A lot of us wait until a job is over and we dust off our reel and start applying for jobs again. A good metaphor here is: You want to build your well before you’re thirsty. Don’t wait until the desperate moment when you need a job. You can be the greatest artist in the world. But if no one knows you, why does that matter? It’s important to build and nurture authentic relationships in the business.

What if you had the ability to pull up anyone’s email address? Any studio head, any supervisor or department lead? What if you could pinpoint every one of those in your area? You can start building relationships -- NOW! You can then start sharing your work organically.

In this Episode, Allan McKay goes over the tools and tactics on how to get anyone’s email address -- from Department Leads to Studio Heads -- and how to start building your social capital.

For more show notes, visit www.allanmckay.com/150/.

 

 

The big question is: Should I be a generalist or a specialist? That’s one of the most common questions I get. It applies to every creative industry: games, film, design. This is something you should relate to: Should you niche to a specific subject or should you raise your hand to every job that comes along because you’re a generalist?

By specializing, the advantage right away is that you’re in a much smaller sandbox. The goal here is to become the go-to person, on your client’s rolodex, or for your city -- or the entire world. The more specialized you are, the more you can command the fees you deserve. You’re also making a successful brand out of your name.

At the same time, it’s better to start out as a generalist and evolve into a specialist overtime. By having the understanding of all other areas, it’s more about understanding the pipeline: Where your work is coming from and where it’s going.

In this Episode, Allan McKay talks about the difference between being a generalist and a specialist, the importance of knowing your place in the pipeline, of finding your niche and building your brand.

For more show notes, visit www.allanmckay.com/149/.

 

Kevin Baillie is a Co-Founder and VFX Supervisor at Atomic Fiction, a VFX company with studios in San Francisco, Los Angeles and Montreal. His career began when he joined Lucasfilm’s JAK Films division at the age of 18, as a pre-vis artist on Star Wars Episode I. After Lucasfilm, Kevin supervised at ImageMovers Digital and helmed VFX at the Orphanage on critically-acclaimed movies such as Hellboy, Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End, Night at the Museum, Superman Returns, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.

Since launching Atomic Fiction, Kevin has supervised visuals for two Star Trek movies, two Transformers franchise installments, as well as the award-winning effects for Robert Zemeckis's live action films Flight, The Walk, Allied and most recently, Welcome to Marwen.

He is also CEO of Conductor Technologies, a company that offers high-capacity, on-demand rendering to its clients (both freelancers and big studios) using cloud computing technologies.

In this Episode, Kevin talks about joining Lucasfilm straight out of high school, gaining experience and insight by supervising at other studios and eventually co-founding Atomic Fiction and launching Conductor.

For more show notes, visit www.allanmckay.com/148/.

 

Bobby Chiu is an Artist, Teacher and Motivator. He started his career in digital art at the age of 17, designing toys for Star Wars and Pixar. One of his first jobs as a Character Designer was on Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland. After that, he worked on films Men in Black 3 and Alice Through the Looking Glass.

Bobby shares his talent through teaching up-and-coming artists, making tutorials and interviewing other artists. Over a decade ago, Bobby co-founded Imaginism Studios. Since then, the Studios have worked with clients like Disney, DreamWorks, Blue Sky, Riot Games, Blizzard and many others. He also founded Schoolism, an online learning community for artists. 

In the second part of his interview, Bobby talks about the failproof recipe for success: practicing discipline and common sense while putting in your best effort. He also discusses the importance of constant learning as an insurance against becoming irrelevant.

For more show notes, visit www.allanmckay.com/147/.

Kathleen Ruffalo is the Crew Manager for Framestore. She is in charge of recruitment, management and team development at both the Los Angeles and Chicago offices. 

After years of production experience, Kathleen joined Framestore in 2012. Since then, she has become an integral part of growing the creativity and culture within Framestore. She casts a wide array of skill sets that match the industry’s ever-changing and evolving technologies.

In this Episode, Kathleen talks about becoming an artist in demand -- the importance of both technical and artistic, hard and soft skills -- and gives valuable tips on reels and getting started in Visual Effects.

For more show notes, visit www.allanmckay.com/146/.

Brad Alexander is a co-founding partner at HALON Entertainment, a full-service visualization company that provides a state-of-the-art platform of cutting edge technology, to bring their clients’ creative vision on screen. Brad has worked on such legendary features as War of the Worlds, Transformers, World War Z; as well as spent 4 years as a CG Supervisor on James Cameron’s Avatar. 

Prior to co-founding HALON, Brad studied at Full Sail in Florida; but before graduating, he was recruited by George Lucas work on previs for Star Wars, Episodes II and III, as well as the George Lucas Director’s Cut of THX 1138 at JAK Films. Since then, Brad has collaborated with world-class filmmakers across the industry to help create some of cinema’s most compelling stories.

Brad has partnered with Ang Lee as the primary Previs Supervisor on the Academy Award winning feature Life of Pi. He has supervised Snow White and the Huntsman; previs and postviz supervised Star Trek Into Darkness with J.J. Abrams. When work started on Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Brad again teamed up with Abrams to supervise both the U.S. and U.K. teams. More recently, Brad has supervised on Luc Besson’s Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets.

In this Episode, Brad talks about the importance of passion in one’s career; as well as his experience of working and collaborating with directors like George Lucas, Steven Spielberg, James Cameron and Ang Lee. 

For more show notes, visit www.allanmckay.com/145/.

 

Founded in 2002 by partners Berj Bannayan, Allan Magled and Mike Mombourquette, Soho VFX began as a boutique studio. From the beginning, the studio's specialty was the production of high quality photo-realistic visual effects. In 2005, Soho VFX landed itself a leading visual effects role: the creation of the elastic Mr. Fantastic in Marvel's The Fantastic Four. Since then, Soho VFX has helped superheroes come to life in several other Marvel productions.

In 2007, Soho VFX expanded its facilities again in order to take on almost 200 shots for The Incredible Hulk. The studio's success on this blockbuster project propelled it to become a world-renowned visual effects house. 

Since then, Soho VFX has continued to produce top-quality visual effects, contributing to many box office hits, including: Logan, Tomb Raider, X-Men Origins: Wolverine, The Revenant, Rise of the Planet of the Apes and many more. *

In this Podcast, Berj Bannayan talks about his background in computer science and software development; the launch of Soho VFX and the lessons they’ve learned along the way -- and the massive projects they’ve tackled.

For more show notes, visit www.allanmckay.com/144/.

 

* Bio Written By: Soho VFX

Ivo Klaus is a VFX Supervisor who has been working at Scanline VFX in Munich, Germany for over 13 years. He has worked on and supervised such large budget feature films like Tomb Raider, Transformers: The Last Knight, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, Snowpiercer, Looper, Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, 300 -- and many, many more.

In this portion of his interview with Allan McKay, Ivo talks about the importance of having a generalist background, scripting experience, problem solving and other skills essential for a successful VFX Artist.

To listen to the other Episode with Ivo, please visit www.allanmckay.com/136/.

For more show notes, visit www.allanmckay.com/143/.

Over the course of her decade long career in visual effects, Katharine “Kat” Evans has worked for large studios like ILM, Tippett Studio, Giant Killer Robots and several others. Her credits include films like Hellboy, Matrix Revolutions, Fantastic Four, Transformers, Rango, Lucy and the Iron Man franchise. 

Kat received her MFA from the Savannah College of Art and Design. She began her career as a Roto Paint Artist, then moved on to Match Moving and Camera Layout. Since 2017, Kat has been focusing on a new career in User Experience Design (UX). 

In this Podcast, Kat talks about her career in visual effects, as well as shares her insight on how to break into the industry, how to avoid working overtime and how to communicate with clients.

For more show notes, visit www.allanmckay.com/142/.

 

Adam Holmes is a Senior Layout Supervisor, Director of Photography and Editor. He has worked for a variety of international studios, such as Lucasfilm Animation, Sony Pictures Imageworks, Digital Domain, Disney, Warner Bros, Imagi and several others. His credits include large budget films like Alice in Wonderland, Superman Returns, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Elf, Freddy vs Jason and many more.

Adam has 20 years of experience in VFX. While working at Imagi Studios, Adam helped build a team of artists and technicians to produce new CG animated films with smaller budgets but blockbuster results. He was handpicked as a Senior Previs Artist for a CG feature film project at Lucasfilm where he collaborated daily with the Directors, Producers and George Lucas himself.

In this Podcast, Adam talks about his passion for visual storytelling, working in both VFX and on live action sets, having a plan and being open minded about your opportunities -- and taking ownership of your career.

For more show notes, visit www.allanmckay.com/141/.

Catherine Mullan is an Animation Supervisor at MPC. Over the course of her career, she has worked for studios like Framestore, Animal Logic, MPC. Her credits include big budget films like Guardians of the Gallaxy, The Hunger Games, Maleficent, X-Men: First Class, Clash of the Titans, The Chronicles of Narnia, Harry Potter -- and many more.

Right after graduating from Bournemouth University’s Computer Animation Course in London, U.K., Catherine joined Framestore as a junior animator. She has been working in visual effects for over a decade. Her work has earned a 2005 Emmy Nomination for Outstanding Special Visual Effects (for The Last Dragon) and a nomination from VES (for Outstanding Animated Character in The Chronicles of Narnia), in 2011.

In this Podcast, Catherine talks about her career -- from joining Framestore as a Junior Animator, through her current position as an Animation Sup at MPC -- the most hirable skills for VFX artists and the importance of your demo reel.

For more show notes, visit www.allanmckay.com/140/.

Ovi Nedelcu is an Author, Illustrator, Character Designer and Storyboard Artist. After studying at the Academy of Art College in San Francisco, his very first job was at Warner Bros. Since then, he’s worked for such studios as Disney, Sony Pictures Animation, Bluesky and Laika Studios. His credits include Mary Poppins Returns, Coraline, Scooby Doo and many, many more. 

Ovi has illustrated and authored several books. His latest author illustrated book One Gray Mouse was released on April 24th.

In this Podcast, Ovi talks about building his portfolio while in art school, learning on his first job at Warner Bros; working remotely and the importance of being a well-versed freelance artist.

For more show notes, visit www.allanmckay.com/139/.

This Podcast is Allan McKay’s first ever AMA (Ask Me Anything) session.

A while back, Allan has posted -- on his social media -- to ask any burning questions that you want to have answered about learning or pursuing a career in visual effects. Out of hundreds of questions, he selected about ten that would benefit most listeners and artists. 

In this AMA Podcast, Allan covers the subjects like:

• Creating your some-day goals -- and attacking them with URGENCY!
• Questions to ask a client before taking on a new job;
• Choosing the right training AND the importance of creating your own material.
• Getting your foot in the door as a VFX artist and the importance of communication.
• And a several other important questions!

For more show notes, visit www.allanmckay.com/138/.

 

The most important thing you have to land your dream job -- is a rock-solid demo reel. But all it takes is one bad shot -- one unexplained element or any of the other traps that artists fall into every day -- to have your reel switched off and have your viewer move onto the next one.

I wanted to share my perspective as someone who has hired artists and has looked through hundreds of reels when hiring for my company CatastrophicFX. I have also reviewed reels inside my Mentorship or Reel Review Webinars. I’ve interviewed dozens of Supervisors, Recruiters and Leads at studios like ILM, Weta, Image Engine and every other big studio on the planet. 

