By Katy Moeller
The Idaho Statesman
BOISE, Idaho
The 39-year-old Boisean spends his days, and some nights, playing with Legos. He makes stop-action videos, often of big sports moments but he’s always expanding his craft.
Until earlier this year, it was just a hobby for Jacobs. Now he’s doing animation full time to support his family of five.
The Idaho Statesman profiled Jacobs last October, after he won a contract to make 10 videos for the Big Ten Network during football season.
“I thought I was going to keep doing it on the side for a lot longer,” said Jacobs, who worked at Franklin Building Supply by day and got lost in the magical world of animation at night.
Getting by on a few hours of sleep a day for months made naps more important than food at lunchtime. He felt like a zombie, and he missed spending time with his kids, now 11, 9 and 5.
So when the Golf Channel contacted him last November to make five videos highlighting moments from the Open Championship, he and his wife knew he would have to make a change — or begin turning down offers.
Walking away from his regular job was scary, Jacobs said.
“That’s what you’re told to do your whole life. Go to college, get a 9-to-5 job,” he said. “I never considered myself an entrepreneur or anyone who would have gone into business for himself.” But he’s glad he finally made the leap to become a full-time animator. His business is called GoldYeller, the same as his Instagram handle.
Several of his next projects will be college football videos. And while he’s a huge fan of the Boise State Broncos, he’s never been asked to do a video of a great moment for them.
One of the non-sports projects he’s currently working on is a 3-minute video for the YouTube series “Conversations with My 2-Year-old.”
“I’m providing better for my family than I ever did working 9 to 5,” said Jacobs, who then recalled what held him back for so long: “Who knows how long this is going to last? (People say) you can’t be successful being an artist. That’s what gets beat into you.”
