Seth C. Polansky, a contracts, intellectual property and start-up specialist founded his professional firm in 2005. Seth Polansky LLC is a small law firm specializing in art, contracts, corporate, and general personal affairs. Based in Silver Spring, Maryland, Seth Polansky LLC accepts clients from around the world regarding contract, art and IP issues.

As an adviser and counselor to business, Seth has repeatedly negotiated successful outcomes with domestic and international entities – including the US government, UK government and multiple state agencies. He has counseled small businesses and artists in securing copyright, trademark and other intellectual property protection, and aided them in navigating contracts. He has helped countless families by securing their peace of mind through wills, trusts and prenuptial agreements, and has offered assistance with disputes.

His professional highlights include being a General Counsel for Cellcrypt, a multinational conglomerate and leading provider of voice encryption technology; working as a Director of Contracts for one of the world’s largest tech companies CSC; and serving as a Deputy General Counsel for The GAVI Fund, a nonprofit funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

Seth is a LinkedIn Learning author. He teaches a Contracting for Creatives Course on Lynda.com. He is also an Executive Producer of documentary Eye of the Beholder: The Art of Dungeons and Dragons.

In this Podcast, Seth talks about the most common mistakes artists make in negotiating contracts, explains what makes a valid contract -- and gives resources for one; breaks down the rules of fair use, covers some of the IP laws and many other topics.

For more show notes, visit www.allanmckay.com/235/.

The mission of Monsters Aliens Robots Zombies (MARZ) is to deliver feature-film quality visual effects on television timelines by harnessing GPU clusters, game engine technology, AI and senior industry talent. Leveraging these pillars allows us to consistently execute with both speed and quality for our premium television projects.

Lon Molnar is the Co-President of MARZ. With more than 20 years of experience, Lon has contributed a vast amount of visual effects to film and television as an artist, VFX Supervisor, and former CEO of the award winning VFX company Intelligent Creatures.

Inspired by the magic of Toy Story, Lon attended the Vancouver Film School with the single goal of opening up his own VFX studio. As he built his resume, he became dissatisfied with working on VFX for tv, and set his sights on feature films. He became a VFX generalist, working in animation, lighting, compositing and modelling, while using a vast array of software. After serving as the CG Supervisor on the groundbreaking films Chicago and The Cell, he fulfilled his earlier dream and opened up Intelligent Creatures in 2002. Working with talented creators like Mark Forster, Darren Aronofsky, Alejandro González Iñárritu, David Tattersall, Oliver Stone and others, Lon quickly built the Toronto-based VFX house into an award-winning studio.

Intelligent Creatures lent its creativity to dozens of projects such as Mr and Mrs Smith, The Witch, and Babel. They built robust pipelines to tackle critically-acclaimed projects, such as the Watchmen's famous Rorschach mask of moving inkblots. Some of their later work, such as the award-winning series Orphan Black and the Emmy-nominated Curiosity: Battlefield Cell pushed the boundaries of visual effects on TV

Fifteen years after the formation of Intelligent Creatures, Lon recognized that unlike when he had started in the industry, TV was no longer the "lesser" medium for VFX. When he spoke to Jonathan Bronfman, the two found themselves sharing symbiotic ideas. They saw a gap that others didn't. What if, they asked, we can build a company that focuses on serving only one market, and defines the standard of excellence in that market? That was the beginning of MARZ. the boundaries of visual effects on TV.

In this Podcast, Allan McKay interviews Lon about the history of MARZ and the company’s commitment to technology and talent, a philosophy that ensures high quality effects for television timelines.

For more show notes, visit www.allanmckay.com/234/.

Matti Haapoja is a YouTuber and a freelance Director of Photography. He has worked with some global brands such as Nike, San Pellegrino, Epidemic Sound, Rhino, and Visit Norway.  Originally from Finland, he is now based out of Toronto, Canada. 

Matti launched his YouTube Channel, originally called Travel Feels, in 2016. Initially, it was a creative outlet to feature his cinematic travel videos. But once he realized that there was a fast growing YouTube filmmaker community, he began sharing his filmmaking know-how, experience and tips. Since 2017, Matti became a full-time YouTuber and his Channel’s name became eponymous.

Matti continues to contribute knowledge to the filmmaking community via his online courses and free content.

In this Podcast, Allan McKay and Matti Haapoja give advise on how to be a successful business and a brand, the benefits of social media -- as well as the power of having an audience -- and the importance of learning throughout one’s career.

For more show notes, visit www.allanmckay.com/233/.

Vico Sharabani is a Creative Entrepreneur, award-winning Creative-Director, Director, and Producer. He is also the Founder and CCO of The-Artery, a New York based media production company that creates high-end visual content for brands, feature films, commercials, digital experiences, art instillations and more.

As one of the most notable Flame artists in the world, Vico is the winner of the first ever Autodesk Flame Award recognizing his vast contributions to the VFX industry over the past 25 years. Vico’s portfolio includes a wide range of commercials for fortune 500 companies such as Mercedes-Benz, Nike and AT&T, music-videos for Beyoncé, Coldplay, Niki Minaj, KanYe West, and work on dozens of films such as Wes Anderson's The Grand Budapest Hotel, Ocean’s 8, Tower Heist and Sex and The City, to name a few.

Servicing the advertising and entertainment industries for 30 years, Vico is heavily involved in the management of projects across creative, production and technical endeavors. He is also involved with the TED community “Ads Worth Spreading”, Co-Organizer of TED X East, and completing the EMBA program at the Berlin School Of Creative Leadership.

The Founder of The-Artery Vico Sharabani talks about the evolution of the VFX industry, the importance of acquiring new skills -- but not letting each solitary capability to define an artist -- and finding your own way of being successful!

For more show notes, visit www.allanmckay.com/232.