And what we all agree on is that almost every artist is oblivious to the fact that one single shot on their reel can:

• Cost them the job;
• Cause for the potential employer to skip over their reel; 
• Question if the artists did what they claimed they did because they weren’t clear about their ownership. 
• Or: Their reel never got watched because some minor thing got overlooked that instantly caused for their reel to get thrown out. 

In this Podcast, you will learn how to avoid these common mistakes and create a reel that lands you the job, builds your brand and even goes viral. So here is it: 

5 Demo Reel Mistakes That are Costing You the Job -- and You Don’t Even Know It!

For more show notes, visit www.allanmckay.com/137/.

 

Ivo Klaus is a VFX Supervisor who has been working at Scanline VFX in Munich, Germany for over 13 years. He has worked on and supervised such large budget feature films like Tomb Raider, Transformers: The Last Knight, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, Snowpiercer, Looper, Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, 300 -- and many, many more.

In this portion of his interview with Allan McKay *, Ivo gives advise on professional tools for VFX artists, the do’s and don’ts of demo reels and some insider tips for anyone seeking employment at Scanline VFX. 

For more show notes, visit www.allanmckay.com/136/.

 

* NOTE: The second part of Ivo’s interview -- with more valuable information -- to be published at a later time!

Mike Seymour is the VFX Supervisor and Compositor. He is a also Co-Founder of -- as well as a writer and consultant for -- FXGuide, FXPhD and FXPhD Academy, the online resources for the visual effects community and innovators.

Mike holds a Bachelors and Masters degree in CGI and Pure Math from the University of Sydney. He is currently doing his PhD on interactive realtime faces in new forms of Human Computer Interfaces. For the Wikihuman Project, he assembled a group of researchers and artists from Epic Games, Cubic Motion, 3Lateral, Loom.ai, Pixar, Tencent -- and many others -- to build a digital version of himself that could be directed and rendered in realtime by the real life Mike. That resulted in the MeetMike project that was presented at SIGGRAPH in 2017.

In this Podcast, Mike talks about the challenges of current-day VR -- realtime rendering, the uncanny valley, neurological evolution -- his research in the field and the successful fruition of the MeetMike project, collaborated on by the Wikihuman Project.

For more show notes, visit www.allanmckay.com/135/.

Bob Scott is an Animator, Story Artist and comic book writer. He began his career as a freelance traditional animator after graduating from California Institute of the Arts. He has worked in both traditional and CG animation for studios like Disney, Pixar and DreamWorks Animation. His animation has been seen in films such as Toy Story 3, Cars, Monsters, Inc., Ratatouille, The Incredibles, Prince of Egypt and many others. 

Bob is also the creator of the syndicated comic strip Bear with Me that appears on Go Comics and in the New York Daily News. His book Molly and the Bear was published in 2016.

In this Episode, Bob talks about his journey from traditional to computer animation; gives advice on finding your mentors and taking the passion for your art -- and putting it into a discipline.

For more show notes, visit www.allanmckay.com/134/.

Ryan Connolly is a filmmaker. He is also a founder and host at Film Riot, an online resource and community for filmmakers. Ryan is also the owner of production company Triune Films where he produces weekly online content and films like Tell, Losses, PROXiMITY, and several others.

Ryan began studying storytelling on his own before pursuing his formal training at Full Sail University in Florida. After graduating, he started working at a PC game company Alienware. He eventually left that job to start Film Riot. By now, Film Riot has over half a million followers and it continues to build its audience and community.

In this Podcast, Ryan talks about clocking in your 10,000 artist hours, using failures as opportunities to learn -- and gives advice and resources to aspiring filmmakers and storytellers.

For more show notes, visit www.allanmckay.com/133/.

Over the course of her decade long career in visual effects, Katharine “Kat” Evans has worked for large studios like ILM, Tippett Studio, Giant Killer Robots and several others. Her credits include films like Hellboy, Matrix Revolutions, Fantastic Four, Transformers, Rango, Lucy and the Iron Man franchise. 

Kat received her MFA from the Savannah College of Art and Design. She began her career as a Roto Paint Artist, then moved on to Match Moving and Camera Layout. Since 2017, Kat has been focusing on a new career in User Experience Design (UX). 

In this Podcast, Kat talks about switching careers after being an already established VFX artist -- and offers valuable advice on how to make the transition intelligently and successfully. 

For more show notes, visit www.allanmckay.com/132/.

Thierry Lafontaine is a Character Designer and Illustrator for both film and children’s books. He also teaches at the Imaginism Studios and runs a 30-day training program at the Schoolism House, in Sainte-Julienne, Quebec. Thierry studied art at Sheridan College. He lives and works in Toronto. 

In this Episode, Thierry talks about his journey of becoming an artist, the discipline and mindset that it took to succeed -- and the experience of the immersive art program at his Schoolism House.

For more show notes, visit www.allanmckay.com/131/.

Bobby Chiu is an Artist, Teacher and Motivator. He started his career in digital art at the age of 17, designing toys for Star Wars and Pixar. One of his first jobs as a Character Designer was on Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland. After that, he worked on films Men in Black 3 and Alice Through the Looking Glass.

Bobby shares his talent through teaching up-and-coming artists, making tutorials and interviewing other artists. Over a decade ago, Bobby co-founded Imaginism Studios. Since then, the Studios have worked with clients like Disney, DreamWorks, Blue Sky, Riot Games, Blizzard and many others. He also founded Schoolism, an online learning community for artists. 

In part one of his interview with Allan McKay, Bobby talks about his background, making art his profession, learning to work remotely, following trends -- and reaching the level of success where he had to learn to say “no”.

For more show notes, visit www.allanmckay.com/130/.

Jason Martin is a Senior Creature Lead at id Software. Prior to that, he has worked at Blur Studio. Over the course of his decade long career, Jason has worked on projects like Doom, Warhammer Online, Bioshock 2, Wolverine, Resident Evil and many others.

Born to parents who were animators and CG artists, Jason got introduced to  the arts early on. After college, however, he joined the U.S. Air Force. After leaving the military, he pursued his studies at the Vancouver Film School. With that training and freelance experience, he was able to join Blur Studio where he went from being a freelancer to a Lead Character Artist.  

In this Episode, Jason talks about his experience and discipline, the importance of leadership, the hard and soft skills that get you hired -- and how to stand out in the industry as a VFX artist.

For more show notes, visit www.allanmckay.com/129/.

Willy Sussman is one of the leading Immigration Attorneys in New Zealand and a Partner at Bell Gully, a full-service firm with offices in Aukland and Wellington. He has assisted many of New Zealand’s most notable clients to obtain Visas and Permanent Residence in New Zealand, including employees for Weta. Willy also advises clients on other matters like taxation.

The Legal 500 Asia Pacific 2018 and Chambers Asia Pacific 2018 have both named Willy as a leading individual for tax. World Tax 2015 has named him as a leading tax practitioner for both large corporations and private clients. 

In this Episode, Willy discusses the categories of Work and Residence Visas (including for spouses), requirements and restrictions for each category -- and provides valuable advice on how to pursue employment and approach Immigration of New Zealand. 

For more show notes, visit www.allanmckay.com/128/.

Over the course of her decade long career in visual effects, Katharine “Kat” Evans has worked for large studios like ILM, Tippett Studio, Giant Killer Robots and several others. Her credits include films like Hellboy, Matrix Revolutions, Fantastic Four, Transformers, Rango, Lucy and the Iron Man franchise. 

Kat received her MFA from the Savannah College of Art and Design. She began her career as a Roto Paint Artist, then moved on to Match Moving and Camera Layout. Since 2017, Kat has been focusing on a new career in User Experience Design (UX). 

In this Podcast, Kat talks about her experience as a woman artist working visual effects, the challenges of the industry and switching careers.

For more show notes, visit www.allanmckay.com/127/.

For many of us, January is the time to front load the year and identify the successes we want to achieve in 2018. 

In this Episode, Allan McKay talks about making the long-term investment in yourself, creating the change you want to see in your career, sticking to it through the hard times -- embracing and learning from failures -- and attacking your goals with URGENCY!

This is where your Luke Skywalker begins: You will become a Jedi overtime; you will go through struggles -- but you will also meet Yoda!

For more show notes, visit www.allanmckay.com/126/.

Chris Do is the Founder and CEO of Blind, a motion design firm. The studio has worked on projects for Xbox, Riot Games, A&E, Spike TV, ESPN, Google, Honda, Audi; as well as music videos for Coldplay, Justin Timberlake and Raveonettes. Since its founding in 1995, Blind has evolved into a brand design consultancy firm. 

Prior to founding Blind, Chris received his BFA from Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, CA. He has taught at the California Institute of the Arts, SIGGRAPH, Otis College of Design, CalState Northridge and several other places. Chris has also founded TheFutur, an educational platform where creative professionals learn business principles. 

In this Episode, Chris talks about finding his purpose and founding a successful company; as well as the importance for artists to acquire business and marketing skills, to build their community and brand.

For more show notes, visit www.allanmckay.com/125/.

Michael Wortmann is a VFX Supervisor. Since graduating from the Filmakademie in Wurttenberg, Germany, in 2009, Michael has pursued a truly international career by working for companies like Animal Logic in Australia, Weta Digital in New Zealand, Chimney in his native Germany and many more. His credits include large budget films like Prince of Persia, Harry Potter, X-Men: First Class, John Carter, Star Trek: Into Darkness, Atomic Blonde, and most recently, Black Panther. 

In this Podcast, Michael talks about his journey of becoming a VFX Supervisor, the benefits of changing companies every few years -- and the most essential skills for standing out as a VFX artist.

For more show notes, visit www.allanmckay.com/124/.

Tomasz Wyszolmirski is the Founder of Dabari, a Polish studio specialized in high quality CGI stock footage and images for a variety of subjects like industrial processes, transport and animation. 

Since its founding in 2009, Dabarti has grown a team of five people and produced over 3,000 clips for various clients. In addition, Tomasz has written Dabarti Capture, an in-house tool for generating Surface Normal, Albedo and Depth textures from multiple photographs.

In this Episode, Tomasz talks about his experience launching and managing a successful studio, the tools and software they utilize and the importance of scripting for visual effects artists.

For more show notes, visit www.allanmckay.com/123/.

Brandon Jarratt is a Technical Director at Walt Disney Studios. He has worked on big budget features like Moana, Big Hero 6, Zootopia. He is currently working on Wreck-It Ralph 2.

Upon receiving his degree in Computer Science from the Texas A&M University, Brandon studied CG animation at the University’s Visualization Lab. In 2012, he worked as a TD Intern at the Walt Disney Studios; and soon after finishing his Masters Degree, he was offered the job of a Technical Director.

In this Episode, Brandon discusses the balance between technology and art in visual effects -- and the additional skills one needs to break into the industry as a TD. 

For more show notes, visit www.allanmckay.com/122/.

Sergio Páez is a Storyboard Artist and Director who has worked at companies like Lucasfilm, Sony, Pixar. His credits include Star Wars: The Clone Wars, Star Wars: Rebels, Jonah Hex. He has recently finished writing and directing a short film in VR. 

Sergio is also a founding member of Storyboard Art, an online community of storyboard artists and other storytellers. He has co-authored a book Professional Storyboarding: Rules of Thumb, a go-to reference for story artists.

In this Episode, Sergio talks about his journey as a storyteller, how to become a director -- and the importance of passion, discipline and balance for an artist.

For more show notes, visit www.allanmckay.com/121/.

For many of us, we want to make massive changes. We want the success we see others have. But it’s hard to connect the dots that what works for others, could work for us. Or that in a creative industries such as Visual Effects, Games, Design or TV -- that the money, lifestyle, or even the tools others use might even apply.

