Grant Stothert (from The Journey)

Text from: http://www.picturetopeople.org/p2p/text_effects_generator.p2p/3d_stone_text_effect

First time at this blog? Check out Home for details on the project and the Character Index for more of an overview of the characters.

Note: I think I’ll kick off a new project – a Pixar-inspired movie. As always, go to the Character Index if you want to see a little project overview.

Grant Stothert (35)

Project: Family movie (“Journey”)

Known as: King Granite

Real name: Grant Stothert

Group affiliation: None

Physical description: Grant is in his late 30ies and is of average height and above-average weight (he’s pudgy). He has an attractive face with brown eyes and brown hair (which is only receding a little). He takes is appearance seriously and is a master of stylish “business casual.”

Personality: Grant is confident and a good talker. He is fast on his feet (figuratively – he’s literally a slow runner) and has gotten to where he is based upon intelligence and being good with people. He is ambitious and loves his work.

And he loves his family, though that isn’t always clear to them. He’s a workaholic who justifies it by telling himself he is trying to give his family a better lifestyle. Still his prioritizing work was a big contributor to the strain on his marriage, so that is debatable.

He’s not a BAD guy. He just sees many things only from his perspective.

History: Grant grew up in the Bay Area, the son of two computer science professors. People would say tech was in his blood, to which his family would say that it was more in his firmware (they were computer scientists, not comedians). He was a very good student although not as good as he might have been. At times his personal projects and interests trumped what school wanted him to do, and he didn’t see the value in some courses (e.g., Literature). Still when the time came, he gains admittance to a good west-coast university.

His college years largely went as expected with one exception. That exception was Mai Sato, an art major at the same university who was originally from New York City. She was the exception to his normally ordered and deliberate life. He watched her painting at the quad and was smitten. He summoned his courage, walked up to her, and asked her what she was painting. He didn’t understand much of her explanation and even blurted out that he didn’t see much point to art. She countered that humankind would not move forward without feelings which was the realm of art. He swore to convince her that reason was the cornerstone of human existence, while she swore to get him to appreciate art. They both failed, but both enjoyed trying, so they became a couple.

Grant dreamed of his own start up and having a big impact on the world. Mai dreamed of pursuing her art and having an impact on people. After college they married and settled back in New York where Mai felt she could pursue her art while Grant expected he would be successful anywhere. They stayed with Mai’s parents, which was less than ideal, and Grant found that getting a startup going wasn’t as easy as he thought. He got a developer job at a corporation just to help them get on their feet and have some independence, but he ended up thriving in a corporate environment. He was surprised to find he was good at coordinating people.

Soon Grant found himself taking leadership roles and working later and later. When Mai became pregnant, he felt more pressure to increase his income while Mai wished he would spend more time at home. Truthfully, Grant simply felt more interested in work and liked the sense of accomplishment he got from delivering projects and growing profits.

Years later, with two daughters, Grant became the cliched absentee father (even working on his MBA in his “spare time”). He and Mai began to argue about money and time and this wasn’t the sort of debate that had originally brought them together. Grant didn’t feel appreciated at home the way he was at work and Mai didn’t feel appreciated at all.

Two years ago, they separated but stayed in the same city for the children. They seem hesitant to divorce, though it seems to be moving that way. Grant used the separation to finally begin his start up, using his corporate connections to secure angel investors. He still plans to be active in his daughters’ lives but knows that this is a crucial time for his business. He always plans to be there for his daughters, but things come up.

His eldest daughter and him have an understanding. She, like him, has a very full, busy life and is focused on her goals. His relationship with his younger daughter is a different matter. He finds her to have become sullen (and maybe disrespectful) towards him. He hopes it’s a phase she will work through.

The story begins with him forgetting he was taking the girls for the weekend.

Role in the narrative: Grant’s role is to believe he is the protagonist – but not be.

Abilities: Grant is a good business person, a smart technologist, and highly rational.

Inspirations: In this project you’ll see lots of Pixar influence (this will become clear as I write profiles). Many family films have a busy father learning the importance of family (Mary Poppins is the first one that comes to mind for me). This will be a part of this story, for sure. I’m aiming for more of a statement on how parents can be casually self-centered. I’m worried I wrote Grant as unlikable above – I’d want to adjust if I ever wrote the project. BTW, his nickname will make sense as I write other profiles.