Bilali has supervised and executed on visual effects for commercials, tv and film for a number of high profile clients such as Adidas, Google, BMW, Starz, HBO, and Focus Features; as well as working with notable directors such as Dave Myers, The Russo Brothers, Lance Acord, and Thomas Bezucha.

In his spare time, he produces the Legends of VFX podcast, directs short films and is very passionate about street photography and food.

In this Podcast, Allan McKay interviews VFX Supervisor Bilali Mack about his journey from a VFX Artist to a VFX Supervisor, qualities of the most effective leaders, the importance of diverse storytelling, NFT’s and Bilali’s Podcast Legends of VFX.

For more show notes, visit www.allanmckay.com/359.

Tim Miller is a Film Director, Animator, Creative Director and VFX Artist. He was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film for the work on his short film Gopher Broke. He made his directing debut with Deadpool. He is also known for creating opening sequences for The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo and Thor: The Dark World.

In 1995, Tim co-founded Blur Studio with David Stinnett and Cat Chapman. Blur is where animators and artists can collaborate and be in control of their creative destinities. Since then, the Studio has evolved into an award-winning production company with work spanning the realms of game cinematics, commercials, feature films and more. Committed to their clients, artists and to the telling of great stories, Blur continues to grow not only as a high-end animation studio, but also as original content creators, having recently helmed Netflix’s first animated anthology Love Death + Robots.

In this Podcast, Allan McKay interviews Tim Miller, Film Director, Animator, Creative Director and Co-Founder of Blur Studio, about the history of launching Blur, its legacy; his ongoing collaboration with David Fincher, directing Deadpool and Terminator: Dark Fate – and creating Love Death + Robots.

For more show notes, visit www.allanmckay.com/358.

Janga FX was founded in 2016 by Nick Seavert, an entrepreneur who is well versed in both startups and real-time VFX. Janga FX was initially bootstrapped with credit cards, software sales, and many thousands of man hours instead of outside investments. The company’s core motive is to provide real-time VFX tools to artists and designers who work in video game or film industries. 

The first tool by Jang FX called VectorayGen was released in 2017. EmberGen is a standalone real-time volumetric fluid simulation tool built for generating flipbooks, image sequences, and VDB files.

In this Part 2 of Allan McKay’s interview with Nick Seavert, the Founder of Janga FX, Nick talks about his first job in the industry, the beginnings of Janga FX, its first software VectorayGen and the launch of Ember Gen.

For more show notes, visit www.allanmckay.com/357.

When Nate Black decided to start a YouTube channel, he had a significant advantage: As an actor, he’d been in thousands of live stage performances and knew how to play to an audience. After leaving the stage, he moved through various jobs until he found a passion for teaching.  

When he launched Channel Makers, a YouTube Channel that tackles the question “How to succeed on YouTube”, the number of subscribers grew from 0 to 25,000 in its first year. He creates original, data-focused informational videos using real-life tests and case studies. Nate helps a wide range of YouTubers, from beginners to established channels. Currently, the number of his followers is over 120K.

In this Podcast, Nate Black, Creator of a highly successful YouTube Channel called Channel Makers, shares his experience and gives advice on how to create and grow your YouTube, discusses YouTube shorts and lives, and the importance of market research.

For more show notes, visit www.allanmckay.com/356.

Clinton Jones is a Director, Content Creator, VFX Artist and Photographer. He has worked at Rocket Jump and at Corridor Digital. On his YouTube Channel, where he is known as Pwnisher, he launches challenges for his community, as well as creates tutorials. His YouTube Channel has a massive following of over 557K subscribers, while his Instagram has 110K followers.

Currently, Clinton is working on co-writing his first feature film, creating content and making art.

In this Podcast, Allan McKay and Clinton discuss the habits of successful people, productivity hacks, the importance of soft skills and how NFT’s are empowering contemporary artists.

For more show notes, visit www.allanmckay.com/355.

Ian Spriggs is a 3D Digital Artist and a VFX Artist. He completed his first 3D portrait in 2014. His work has become widely known for being photorealistic because they seem to represent the subjects’ inner selves. 

As a Lead Character Modeler, he has worked for studios like Unity Technologies, Scanline VFX, ILM, Mr. X. His projects include The Mandalorian, Mulan, Bloodshot. 

He is also the author of A Portrait of the Digital Age, a book on creating his meticulous character studies.

In this Podcast, Allan McKay interviews 3D Digital Artist and Lead Character Modeler Ian Spriggs about creativity, importance of innovation and authenticity, how to niche yourself as an artist, difference between commercial and personal work, artistic freedom – and so much more!

For more show notes, visit www.allanmckay.com/354/.

Since 1975, Industrial Light & Magic (ILM) has set the standard for visual effects, creating some of the most stunning images in the history of film. At the forefront of the digital revolution, ILM continues to break new ground in the field not only in visual effects but now virtual reality, augmented reality, immersive entertainment, and virtual production. Founded by George Lucas, ILM is the leading effects facility in the world, with studios located in San Francisco, Singapore, Vancouver, London, and Sydney. The company serves the motion picture, television, streaming, commercial production, and attraction industries. ILM has created visual effects for over 350 feature films.

With so many technical and creative innovations, ILM has been a constant force propelling the evolution of visual effects. Beginning with a mastery of the traditional arts of blue-screen photography, matte painting and model and miniature construction, ILM advanced the art of optical compositing and pioneered the development of motion control photography, digital compositing, and numerous other advances in effects technology. Since the 1980s, ILM has led the way in the use of computer graphics and digital imaging in feature films, developing breakthrough techniques such as morphing, enveloping and film input scanning technology. Most recently ILM unveiled its StageCraft realtime virtual production platform and StageCraft LED Stages which allow storytellers the ultimate flexibility in how they plan, develop and capture their vision.