This series of Podcasts -- and the accompanying Guide -- is your path to setting yourself up for big changes NOW and making massive impact in your career, life -- and getting you on track for getting the success that you want!

Download the videos, exercises, and video tutorials as well as other resources INSTANTLY by going to www.allanmckay.com/bestyearyet/. Trust in the system, do the work, double down on the results that work for you and most importantly START NOW -- not tomorrow!

For more show notes, visit www.allanmckay.com/120/.

For many of us, we want to make massive changes. We want the success we see others have. But it’s hard to connect the dots that what works for others, could work for us. Or that in a creative industries such as Visual Effects, Games, Design or TV -- that the money, lifestyle, or even the tools others use might even apply.

This series of Podcasts -- and the accompanying Guide -- is your path to setting yourself up for big changes NOW and making massive impact in your career, life -- and getting you on track for getting the success that you want!

Download the videos, exercises, and video tutorials as well as other resources INSTANTLY by going to www.allanmckay.com/bestyearyet/. Trust in the system, do the work, double down on the results that work for you and most importantly START NOW -- not tomorrow!

For more show notes, visit www.allanmckay.com/119/.

Justin Goby Fields is a concept artist and owner of IronKlad Studios. After his career in graphic design and training at the Gnomon School of Visual Effects, he has worked at such studios as Sony ImageWorks, Imaginary Forces, Aaron Sims Company, Amalgamated Dynamics and several others. Some of his film credits include Jupiter Ascending, Noah, The Wolverine, Ragnarock, Noah.

In this Episode, Justin talks about his career and gives advice to up-and-coming VFX artists on how to stand out and succeed in the games and film industries.

For more show notes, visit www.allanmckay.com/118/.

For many of us, we want to make massive changes. We want the success we see others have. But it’s hard to connect the dots that what works for others, could work for us. Or that in a creative industries such as Visual Effects, Games, Design or TV -- that the money, lifestyle, or even the tools others use might even apply.

This series of Podcasts -- and the accompanying Guide -- is your path to setting yourself up for big changes NOW and making massive impact in your career, life -- and getting you on track for getting the success that you want!

Download the videos, exercises, and video tutorials as well as other resources INSTANTLY by going to www.allanmckay.com/bestyearyet/. Trust in the system, do the work, double down on the results that work for you and most importantly START NOW -- not tomorrow!

For more show notes, visit www.allanmckay.com/117/.

For many of us, we want to make massive changes. We want the success we see others have. But it’s hard to connect the dots that what works for others, could work for us. Or that in a creative industries such as Visual Effects, Games, Design or TV -- that the money, lifestyle, or even the tools others use might even apply.

This series of Podcasts -- and the accompanying Guide -- is your path to setting yourself up for big changes NOW and making massive impact in your career, life -- and getting you on track for getting the success that you want!

Download the videos, exercises, and video tutorials as well as other resources INSTANTLY by going to www.allanmckay.com/bestyearyet/. Trust in the system, do the work, double down on the results that work for you and most importantly START NOW -- not tomorrow!

For more show notes, visit www.allanmckay.com/116/.

Unit Image is a high-end 3D animation and VFX Studio based in Paris, France. It is specialized in full CGI and special effects for video games and commercials. 

Since being founded in 2010 by Maxime Luère, Léon Bérelle, Dominique Boidin and Rémi Kozyra, the studio has been creating impressive images and raising the bar with the quality of their award-winning work. The most work includes films for Ubisoft, Activision, Square Enix, Michelin, Cartier and many more. The studio has created trailers for video games Good and Evil 2, The Division, The Crew, Call of Duty, For Honor, ZombiU and several others.

In this Episode, the creative team at Unit Image talks about the studio’s history and its groundbreaking work in commercials and video games.

For more show notes, visit www.allanmckay.com/115/.

For many of us, we want to make massive changes. We want the success we see others have. But it’s hard to connect the dots that what works for others, could work for us. Or that in a creative industries such as Visual Effects, Games, Design or TV -- that the money, lifestyle, or even the tools others use might even apply.

This series of Podcasts -- and the accompanying Guide -- is your path to setting yourself up for big changes NOW and making massive impact in your career, life -- and getting you on track for getting the success that you want!

Download the videos, exercises, and video tutorials as well as other resources INSTANTLY by going to www.allanmckay.com/bestyearyet/. Trust in the system, do the work, double down on the results that work for you and most importantly START NOW -- not tomorrow!

For more show notes, visit www.allanmckay.com/114/.

For many of us, we want to make massive changes. We want the success we see others have. But it’s hard to connect the dots that what works for others, could work for us. Or that in a creative industries such as Visual Effects, Games, Design or TV -- that the money, lifestyle, or even the tools others use might even apply.

This series of Podcasts -- and the accompanying Guide -- is your path to setting yourself up for big changes NOW and making massive impact in your career, life -- and getting you on track for getting the success that you want!

Download the videos, exercises, and video tutorials as well as other resources INSTANTLY by going to www.allanmckay.com/bestyearyet/. Trust in the system, do the work, double down on the results that work for you and most importantly START NOW -- not tomorrow!

For more show notes, visit www.allanmckay.com/113/.

In-Ah Mellor (Roediger) is a Senior Animator who has worked at places like Framestore, Sony, Double Negative, MPC and several others. After extensive studies of 2D and 3D animation -- at Gobelins, L’école de L’image in Paris, France and Filmakademie Baden-Württemberg, in Germany -- her first job was working on Harry Potter, the Goblet of Fire at Framestore in London. Some of her credits include films like The Smurfs, Hotel Transylvania, Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, Where the Wild Things Are, Guardians of the Galaxy and many others.

Throughout her career, In-Ah has received multiple awards, including VES Award Nomination for her work on the character of China Doll in the 2014 feature Oz the Great and Powerful. She has been teaching at several schools and workshops. Currently, she resides in Vancouver, Canada and teaches character animation at VanArts.

In this Episode, In-Ah and Allan discuss subjects like working overtime, tips for a successful reel and how -- and when -- to negotiate a salary raise.

For more show notes, visit www.allanmckay.com/112/.

For many of us, we want to make massive changes. We want the success we see others have. But it’s hard to connect the dots that what works for others, could work for us. Or that in a creative industries such as Visual Effects, Games, Design or TV -- that the money, lifestyle, or even the tools others use might even apply.

This series of Podcasts -- and the accompanying Guide -- is your path to setting yourself up for big changes NOW and making massive impact in your career, life -- and getting you on track for getting the success that you want!

Download the videos, exercises, and video tutorials as well as other resources INSTANTLY by going to www.allanmckay.com/bestyearyet/. Trust in the system, do the work, double down on the results that work for you and most importantly START NOW -- not tomorrow!

For more show notes, visit www.allanmckay.com/111/.

For many of us, we want to make massive changes. We want the success we see others have. But it’s hard to connect the dots that what works for others, could work for us. Or that in a creative industries such as Visual Effects, Games, Design or TV -- that the money, lifestyle, or even the tools others use might even apply.

This series of Podcasts -- and the accompanying Guide -- is your path to setting yourself up for big changes NOW and making massive impact in your career, life -- and getting you on track for getting the success that you want!

Download the videos, exercises, and video tutorials as well as other resources INSTANTLY by going to www.allanmckay.com/bestyearyet/. Trust in the system, do the work, double down on the results that work for you and most importantly START NOW -- not tomorrow!

For more show notes, visit www.allanmckay.com/110/.

Philip Trott has been recognized as a leading expert in both personal and business immigration. He has been listed in the Citywealth Leaders List 2017 as a leading immigration lawyer. He is a parter at Bates Wells & Braithwaite Law Firm in London, U.K.

Philip heads a team of seven lawyers that provides specialist immigration advice to commercial, charity and individual clients. He is also a member of the Law Society Brexit task force involved in the making representations to the government.

In this Episode, Philip explains the types of U.K. Visitor visas and the evidence required to support each type of application.

For more show notes, visit www.allanmckay.com/109/.

 

For many of us, we want to make massive changes. We want the success we see others have. But it’s hard to connect the dots that what works for others, could work for us. Or that in a creative industries such as Visual Effects, Games, Design or TV -- that the money, lifestyle, or even the tools others use might even apply.

This series of Podcasts -- and the accompanying Guide -- is your path to setting yourself up for big changes NOW and making massive impact in your career, life -- and getting you on track for getting the success that you want!

Download the videos, exercises, and video tutorials as well as other resources INSTANTLY by going to www.allanmckay.com/bestyearyet/. Trust in the system, do the work, double down on the results that work for you and most importantly START NOW -- not tomorrow!

For more show notes, visit www.allanmckay.com/108/.

Dave Walvoord is a VFX Supervisor at DreamWorks who has worked on films like How to Train Your Dragon, Kung Fu Panda, Shark Tale, Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa. He was the Head of Lighting for the Academy-nominated film Kung Fu Panda 2.

After receiving a Masters degree in Visualization Science from Texas A & M University, Dave Dave joined Blue Sky Studios where he worked on projects like Fight Club and Star Trek: Insurrection. He served as a Supervising TD on Ice Age and as a Digital Effects Sup for the Academy Award winning short film Bunny. 

In this Episode, Dave talks about the lessons he’s learned throughout his career as a VFX Sup and the advice he would give to any up-and-coming artist.  

For more show notes, visit www.allanmckay.com/107/.

 

Redshift is the world’s first fully GPU-accelerated biased renderer. It is built to meet the specific demands of contemporary high-end production rendering. It provides the most features and flexibility among all GPU renderers. 

In this Podcast, Allan McKay talks with Nicolas Burtnyk, Co-Founder and CEO, as well as Rob Slater, Co-Founder and VP of Engineering. They discuss the benefits of GPU vs CPU rendering, the software Redshift currently supports and the renderer's future direction.

For more show notes, visit www.allanmckay.com/106/.

Ruben Mayor is a Senior FX TD at Weta Digital. Over the course of his career, he has traveled the world while working for giant studios like Sony Pictures Imageworks, The Mill, Mr. X. Ruben has worked on high profile films like Avengers: Infinity War, War for the Planet of the Apes, Dr. Who, Resident Evil, Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets, and many more.

Ruben began his career in 2011 when he worked for nWave Digital Studios in Belgium. Before he discovered his passion for visual effects, he was an engineer for BMW.

In this Podcast, Ruben Mayor talks about the lessons he’s learned throughout his career: to always learn and improve your skills; to work hard and to take risks!

For more show notes, visit www.allanmckay.com/105/

Victor Navone is a Supervising Animator at Pixar Animation Studios. Since 2000, he has worked on such high budget animated features as Monsters, Inc., Finding Nemo, The Incredibles, Cars 2 & 3, WALL-E, Brave, Inside Out and many more. 

After graduating from the University of California, Irvine, Victor began working as a 3D artist at Presto Studios, a video game company. He continued to study 3D character animation in his spare time. In 1999, Victor’s first animated short Alien Song, which was a result of some animation and lip sync tests, went viral. When it caught the attention of Edwin Catmull, the President of Pixar Animation Studios, Victor was invited for an interview. He joined the company in 2000.

For his work on WALL-E, Victor has won an award from the Visual Effects Society. He has taught at Animation Mentor and Animation Collaborative. 

In this Episode, Victor talks about his career -- with its victories and detours -- tools of a successful artist and insider tips for a demo reel that’s guaranteed to get you noticed!

