Thank you, but I cannot take all the credit. I do a lot of brainstorming with my team, which consists of
Jorge Martinez (mold maker/caster/collector extraordinaire),
William Valenzuela (sculptor/clean up master - he does most of my bases, engineering, and clean up because I am too lazy to sand sometimes),
Avinash Hedge (all things digital) and
Cleo Michel (painter). Also, the
Silva Brothers:
Manuel and
Leonardo - former GORE Group members - are the force behind bringing our ideas to life on paper. I wish I could hire them full time, but they are very busy working for Dark Horse Comics and others.
Koto's Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 CAPTAIN "SOAP" MACTAVISH ARTFX Statue
I had been trying to get into Kotobukiya since 2005, but they only worked with Japanese artists, and understandably so. One day former VP of Kotobukiya,
Mr. Frank Supiot, gave me a call and told me he had an opportunity for me to get into Koto. Frank said "I can not promise anything, but if you pass this test, they will most likely keep you." Then he proceeded to explain he needed a very complex statue done - an ARTFX statue based on the character "Soap" from
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2. The project required a lot of elements - three pairs of arms, weapons, climbing gear - and it also had to be designed, since they only had a basic idea of what he should look like. Then he said the dreaded words: "You must bring this to my office as a final painted prototype in exactly 14 days from tonight. Our Japanese development team does not think this is doable, but I have heard you are fast, and this is a once in a life time opportunity. Remember we have never worked with any sculptors outside of Japan."
I then proceeded to pass out... Here I was so close to working with one of the coolest companies from Japan, one of the oldest (60 years old) producers of cool PVC, and now cold cast statues and all I had to do was something that was impossible. To top it all off, my daughter Erika was due any day, and all the stress was taking a toll on my health - I suffer from migraines, and they were coming down hard!
After consulting with my wife, I decided to take the plunge. To make a long story short, we delivered the piece on time with the help of my team and
Paul Komoda and
Jordu Schell as painters! And yes, we delivered it in resin and painted, with every single detail. Needless to say, Koto was very impressed. A few months later they asked me to meet them at Comic-Con and they requested me to become their Managing Advisor/Consultant, plus Manager of Product Planning and Development. In other words, they gave me Art Director status, and ever since they have allowed me to do things in whichever way I see fit - which can be both awesome and scary because I've got their brand name riding on my shoulders in many ways. As a consultant I was now able to assist Koto's CEO
Mr. Jeffrey Kashida in making licensing decisions and other business related matters.
After all the years of laboring in the dark the little guy got a break! I am very glad I decided to take on that project, and I am even more grateful to Mr. Frank Supiot who saw the potential many companies had overseen. I will always be grateful to him and Kotobukiya for giving me and my friends such a tremendous opportunity.