Today is International Animation Day, which celebrates the first public performance of projected moving images on October 28, 1892 (widely regarded as the birth of animation). Also, today is the Feast of St. Jude the Apostle, who is known as the patron saint of impossible causes. So what does this have to do with anything? Glad you asked! It has to do with the pursuit of a big dream that’s been on my heart for a while.

Ever since I was a kid, I’ve loved animation. But to me, many recent movie releases—while entertaining—have felt incomplete and underwhelming. I believe a large part of this has to do with the state of our culture. Art is an extension of an artist’s humanity, and if artists have lost the sense of what’s real and true about life, their art will reflect that. Watching our culture implode in 2020 has further convinced me that we’re all searching for something more than just the passing diversions of the modern world. We desire truth, depth, and substance. We want something that stirs the deeper desires of our hearts and shakes us out of the stupor of mediocrity. But for people who love animation like I do, it’s difficult to find that amidst the vulgarity of adult animation and the frenetic escapism of children’s animation.

I began to wonder what kinds of stories could be told by a collection of artists with a deep philosophical and theological understanding of the human condition… and if those artists were in an environment that actively encouraged them to weave those truths into their work. I’ve been working on two film/series concepts—one since May 2018 and the other since October 2020—and the more these stories have unfolded, the more I realized that a new kind of animation studio would have to be created for stories like these to come to life. And so, the dream for Mirror Image Animation was born.

Trust me, I understand how much of a long shot this is. And the fact that I don’t have any relevant industry experience or technical expertise doesn’t help either. Yet for reasons only partially clear to me right now, God is calling me to pursue this. I have no idea where this is going to lead or if this dream will ever come to fruition. All I really have is the hope that God will work His wonders through me as he has done through countless other unremarkable people throughout history. The road ahead is not going to be an easy one, and I will need as many prayers as I can get to make it through.

I look forward to sharing this journey with you, and I’m excited to see what the future holds for Mirror Image Animation. Here’s to the impossible!