Writer, Animator and Head of Story at Sony Motion Pictures Animation, Guillermo Martinez

The Changed Podcast with Aden Nepom

Writer, animator, and Head of Story on Sony Pictures Animation's upcoming feature film Connected, Guillermo Martinez shares his story of leaving everything you know behind, so that he could make all of his dreams come true... on episode 7 of the Changed Podcast

This week, I have the honor of sharing this lovely conversation I had in mid-June with Guillermo Martinez, an improviser, writer, animator, and Head of Story on Sony Pictures Animation's upcoming feature film Connected slated to open in theaters on October 23rd, 2020 (click here to watch the trailer).

Guillermo and I met several years back on stage (or more likely in the green room) at Curious Comedy Theater in Portland, OR. He is the kind of guy you see on stage or meet once and never forget. He's ridiculously playful and completely present and flexible as an improv comedy performer, so it's no wonder that he's been able to add tremendous value to fantastic stories at Cartoon Network, Laika, and Sony Pictures Animation.

To truly get a sense of Guillermo's sense of play, you can check out this Tumblr (click here) from a couple of years back, many posts are still super relatable, like this one poking fun at social media.

Guillermo's origins as a wiz at storyboard and animation actually go back to his home of Puerto Rico, and the surprising small moment that led to his life-changing decision to leave home and pursue his dreams.

Thoughts about this episode of the Changed Podcast

When asked to identify a pivotal moment in life, I am surprised by how many people either tell a story of a moment of pain or struggle or simply recount the tale of opportunity knocking at their door.

Guillermo's story is refreshing because, like the butterfly effect in chaos theory showing that small changes lead to big differences, his story points to how many small choices in life can lead to big outcomes.

Is it possible to be aware in the moment, that the restaurant we're choosing to go to, or that choosing to drive or to walk may lead to tremendous outcomes down the line? I don't think so. But it is tremendously fun to look backward with the concept in mind, and see how the big moments in our life might have been precipitated by something else, seemingly minor at the time, which caused the ripples that opened or closed important doors.

What about you? What are your butterfly effect stories? Or as we call them in the episode "movie-theater moments." Leave a comment, or send an email and share your story!

Helpful Links

Learn more about Connected, coming to theaters this fall (fingers crossed for a quick solution, or for the dissipation of our little Pandemic). Visit SPA by clicking here, or watch the preview below:

You can also check another project to which Guillermo contributed: We Bare Bears from the fine folks at Cartoon Network (website here) Available to watch on YouTube.

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