• Because of the friendship between ET and Elliot.
• Because of flux capacitors.
• Because of lightsabers.
• Because of curling up under big blankets on the couch.
• Because of sitting in a theater with my family.
• Because of riding home in the car discussing what our favorite parts were.
• Because of long dinners afterwards to talk about the movie.
• Because of spaceships.
• Because of horrible one-liners after killing a bad guy.
• Because of bad guys.
• Because of good guys.
• Because of Indiana Jones.
• Because Indiana is what they named the dog.
• Because of scruffy nerf-herders.
• Because of car chases.
• Because of Guy Ritchie’s high-speed montages.
• Because of the production design in Edward Scissorhands.
• Because of the Giant saying “Superman.”
• Because of the end of Monster’s Inc.
• Because of an entire theater of children being silent during the beginning of Up.
• Because of the scene in the nightclub in The Social Network.
• Because of Peter Lorre in Casablanca.
• Because of the filibuster scene in Mister Smith Goes To Washington
• Because of my mom and dad introducing me to their favorite movies.
• Because of Edgar Wright.
• Because Number Five is alive.
• Because you should always let the Wookie win.
• Because of Johnny Depp.
• Because of double bills at The New Beverly.
• Because of how John Wayne cocks his shotgun.
• Because of the jumping scene in Stagecoach.
• Because Donny was always out of his element.
• Because of the sound The Green Destiny makes.
• Because of Concerning Hobbits.
• Because of The Raider’s March.
• Because of Emma Stone in, well, just about anything.
• Because of The Dam scene in GoldenEye.
• Because of Alan Cummings as Boris.
• Because of Gene Wilder in The Producers.
• Because of Gene Wilder in Willy Wonka.
• Because of Gene Wilder.
• Because of Drinking Problems in Airplane!.
• Because of Blue Steel.
• Because of Owen Wilson carving a marriage altar out of a single block of wood.
• Because of Lick My Love Pump, Big Bottom, Sex Farm and the entire discography of Spinal Tap.
• Because of drummers spontaneously combusting. It’s more common than you think.
• Because Johnny B. Goode never fails to put an enormous smile on my face.
• Because “You are my density.”
• Because of Ripley taping her gun to her flamethrower.
• Because of Ripley kicking ass in the heavy load lifter.
• Because of “You. You’ve got a gift, you.”
• Because of Christopher Reeve as Superman.
• Because of the giant piano in Big.
• Because of “Yippee-kai-yay, motherfucker.”
• Because of Simon Pegg.
• Because of the Kwan. And showing people the money. And Tom Cruise loving black people.
• Because of the way Tom Cruise runs.
• Because John Woo put doves in Mission Impossible 2.
• Because of lightcycles.
• Because of the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man.
• Because of the Soggy Bottom Boys.
• Because of McLovin.
• Because of Hayao Miyazaki.
• Because of the scene where they destroy the fax machine in Office Space.
• Because “Werewolf?” “There. There wolf. There castle.”
• Because of Dustin Hoffman in Tootsie.
• Because of Dustin Hoffman in Midnight Cowboy.
• Because of the opening scene of The Girl Can’t Help It.
• Because of Robin Williams in Good Morning Vietnam.
• Because of Fellini.
• Because the rabbit has fangs.
• Because my earliest memory is seeing Fievel Goes West in theaters.
• Because of seeing The Dark Knight at midnight.
• Because of seeing The Room at midnight.
• Because of questioning my relationship with my ex-girlfriend when she didn’t like When Harry Met Sally.
• Because of Billy Crystal’s speech at the end of When Harry Met Sally
• Because Nicolas Angel had never fired a gun into the air whilst yelling “Aaah.”
• Because you’ve got red on you.
• Because of Edna Mode.
• Because of R2-D2 and C-3P0 – original bromance.
• Because Robert Downey Jr. is Tony Stark.
• Because of Joss Whedon.
• Because of the first 30 minutes of WALL-E
• Because Pixar seems to refuse to quit.
• Because of bloopers in credits.
• Because Marvel keeps putting scenes after the credits.
• Because of Jackie Chan.
• Because of the sitcom scene in Scott Pilgrim vs. The World.
• Because of the hope that Robin Williams and Jim Carrey might finally someday make a movie together.
• Because movies are, and will always be, my first love.
• Because of far, far more reasons than I’m putting on this list.

So I’ve been working on Divide Nine’s story team for nearly two months now, and it’s crazy how much stuff has been happening in that time. For the first time in my life, working on stories and helping write movies is my paid, honest-to-goodness, 9am-6pm job, which is a truly surreal feeling.

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about whether or not I’m stretching myself too thin – whether I should slow down now that I’ve got a job that’s as equally demanding on my creative resources as my personal work is. But I know myself, and I don’t think I’m the type that could ever slow down too much. As long as I can remember, I’ve been “ever hungry,” to steal a phrase from the Steve Jobs biography. (An amazing read, by the by.)

I just wrapped up draft 2 of Radioman not too long ago and I’m very excited because I think it should take only one more draft to get that movie tied up nicely – it’s especially exciting since word from the director and producer is that we’re getting close to some exciting developments, as far as production goes… Considering this is the first time I’ve written a feature screenplay and considering it’s on it’s way to being made, I’m in a bit of a state of disbelief. The good kind.

