When I was 11, my parents purchased a computer. It was a Packard Bell with 20mb of disk space, a word processor, solitaire, ms paint, an encyclopedia, and a program called Action, which was sort of like a prehistoric version of PowerPoint. Somehow, though, I figured out a way to make extremely crude animations and choose-your-own-adventure games.

When I was 12, I got a paper route. I saved up enough money and bought myself a video camera. Using my little brother's Micro-Machines and small explosives made from the gunpowder found in cap gun rounds, I spent my summer vacation making a series of clumsy stop-motion monster movies.

When I was 19, I downloaded a Flash 5 trial and within a couple of days, I began submitting cartoons to Newgrounds.

Now I am 26 and, through the generous support of Newgrounds (which, in a lot of ways, feels more like an alma mater then a website), I am working on my first full-length movie. Its production has taken me around the world (to exotic locations such as: Barcelona, Paris, and Kansas) and allowed me to meet a handful of my digital collaborators, all of whom I met through Newgrounds. Hopefully this movie will knock your socks off! It's got everything! Galactic symphonies, hot air balloon prison breaks, charlie horse ray guns, astronauts that want to be lumberjacks, pirates that don't want to be pirates, a yawn vortex, the tragic tale of two skin mites, and a friggin' ton more! If your're interested in receiving updates about the movie's completion, go to alanthebox.com and join the mailing list.

It's pretty crazy what you can do with a personal computer these days.

-alan