Response, Page 3

Ultimately, it was decided that our illustrated Children’s book (Miracle Mouse: Cranky’s Miracle – available at Harry W. Schwartz Bookshops and at Amazon.com) would be the ultimate way for me to convey the style I wanted in the movie. I was able to personally illustrate (although another artist did the color) the majority of the illustrations in the book. I believe the style we have arrived at is in fact something new, fresh and original.

In the article, Daniel states that my own signature was drafted in a style similar to Disney’s. The fact that I have used this style since my middle school cartooning days and it is actually my everyday signature. Daniel writes, “Even before he began imitating Disney, Hignite had created a logo for Miracle Homes that seemed conspicuously similar to that of Countrywide Home Lenders, with which Hignite had done business.” The fact to realize here is that this logo was created by me in the 1990’s before I even knew of Countrywide. I had never done business with them until about a year and a half ago.

When I decided to expand our marketing department to include animation, it was as much a business decision as it was to the realization of something I had always wanted to do. One of the first rules of business is have a business that you can care about with passion. I have a deep-rooted passion to design and build homes that will excite people. I have an extensive art background and have done cartooning since I was a child. When I saw that Disney had severely cut-back on 2D animation in favor of 3D computer aided animation, the business side of me thought and since experienced artists were now plentiful, the labor pool would be very deep. Because there would be an excess of available talent, the prevailing wages should also be more moderate. Even a casual research would show that an animated entertainment, whether a full-blown movie or a modest direct to video production, has a good likelihood of making millions of dollars.

Each studio artist was given the lay of the land upfront with no real guarantees as to the longevity or viability other than our goal to succeed and create animation. It was no secret that our animation viability was intimately linked to the growth of home sales. Our first priority was to support the core home business in whatever way possible. As a side note, when the home business showed the first signs of a decline in late March or early April, the artists were told that their jobs might be phased out if the home market remained low. Our first projects involved two commercials and the staff did all the art needed for brochures, logos, commercials and such. Daniel is not correct in stating that our first three animators arrived in late 2004. The fact is they arrived by June/July of 2004 in time to help with our annual Miracle Tour event.

One of the more curious paragraphs in Daniel’s story talks about “a bizarre scene; the group (of artists) packed around a heaving setup of easels and computers in the in-law suite of Hignite’s home. Before entering, they were required to take off their shoes and put on blue medical booties to protect the floors. The lighting was poor and the ever present FM pop music from the houses intercom speakers were irritating.” These were the exact circumstances that our Miracle Homes staff has worked under for years winning us acclaims from Milwaukee Magazine as one of the top 20 Milwaukee places to work.

We have a non-street environment and some staffers do choose (instead of bringing slippers or house shoes) to wear blue booties like many builders provide during open houses. We actually advertise “work in a slippers-only casual environment” and it has been well received. As for lighting, I cannot imagine a better lighted, brighter office that exists anywhere. Since animators traditionally dislike bright lights, the first thing the artists did when they arrived was to cut cardboard sheets to cover the windows, which totally surround the room. As for the ever-present FM pop music, each area has its own volume control and everyone is free to bring and play his or her own CDs. Most of our staffers used headphones to enjoy their own personal music.

Adding to the work environment, we commonly provided light snacks and sodas, provided current DVD releases for staff to take home and enjoy and company lunches and cookouts are commonplace. If someone did not like the physical work environment it was certainly kept a secret.

It seems odd that Daniel chooses to describe me or my behavior as “bizarre” on page 80, yet gives no supporting examples of why he feels that way other than the work environment. It was eye opening to read that some of the staff was engaged in doing extensive caricatures and I was unknowingly paying them to do so. Instead of drawing the conclusion that this would be unfair to me as an employer, Daniel seems to dismiss it as ok because it is a time-honored tradition. He goes on to reveal the artists “stashed (them) away in secret places, safe from (my) late night snooping. Daniel’s words paint the picture that perhaps I would invade the staff’s privacy, which is not true and is without basis in truth.

Daniel’s slant throughout the article appears most predominately in his choice of phrasing. For example, when he writes about media coverage, which we were getting for the studio from various news stories, he states “the attention was all very exhilarating for Hignite”. Over the years I have been in the press and public eye so often that it has long since stopped being “exhilarating” and quite frankly, when you think about it, how would Daniel really know how I felt about this particular publicity. He never asked me how I felt about this.

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