Meanwhile, being on the story team at Divide Nine means I’m working in some capacity on nearly half a dozen movie concepts. For some I’m basically a consultant, a “gag guy,” but on others I’m actively writing treatments and outlines on a daily basis. It’s overwhelming at times to keep so many different projects straight, but in an exciting, exhausting sort of way. Animation’s a funny business though – for all the work going into these movies, there’s no guarantee that all of them will see the light of day, and some of the stories change drastically from week to week or even day to day. That being said, I absolutely love the work I’m doing and there are a couple that I’m very excited about. Most importantly, I’m thrilled to be able to work on and fight for them with such an amazing team.

Speaking of amazing teams, things are finally starting to move forward with Smart Bomb, the graphic novel being created by myself and Wyatt Banks. I’m outlining and starting to write the script, which is a ton of fun, and I can’t wait to move forward. Wyatt’s been working on character designs and I think we’re set to have something really fun and really fresh. We’re hoping to have the first installment ready by APE (Alternative Press Expo) in October…

Seeing as Radioman is entering its final stages (for me as the writer, anyhow. It’s just beginning for the director and producer!), I’m starting to think about what I’m going to do next to fill those soon-to-be-empty afternoons. I’ve loved actively working on a feature, and I really want to have another one or two under my belt by this time next year. In typical Eric fashion, I’ve already got a few outlines and early nigglings of stories going – I just need to pick one and start.

So. Looking over this is very interesting for me. There seems to be a trend of controlled mania in my life: being overwhelmed and exhausted, but with excitement there too. All of these projects and all of these new doors that could be opening mean that my life is very, very unpredictable these days – I have no idea where I might be a year from now.

But if there’s one thing I do know, it’s that I’m excited to see what comes next.

As we enter into the final days of 2011, I find myself becoming increasingly retrospective about this past year because, boy, what a wild year it’s been. A year ago today in December 2010, things were a lot different for me. I was still about half a year away from graduating, I was just finishing an internship at Illumination Entertainment, I was still in school, my thesis wasn’t anywhere near done and I was terrified about my prospects for my career and for the future.

2011 had.. ups and downs, but as I stand right now, I think I’m confident in saying that 2011 definitely ended on a high note and I’m looking forward to 2012.

Some of my favorite things from 2011:

• Finishing my thesis. It might not be perfect or exactly like I imagined it would turn out, but the experience I had making it is something I’ll treasure forever. From back-to-back all-nighters in the animation lab with some of my best friends in the world to working with amazingly talented collaborators, that film is something I’ll always think back on fondly.
• The Annie Awards – always an amazing time. Especially loved my fist bump with Jim Cummings.
• Graduating alongside my awesome classmates and getting to have my family in LA.
• Interning and then working at DreamWorks Animation. I might not be there anymore, but it was such an honor to get to meet and work with all the fine folks at DWA.
• Summer vacation in Rhode Island. It may have had the constant undercurrent of stress about unemployment and career-related depression, but getting to spend 3 solid months with my family was absolutely awesome.
• The 2011 Summer Movie Season. There may have been some stinkers, but there were some awesome movies too – movies like Thor, X-Men First Class and Captain America. I especially loved that I got to experience so many of them with my sister.
• Moving to Burbank and the entire adventure therein.
• Regularly reading comic books again. Being able to walk to the comic book store every week and pick up my latest titles has been an awesome new tradition and I’ve been so pleased at the quality of storytelling in mainstream comics lately.
• The emergence of Film Critic Hulk and the amazing lessons he has been able to teach me about filmmaking and storytelling.
• Going to one of Edgar Wright’s Wright Stuff screenings and see some awesome movies on 35mm.
• Getting hired to write my first feature film. This is a big one, as I feel like it’s going to be a defining thing for 2012 as well. The fact that Ben and Alex saw my work and said “Yes, this is a guy we want to write our feature” terrifies and inspires me constantly. In more or less equal parts. Also, just getting to work with Ben as a new creative partner has just been a joy in and of itself. That guy really, REALLY knows his stuff and has been both a partner and a mentor for me.
• Discovering awesome new music, like Les Rhythmes Digitales, Grum and Cinnamon Chasers
• Playing Portal 2 and then playing it again immediately after.
• Seeing my sister have an awesome college experience so far.
• Being in Leonard Maltin’s film symposium. That class was awesome, inspiring and I got to see a ton of neat stuff in it.
• Having my film Lovenauts be in First Frame 2011. That was really cool.
• Watching my friends start their careers.
• My dad finding a job again that he seems to be enjoying and excelling at. After years of watching my family struggle through hardship, it’s been fantastic to see the ‘bounce back ‘ begin.
• Starting my job at Divide Nine Animation. I’ve only been there a month so far, but in that time I’ve already learned and grown so much as a storyteller and filmmaker and that I get to do it with such amazingly talented people is all the better. I can’t wait to see what further adventures that place has for me and I’m freakin’ stoked to see what happens moving forward.

So yeah. That’s by no means a definitive list or anything like that – there’s no order and I probably have big holes in there because my memory’s like a leaky bucket that way, but those are some of my favorite memories and things from this past year. Don’t get me wrong, there was a lot of crap in there too, but I’ve never seen the point in dwelling on the crap – much better to look forward to the future.

So here’s to 2011 and an even better 2012!