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Issue #83 | January 25th, 2026

Hey Reader 👋
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This week, something shifted.

Not in a dramatic, fireworks kind of way but in that quiet, deeply satisfying way when you realize you’re back on track. Back in motion. Back in discipline.

I’ve been running again—twice this week, with another run planned for the weekend. It’s not really about the kilometers. It’s about momentum. About showing up for yourself. When you start pushing—even just a little—life starts pushing back in the best way. The fog clears. You remember what it feels like to choose discomfort, and how much that choice unlocks.

I also ran the first kickoff session for the new Freelancing for Animators cohort—and it was a highlight. I’ve done webinars before that felt shaky. Unprepared. But this time, it just… clicked. I felt calm, focused, and ready. People showed up (15 of them!), we dove deep, and even with a few tech glitches, the energy was great. I’m doing a second session this Tuesday (long story: I messed up the recording, oops 🙈), so if you’re thinking about turning your animation skills into a freelance business, come join us.
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​Tuesday, January 27th at 4 PM GMT — same presentation, same energy, this time properly recorded.

👉 https://meet.google.com/uoa-iqht-got​

Now, a bit of a detour. Something totally unrelated to animation—but it meant a lot to me and I wanted to share it with you.

For years, I’ve been intrigued by breathwork. Since I was 14, actually. While other teens were reading fiction, I was reading about meditation, psychology, and the power of the breath. I’ve also been doing daily cold showers for two years—two minutes every morning without fail. But there was one thing I kept putting off: the breathwork itself. I’d install the Wim Hof app, delete it, reinstall it… always hesitating. I read stories of people passing out. Even Kelly Slater passed out while doing it, and it freaked me out a little. Check it out 👇🤣🤣
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But this week, I was reading Breath by James Nestor—a beautiful, bestselling book that dives deep into the science and lost art of how we breathe. It inspired me. One night around midnight, while the house was quiet and everyone asleep, I got out of bed, walked into the living room, sat on the couch… and just decided to do it.

It’s called the Wim Hof breathing method. And it’s quite similar to an ancient Tibetan technique known as Tummo. You hyperventilate gently—30 quick breaths in and out—which puts your body in a state of mild stress. Then, you stop. You hold your breath.

Now, for context: I’ve never been great at this. On a good day, I could hold my breath for 45 seconds. Maybe a full minute if I was calm and really trying.

But that night, right after one round of breathwork, I held my breath… for over three minutes.😲

No panic. No tension. Just stillness. A quiet body. A quiet mind. My fingers tingled slightly—blood pulling away from the extremities—but I felt completely safe, present, and deeply at peace.

Something about that moment hit me hard. Not just because I finally did something I’d resisted for years, but because it was a reminder: sometimes, the most powerful things are already within you. You just need to trust, breathe, and begin.

So yeah… not animation. But maybe, in a roundabout way, exactly what creativity needs: presence, discipline, a little courage, and a lot of breath.

Thanks for being here, as always. 🥰
Let’s dive into this week’s issue ✨

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The Spotlight

This week, we’re returning once more to Gobelins—and for good reason. Their 2018 short film Hors de l’eau (Out of Water) is one of those pieces that just stays with you. Not because of flashy storytelling or big twists, but because of how deeply it immerses you in a single, visceral experience.

The story follows a group of snow monkeys, specifically through the eyes of a macaque mother. It’s told entirely from her POV—which is rare in animation and beautifully executed here. We never pull out for a wide, objective shot. We’re with her. We see what she sees. And we feel what she feels.

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And what she’s facing is brutal: a fight against the cold, a fight for survival. In this monkey society, only males are allowed into the hot springs, leaving the females and their children outside—frozen, shivering, and vulnerable. It’s a sharp and chilling metaphor, told without dialogue, only through movement, sound design, and composition.

Technically, the film is mind-blowing. At first glance, I assumed the snowy mountain setting was shot in live-action. Then I thought, no way—conditions must have been way too harsh for that. So I figured, okay, it’s all CG—super detailed, hyper-realistic 3D environments. That must be it.

But no. After watching the film, I dug around and found the making-of—and it completely blew my mind.

