December 12/97

wenty-five-year-old

Stephen Hyland is living
the dream of his childhood —
as the son of Flubber!

It started becoming a reality
for him in 1990 when an
advisor from Capilano College
visited Argyle High School two

‘months before he graduated.

“At that point, Stephen
didn’t know what he wanted to
do,” said his mother, Julie Parker.
“But something that person said struck
a chord and he decided to take a one-
day course on how to compile an art .
portfolio.”

He handed the portfolio in with his
application to the College’s three-year
Graphic Design and Illustration
diploma program and held his breath.
Much to Stephen’s surprise, he was
accepted. However, there were times
when the dream seemed more like a
nightmare.

“Tt was a gruelling three years,” his
mother said, “but if our son, an
average student in high school who ~
felt he had nothing going for him, can
do it, anyone can.”

When Stephen, who was raised in
West Vancouver, graduated from
Capilano College in 1993, he wanted
to continue his studies at the Art
Centre in Pasadena, California. It is
considered to be one of the best places
in the world to study art. It’s also very
expensive. A family member came
forward and offered financial support
and Stephen, with portfolio in hand,
went south to see what they would
think about his body of work.

“Not only was he accepted, but he
was promoted into the fourth semester

Son of Flubber
a native son

out of an eight semester program,” Julie
said. “This was unheard of. They told
him that no one before him had ever
been placed that high.”

One of the things Stephen likes to tell
people is that the calibre of work he
produced while at Capilano College
essentially amounted to a $40,000
portfolio. “That’s the actual worth he put
on it,” his mother says.

In his third semester, Stephen landed a
scholarship and graduated with honors a
year ahead of his class.

“The Art Centre thinks very highly of
Capilano College,” Julie added. “When
Stephen arrived, they already had
another top notch student from the
College attending — Grant Delgatty.
Grant has become a close friend of
Stephen’s and the two of them are
roommates.”

When Stephen graduated from the Art
Centre he, like most other talented young
people, went directly to Disney and
applied for a job with their graphic
design company.

“They said, ‘no problem,’ when he
asked for a job,” his mother said. “So he
went on a holiday to Europe and when he

returned four months later, they
told him his portfolio was out
of date.”

Grant, who graduated from
the College’s Graphic Design
and Illustration program in
1991, downloaded Stephen’s
portfolio onto a CD-ROM and
started showing it to various
people. It wasn’t long before
the right person saw it and
offered him a job working for
Web design company Spin
Cycle. It’s office is located in a
small trailer on the lot of Universal
Studios.

“The timing couldn’t have been
better,” Julie said, “because soon after,
Disney’s graphic’s company failed. If
they had hired Stephen, he would have
been out of a job. Instead, they came to
Spin Cycle for some Web design work.
They were looking for someone to put
together a Web site for their latest
movie, Flubber, and guess who got to do
the project — Stephen!”

Stephen’s studies easily prepared him
to tackle this enormously prestigious
animation job.

“What it all comes down to is never
give up,” Julie said. “There is
something really exciting at the other
end if you just go for it.”

This North Shore talent gets an
additional daily hit of adrenaline out of
his job because he has to drive by movie
director Steven Spielberg’s office to get
to Spin Cycle. Sounds as if fate just
might have another plan in the works
for this inspired and inspiring young
man. ;

You can visit the Flubber Web site at:
www.flubber.com.

@nformer