Being a Nerd

I’ve been a nerd for as long as I can remember. Not because I memorised Star Wars dialogue or stayed up late making stop-motion films using Star Wars figures—although, yes, that too—but because I loved things attentively.

Whether it was science, technology or storytelling, I gave these things my full attention. Not out of obligation, but out of joy.

Over the years, I’ve found myself in an industry full of nerds: people who get excited about subsurface scattering, fluid simulation, film-response curves or whatever corner of the craft they’ve fallen in love with.

It’s just like Wil Wheaton’s famous line: “Being a nerd is not about what you love, it’s about how you love it.” Every day I’m lucky enough to work with people who love attentively. They obsess over details because they matter. They treat coding, scheduling and rendering not just as mundane tasks, but as expressions of something meaningful.

In a world full of noise, depth still matters. Attention still matters. Love—the nerdy, focused, craft-driven kind—still builds the best things.

To my fellow nerds: keep loving what you love. The world needs more of that. May the 4th be with you…