By Khalida Sarwari
Someone telling you to “go to hell” isn’t the kind of thing that brightens up most people’s day, but when Marcus Emery heard the phrase directed at him last month, it brought a big smile to his face.
That’s because the words were uttered by Academy Award-winning screenwriter Aaron Sorkin in response to a question about where the Saratoga High School student had learned to create his own award-winning 2D digital animation film.
“I looked at him and said, ‘I’m self-taught,’ which I am,” said Emery, 18. “He said, ‘Go to hell. Nobody should have that much technical ability and be self-taught.’ He said, ‘I hate Dooble, I hate you and I hate this whole thing.’ He was joking, of course, but it was pretty funny.”
Sorkin’s “go to hell” comment, Emery said, meant more to him than even the award he’d won the previous night for “Dooble: The Small Winged Quail” at the Westflix film festival, which annually showcases the best student filmmakers throughout California. This year’s festival took place March 18 and 19 at the ArcLight Cinemas in Hollywood.
The eight-minute film, which follows the story of a small quail’s determination to fly despite having a smaller wingspan, had been selected as one of 15 finalists among 300 entries at Westflix and Sorkin himself had presented him with an award for best sound design.
“Just to go up and shake his hand and when he said it was well-deserved, I was overwhelmed,” said Emery. “It was so great. I barely said anything to him [other than], ‘Thank you, I appreciate it.’ “
Westflix is Emery’s third festival in the last year and likely the last in which he’ll be entering “Dooble.” But if the past year has been any indication for the young filmmaker, it more than likely won’t be his last. With his final year in high school winding down, Emery is in that position most high school seniors find themselves this time of year when they have a month or two to decline or reject their college acceptance offers.
Emery is deciding between two schools, one of which is the USC Animation and Digital Arts program, which he says accepts only 15 students a year.
As Emery tells it, the whole thing has been “one crazy ride” and “overwhelming in the best way possible.” Just a year ago, Emery, like most of his peers, was on track to study engineering after high school. Animation was a hobby he first took up in the third grade, and “Dooble” was actually a clip Emery created so he could play around with visual effects. It was never meant to be a complete film and, in fact, even the title was a mistake, as Emery meant to save his project as “doodle” but mistakenly typed a “b” in place of a “d.”
When a friend suggested that he expand on his video, Emery went to YouTube to learn more about the craft. An instructor in one of the tutorials advised beginners to start with a simple shape, so Emery made a doodle of a bird. This was the summer before his junior year, and the rest, as they say, is history.
But here’s a brief recap of that history:
A teacher in the Media Arts Program suggested that Emery enter one of his animation projects in the Walt Disney Family Museum’s Bay Area Teen Animation Festival. He asked if he could enter a project he’d done on the side instead of the one he’d done for his class assignment.
“I ended up showing her ‘Dooble,'” he said. “She loved it and that was a real confidence booster, being able to get that kind of feedback.”
Emery went on to win first place, which he said was “mind-blowing.” His prize was a year’s membership to the museum and a tour of the Pixar studio.
“It was never meant to be anything other than a test, and then six months later for it to go on and win a festival it was very … I want to say mind blowing and humbling all at the same time,” said Emery. “After that I figured, ‘Well, maybe I could really go on to do this full time.’ That was sort of that solidifying, ‘OK, this is really what I want to do in life.’ “
Feeling more confident about his chances, he entered the All American High School Film Festival in New York City, and “Dooble” was once again selected. In October of last year, he took his first trip ever to the Big Apple with his parents to attend the festival, where this time “Dooble” was as among seven finalists in the animation category.
But it was at the Westflix festival where, after praising his storytelling and technical ability, Sorkin gave Emery his assistant’s email because he wanted to stay in touch with him, that stands out the most to him.
“Of the three, this was my favorite, because a lot of it was run by actual students,” he said. “I was very honored to be a part of it.”
The exciting times aside, it hasn’t been a particularly easy year for Emery. School and all of the academic pressures that come with it has been downright “miserable” at times, and dealing with medical issues after having a bad reaction to medication only made things “rougher than rough” for him, Emery said. He credits his Individualized Education Program case manager Danny Wallace and the success of “Dooble” for giving him a confidence boost at a time he needed it most.
“I still don’t know how to react to everything that’s happened in the past year,” he said. “Just thinking back to what’s gone on is insane. One year ago I was thinking, ‘Animation sounds like a fun hobby,’ and one year later I’m going to college for animation. It’s insane.”
To view Emery’s award-winning digital short, visit bit.ly/dooblevideo.
