Nicolas Prothais is a Senior CG Animator who has worked for studios like Disney, Double Negative, Illumination Mac Guff and Ilion. Self taught, he began his career as a generalist and learned most aspects of the pipeline. He later switched his focus to 3D and 2D animation. 

The list of Nicolas’ projects includes features like Moana, Despicable Me, Wreck-It Ralph, Zootopia, Frozen and many more.

In this Episode, Allan McKay and Nicolas Prothais talk about working abroad, the discipline for bettering your skills and learning to balance between the director’s vision and your own talent.

For more show notes, visit www.allanmckay.com/98/.

Nerdstrong Gym, located in North Hollywood, CA, combines physical fitness with passion for games, movies and storytelling. To attract its membership, Nerdstrong’s Founder Andrew Deutsch created an environment with a nerdy theme and gamified fun. Starting out with Dungeons and Dragons inspired workouts for a friend, in his own garage, Andrew established a strong following and opened the doors to Nerdstrong in 2013. 

All the classes are group workouts based on a favorite film, game or franchise. "Our nerdiness / geekiness comes from the heart of the gym: its members." Andrew says. "We are nerds. We are geeks. We love scifi, comics, math, science, cosplay, books, movies, TV, pop-culture, RPGs, computers, video games, board games."

Some of the workout themes and challenges are inspired by Harry Potter, Space Invaders, Guardians of the Galaxy, Star Wars, Star Trek, War Craft, Wonder Woman, Dungeons and Dragons.

In this Episode, Allan McKay and Andrew Deutsch talk about the original inspiration for Nerdstrong Gym, some of its unique workout themes and its outstanding philosophy.

For more show notes, visit www.allanmckay.com/97/. 

Niels Prayer is a Motion Graphics Designer and a Director based in Paris, France. He has worked on films like RoboCop while at Framestore and the Minions films at Illumination Mac Guff, a Paris-based studio. Niels is also a musician and a composer which has influenced his storytelling as well.

In this Episode, Allan McKay and Niels Prayer discuss the importance of daily discipline and the artists’ responsibility as storytellers.

For more show notes, visit www.allanmckay.com/96/. 

Nathan Fowkes is a Concept Artist whose film credits include How to Train Your Dragon, The Legend of Puss in Boots, The Prince of Egypt and many more. He has worked for numerous studios including DreamWorks, Paramount Feature Animation, Blue Sky, Disney, Blizzard Entertainment, Riot Games, Ubisoft and Rovio. 

In addition, Nathan is a teacher of color, light and design. He currently teaches at the LA Academy of Figurative Art, the Art Center College of Design, as well as online at Schoolism.com. 

In this interview, Nathan talks to Allan McKay about the history of CG animated movies, his dedication to both digital and live painting and the importance of communication in art.

For more show notes, visit www.allanmckay.com/95/.