Dear Friends:

2024 has been a transitional year, orienting to life in the South Bay (region of LA).  Connie, Jayden (2.5), Levi and I are currently living with my in-laws during a year+ major remodel/addition to our future home 1-mile away.  In combination with our ongoing investment property in the San Bernardino mountains, we are fully engulfed in building inspections, systems installations, planning and design.

It has been an educational and rewarding experience, plus massively expensive way to bolster Jayden's love for construction vehicles.  Despite the stress, we've taken this time to immerse ourselves in the Torrance lifestyle - early dinners at Cheesecake Factory, Costco crowds, public libraries and parks.  We really enjoy the beach community, and to have the opportunity to surround Jayden with multigenerational memories is very special.  Additional recreation usually involves Jayden chasing after his older cousins in San Diego and San Francisco plus amusement parks, zoos, and beaches.

Jayden continues to discover the world through his joy for books and music, and as challenging as parenting can be, he makes it easy for me to love being his father.  Glad that is the case, since Connie and I are growing the family next summer and doing this again, when we will introduce Jayden to his new baby brother.  

It has been a quiet year for Sony Pictures Animation but operationally, after 2+ years of helping lead the design and planning of a new studio build out - we are finally relocating SPA to Mid-Wilshire in 2025.   As much as it may appear I am campaigning for my own HGTV show, I am anxious to let the (literal) dust settle in all phases of life, so I can bop along to SPA's next feature "K-Pop: Demon Hunters" (Netflix).

Ring in the new year!

-Mike

Dear Friends:

2023 has been a historic year at Sony Pictures Animation, with "Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse" becoming the largest grossing film in studio history and in line for a big awards season. This was also my first theatrical Sony screen credit, alongside Jayden's credit as a production baby.

"Agent Elvis" (Netflix) and "Young Love" (HBO Max) also made series debuts for SPA, and the R-rated handdrawn feature "Fixed" (tbd) and action musical "K-Pop: Demon Hunters" (Netflix) is on deck next.  Given the retreating media landscape riddled by union strikes, it's been a reassuring time to be part of this company less pressured by streaming platform subscriber growth.

The work continues with familial duties, but comes with such joy watching Jayden (17 months) sprout into a toddler.  He has been in a hurry to grow up and hasn't stopped moving and babbling for the past year. Luckily, I took advantage of paid paternity leave to embrace this special time. We took a flight to San Francisco, several planes to Taiwan, smoked a bunch of meat, splashed around in the pool, ate some beach sand, slept through the Disneyland parade, and watched the Eagles and Phillies lose their championship games.

During Jayden's first birthday celebration, in Korean tradition called a doljabi, he was encouraged to select from a variety of objects symbolizing different futures with respect to his career and lifestyle.  Fittingly, Jayden picked a stethoscope and trashcan.

In other endeavors, after 2 years of planning and permitting, we finally broke ground on an investment property in the San Bernardino Mountains which is targeted for completion next summer. Additionally, the Huang family will be moving across LA, from the Valley (Sherman Oaks) to South Bay (West Torrance) in the new year.  Please inquire for future mailing address.


On the move!
-Mike

Dear Friends:

Pleased to announce that Connie and I welcomed our first child, Jayden Jiho Huang, on July 21. Fatherhood has been a cycle of learning and adjustments, among rewarding moments bursting with an unmeasurable sensation of love. I'm so proud of my wife and so happy Jayden is part of our little family. He continues to grow and evolve into his unique self every day.

If that weren't enough of a new routine, in January, I started a new role at Sony Pictures Animation in Culver City as the Director of Physical Production, Animation. Officially in overhead, I help guide various feature and series projects through creative development, production, and post production while refining studio processes and operational infrastructure. SPA has been gaining creative momentum, with the 2022 Oscar nominated "The Mitchells vs The Machines" and is the only non-Disney studio to win the Academy Award for best animated feature in the past decade with 2018's "Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse".