For more show notes, visit www.allanmckay.com/104/

Having the hunger, the passion -- the fire under your butt -- is a driving force that’s essential for success!

In this Episode, Allan McKay talks about change as the catalyst for new levels of growth in your career, artistry and finances; as well as how to welcome and create change -- while making sure you have a failsafe environment for success.

After listening to this Episode, you will learn to:

- Identify the way you measure progress. 

- Make sure you aren’t overwhelmed by grandiose goals. 

- Eliminate excess.

- Force yourself to have massive changes. 

- Create new environments and friendships.

- Grow and achieve new levels of success!

For more show notes, visit www.allanmckay.com/103/

Bay Raitt is a designer, sculptor, character lead, animator, animation director and graphic novel creator. He was one of the first 30 employees hired at Weta Digital. As a Creature Facial Lead, he was responsible for building the facial system for Gollum in The Lord of the Rings. In 2003, Bay received a VES Award for Best Character Animation in a Live Action Motion Picture, for his work on Gollum.

Bay began his career working for Steve Oliff doing color separations for Image Comics. He has also worked for Protozoa, Nichimen Graphics, Weta Workshop and Valve Corporation. His current project is Nanite Fulcrum, a first of its kind, fully immersive Virtual Reality comic, based on the screenplay by Bay. 

In this Episode, Allan McKay and Bay Raitt discuss the history of CG animation, its future platforms (including VR) -- and how to get your dream job!

For more show notes, visit www.allanmckay.com/102/

 

Ben Snow is a Senior VFX Supervisor at Industrial Light & Magic. Since joining ILM in 1994, he has worked on such influential films as Twister, The Mummy, Pearl Harbor, Star Wars, Iron Man, Avengers and many more. He has also worked a VFX Supervisor on King Kong, at Weta. Ben recently finished working on Darren Aronofsky’s film mother! which is his second collaboration with the director since feature film Noah. 

Born in Australia, Ben studied computing and film at the University of Canberra. His first job was at a graphics company in London, U.K. He later helped set up a computer animation department for Conja, a company in Sydney, Australia. There, he worked on a title sequence for the television series Beyond 2000.

Currently, Ben is collaborating on a virtual reality Star Wars experience called Secrets of the Empire. Throughout his career at ILM, he has been honored with four Academy Award nominations, VES and BAFTA nominations for Achievement in Visual Effects.

In this Podcast, Allan McKay and Ben Snow talk about his career at ILM, the development of the VFX industry -- including virtual reality -- and the best tools that get you hired!

For more show notes, visit www.allanmckay.com/101/

Allan McKay is an Emmy-award winning VFX Supervisor and Technical Director. Over the course of his career, which spans over almost two decades, he’s worked on films like Transformers: Dark of the Moon, Superman, Flight, Star Trek: Into Darkness, The Equalizer and so many more! He’s also created effects for video games like Halo, Call of Duty, Half-Life, Bioshock, as well as multiple commercials.

Fred Ruff is the founder of Refuge FX, a Portland based visual effects studio responsible for projects like Grimm, Last Knight. He has over two decades of experience in computer graphics, visual effects and software development. He’s worked as a Lead Product Designer at Autodesk. He currently serves on the advisory board for Turbosquid, the world’s leading 3D model marketplace. Fred launched Refuge FX in 2013. 

In this Podcast, Fred Ruff interviews Allan McKay about his career -- from starting as a generalist to becoming a studio owner and VFX Supervisor -- as well as the importance of branding and treating yourself as a one-person studio.

For more show notes, visit www.allanmckay.com/100/

Christina Burton is a graphic designer and vehicle wrap artist. Born in Nova Scotia, Canada, she began drawing at a very early age, developing an understanding of color and an interest in portraiture. After graduating high school, she pursued a variety of professions but she always returned to her main passion: art.

She began pursuing art as a career a few years ago when she launched an Etsy shop that sold her original paintings. After trying her hand at tattoo designs and airbrushing of motorcycle tanks, she found herself learning about vehicle wraps. Currently, Christina custom designs wraps for exotic cars like Lamborghinis, Porsches, Ferraris. 

In this interview, Allan McKay and Christina Burton talk about her journey as an artist: from recognizing negative influences and personal resistance -- to learning how to negotiate, build a brand and become a successful business.

For more show notes, visit www.allanmckay.com/99/.

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/. 

David Allen is a bestselling author of Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity, the first edition of which was published in 2001. David is also a management consultant and a productivity expert. In addition to founding his multimillion dollar company based on the GTD methodology, he has founded Actioneer, a 1994 start-up specializing in productivity tools. 

In this Episode, Allan McKay and David Allen discuss the four steps to productivity according to the GTD System, and the tips for freeing up space -- for more creativity.

For more show notes, visit www.allanmckay.com/94/. 

 

Nikolai Lockertsen, a Norwegian Concept Artist, Matte Painter, Illustrator and Art Director, has worked on more than 30 features films, as well as many commercial and television projects. Some of his films include Trollhunter and Kon-Tiki. He has previously worked at studios like Gimpville, Filmkameratene and Storm Studios.

Nikolai is also a pioneer in iPad art: He does all of his artwork -- including concept designs for feature films -- on an iPad Pro using a painting app called Procreate. He posts his tutorials on www.artstudyonline.com.

In this Episode, Allan interviews Nikolai about the evolution of his career, paying dues as an artist, and how technology can revolutionize one’s approach to art. 

For more show notes, visit www.allanmckay.com/93/. 

 

Freddie Wong is a Director, CEO and a Co-Founder of RocketJump Studios, a YouTube channel that has gained nearly 8 million subscribers since its inception in April 2010. Named as one of Hollywood’s brightest stars by Forbes magazine, Freddie is the most subscribed video director on YouTube.

The channel’s flagship series Video Game High School now has over 50 million views. In 2013, the series was named the #1 Web Series by Variety magazine. Freddie has also successfully launched RocketJump Film School whose mission is to give a new generation of filmmakers the tools to share their stories.

In this interview, Freddie Wong talks about the history of RocketJump, the inception of Video Game High School, and shares his insight on great storytelling, low budgets and the most useful technology.

For more show notes, visit www.allanmckay.com/92/. 

Image Engine is a high-end visual effects studio based in Vancouver, BC, that specializes in creature design and animation for feature films and television. Founded in 1995, the studio has worked on films like District 9 and Chappie, Independence Day: Resurgence and Jurassic World; shows like X-Files and Game of Thrones (Seasons 5 and 6); and much more. In 2010, the company was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Visual Effects, for their work on District 9. 

In this Episode, Allan McKay moderates a round table with the Creature Supervisors at Image Engine. They discuss the company’s history, work flow and pipeline; and their commitment to furthering the art of visual storytelling.

For more show notes, visit www.allanmckay.com/91/. 

Patty Rangel is a Virtual and Mixed Reality artist, as well as a leader in hologram technology. An MFA graduate of CalArts, she has attended the GSP Program in Exponential Technologies at NASA’s Singularity University. She is also a featured Technologist / Futurist of the USC World Building Institute FRONTERA project.  

Some of Patty’s previous projects include: the Centennial Olympic Games, the Vancouver Olympic Games, the 2010 Shanghai World Expo and the Tupak Hologram at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival. Most recently, Patty has joined the Arena Stage in Washington, DC as the Artist in Residence.

In this Episode, Allan and Patty discuss the history of holographic technology, VR, MR, AI and other exponential technologies; as well as their application, multi-disciplinary usage and ethics.

For more show notes, visit www.allanmckay.com/90/. 

 

Scott Stokdyk is an Academy Award winning Visual Effects Supervisor. During his two decades of experience in visual effects, he has worked for big studios like Digital Domain and Sony Pictures ImageWorks. Some of the groundbreaking films on his resume are: Titanic, Contact, Starship Troopers, Hollow Man, Fifth Element and three of the Spider-Man movies. Scott’s work on Spider-Man 2 won him and his team an Academy Award for Best Achievement in Visual Effects.

Most recently, Scott worked as a Visual Effect Supervisor on Luc Besson’s Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets.

In this Episode, Allan interviews Scott about his experience working for big studios, on blockbuster films; what makes a successful artist or a dynamic VFX Supervisor -- and other lessons he’s learned along the way!

For more show notes, visit www.allanmckay.com/89/. 

In this Podcast, Allan McKay speaks to a live audience about his experience of starting out in visual effect -- and becoming a successful business! While answering his listeners' questions, Allan shares some badass tips on:

- Time management and productivity hacks.

- Breaking into the business.

- Secrets to a kickass reel.

- Networking, branding, marketing -- and other tools for becoming a successful business!

For more show notes, visit www.allanmckay.com/88/. 

 

Main Road Post is a visual effects production studio based in Moscow, Russia, since 2006. The studio has produced visual effects for many international films, including Wanted, Stalingrad, The Night Guard, Attraction. It has also worked on the Opening Ceremony for the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi.

A year ago, the company implemented Scrum, a team-based workflow that a lot of Silicon Valley companies use. In this Episode, Allan McKay talks with the CEO of Main Road Post Arman Yahin about the company’s history and films; as well as their philosophy on project and team management.

For more show notes, visit www.allanmckay.com/87/. 

In this Podcast, Allan McKay interviews Laura Vanderkam, the bestselling author of What the Most Successful People Do Before Breakfast, I Know How She Does It, 168 Hours and several others. A graduate of Princeton University, she worked as a journalist before becoming interested in the subject of productivity. Her writing has appeared in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Fortune and many other publications.

Allan and Laura discuss the subjects of time management, productivity, working from home; and tools for making your lifestyle more fulfilling -- and your work more efficient.

For more show notes, visit www.allanmckay.com/86/. 

In this Episode, Allan McKay interviews Philippe Leprince, Senior Field Engineer at Pixar Animation Studios. He currently works as an Engineer on the RenderMan Software. Philippe has a Lighting and CG background and has worked at Framestore and Double Negative, and many other big studios. Among his many credits are feature films like Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (Framestore); The Dark Knight and Inception (Double Negative). 

Allan and Philippe discuss the benefits of being a well-rounded artist, the importance of small details, tips for having a successful job interview and much more!

For more show notes, visit www.allanmckay.com/85/. 

Dennis Mejillones is a Senior Character Artist at Bethesda Game Studios. He is responsible for creating models for characters like Sole Survivor, Preston Garvey and most all the robots in Fallout 4. During the course of his career, he has also worked on Skyrim, Call of Duty: The First Modern Warfare, Borderlands, Shadows of Darkness. Independently, he created the characters of Undead Warrior and Sentry Bot.

In this Podcast, Allan and Dennis talk about mentors, the best mindset and skills for growing as an artist, the importance of fitness and much more!

For more show notes, visit www.allanmckay.com/84. 

In this Episode, Allan McKay interviews Catherine Sas, an Immigration Lawyer at Sas & Ing Immigration Law Center in Vancouver, BC, Canada. She is the leading immigration practitioner according to Lexpert, Who’s Who Legal and Best Lawyers in Canada. Catherine has been voted Vancouver’s Best Immigration Lawyer every year from 2012 through 2016.

In this Episode, Allan and Catherine discuss the procedures of applying for Canadian Work Permits, Study Permits, Visas, Permanent Residency; as well as the best route to pursue work in Vancouver, the current capital for visual effects.

 

For more show notes visit http://www.allanmckay.com/83/

Edwin Braun is the CEO and co-founder of Cebas Visual Technology, the developer of Thinking Particles for 3DS Max, as well as other plugins. Cebas’ software has been used in a number of influential films such as Lost in Space, 2012, Transformers: Age of Extinction, Harry Potter.

