Wren Weichman is a VFX Artist and a YouTube Host at Corridor Digital. 

Corridor Digital is a Visual Effects Studio based in Los Angeles. They’re best known for creative short-form viral videos, as well as producing and directing the web Series Rush and YouTube Red’s Lifeline. They company has also created tv commercials for companies like Google and Machine Zone.

Founded in 2009 by Sam Gorski and Niko Pueringer, the company now produces five YouTube Channels, including VFX Artists React and the Corridor Crew which consists of behind-the-scenes content and has almost 5 million subscribers (as of 2021).

In this Podcast, Allan McKay interviews VFX Artist and YouTube Host at Corridor Digital Wren Weichman (AKA @sirwrender) about creating viral content for YouTube, perfectionism versus creativity, inspiration as a muscle and the importance of finding your creative community online.

For more show notes, visit www.allanmckay.com/314/.

In the beginning of our career, we just want traction: those quick wins that will validate us. When we get to that elite level, there are tidbits of advice from everyone else that sound stupid. But most of the things we think are stupid -- at the elite level -- are the biggest breakthrough of all. At the beginning of a VFX career, we all get technical. Instead, we should put our attention on that one thing that’s getting traction. Everything else is a distraction.

Technical skills can only get you so far. We will be picking all kinds of new software when we go to work at different studios anyway. Most of us are missing out on the metrics. We need to look at the problem that the studio we want to work for is trying to solve: Is it explosions? Is it character rigging? The more micro we get into that problem solving, the more we’re going to stand out because our message will be more laser focused.

In this Podcast, Allan McKay addresses the different advice artists need to hear at certain parts of their career, and compares technical skills to skills that give you a bird’s-eye view of your career -- and propel it upward.

For more show notes, visit www.allanmckay.com/313/.

Dottie Starling is a Visual Effects Supervisor, CGI artist and digital modeler. Through both her freelance VFX career and her work with production houses such as Cinesite, Asylum, and Wildfire VFX, Dottie has worked on countless blockbuster motion pictures including Titanic, Lara Croft: Tomb Raider, 007's Die Another Day, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End, Ocean’s Thirteen and Tropic Thunder.

Dottie has also worked with digital effects on the Academy Award-winning 12 Years a Slave, Oldboy, Selma, and the New Orleans-filmed television series Scream Queens. She has recently finished supervising Amazon’s original series Underground Railroad directed by Barry Jenkins.

In this Episode, Allan McKay interviews VFX Supervisor Dottie Starling about the path to becoming a Supervisor, the most crucial skill for the job, the challenge of creating visual effects that support the story (and the director’s vision), as well as her experience supervising Amazon’s original series Underground Railroad directed by Barry Jenkins.

For more show notes, visit www.allanmckay.com/312/.

As artists, we all have a fear that if we do too much of the same thing, we’re going to be known as a one-trick pony and get pigeonholed. But the big mistake we make when we let our careers run its own course. Successful artists have their hands on that wheel so that they don’t fall into that trap because they choose how they want to position themselves and their messaging.

The idea is not to tie ourselves to one niche. The idea is to eliminate competition. By niching down, we can attract clients and position ourselves as the go-to person. In addition, how we niche down -- is up to us! We don’t have to be the number one in the world. We don’t even have to be the number one in our city. We just have to be the go-to person in our clients’ rolodexes.

In this Podcast, Allan talks about the difference between niching down and getting pigeonholed, how to continue evolving, how to create several niches in different markets -- and how to become the go-to person on your clients’ rolodexes.

For more show notes, visit www.allanmckay.com/311/.

Sam Wickert is a director and VFX supervisor who has worked closely with many clients such as Epic Games, Google Daydream, AMD, BlackMagic Design, Universal Orlando Resorts, Redbull, and Discover. 

The most exciting projects he has enjoyed working on is the content featured on his YouTube Channel, SOKRISPYMEDIA, which has accumulated over 1.6 Million subscribers and 400+ million views - most notably recognized from its web series, Chalk Warfare.

In this Episode, Allan interviews Sam about his creative process for the Chalk Warfare franchise, the innovations he uses on the most recent installment and the challenges of making his own content.

For more show notes, visit www.allanmckay.com/310/.