In 2007 (when I started this blog), I took a role as a production assistant at Walt Disney Animation Studios, and 15 years later, hard to believe that journey has come to an end. I have had the incredible fortune to partner with some of the industry's top talent on Academy Award winning films, represent the studio at conferences and speaking engagements around the world, all while cultivating and growing my passion for production management in a storytelling environments. I am forever grateful to have been surrounded by an abundance of wisdom, joy, and creativity, which makes it difficult to move on.

Nonetheless, I am excited about the next chapter of my career, and role as a new father.

Wish me luck!
-Papa bear

Editor's note: As time continue to arch for us all, this blog will transition to an annual (vs bi-annual) frequency moving forward. By no means is this a diminished desire to stay in touch, but mindfulness of your inbox as I very much appreciate you all taking the time to read and share.

Dear Friends:

During a time when nothing seems possible, Connie and I managed the impossible.  On July 3, after a nearly 500-day delay, we gathered 150 of our family and friends to celebrate our wedding in Burbank, CA.  

With outdoor arrangements and vaccination/testing requirements, we were finally able to host the large gathering we dreamed of.  Having done a private ceremony 26-months prior in 2019, our focus was to have a big reception full of laughs, dancing, hugs, and drinks - and it was exactly that.  It was an overwhelming amount of love and attention being surround by family and friends for the special day, but watching Connie walk down the aisle with her dad was a moment I would never substitute.

It was a relief to finish planning the wedding 3+ times, and in an attempt to capitalize on the travel lull, just returned from a 17-day honeymoon in the Indian Ocean.  

We started in Seychelles sailing between remote islands with their iconic white sand, granite rock formations, and turquoise water.  Jumping the equator, we spoiled ourselves at the luxurious over-water bungalows nestled in the tropical oasis of the Kuredhivaru island in Maldives.  We were completely secluded among giant tortoises, eagle rays, sea coconuts and often treated to our own private beach in an area already prone to social distancing.

So while this period of time continues in a way we had not anticipated, successfully pulling off the wedding and honeymoon has made their triumph feel that much more of a reward.  

Outside of the time celebrating our nuptials, this summer stretched the boundaries with a taco tour in Mexico City, backcountry ranching in Northern Idaho, and urban gallivanting through Seattle.  Familiar visits to Disneyland and Yosemite Valley with reduced capacity were a pleasant treat during a time where working from home has been the routine.

I contributed a small part, to this big film - this holiday check out Disney Animation's "Encanto" (November 24) in theaters.  

Sincerely,

-The Huangs

Dear Friends:

With nearly every region in some sort of lockdown the past year, growing overly accustomed to indoor living and outdoor recreation at a distance is likely a routine we are all too familiar.  

Mine is no different, running out of excuses not to finally clean out the garage.  Decorating the walls and planting new succulents, for the second time, still wasn't enough to keep me from experimenting with different ways to smoke and dehydrate meats or mix up new fruit-infused libations.  

Tight bubbles among family and close friends encouraged expanding the social radius ever so slightly with a small family gathering Toluca Lake, backyard wedding in Encino, and even a short weekend to Las Vegas and Palm Springs.

At Disney, the studio overcame a year of working from home to finish production on our latest feature film, "Raya and the Last Dragon" (March 5), being the first to premiere on Disney+ Premiere Access in conjunction with theaters, where open.  My previous role in exploring new workflows is now pivoting fully into the episodic streaming model, as I am currently assisting an upcoming animated series "Iwájú" (2023), which will be unlike anything Disney Animation has ever done in terms of the creative and technical approach.

However, with an impatient list of time off plans urgently awaiting to be unleashed, including that wedding Connie and I had planned to do in 2020, it's hard to focus on the professional agenda despite the looming return to the non-virtual office this summer.  

I joke about how the comforts of home have become mundane, and as relieving as the COVID-19 immunization rollout has been, there are definitely some quarantine comforts I am not ready to let go just yet.  In reality, we may have a handle on the pandemic, but what about the racial injustice, bias, and violence that continues to plague our communities?  There's always more work to be done.

Hoping to reunite soon,

-Mike

Dear Friends:

Despite Disney's share of public struggles resulting from COVID-19, the Disney+ streaming platform has emerged as a viable way to continue to engage audiences worldwide.  Producing content for streaming emphasizes my recent efforts with Technology optimizing production practices and innovating studio planning techniques at the Animation Studio, although no one anticipated this to accelerate so quickly.