 In this Episode, Allan McKay talks with Edwin Braun about his co-founding the company with Achim Smailus in 1988, in Heidelberg, Germany; and the journey of Thinking Particles through the decades of change and the new demands of the VFX industry.

Check out the show notes at www.allanmckay.com/82/

In this Podcast, Allan McKay interviews Wirginia Romanowska, a VFX Lead for id Software. Wirginia's extensive experience as FX lead at id software on Doom, as well as working on many other major titles around the world. Wirginia shares many insights into her experience.

After graduating with a Masters Degree in Engineering from a university in her native Poland, Wirginia’s first job was working on the title sequence for Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End, at Eurocom in the U.K. She then moved to Singapore to work on Assassin’s Creed 3, at Ubisoft. Since joining the team at id Software she has worked on games like Doom, Far Cry 4, Watch Dogs.

In this Episode, Wirginia talks about her decade-long experience in visual effects, working abroad; and shares insider tips on successful demo reels and job interviews.

 

for show notes, visit http://www.allanmckay.com/81/

 

 

So one subject commonly coming up is all about hardware!

Inside of the FX TD Mentorship, Troy Buckley who's part of my team, helps out a lot of people building hardware specs and figuring out what hardware they should buy depending on if they need generalist work done, or simuatlions etc. So you have the ultimate bang for your buck.

Troy's originally a student of mine IN the FXTD Mentorship, but he's shown so much passion and care, and shared so much knowledge in there (like a lot of people) that bit by bit he's organically evolved into being someone I work with closely on a lot of ideas for extra things we can do inside of the course etc. and Helps me out a lot.

This episode dives into everything you need to know about hardware.

Missed something? Got something to add? Leave a comment

Show notes are at http://www.allanmckay.com/80/

 

 

This episode dives right into a subject that we all are probably guilty of not applying. Eyes glazed over during book consumption, clicking away on Facebook while watching tutorials, or playing around on our phone during lectures.

How do you watch, read, listen to information and absorb it, retain it, and apply it?

This episode is focused on a lot of core fundamentals Allan applies to his learning, as well as many well documented and proven approaches to keeping your core knowledge.

http://www.allanmckay.com/79/ for show notes

 

 

Jeff Okun is a Visual Effects Supervisor who has worked on wide-ranging effects in award winning films such as Blood Diamond, Stargate, Sphere, Red Planet, Deep Blue Sea, The Last Starfighter, and many more. His career spans for nearly four decades.

In addition, Jeff is Chair of the Visual Effects Society, a global community of visual effects artists and businesses. Jeff was fundamental in starting the VES 2.0 initiative which brought together studios, facilities and artists to explore new business models, pipelines and technologies. Jeff has also created and co-edited the VES Handbook of Visual Effects, a 980-page reference book covering all aspects of creating visual effects, techniques and practices.

for show notes visit http://www.allanmckay.com/78/

 

 

Episode 77 - Interview with Action VFX

NOTES

 

For complete show notes visit http://www.allanmckay.com/77/

 

ActionVFX (www.actionvfx.com) is a website that provides stock footage for visual effects, from smoke plumes to fire, from sparks to explosions. Before the company was launched in 2016, its CEO Rodolphe Pierre-Louis, along with Joe Camarata (Marketing Manager) and Luke Thompson (Operations Manager) conducted an extensive survey among visual effects artists, which determined the type of files the site would contain, and its content.

 

After only a year, ActionVFX’s footage has been used in television shows like Flash, Fear of the Walking Dead, Legends of Tomorrow, How to Get Away with Murder, Narcos, Series of Unfortunate Events; as well as in video games, music videos and the live Lady Gaga performance at this year’s Grammys.

 

In this Episode, Allan McKay interviews Rodolphe, Joe and Luke about the beginnings of ActionVFX, the challenges of starting a company, the strategies of fundraising and branding; as well as the experience of shooting actual pyrotechnics for their website.

Hi, everyone!

 

This is Allan McKay. Welcome to Episode 77. I’m speaking with the guys from ActionVFX (https://www.actionvfx.com). Talking about shooting live action, pyrotechnics, lots of cool stuff.

 

So, let’s dive in!

[-57:00] Hey! This is Allan. Just a quick thing to check out: www.vfxrates.com. This is a website that I created to solve a massive problem that we all have: What should we be charging? This is the giant mystery that we all have and most people feel very uncomfortable talking about is what we should charge as a freelance rate. And the worst part is when we go apply for a job, if we ask for too much, we risk alienating the employer and never getting that call back. Whereas we play it safe and ask too little, we not only get taken advantage of, but on top of that, we leave a lot of money on the table, which potentially over a span of a year, can add up to 10’s of thousands of dollars.

 

[-56:23] So this is chance for you to go to the website www.vfxrates.com. Put in bits of information, like your city, your experience, your discipline, software, little things that are important to figuring out what you should be charging as your base rate when you’re talking to an employer. This is based on a lot of research, but more importantly, it’s based on the braintrust of the industry experts from different fields that we’ve pulled together to collect a very accurate way to generate what you should be charging.

 

[-55:51] The best part is not just what you should be charging -- but what you could be charging by tweaking a few things:

• how you present yourself
• building a brand
• learning to negotiate better.

 

Also, there are factors like:

• building an irresistible reel
• learning to approach employers the correct way
• learning how to network.

 

I want to share all of this information for free! Go to www.vfxrates.com -- and find out what you should be charging for your hourly VFX rate.

[-55:22] This is going to be a really fun Episode. I’m speaking with guys from ActionVFX.  They have the coolest job in the world: shooting a lot of pyrotechnics and stock footage for use in visual effects. There is a huge difference between simulating stuff and actually doing it in real life! They actually do that for a living.

 

[-54:46] So I’m speaking with Rodolphe Pierre-Louis (Founder and CEO), as well as Joe Camarata (Marketing Manager) and Luke Thompson (Operations Manager). This is a fun Episode, talking about how you wake up one morning and decide to go shoot explosions all day long. At the same time, we speak about a lot of cool behind-the-scenes stuff.

 

[-54:11] Some other stuff. Yesterday was my birthday. Next week, we’re going to be opening the doors to the FXTD Mentorship. This is the first time I’m mentioning it. It’s been a year and half since the last registration. I’m revamping a lot of the stuff, technology, software. (We have some cool software deals for the students!)

 

[-53:22] It’s going to be a little different in terms of registration. When you apply, it doesn’t mean you’re going to get in. We’ll be reviewing your applications. There are limited spots. I want to make sure that this Mentorship is right for everybody. Only a select amount of people will make it in. I’m excited to try this out! All the students who make it through the Mentorship, they’re the ones who have the biggest results.

 

[-52:11] If you do want to check that out, there will be a link in the show notes. Go to www.allanmckay.com/77. Otherwise, if you want to get on the inside circle and want to get alerted early, go to www.allanmckay.com/inside.

 

[-51:26] Also, the ActionVFX guys are doing a pretty big promotion this month: You’ll be able to get 50% off all their products. So go to www.allanmckay.com/77 to get more information.

[-51:11] Allan: How would you describe ActionVFX?

 

Rodolphe: Basically, ActionVFX is the stock footage site for visual effects artists. The main vision that we had when we started [was that] we didn’t want to be a simple footage site (girls touching tall grass). But if you’re trying to blow something up, we’re your guys!

 

[-50:36] Allan: That’s awesome! I love that! I grew up in the 90s. Back then there was Pyromania and Artbeats. I always felt there was a lack of good content out there. Where are you based right now?

 

Rodolphe: We’re actually based in Johnson City, Tennessee.

 

Allan: I feel like these days you can be pretty much located anywhere. Are you originally from there?

 

Luke: I am. But these two guys aren’t.

 

Rodolphe: I’m originally from Haiti, actually. My family moved to Tennessee when I was 12. I went to college in Miami.

 

Joe: And I’m originally from Michigan. I moved here for school, then stuck around.

 

[-48:37] Allan: That’s awesome! Do you, guys, want to tell the story about how you got started? It sounds like you all knew each other. Were you sitting around and be like, “Let’s blow shit up for a living!”

 

Rodolphe: That doesn’t sound like a bad idea! The story got started in 2011. One summer during college, I started working with this new software called HitFilm. I thought I’d make tutorials for people. I started getting a following built up and realizing people really needed stock footage. If you had a more realistic element, you’d have a better result. I’ve always had an entrepreneurial spirit in me, so in October 2011, I released some gun effects. (If you compare it to what we do at ActionVFX now, it was pretty terrible. But it was enough to start with.)

 

[-46:42] As far as ActionVFX goes, the goal was always explosions. You have explosions -- you’re legit now. Easier said than done! The process actually started in May 2015. We started talking to some pyro-technicians (because we didn’t feel like killing ourselves on our first job). We were talking to some guys in Chicago. They did work for Chicago 5, Transformers 3. It was cool to get involved with them.

 

[-44:27] Allan: How was it, in terms of initially pulling the trigger, from the initial concept to making it official? Where there any hurdles?

 

Rodolphe: Oh yeah! Nothing in life is easy. After the Chicago shoot, looking at everything, you never get it right the first time. But that stuff was expensive (tens of thousands of dollars). After that, we thought about how to move forward. That’s when the two ideas that would change everything for us [happen]:

 

• The first was if we’re making a product -- and people want it -- why wouldn’t they help us make it?
• And the second idea was to create a whole website with stock footage. It would have everything people would need and it would be of great quality.

 

[-42:22] Allan: That’s really great! So you, guys, decided to do a Kickstarter campaign? I was so excited to back you. What was your experience like doing a crowdfunding?

 

Rodolphe: First, thank you for backing our project! The funny thing about Kickstarter was the second I had that idea my mind started working overtime to convince myself of how bad of an idea that was. It was screaming: “No! That’s too much work!”

 

Luke: I was extremely intimidated by it. Being a videographer, I was transitioning over into the VFX industry. I wondered if people would laugh us out of the room.

 

Rodolphe: I feel like if you’re doing a movie on Kickstarter, you have some reference. Creating a campaign for stock footage was so new! Either we would be the guys people would follow. Or, we’d be the lesson on what not to do. It was super intimidating.

 

[-39:40] Allan: Do you think having that pressure of social accountability made you see it through? It can be pretty powerful.

 

Luke: Especially after the Kickstarter was finished, we raised just a bit shy of 60 grand. There were people waiting for us to deliver an awesome product. It pushed us that much harder and that much further.

 

[-38:35] Allan: How was the reception of the whole thing?

 

Rodolphe: It was really good! Even right now, most of the feedback we get is really positive. The VFX community has been very supportive from the very beginning. We tried to survey as many compositors and filmmakers. That works a ton: Because instead of assuming how it’s going to go down, why not talk to the people who would actually be using [the footage]: What to shoot, what not to shoot, how to shoot it. Without that feedback, this wouldn’t have been positive.

 

[-37:09] Allan: It’s so much smarter to actually talk to the people who will be using your product rather than assuming it. That’s what makes a great product! When you made the initial Kickstarter video, what was your experience like building that?

 

Rodolphe: I’ve always really liked the idea of selling things and try to reverse engineer a product. The first thing for that video was to pick out [the right] words because every word is a weapon. Really scripting everything out: that the goals were clear, the good length (30 seconds). At the end of the day, we had to just go through it.

