Monday, October 29, 2007
As was previously referenced I am a huge fan of Phil Vischer, creator of Veggie Tales. I am currently reading his autobiography Me, Myself and Bob. Earlier I was surfing the frequently asked questions page on his blog. As many of my readers probably already know, Big Idea Productions went bankrupt and was acquired by a company called Classic Media. This question showed up on his blog...
Q: So are you gone from VeggieTales forever?
A: No. I worked out a deal with Classic Media where I will write one VeggieTales episode for them each year, and give notes on up to two more that are written by the in-house creative folk or other writers. In addition, I’ve agreed to continue performing voices for my little troupe of veggies (rather vital, since I voice about half the characters). I’m doing this work in exchange for creative fees, plus an ongoing participation in the profits from VeggieTales videos, which Lisa and I can reinvest in new ministry work.
So God has really done something interesting. He has taken a situation that started out as a complete disaster (literally the loss of everything I have done in my adult life), and brought out of it an opportunity for me to return my focus to new stories as he directs, while allowing VeggieTales to provide the funding. To be honest, trying to run a ‘big company’ didn’t fit my personality or gifting in any way. I was pretty darn miserable as Big Idea’s “Top Tomato.” And the bigger the company grew, the less time I had to use the creative gifts God had given me.
This next part of the response was the ppart that really hit home with me...
"I was so convinced that God wanted me to be “Walt Disney” that I kept banging my head against that door, even as the company was unraveling around me. And amazingly, God used the disaster of Big Idea collapsing to gently whisper, “I don’t want you to be Walt Disney. I want you to be Phil.” To which, of course, I replied, “But I’m not sure I know who ‘Phil’ is!” And then he responded, “Just slow down, take a deep breath, and I’ll show you.”
Pretty cool, huh?" I find myself in that deep breath phase of life right now, starting to see the light of him showing me who this guy Dave is and what's next. I look forward to the journey.
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Q: So are you gone from VeggieTales forever?
A: No. I worked out a deal with Classic Media where I will write one VeggieTales episode for them each year, and give notes on up to two more that are written by the in-house creative folk or other writers. In addition, I’ve agreed to continue performing voices for my little troupe of veggies (rather vital, since I voice about half the characters). I’m doing this work in exchange for creative fees, plus an ongoing participation in the profits from VeggieTales videos, which Lisa and I can reinvest in new ministry work.
So God has really done something interesting. He has taken a situation that started out as a complete disaster (literally the loss of everything I have done in my adult life), and brought out of it an opportunity for me to return my focus to new stories as he directs, while allowing VeggieTales to provide the funding. To be honest, trying to run a ‘big company’ didn’t fit my personality or gifting in any way. I was pretty darn miserable as Big Idea’s “Top Tomato.” And the bigger the company grew, the less time I had to use the creative gifts God had given me.
This next part of the response was the ppart that really hit home with me...
"I was so convinced that God wanted me to be “Walt Disney” that I kept banging my head against that door, even as the company was unraveling around me. And amazingly, God used the disaster of Big Idea collapsing to gently whisper, “I don’t want you to be Walt Disney. I want you to be Phil.” To which, of course, I replied, “But I’m not sure I know who ‘Phil’ is!” And then he responded, “Just slow down, take a deep breath, and I’ll show you.”
Pretty cool, huh?" I find myself in that deep breath phase of life right now, starting to see the light of him showing me who this guy Dave is and what's next. I look forward to the journey.