California's lock down encouraged all types of ambitious home projects - constructing a wet bar on the outdoor patio, migrating the home server to the cloud, and installing photovoltaic solar panels on the roof.  Travel was still limited to Santa Barbara, Palm Springs, and San Diego with family and close friends in isolated bubbles, but what a shot of dopamine to pack a toothbrush again.  I earned my first pit-master achievement smoking a 18-lb packer brisket low and slow this summer, preparation for the moment there is a large gathering of people to share it with.

Needless to say the global pandemic, racially driven violence, and extreme weather events have been a lethal cocktail to ingest this year, and as painful as it has been on our health, culture, economy - I've tried my best to welcome this break in routine to evaluate my environment, partnerships, and career.  While I don't know where this contemplation will steer me just yet, I feel this period of time will allow for it to develop.  

However, it has become very apparent our country's polarization of beliefs are continually compounded by the necessity to seek affirmation and spread opinion through the ease of technology.  I'm disappointed how these networks have only made it harder to overcome social distance, exercise empathy, and demonstrate a unified effort to support equality and protect human decency.  I hope these posts can serve the opposite.

Vote,

-Mike

Dear Friends:

2020 is probably not off to the start anyone could have predicted given the unprecedented circumstances surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic.  Millions have been impacted, and Connie and I's wedding this March was no exception.  We are postponing to 2021, but feel fortunate to be healthy, able to care for ourselves and work from home.

Even though time has really lost it's rhythm, the end of 2019 welcomed Brielle Grace, my brother Pete and Rica's second child.

In December, nearly 20 years later, I made it back to Taiwan where my dad now resides, an equally good excuse to introduce Connie to my relatives, the country's amazing food culture, bustling shopping districts, and tranquil landscape.  We extended the trip to Thailand, where we hiked the mystic trail to Wat Pha Lat, learned to assemble fresh ingredients to cook pad thai, slept lakeside in the limestone jungle of Khao Sok, and enjoyed massages beach side in Karon.

No wedding prep would be complete without a bachelor weekend in Palm Springs in January, especially when all the boys (and Connie) know about it but you, and you get kidnapped from your house.  

After an 18 month marathon of renovation, moving, and wedding planning, California's stay-at-home order has been a welcome time to relax and spoil the dog.  I've also taken the opportunity to knock off house projects like storage shelving, patio lights, landscape gravel - but more importantly, be grateful to have such a compatible quarantine partner, which gives me confidence in a lifetime of marriage. 

I'm curious to see how we evolve on the other side of this pandemic as individuals and a greater society.  Until then, please take care of one another and stay healthy.

Be safe,

-Mike

Dear Friends:

After a tumultuous start to the year, I have consciously made an effort to slow down, take a moment to reflect on all the recent life shifts, and embrace this new chapter. 

Although there is no shortage of work finishing the home renovation - nurturing the landscape, mounting window coverings, assembling furniture - it's been a much more comfortable routine for the wife, pup, and I after a pretty debilitating process that started over a year ago.  Looking around, it feels good to finally be in the house when it's not dark, cold, or dusty!

I've been able to refocus on my career at Disney Animation, where the past two years are finally beginning to culminate into a new space partnering technology and production in innovating our future workflow.  With a growing audience in the upcoming launch of the Disney+ streaming platform, the need to evolve animation production techniques for content creation is where I plan to focus my future efforts.

I played a small role in this holiday's film "Frozen 2" (November 22), but am now pursuing a job that has never existed before.  The process of defining my role has been slow given the studio's continuing leadership overhaul, but am optimistic despite how hard it has been to maintain career advocates among the turnover.

Nonetheless, Connie and I's freshly established Sherman Oaks nest will host her family for Thanksgiving, followed by a December trip overseas to visit my family in Taiwan.  We look forward to welcoming my brother Peter & Rica's daughter (my fourth nibling) later this month, and are wedding planning for Spring 2020.

Warms Hugs,
-Mike