 

Luke: And something else that helped us too: At this point, we had our Chicago shoot. We had a lot of behind-the-scenes footage. That was the main driving factor for our campaign being so successful.

 

[-33:51] Allan: I completely agree! Having that level of quality changed everything. Talk about that initial shoot, with pyro-technicians in Chicago. What was it like?

 

Luke: Going into it made me feel more comfortable about the whole thing. It was definitely a huge learning experience for myself: Just figuring out how we work together.

 

Rodolphe: You never know what you don’t know -- until you know it. The biggest thing was that I learned from that shoot was: You can never plan enough! We thought we were so ready. We officially met the pyro-technicians that same day, and that was just not enough. There were misunderstandings and mistakes.

 

Allan: Can you give an example?

 

Luke: I guess scheduling was the biggest hurdle in Chicago. There was some wild miscommunication, so we had to extend all of our shooting days.

 

Rodolphe: The pyro-technicians were supposed to take care of our night shoots. But we had to stop early, maybe because of the noise. Instead of 8 hours of shooting, we ended up having just 4; then ended up cramming the next night. Even the look of the effect, we just assumed they would know [what we wanted]. When we got there, we had to re-explain what we really wanted. It wasn’t their fault. It was a learning experience.

 

[-28:19] Allan: And since there, you’ve been shooting purely in Chicago or Tennessee?

 

Rodolphe: Since then, we primarily shoot in Tennessee.

 

Allan: And what’s your experience like now? Are the laws different?

 

Luke: Definitely! There is a hundred more permits in Chicago! In Tennessee it’s pretty much like: “Hey, just don’t kill anybody!”

 

[-27:36] Allan: That’s really cool! What about now: Is there a lot of planning involved? What’s the process like? Is there a production sheet?

 

Luke: Even in Chicago, we were passing out these binders of production shots. [In Tennessee], it’s not that we plan any less, we just know what to plan more.

 

Rodolphe: Just going out and shooting without planning, that’s when you end up shooting something wrong. Before we do the FX side, [you have to shoot] it right: the right framing, the right angle, the right lense, the different cameras and backdrops. It’s just spending days before shooting to make sure every little detail is right, before we hit record.

 

[-25:18] Allan: Are there any memorable stories of some of your favorite shoots?

 

Luke: I think the smoothest was our gun effects. We actually shot in this giant field behind my parents’ house.

 

Rodolphe: It’s crazy how accessible it is! Getting permits for guns! That’s Tennessee for you!

 

Luke: We had some people bringing specific guns. I was providing some food for them, just as a courtesy. (We just started live streaming too!) I heated up a grill by this tent. Everyone was trying to get my attention, and I look over -- and our grill is on fire! The whole thing is engulfed in flames and a huge bush behind it, too! I was still on the live stream and I thought, “This is it!”

 

Rodolphe: And memorable on the bad side, after the Kickstarter, we did our main shoot. It was a week straight, below zero weather, 15-hour days. After we got through that week, I knew we would “win”. If we can get through that, we can get through anything. Things are sometimes a lot harder than you expect. Are you going to keep going and persevere?

 

[-21:45] Allan: What platforms do you typically live stream to?

 

Luke: That’s when Facebook Live was available through an app.

 

Allan: I just started screwing around with it. I’m still figuring it all out. It’s pretty amazing how much reach it has! What cameras do you usually shoot on? I’m guessing like Sony 7, just because you’re doing night shoots?

 

Rodolphe: It kind of varies. The first big shoot we did, we used the Red Epic Dragon which was really good. Then we also used a Sony FX7. We mostly use that when we need multiple cameras [at the same time], like for a structure fire collection. It was better to shoot different angles. We do try to go to Red most of the time. Some users do prefer to have more control over their footage.

 

[-18:49] Allan: You actually provide raw files?

 

Rodolphe: Yes.

 

Allan: That’s sweet! I didn’t know that! You should check out the new Helium that just came out. It’s got a really amazing light. But I shoot everything on Red. How many people do you typically bring to a shoot?

 

Rodolphe: It’s usually, I would say, there are two main teams. Anywhere from 7 to 10 people at a time, especially for the bigger shoots. For sparks and embers, we used maybe 4 people.

 

Allan: That’s cool! In terms of hardware -- I’m always going to nerd out about this stuff -- is there any specific gear you rely on?

 

Luke: I think it really depends on the shoot.

 

Rodolphe: I’m trying to think. Obviously, we love our computers here. We have custom-built computers here, which is awesome, to get all the rendering done!

 

Luke: We usually drag one of these to set, to look at the footage.

 

Allan: What about software?

 

Rodolphe: Most of the processing happens in After Effects. That’s where we do our main keying, native resolution. After Effects plays a huge part in that: dumping it all in there -- and gold comes out.

 

[-15:33] Allan: In terms of customers, what are some of the biggest projects you’ve seen in which your products were used?

 

Luke: We’ve had a lot of stuff in video games cinematics, music videos, features and stuff. Flash, Fear of the Walking Dead. What else did we do?

 

Joe: Things like Legends of Tomorrow, How to Get Away with Murder, Narcos, Series of Unfortunate Events. This past Grammys, they used some of our fire elements on stage during the Lady Gaga performance.

 

Rodolphe: It’s always such a cool feeling to see our stuff being used. The goal from the beginning was to create a product that was good enough. The other day, I was watching Blindspot, I remembered the shoot.

 

[-13:59] Allan: Have you ever experienced when someone used your stuff that you never in a million years imagined being used? Any weird or creative ways in which your elements were being used?

 

Rodolphe: There have been a few. Recently, we released this blood mist collection and we decided to create a little contest. It’s a free collection on our website. Some of those were pretty creative. Someone created some nice motion graphics with a blood mist.

 

Allan: Do you get a lot of feedback from customers for future stuff?

 

Luke: I talk to 5-10 people a day, [telling us] what they would like to see. That’s something that we love because we try to better ourselves and our product!

 

[-12:20] Allan: Are there any elements that you have coming up, that you can talk about?

 

Rodolphe: Luckily for you, Allan, we set aside some things we can talk about here. This is our Allan McKay Exclusive! Currently we are working on creating some mid-air explosions (aerial explosions), more blood effects. We had some cool meetings with VFX Legion. They suggested some different blood elements they’d like to see. [Also:] Flamethrowers!

 

Luke: Recently, they’ve become more accessible. We are talking to a few companies that make them available for public use (like de-icing your sidewalk). I am extremely excited about that. You’re welcome to come down [to Tennessee], to play with our flamethrowers.

 

[-10:17] Allan: I’d love to come down! There is a guy who works at Blizzard. He was going through [U.S.] Customs and told them, “I blow stuff up for a living!” That didn’t go down too well. Mental note! You mentioned some challenges before...

 

Rodolphe: We used to do them more regularly. The feedback was really good. We had a lot of submissions. People really like getting involved. We’re at the right size, as a company, and we can be down to earth.

 

[-08:03] Allan: I feel like there are no good water elements, all those things you could use for textures. Zombies are the flavor of the year. At some point, do you, guys, plan to cut a reel to show off how your stuff has been applied?

 

Rodolphe: Right now, ActionVFX is still less than a year old. We’re waiting to get enough clips from our customers. Depending on the contract, people have been pretty nice about sharing [their footage].

 

[-06:44] Allan: You also do a lot of training and tutorial on how to use your footage. I thought that was really cool!

 

Rodolphe: People really respond to that. We have been working on more. They’ll be coming out pretty soon.

 

Luke: With so many different methods in our industry, just having those on hand makes it more on hand.

 

[-05:29] Allan: Last thing: How did you, guys, come up with the name?

 

Rodolphe: Funny story! It was going to be either ActionVFX or Action Legacy. Those were the titles in the mix. For some reason, www.liveactionvfx.com was taken. We thought that was a weird name to be taken.

 

Allan: I even didn’t connect the dots until about 30 minutes ago. I thought, that would be a cool name for you guys. Damn, I’m an asshole!

 

Rodolphe: How we came up with the name was, we ended up with ActionVFX to give people an idea what we were about. We also wanted a name we could build a brand around. It’s kind of catchy. It was a good balance between being unique and easy to understand.

 

[-03:15] Allan: I find it interesting that people will build their name around which domain they can get. Do you want to mention your website?

 

Rodolphe: Sure. Definitely check us out at: www.actionvfx.com. We’ve got a tons of stuff in the library.

 

Luke: At there is a ton of free stuff to download right now.

 

Joe: Be sure to hop in right now because we have a 50% sale going on for the month of May. You don’t want to miss out on that!

 

Allan: This pretty much it!

 

Rodolphe: Thanks for having us on the show!

I’m going to leave it there. If you found it useful, please share this link around. If you want to leave an honest review, feel free to log into iTunes.

 

Thanks again to all the guys at ActionVFX. Go to www.allanmckay.com/77 to see show notes with links to their promos; or to get on my insider list.

 

Rock on!

QUOTES

 

“Just going out and shooting without planning, that’s when you end up shooting something wrong,” says Rodolphe Pierre-Louis, the Founder and CEO of ActionVFX (www.actionvfx.com). “You have to shoot it right: the right framing, the right angle, the right lenses, the different cameras and backdrops. It’s just spending days before shooting to make sure every little detail is right, before we hit record.” To hear more about Rodolphe’s experience on set, as well as with launching ActionVFX, listen to this Podcast with Allan McKay: www.allanmckay.com/77.

 

When it comes to launching a new company, fundraising, branding or shooting on location, the Founder of ActionVFX Rodolphe Pierre-Louis knows a thing or two: “Things are sometimes a lot harder than you expect. Are you going to keep going and persevere?” For more awesome insight, tune into Allan McKay’s Podcast with guys from ActionVFX! (www.allanmckay.com/77).

 

Andrew L. Schmidt is a Director of Trollhunter (DreamWorks Animation). With a 20-year experience in the industry, he has a long list of credits to his name: The Iron Giant, Monsters, Inc; Finding Nemo, The Incredibles, Ratatouille and many more. Andrew has worked at studios like Amblimation, DreamWorks, Warner Brothers and Pixar. Guillermo del Toro’s Trollhunters is his first directing credit.

 

For complete show notes visit http://www.allanmckay.com/76/

 

Andrew L. Schmidt on IMDB: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm2112570/?ref_=fn_al_nm_1

Trollhunters on IMDb: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1734135/

Andrew’s talk at IAMAG Master Class: https://vimeo.com/ondemand/iamagmasterclasses17/

Andrew Schmidt quoted in the New Yorker’s article The Fun House: Life at Pixar: http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2011/05/16/the-fun-factory

 

Episode 76 - Interview with Andrew L. Schmidt

NOTES

 

 

[-1:21:11] Hey! This is Allan. Just a quick thing to check out: www.vfxrates.com. This is a website that I created to solve a massive problem that we all have: What should we be charging? This is the giant mystery that we all have and most people feel very uncomfortable talking about is what we should charge as a freelance rate. And the worst part is when we go apply for a job and if we ask for too much, we risk alienating the employer and never getting that call back. Whereas we play it safe and ask too little, we not only get taken advantage of, but on top of that, we leave a lot of money on the table, which potentially over a span of a few years, can add up to 10’s of thousands of dollars.

 

[-1:20:32] So this is chance for you to go to the website www.vfxrates.com. Put in bits of information, like your city, your experience, your discipline, software, little things that are important, to figuring out what you should be charging as your base rate when you’re talking to an employer. This is based on a lot of experience, but more importantly, it’s based on the braintrust of the industry experts from different fields that we’ve pulled together to collect a very accurate way to generate what you should be charging.

