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IMAGINE THE PRESSURE OF GETTING HAGRID'S DESIGN RIGHT!

With over 25 years of television, video gaming, mobile apps, book publishing and advertising experience, I am obsessed with innovating new ways of creating amazing narratives that are absurdly memorable and effective.

 

I have worked as a writer, story artist, animation director, animator and designer on productions for Disney Jr., Disney Interactive, Warner Brothers, CBC, Teletoon, National Geographic Kids and the Cartoon Network. As an artist and animator for Electronic Arts in England he created some of the first designs for the Harry Potter game series before the movies had been released. (And yes, I did feel the pressure!)

 

I was a Professor of Story, Animation and Gaming at Sheridan College for 12 years and was the founder of Sheridan’s Transmedia Storytelling Centre that bridged faculty and students from departments as diverse as dance and video-gaming to create amazing narratives.

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I am the creator and founder of the STORYIST, a story consulting company that helps people and businesses find and tell their best stories.

THE STORY OF A SHIRT

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For 5 years every week, 150 students gave me an hour of their time to attend my story lecture. I took that commitment seriously and each lecture was a purposeful mix of pedagogy, entertainment and a shirt. The shirt was for me - something to spice my day up.

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On the final class one semester my students all showed up wearing coats. Inside. In April. "Interesting.", I remember thinking. At the end of the lecture, in unison, they stood and removed their jackets revealing a colourful mix of shirts. They'd loved my shirts they said. They'd created stories about them and made playful bets about which would appear each week. It was a thing. Our thing. I was deeply touched.

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Thanks to this group every lecture, presentation, workshop and training I've done since has been paired with a shirt. And each shirt has opened the door to many a joyful conversation.

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