I started making films for fun long before I became a professional and still do, entering my films (now mostly animated) in festivals.  I had a passion to make films from the start and still do.  

I became a CGI animator when I won a contract to produce a training video that was supposed to be half live-action (my specialty at that time) and half CGI animation; the CGI expert bailed just before the contract was awarded. Suddenly I had to learn how to use a computer (back in 1989) and self-learn CGI software. Whoa!  (That AMIGA 2000 was a terrific computer for graphics back then.  I still laugh when I recall the salesman proudly telling me it had a 40Mb hard drive.)  None the less, I had fun; the client was happy with the results, and I started offering cartoon CGI services to clients for whom I had previously only made live-action TV commercials. From making many TV commercials, I learned to tell complete stories in 30 seconds, while selling the client's services/products.

Soon I began making short cartoons for entry in festivals. Attending festivals has been a LOT of fun, meeting other filmmakers and seeing terrific films that I probably would not have had the opportunity to see otherwise.

A computer loaded with CGI software is the best toy I ever had.  Now I use a BOXX PC with 64Gb RAM and more hard drive storage than I remember off-hand.  My equipment is a long way from the AMIGA 2000 of thirty-two years ago, and the fun level is just as high as it was back then.