Hey Reader 👋

Okay, I’m cheating a little bit. Summer is definitely over… but since I just got back from Bali and we’re still in the middle of moving into this tiny apartment — dragging clothes and boxes out of storage, trying to carve out a little corner to work in — I figured I’d keep the short “summer edition” format for this week too.

Next week we’ll be back to the full version. Promise.

This weekend, though, I’m taking off to Lisbon to see my daughter and my son. I haven’t seen them in two and a half months, and I honestly can’t wait. We already have a small food tour planned — a sushi place, a taco spot, probably some ramen too. It’s going to be fun.

Then Monday afternoon, when I’m back, everything really kicks off. I’ll be starting a full-on brainstorm for Animator NOW — one day dedicated to each part of the project: community, courses, podcast, newsletter, and more.

It’s going to be a lot of work, but the way I see it, it’s just like animation. You never open Maya and start animating right away — that’s a beginner’s mistake. You have to slow down, think things through, plan the poses, map out the beats. Only then does the scene come alive.

So next week is going to be my planning week. Notes everywhere, digging into resources, studying how others build communities, sketching the big picture. By the end of it, I want a crystal-clear vision of what the next 12 months will look like.

I’m super pumped about it — maybe even a little restless to dive in already. And I’m looking forward to sharing the process with you, whether it’s here in the newsletter, in the community, on LinkedIn, or maybe (if I can finally get myself started!) on YouTube.

Thanks for being here. I hope your summer was amazing. And with this last “summer edition,” let’s close the season and open the next chapter.

When I first clicked on this film, I didn’t know what to expect. Honestly, I thought it would just be a sweet, sentimental stop-motion short — which, for the record, I already love on its own. But as I kept watching, something shifted. The more I leaned into it, the more it started to connect with my own life.

⚠️ Small spoiler ahead: if you haven’t seen Sister yet, I recommend you go watch it before reading further. It’s only 8 minutes, and it’s worth every second.

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The story hit me hard. Like the main character, I grew up as an only child. But as a teenager, I learned something that shaped me deeply: my mom once got pregnant again, but my dad didn’t want another child. I don’t know if it was financial reasons, or simply that he wasn’t ready — but she had an abortion.

That revelation left a mark. It made me wonder endlessly about the sibling I never had. I grew up alone, and in many ways, I think my personality is defined by that loneliness. It’s something I carried with me, almost obsessively — always imagining what life with a brother or sister might have been.

So when I became a father, having my daughter and my son was one of the greatest joys of my life. And beyond the mistakes I may have made as a dad, there’s one thing I’m incredibly proud of: their bond. Even 19 years later, they are still everything for each other. They laugh, they argue, they have this unshakable complicity — and watching that grow has been one of the biggest successes of my life. It’s something I never had, but I managed to help create it for them.

And that’s exactly why Sister resonated so deeply. It’s not just a film — it’s a meditation on memory, family, and absence. Technically, it’s beautifully made: tactile felt puppets, delicate sets, a soundscape and score that reminded me a little of Finding Nemo’s melancholy. But beyond craft, what really lingers is the story.

You don’t walk away talking about the technique. You walk away talking about her. About the life that could have been. About what we lose, and how we keep living with that loss.

That’s the ultimate power of animation — when the medium disappears, and all that’s left is the story.

Sister was nominated for an Oscar in 2018, but it still feels like a hidden gem outside the animation world. If you haven’t yet, take a quiet moment and watch it. You might find, like I did, that it stirs something you didn’t expect.

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