Alex Gee
“I grew up in the mountains about an hour out from the Gold Coast, surrounded by waterfalls and the most beautiful rainforest. My youth was spent skateboarding more than drawing, which is a little less typical compared with other animators. Skateboarding was all consuming for me and it gave me an appreciation for skate-photography and skate-filmmaking. It was through watching skate videos that I began to understand the process and power that editing can bring to film.”
“At that time, Spike Jonze was making a lot of the skate-movies I watched and I got a real appreciation of good filmmaking by the time I was in high school. My dream at that age was to eventually become a director, but I didn’t really have the confidence to direct people, so I saw animation as my way of getting around that.”
“The great thing about animation, is in a lot of ways, I could direct from my bedroom. I didn’t need actors, I didn’t need a budget or to even know how to use a camera. It was liberating, because you could create anything from nothing and it didn’t cost any money. All I needed was a fertile imagination and some exposure to visual narrative and storytelling.”
“Growing up, I am sure people probably pointed at me and said, ‘that kid can draw!’ But I didn’t have the same interest in drawing compared with the other kids I knew. It was more that I had an interest in composition and the way composition revealed truths about the subject.”
“There was something about capturing what is already there, that appealed to me, rather than thinking it up in your mind and sketching it on paper. It was only later when I was at film school that I learnt that there was value in both approaches, whereby you could discover a striking image and then manipulate it to represent your own vision.”
“There was definitely a creative drift in my family. My dad was into landscape design and my mum could really draw and had her work published locally. Many of my sisters played music, so there was definitely something in the blood! My family have always valued art and creativity and my mum especially recognized that art was important to me and promoted my interest.”
“While I was at high school, I was a bit rebellious and didn’t see university as a path worthy of following. So when I finished high school, I didn’t have any other prospects. Fortunately, my sister convinced me to study a screen course at the tertiary college, just until I figured out what I wanted to do.”
“Within a matter of months, I was completely hooked. It was my first foray into filmmaking and in part I owe my love affair with animation to Justin Pamenter, who at the time was the head of 3D animation and visual effects at the college.”
“Justin was so passionate and really led the class through his own experience of animation. He had a genuine love for the craft and it helped to make him a really good teacher. Through his encouragement, I decided to run with animation in the hope that one day I could pass on this passion for the craft to others in the same way that Justin did for me.”
“Good teachers are few and far between, but when I did eventually go to university at the Queensland College of Art, I was especially lucky to find another inspiring role model in Joe Brumm. He had recently left London after working at some big name studios and had us during his first term as a teacher. Everyone in the class was immediately amazed by his talents and charisma.”
“An interesting thing happened after graduating when we were all talking to Joe about our worrying job prospects. Joe was saying something to the tune of ‘I suppose someone should make a new animation studio here’ and catching himself mid sentence, continued ‘I suppose I could be that person’. Shortly after, Joe started a new animation shop here in Queensland called Studio Joho, where he now employs many of the QCA class. He is exactly that sort of person who just wants to push animation in a really good direction.”
“Even though I had done well in my studies, by the time I finished university, I wasn’t totally convinced animation was the right path for me. I had developed a real passion for photography and graphic design and I could see opportunities in all of those fields.”
“By chance, I was recommended to Breeder by a previous graduate from QCA and I went in there to work on a 3D modeling project. It was not the sort of work I would normally think to apply for, but in this case it was something that I could do. As soon as I got there, I just fell in love with the place.”
“I spent as much time as I could in the studio and soon became friends with the Breeder team. Before I knew it, I was initiated. This was a dream come true, because I wouldn’t have dared imagine a place in Queensland where photography, design and animation would come together in such a complete and meaningful way.”
“Breeder is really unique, in that we don’t have a regimented process that has to be followed the same on every project. Between us, we have many skills and can apply ourselves to the project differently. I can’t think of too many other studios, where the briefs are so loose that you almost have to ask for constraints. Everything is deliberately left open to creative possibility, and this approach has been ingrained in Breeder since its inception. The studio truly exists to push boundaries and do things differently to everyone else.”
“Our focus on design, ultimately determines how we approach projects, because design is central to our thinking regardless of what the project is. We don’t want to compete with other studios as much as we just want to stay true to our design philosophy."
"It’s fitting really, because I’ve never wanted to be like other animators. What I also appreciate is good design and I want that to be my guidance in every thing I do.”