 

[-1:20:00] The best part is not just what you should be charging -- but what you could be charging by tweaking a few things: how you present yourself, building a brand, learning to negotiate better. Also, there are factors like building an irresistible reel, learning to approach employers the correct way; learning how to network. I want to share all of this information for free! Go to www.vfxrates.com -- and find out what you should be charging for your hourly VFX rate.

 

[-1:19:31] Alright, welcome to a brand new Episode. It is with Andrew Schmidt who is a good buddy of mine. I’ve known him for three years. We met at the very first IAMAG Master Class in Paris. Andrew is a super great guy. I was really excited to do this because Andrew has a vast amount of experience within the industry at DreamWorks, [also at] Pixar for quite some years. Before that he worked on projects like one of my favorite movies The Iron Giant, Prince of Egypt. What I’ve loved is that each year that I’ve attended the IAMAG Master Class, Andrew’s talks have been some of my favorite because they have so much more substance. Usually, they take you on a bit of a journey through his career, his insights, but more importantly, a lot of the life lessons he’s learned on his journey. I thought it would be really great to talk to him because not only is he able to talk about his humble beginnings and how he got started but also about some of the transitions he’s experienced recently.

 

[-1:18:03] In case I haven’t mentioned it yet, he is one of the directors of Guillermo del Toro’s Trollhunters for DreamWorks Animation. He’s also worked on some of the amazing classics that we all love like The Incredibles, Finding Nemo; Monsters, Inc.,; Up and on, and on, and on. We also talked about Family Guy because he contributed to its Season 1. We talk about a lot of stuff. I knew this would be a killer!

 

[-1:17:29] One thing that I will mention is that the audio quality on this Episode isn’t the greatest, and I apologize for that. However, what I recommend to you is to not focus of the level of quality of the audio -- but focus on the level of quality of the content! I always take pride in having great quality to my Episodes.

 

[-1:16:53] If you enjoy this talk, I believe you can get Andrew’s IAMAG Master Class talk. I’ll leave a link if you want to access that. I think it’s $10. And of course, in the show notes, you can find more information about him: www.allanmckay.com/76.

 

[-1:16:31] Allan: Do you want to give a bit of a background, how you found your passion for animation?

 

Andrew: Yeah. I am not one of those people who watched cartoons thinking that’s what I want to do. I never studied it in school. My interest was in film and adventures: Frankenstein, Dracula. I wanted to get into visual effects. And that lead to a small college in Michigan. I didn’t do well academically in the beginning. And that lead to taking some art classes. That was in my late teens, early 20s. They had a fine arts program there, so I studied fine arts. I started taking film classes, matte painting and things like that. Touched on some animation. That was just the beginning.

 

I had a dear friend who had gone abroad. She was traveling in Scotland and came across a 2D studio which was starting called Amblimation, which was a Steven Spielberg studio. So I finished college with a visual arts degree. I did construction for a year. Then Jamie Bolio called saying, “Hey, I’m in London. I’m working at a studio here and I’m looking for people.” So I sent in my live drawing portfolio. So I packed two suitcases and moved to London and started working at A Amblimation.

 

[-1:13:29] That studio folded into DreamWorks. A bunch of people moved to LA and formed DreamWorks. That’s how I ended up in Los Angeles, back in ’96.

 

[-1:13:14] Allan: I’ve been doing a little of bit of 3D. I think I started doing my first big project in ’96. Such a long time ago! I love that. You were okay at Amblimation. That’s where a lot of the animators came from [at DreamWorks]. I’m just kind of curious, what’s the hierarchy like when it comes to in-betweeners and key framers? Back then, if you were more of an in-betweener, how many key framers were typically in the studio? Because typically, these days, a lot of them get outsourced.

 

Andrew: Yeah. There was typically a team for a character and a supervisor. So there was a supervising animator and several other animators. They handled the bulk of the work. I don’t know, maybe [there were] 5-6 in-betweeners.

 

[-1:11:31] Allan: Initially, for you to supply your live drawing portfolio, was it pretty easy to get your foot in the door that way? Or was it more luck? Let’s say for anyone else who was applying, what were the key things that got you in? Obviously, talent would be one of them.

 

Andrew: I think it’s a little bit of everything. It’s not going to be one thing. My live drawing portfolio was pretty strong. Also, this was at the time there some films [were doing really well]. So they were really looking for people from all over. So there was the luck of that. Then there was me, on top of being prepared, being persistent. And then there was knowing someone in the studio. He could say, “I know this guy. He’s pretty good.” So there were few different things.

 

[-1:10:05] Allan: And I think that you had a plan. Half the time, it comes down to that. Especially in animation! Especially back when things were booming. Getting some mainstream feature animation, with key players like Disney producing all the content. You never did any short films early on in your career, did you?

 

Andrew: No. I admire people who have done that. But I didn’t. I don’t know why. I’ve been in the industry and working non-stop soon after I got in.

 

[-1:09:16] Allan: That’s a good problem to have! What is your opinion: Do you think it’s a good idea for those starting a career to look into doing short films, as a way to build [it]? So not necessarily for the sake of passion but more because this is something that would help establish them?

 

Andrew: In my personal opinion, I think so, yes. I don’t know what Pixar’s hiring practices are now. I can talk about what they used to be. That’s what impresses me now: You have to show them some professional work or student work that’s quite strong. The level of dedication that it takes to do that -- it’s really impressive.

 

[-1:08:08] Allan: I think you’re right. From the hiring standpoint, it shows that they’re able to go through an entire production, wear many hats, and figure out what their strengths are. I definitely gives complete transparency about who they are and what they can do.

 

Andrew: You can even tell if they’re a strong storyteller.

 

[-1:07:23] Allan: Cool! This is such an open-ended question: What do you think the industry is like these days, compared to back then? What are some of the big difference you found, how much digital animation has changed from ’95 (which is Toy Story and that was a big establishment). Obviously, it’s boomed so much and changed so much over the years. How do you think it compares to now?

 

Andrew: Some of the talent now is incredible! Just at a student reel level, it’s amazing how [talented] some people are! But that’s a good question. I was a junior artist back then.

 

[-1:06:30] Allan: I’ll say this, you’re right. You go to CG Talk or Art Station a few years ago and the stuff that people are putting out there as a student reel is depressing for me. It’s just like, “Holy crap!” When we were starting out, we would have, like, POV-Ray and these really crappy, difficult to use programs. These days, you can open the package and get the feel for it pretty quickly. Back then, you’d have to render something just to see what it would look like.

 

Animation, in my opinion, is such an oversaturated industry. And because of that, when you’re applying for work, you’re going to have to find some ways to stand out. Otherwise, you’re going to get lost in the noise of so many talented people. Earlier on, it was quite difficult to find where there was work. Obviously, now there is quite a lot of work. So that’s the advantage.

 

Andrew: Yeah. I think you make a really good point. There are some drastic changes. Nowadays, just a demo could look fantastic.

 

[-1:04:58] Allan: Touching on that subject, are there any major misconceptions that people have in their head. Like using the software packages that are the best and if you are not using those, you’re not going to do as well. Or, you have to go to school to get a job in the industry. Whatever kind of BS that people typically think is the way, and it’s completely opposite.

 

Andrew: It’s the person behind the camera who’s getting the shot. Obviously, they use some tools to get the shot.

 

[-1:04:08] Allan: There is a pretty famous story about Stephen King doing a Q&A after a presentation. Someone raised their hand and asked, “What pen do you write with?” Do you have any advice for people starting out? Ways to make themselves stand out?

 

Andrew: I think there is something to be said -- one of the things that I’ve discovered while at Pixar -- is finding your strength and building your reel with that strength: to a certain type of acting, or action shots, things like that. Back at Pixar, people had the breadth of knowledge and experience I haven’t had. You just need to have a talent. You need to be good at something. You need to keep finding your weaknesses and try to strengthen [in those areas].

 

I didn’t understand a lot about storytelling, so I took a course: about writing and building a scene. My art background was in fine arts. Then I started doing animation which is illustration. I didn’t know anything about illustration, so I took some courses to fill in those gaps. I think that’s something that you can do. You don’t need to be a jack of all trades. But if you’re trying to build a career, you’re going to need a lot of bricks.

 

[-1:01:31] Allan: I think that’s a very valuable advice. Lately, it’s been coming up a lot. I’m going to segue to a Tony Robbins’ conversation I heard the other day about growth and reciprocity; self growing and giving back. A lot of people learn a lot and they switch off: I’ve got my bag of tricks. And that’s where they stay. The ones who actually succeed, go through this ping-pong effect of growing then giving back [through] teaching ([which] is a form of processing information). Then growing again. If you keep looking for the next level, you stay hungry.

 

Andrew: I was thinking about the Michael Caine book. He talked about it. What we do as artists, we’re in a community, collecting things from other artists. But it’s a community. A community is not about taking things from other people. There is certain amount of sharing you need to do as well.

 

[-59:40] Allan: Absolutely! Looking at surrounding areas, I came up with a slightly tacky term: Your Trifecta. In other words, the three areas that compliment what you do the closest. If you do animation, you might want to look into comedy writing, acting, other areas. That’s exactly it. With effects, we say it’s scripting, lighting and compositing.

 

Andrew: Maybe life drawing to understand motion.

 

Allan: I even feel that with your career, it’s better to be at the bottom of the barrel. You have buddies who pump you up and tell you how great you are. I’d rather people around people who push me up.

 

Andrew: That’s what it’s about. There is a certain glass ceiling. The people are great, the projects are great. I just felt like I need to be out there. You’re not going to grow if you don’t push against your comfort zone. Sometimes, you just need to take a beating, figure out what you did wrong and not repeat the mistakes. You are not going to grow unless you get out there.

 

[-56:25] Allan: I was watching one of Anthony Buordain’s shows. He was back in San Francisco because he was finishing his Jiu-Jitsu training. Or it was BJJ. He decided to do a few episodes in that area. For you, you just decided you wanted to try boxing? How did that come about to be? I think it’s really important for you to have an inkling for something different.

 

Andrew: I’ve done martial arts throughout my life. I was a big Bruce Lee fan. A lot of that was from sitting at the computer a lot of the time. It was about this complacency in life and my career. I didn’t want to [hit fifty] and be out of shape. I’m not quite sure what drew me to boxing. I guess I’ve always been interested in it, but didn’t have the balls to go out and do it. I found a club that wasn’t hardcore. I didn’t want to take too many blows to my head. But part of that was about fear and facing that fear. And how I feel after I come out facing something I don’t enjoy to do. And after a while, the tension of fear goes away and you begin to enjoy yourself. You push yourself in ways you didn’t expect.

 

[-53:31] Allan: Were there any differences you’ve noticed like clarity of thinking or feeling more pushed at work, more energy?

 

Andrew: Well, I mean, I definitely got in shape. But there is also this mentality of this energy you get. You feel like you’ve accomplished something. Maybe it’s an ego thing. Things that bothered me, that worried me, why not just do it. It shuts down the voice in my head: “You can’t do that. You’ll never be good at that.” It’s easy to listen to that voice. Nothing bad is going to happen. It’s not that “nothing bad is going to happen”. Nothing is going to happen! That’s not a way to live a life.

