Nestled next to the stairs and cozy sitting nook on the second floor of the Communications Building, you can find Professor Sean Gaffney’s door, which will most likely be open for students to pop in for a quick visit and a snack before class. Most of us know of his Veggie Tales past; however, his career and life extend far beyond his movie for the iconic franchise.
The In-Lawfully Yours writer wears his faith on his sleeve and loves to discuss how the Lord has guided him throughout his life, one of those places being the film and television capital: Hollywood. “I was at Warner Brothers, and I had a nice job. It was not a creative position… I was in administrative work supporting the movie side.” Gaffney continued, “That was a good time to be there… they were doing the Christopher Nolan Batman and the Harry Potter movies… and integrity was also really important to my boss, which fit very well.” But the icing on the cake was every script writer’s dream: access to the script archives. Yet something was missing.
“It was lovely for me! But not creative, and that’s when God told me, ‘Okay, I want you to leave Hollywood.’” Gaffney reflected, explaining that leaving his cushy, secure job was definitely a difficult step. However, the Lord made it clear, “I was there at Warner Brothers for a reason: so I could learn the things that were making me ready to become a teacher.”
After teaching at a different university, the Not Your Romeo & Juliet writer had no idea this was only the beginning of his mentoring journey. “I chose to leave that other teaching position… and I thought I was done teaching and took a job with a company, actually the best-payingbest paying job I’ve ever had as a full-time screenwriter.”
“I had three people contact me, independent of each other, saying, ‘Now that you’re no longer teaching at this other place, you have to know about Asbury.’” The three then contacted the Dean of the school for Media Communications, Dr. Jim Owens, and soon enough, Gaffney was on a plane to visit the campus. “I instantly fell in love with Asbury. The air here is 100 percent different than the other environment I was in… this building was meant to inspire, and I have not seen a building on a college campus that is as intentional.” It felt like the perfect match; however, there was one issue, “The whole time I was here, Jim kept saying, ‘I’m sorry this sounds like a job interview… but there’s no job.” Further on, with just a year and a phone call later, Gaffney was back at Asbury to interview for a position.
Alongside his full-time job as a teacher, he is also amid several different projects. “I wrote a book that I am currently trying to sell, which is kind of the culmination of my past 30+ years in the business. It’s an intersection of faith and scriptwriting.” He continued, “I just did two scripts for Gabriel and the Guardians, which is an animation series, [and] I have a feature film with Shun Lee, so I am not slowing down on writing.” But even with his plate full, the storyteller has one other exciting project.
With his company name Gaffneyinkwell.com, he started his own social media pages that dive into stories and movies, “I exercise on an exercise bike… but I get bored, so I watch movies while I’m on the bike.” He proceeded, “And I am constantly thinking, ‘Oh, that was a good moment!’ and I never remember the example after… so, that’s what I do. I ride the bike, and if I see something, I jump off the bike, step in front of the screen, turn my camera on, and say, ‘Woah! Did you see what they did here?’” Gaffney spoke about the range of topics he discusses, such as set-ups and payoffs, great character arcs, and even mistakes within the story. “They are three minutes to five minutes [long], and I do two a week, every Tuesday and Saturday.”
If you are interested in learning more about the behind-the-scenes of movies and storytelling, you can find Gaffneyinkwell.com videos on Instagram, Vimeo, Facebook, YouTube, and Linked In – which has a different account name: Seangaffney12.