The entire environment was built as a miniature. They constructed physical sets—rocks, snow, terrain—and filmed them with green screen. The characters, animated in 2D, were then composited into the footages. And let me tell you, they completely fooled me. I’ve been in this industry for a long time. It’s not easy to trick my eye. But here? I had absolutely no clue.
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The scale is invisible. The way the camera moves through the space—smooth, intimate, cinematic—you never feel that “miniature” vibe. It’s just beautifully crafted.

And the integration of the 2D characters into that physical world? Flawless. There are moments where the camera orbits a character slightly, and you get a hint of a turnaround on the 2D body—just enough to make you stop and think, “Wait… is that 3D?” It’s a technical marvel.
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The music and sound design are also worth noting. There’s no dialogue—just an emotional score and raw, icy soundscapes. You feel the cold. You hear the struggle. It’s pure, visceral storytelling.

When I saw the runtime (about eight minutes), I thought I’d get a quick watch in. But when it ended, I caught myself thinking, “Wait, already?” That’s always a good sign. You’ve been transported.
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And yes, once again, it’s distributed by Miyu. (Seriously, how do they keep finding such incredible films? 😄)

Hors de l’eau is a quiet, powerful, technically stunning short that proves once again just how much you can do with bold choices, deep research, and thoughtful craft.
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​🎬 Credits
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​Directed by: Simon Duong-Van-Huyen, Joël Durand, Thibault Leclercq, Valentin Lucas, Andrei Sitari
​Music: Eliott Delafosse
​Sound Design: Mathieu Tiger
​Foley: Christophe Burdet
​Additional Monkey Voices: Mathieu Tiger
​Color Grading: Jean Philippe Lejeune
​Editing: Véronique Goupil
​Production: GOBELINS, l’école de l’image – Cécile Blondel with the participation of France Télévisions
​Distribution: Miyu Distribution – Luce Grosjean

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The Job Fair

• ​2D Animator - HAUS
  ​HAUS is the world's first integrated public relations and creative services agency purpose built for deep tech startups and scaleups. In January 2022, we set out on a mission to accelerate the adoption of technologies that maximize freedom, material abundance, and human flourishing.
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• ​Storyboard Artist - Brown Bag Films​
  We are currently looking for a Storyboard Artist to join our talented team here at our Dublin studio. The successful candidate will deliver high-quality, on-schedule storyboards within defined production scope.
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• ​Motion designer - micro1​
  Join our team as a Motion Design & 3D Animation specialist, where you'll shape captivating visual narratives that drive engagement across digital platforms. This role is perfect for a creative professional who excels in taking projects from concept through final render, breathing life and emotion into every pixel. As an essential member of the creative process, you will collaborate closely with designers to transform static visuals into compelling animated experiences.

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The Random Stuff

📱The Wim Hof App​
If my little breathwork adventure sparked your curiosity, just go ahead and download the Wim Hof Method app. It’s not the prettiest app out there, but it does the job.

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You can try it for free, and it gives you access to guided breathwork sessions, cold exposure routines, and a few mindset practices. It’s your perfect entry point into the Wim Hof world. Go check it out.​

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📺 Alex Hormozi on Passion vs. Business
​Okay, heads up—this one might feel a little out of left field 😄 If you’re deep in the animation bubble and not interested by entrepreneurship, you’ve probably never heard of Alex Hormozi. And when you first see him, you might be tempted to click away—big muscles, tank top, gym-vibes. But stay with it. This guy is a sharp, no-BS business thinker.

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I found this particular video where he talks about why turning your passion into your business might actually ruin it. It’s counterintuitive, honest, and super well-articulated. And good news: in this one, he actually speaks slower than usual (finally! 😅), so it’s a great intro if you’ve never heard him before.

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🤔 The Monitor Dilemma (and a Quiet Tech Review)
​I’ve been planning my upcoming new studio lately, and I’m stuck in a monitor dilemma. I own a Samsung Odyssey G9—this massive ultra-wide monitor that looks like it belongs in a spaceship. It’s powerful, but honestly… almost too much for me. It’s been in a box for six months now. And aesthetically? It screams gaming, which just isn’t my vibe.

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I’m thinking of selling it (email me if you’re interested—perfect condition!), and replacing it with something simpler, sleeker, and more vertical. I stumbled across this calm and thoughtful review from Oliur / Ultralinx about a beautiful LG 32-inch monitor that might just be “the one.” 😊
Please share your experiences with your setup, it'll be super useful, there's too much choice out there, I'm dyin here🤣

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Philippe Duvin​
Founder, Animator NOW

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