Animation – Gregory Garay

A Cow in the Sky

The true story of a young Ethiopian immigrant in America wrestling with his identity and trying to understand the American Dream after his father’s murder by white supremacists.

On his very first solo flight as a pilot, a young immigrant finds himself wrestling with his past and his identity when his engine suddenly fails and his plane free falls. Based on the true story of Mulugeta Seraw, an Ethiopian college student killed in Portland, Oregon in 1988 by racist skinheads in a crime inspired by notorious white supremacist Tom Metzger, A Cow in the Sky is a film about the pain and personal triumph of a son left behind.

Press

https://tribecafilm.com/films/cow-in-the-sky-2023

https://www.awn.com/news/tribeca-festival-2023-announces-cow-sky-premiere

January 21, 2023

Izzy’s Demons

Watch Izzy’s Demons in Full

This film Izzy’s Demons is the thesis project for my tenure at USC. The film explores how anxiety can corrupts ones memory and re-contextualize ones relationships even with the closest people to you. Izzy as a character has lost touch with her best friend and has forgotten how close they’ve been because her anxiety/false narrative is describing the relationship as a farce.

My goal is to make a character driven film that explores complex emotions in a simplistic fashion. I wanted to touch on shame, isolation and re-connection. The Inspiration for this film was my move from New York to Pittsburgh, the separation anxiety I felt from leaving the only place I’ve ever lived, and the forced Isolation I placed myself in when I first arrived in LA.

Styleframes

Act 1

Izzy’s Demons

Act 2

Act 3

Memory’s in Memory lane

Character Designs

January 21, 2023

Sunflower Poem

Sunflower Poem by Rashonda Joplin

(Password:Sunflower)

Sunflower

November 26, 2018

Forget Me Not

This was a team project between myself and Emily Blau. Emily wrote the story, and created the character designs and layouts for the project. I focused on character and environmental animation.

Password:Forget Me Not