Today, ILM features one the most comprehensive and advanced digital effects production pipelines in the entertainment industry, from the earliest creation of wholly computer-generated characters in The Abyss, Terminator 2: Judgment Day and Jurassic Park to the startling digital breakthroughs in films such as Twister, Star Wars: Episode I The Phantom Menace and The Perfect Storm. ILM’s ability to merge photo-realistic digital images with live-action footage is renowned throughout the industry. Critical to ILM’s success are its Visual Effects Supervisors, who combine technical expertise with creative vision. They are joined by a global team of some 1,200 employees that includes producers, art directors, computer graphics artists, software engineers, editors, and technicians. This effects team works within ILM’s proven production management system, known for producing superlative results on time and on budget.

Industrial Light & Magic is a Lucasfilm Ltd. company serving the digital needs of the entertainment industry for visual effects. ILM has been awarded 3 Emmy Awards, 15 Academy Awards for Best Visual Effects, and received 33 Academy Awards for Scientific and Technical Achievements that have had an indelible impact on the art of filmmaking.

In this Podcast, Manager of Emerging Talent at ILM Kim Paris talks about her experience recruiting talent, the importance of cover letters, the power of humility, the myth of film not being a stable career; as well as gives advice on outreach emails, reels and job interviews. 

For more show notes, visit www.allanmckay.com/353/.

Activision Blizzard’s history goes back more than 40 years. Two incredible gaming brands Activision and Blizzard Entertainment merged, bringing together the best creative talent in gaming. The acquisition of King in 2016 further strengthened the company’s vision to bring the world together through epic entertainment. Their professional gaming properties include the Overwatch League™, the Call of Duty League™, Hearthstone® Grandmasters, and the World of Warcraft® Arena World Championship, among others. Activision Blizzard Esports also operates Tespa™, the leader in collegiate esports.

In this Episode, Activision Blizzard King’s Executive Principal Recruiter for Art in Animation and Creative Robin Alan Linn talks about the importance of niching down, how to stand out in the age of social media, how to ace the most difficult interview question, the importance of empathy, vulnerability and imperfection – and so much more!

For more show notes, visit www.allanmckay.com/352/.

When Oscar®-nominated, Emmy® award-winning filmmaker Ava DuVernay teams with some of cinema’s most noted directors in the new HBO Max original docuseries One Perfect Shot, movie lovers will see dazzling, unprecedented views inside memorable shots from film history. The series provides a never-before-possible perspective on filmmaking, allowing directors to step into their favorite shots and take viewers on amazing 360º views of their visions. DuVernay and her production company, ARRAY Filmworks, selected CBS VFX (www.CBS-VFX.com) to produce these visually breathtaking moments.

Created for television by DuVernay and inspired by a popular Twitter account of the same name, each episode of One Perfect Shot arms one acclaimed director with an arsenal of visual tools to pull back the curtain on their most iconic shots. Filmmakers share their obstacles, challenges, lessons and triumphs as they detail the road to their one perfect shot. The series features prolific filmmakers Patty Jenkins, Aaron Sorkin, Kasi Lemmons, Jon M. Chu, Malcolm D. Lee and Michael Mann, as well as blockbuster films including Wonder Woman, The Trial of the Chicago 7, Harriet, Crazy Rich Asians, Girls Trip and Heat.

Making the incredible images in One Perfect Shot required CBS VFX to use more than 25 years of visual effects innovation. Much of the work integrates the visual effects company’s proprietary Parallax virtual production system, which brings three-dimensional technology and an intricate level of detail to virtual locations. Combining Parallax with new tools in the Unreal Engine from Epic Games – including real-time rendering and ray tracing – led to remarkable production flexibility.

The digital production techniques from CBS VFX incorporated into One Perfect Shot represent an evolution of the work the visual-effects studio has done to replicate real-world locations in virtual sets and improve virtual production – which has been particularly important during the challenges of the pandemic.

CBS VFX has developed groundbreaking technology and created visual effects for multiple series across many networks, including Apple TV’s upcoming Roar, The Offer for Paramount+, This Is Us on NBC, Netflix’s Dead to Me, and Big Shot on Disney+. CBS VFX maintains a dedicated virtual production soundstage, and its team is available to television production professionals for live demonstrations of virtual production, digital set extension and realtime pre-viz technologies.

In this Episode, Allan McKay interviews Craig Weiss, Executive Creative Director at CBS VFX and Jim Berndt, Head Virtual Production at CBS VFX about their work on One Perfect Shot created for HBO Max by Ava DuVernay, the creative process and challenges of short deadlines, the promise of virtual production and realtime — and the future of VR; as well as their work on some technologically innovative projects.

For more show notes, visit www.allanmckay.com/351/.

Mike Price is a Writers Guild Award and three-time Emmy Award-winning Writer and Producer. He is the Executive Producer and Showrunner of the acclaimed Netflix animated comedy series F is for Family, which he co-created with series star Bill Burr. 

He is also a Writer and Co-Executive Producer on The Simpsons, having written over 20 episodes of the show – and served as a script consultant on The Simpsons Movie.

In this Podcast, Allan McKay interviews Emmy Award-winning Writer, Producer and Showrunner Mike Price about his work on The Simpsons and F is for Family, the influence of improv on his work, the dread of the blank page and how COVID-19 has changed the writers’ room.

For more show notes, visit www.allanmckay.com/350/.