happening.
I've looked into other areas that would allow me to actually develop my production company into a full-fledge, fully-operational business, but I keep hitting dead ends. Meanwhile, I've looked into other areas where I can be of use in terms of artistry or creativity, but there's a problem: despite my town having a rather large artistic community (we have indie filmmakers, theater troupes, street musicians, photographers, just to name a few), and the fact that Hollywood routinely comes out here to shoot movies throughout town, there just isn't much of an actual business aspect to it that would make having a living as an artist practical. In fact, just a few years ago, I learned the owner/operator of a once big, thriving YouTube channel actually lived in here in town, and he was on the local news talking about he was wanting to expand his company, and help boost the business aspect of our local creative community. I contacted him about the possibility of him hiring me (even at an entry level position), if it meant I could contribute to something creatively and stay in town - I got as far as an email interview, then a phone interview, then was told that they weren't moving forward in that direction . . . then a few months later, I learned he abandoned ship and relocated to Los Angeles instead.
My future as an artist and a creative mind appears to be coming to an end, though. I'm not sure what will end up happening, so I'll leave it vague for now . . . I will say it looks like the only good things that will come out of this are pay and benefits, but everything else sounds like an absolute nightmare for an artistic night owl like myself.