 

[-52:00] Allan: I guess it’s a psychological wall that artists and entrepreneurs must face. You’re the one taking risks. Psychologically, you’re trained to stay with what’s safe. Anytime a great opportunity comes up, you might be excited but bit by bit you start convincing yourself to stay safe. Everyone I consider successful, every time I ask if there was a place of risk, when everything in your life starts changing -- everyone gets a smile on their face because they can relate to that. For you, were there any massive breaks, where you struggled a bit but then grew into a new place.

 

Andrew: Pixar definitely! It was heaven. It’s a great place to learn and explore and it’s very safe. I learned so much there. And I have friends there and I miss them! But then I was getting hungry. I think complacency is death to an artist. I was missing feeling challenged. I felt like a had a certain level of skills and I really wanted to put them to work. I was lucky that I didn’t have kids, so I wasn’t restricted financially. Someone gave me a really great advice: You need to find a pull, something that’s going to get you to the other side, not just a push.

 

That’s where luck stepped in. Rodrigo Blaas who’s been at Pixar for quite a while. He did a short film called Alma about a little girl and a doll short. Because of that film, Rodrigo got contacted by [Guillermo] del Toro. [Then] he asked me to go work with him. We jumped at the opportunity. He left Pixar to go to DreamWorks. That was my pull: It was my chance to work on something edgy, different stuff than what Pixar does. And I had a chance to direct! They were putting faith in me. I’ve directed some commercials. There was a chance I could’ve failed, but I couldn’t pass it up. I left a very high paying job with bonuses. I took a pretty hefty pay cut, just to move in Los Angeles. But I found the work much more fulfilling, much more challenging.

 

[-45:58] Allan: What was going through your mind at that time? I imagine it was pretty emotional.

 

Andrew: Something like, “WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING?!” Something like that.

 

Allan: Yeah. There is no undo button for decisions like that. Was there a moment you decided it was the right move?

 

Andrew: That was part of the thing that made make the move: I never had any doubt! I had some apprehension, I had some doubt. There was some nervousness about it. It was going to be a great project.

 

[-45:13] Allan: We’ll talk about DreamWorks in a moment. But I’d love to talk about some of the previous projects you’ve done. Prior to Pixar, you worked on Iron Giant. That was a classic and an important film.

 

Andrew: I finished Prince of Egypt and I was preparing to work on The Road to El Dorado. There was some, I don’t know, some resistance. I thought I had a decent reel. But a friend who was working on Iron Giant called me up, “Hey, man. You want to do this film?” I got a chance to become an animator. That was another chance for me to work on something that really pushed me. I was able to get some good scenes to animate and make some good connections.

 

[-42:25] Allan: I have to say, I had no idea you worked on Family Guy. What was that experience like?

 

Andrew: It was bizarre and I enjoyed it too! The first season was interesting. At the time, the animation was getting sent to Korea to get animated. I’m guessing it’s easier at this time. It was fun.

 

[-41:28] Allan: Going on to Pixar, it’s a pretty monumental part of anyone’s work history. What was it like when you initially approached them? Because they’ve just finished Toy Story. Monsters, Inc was their next project, right?

 

Andrew: It’s so long ago, I’m trying to place it. I think Monsters, Inc was their third film, that’s when I came on. Also because I worked with Brad, he knew my work. I had my third rejection letter then I got a call from Brett Varon I sent some of my stuff. One thing I’ve learned sometimes “no” from a studio doesn’t mean “no”. The door is not open right now, but keep trying. I knocked again and this time the door opened. I didn’t have any CG experience. [In] Prince of Egypt, I has some. I went through a 10-week training program. It took me about three years to feel good about CG.

 

[-38:44] Allan: Yeah, what was it like for you to go from not having any CG experience at all to going into a whole new world? Once you learn one or two packages, you know all of them. For you, how intimidating was it?

 

Andrew: It was confidence shaking. I mean, I really felt I was going to be fired. Pixar has a different mentality than any different studio. It just shakes your skill when you feel like your skills have reached a certain level but then there is a whole new skill. “I know I can do better than this! How do I do that?” But everyone else is struggling, also going through the same thing.

 

[-37:04] Allan: And you said it took you three years to feel like you got it?

 

Andrew: Yeah.

 

Allan: During that time, was there a lot of friction?

 

Andrew: I had many, many days of frustration.

 

[-36:23] Allan: I think that’s such a critical thing when you get those rejection letters, no doesn’t mean you aren’t good enough. It means keep trying. For me, it means that I just need to keep getting better. Even when I had that persistence, there were times I was going to give up. If anything, it’s an endurance test for this industry. Because if you’re going to quit --  you’re just not right for this industry. This is a career, it’s not a job.

 

Andrew: You’re looking to build and grow and that takes persistence. The first thing that hits you is: “I’m not good enough. They don’t want me.” It brings up all that doubt. Sometimes it helps if the studio gives you some advice. Pixar used to do that.

 

[-34:08] Allan: That’s a good point. Were there any mentors that you’ve had around you? I feel that you can still get so much from those relationships. Are there people you look to for inspiration.

 

Andrew: Oh, yeah! Kristof Serrand, early on. Trying animation, I remember I’d bring some work and he’d just flip through it and throw it into the trashcan. It was painful. He was just being honest: You can do better. He didn’t just dismiss me. He gave me pointers.

 

[-32:30] Allan: One thing you mentioned is working abroad. You’re so well traveled. I think it’s a critical thing. It recalibrates you. What’s your opinion? How impactful is it on artists to travel and work in other cultures / countries?

 

Andrew: I think it’s vital. It’s vital for human beings to learn about cultures and stories. When I went to Amblimation, it was multi-cultured. People of different nationalities and it was an eye opening experience. You learn how different everybody is, but how everyone is pretty much the same. We have the same motivations and desires. We realize we can relate to each other. We can learn to communicate better. Communication is what we do. We communicate an idea to put it on the screen.

 

[-29:12] Allan: I think working in countries where your native language isn’t spoken, you learn how to communicate. You’ve got to start how you can say something and how it can be misunderstood. It alienates you and adapt. You grow as a human being.

 

Andrew:  You’re enriching yourself.

 

[-27:53] Allan: We’ve both read Creativity, Inc. It was a fascinating book to read. That did get me excited to learn more about the culture of Pixar. I remember Digital Domain let of a thousand people after Titanic was done in 1996. It reinforces the mentality that this is a service-based industry. You are supplying a service. Pixar is one the most profitable companies on the planet and they’re making their own content. ILM was a service providing industry. With you, guys, having that more family oriented mindset is really great. And that also means that every time the project is over, you don’t lose what you’ve learned when the new team gets built. It’s frustrating because you have to learn the same mistakes over and over and over.

 

Andrew: Yeah, when you work with people for a long time, you learn their strengths, you learn their weaknesses, where they need to grow, where they see you can grow. There is something about it that’s more efficient. I think it makes for better storytelling to keep people longer.

 

[-25:39] Allan: What do you think were some of the things you took from one of the leading animation studios in the world? Were there a lot of things that carved out who you are? I love the story of the braintrust. You’ve got a director but you also have a support team that isn’t going to tread on your toes; but they’re there to help your vision be as strong as you can be. What was some of the stuff you took after that experience?

 

Andrew: Ah, well, a lot of memories, of course, and friendships. Stayed in touch with a lot of people. Trollhunters is getting a lot of attention for its visual quality because it’s a tv show. A lot of that comes from Rodrigo and myself. He’s the showrunner and has done a lot of the shots. He wants to get good quality up there, not sell ourselves short. I can’t stand that “It’s good enough” mentality. I learned about getting good people around you, good team, and getting out of their way and allowing them to do what they do best. And giving them that support. You get a lot of friction jobs where people try to stop you from doing your best. Sometimes, the nature of production interferes with people getting stuff done. Pixar was about removing those roadblocks, so that creative people could do what they really do best.

 

Allan: Take pride in their work.

 

Andrew: Take pride in their work, and go the extra mile to get the ownership of what they are doing.

 

[-22:36] Allan: That’s always been my philosophy. Once the project is done, you can’t change it. Even for the crappiest tv commercials I’ve done, I’ll see stuff and be like, “Oh! They used the wrong element in comp!” Or they decided that would do. And I’ve gone through a phase too. It’s only in the last six years that I’ve gotten the passion back. Once it’s up there, you can never go back. It’s part of history. Especially, when it’s a project that’s going to affect people.

 

Andrew: It’s better when people care about what they’re doing. When they care, they put extra effort into it. I would get myself to care about it.

 

[-20:40] Allan: With Trollhunters, you’ve been tied to that project for a while. I like the fact that whenever we’ve hung out, things have changed drastically every time. Three years ago, you were at Pixar but thinking about other options. The next time, you were working at DreamWorks. For you now, having spent two years on the project, how do you feel now? What are some of the challenges you’re going through?

 

Andrew: It’s been great! I’ve learned so much! Yeah, constantly learning. I find that I am challenged. I get to use a lot of the skills that I’ve developed in writing, acting, animation, storytelling. I’ve never been admittedly a great decision maker. As a director, you’ve got no choice. You have to make decisions and there is a hundred of them. You have to get rid of the fear that you would be making a wrong choice, because chances are, you will. You have to learn to live with it, learn from it, correct it or let it go. It’s been a great learning process for me. I don’t work directly with Guillermo, he comes through and gives me some notes occasionally. I learn from my friend Rodrigo about camera, staging, composition. I view it as a chance to go to a directing school.

 

[-17:48] Allan: Why go to a directing school, if you can learn on the job? That’s great. With your team, what is it like having such a fresh new team of people to work on something as ambitious as this? Again, it’s Netflix.

 

Andrew: It’s been a great experience. There is a certain excitement about the project. So people are pushing themselves to come up with great ideas. I like to keep those channels open. I work really closely with my editor Graham Fisher. From the beginning, I didn’t think I knew what the process would be like. I’ve established the grammar for it from DreamWorks. It’s not a dictatorship. It’s a team effort. And I think it makes the project more fun because everyone is in on it. It’s a small team, really. We have a small director team. But it’s not a huge crew, so everyone is involved in everything.

 

[-15:29] Allan: Yeah, I like that. When you have small teams, nothing gets lost in conversation. You’re in constant communication.

 

Andrew: And you can chat with someone quickly.

 

Allan: What are some of the challenges on a project like this?

 

Andrew: For me, it was switching from features, with big budgets, to tv which has much smaller budgets. And much more demanding schedule. And not just for one episode. When you finish one episode, there is another one after that. So you can’t get bogged down. It will throw the whole thing off. You’re juggling six or seven episodes at a time: reviewing the script, script analysis, getting ready to shoot it, reviewing animation. You’re jam-packed back to back and trying to make decisions that are smart but also economical.

 

[-13:39] Allan: I see Ron Perlman is doing a voice for one of the characters. That doesn’t surprise me at all. How well has it been received so far? The first season has been out for while.

 

Andrew: It’s been received well. Netflix doesn’t have numbers. They just have a general idea. Twitter has been exploding. The IMDb reviews have been great.

 

[-12:49] Allan: Who are all the directors besides yourself?

 

Andrew: Elaine Bogan, Rodrigo Blaas, Johane Matte.

 

Allan: In general what’s coming for you? Obviously, you’re going to be speaking in Paris pretty soon. What other stuff do you have coming up, other than getting into street fights and starting your own Fightclub.

 

Andrew: Don’t talk about Fightclub. That’s rule number one. We are buried in season two for Trollhunters. Definitely looking forward to Paris!

 

[-12:02] Allan: What’s your talk going to be on? Your first talk was on deconstructing a lot of great performances. I found that to be really original. The last talk was relaxed. But I loved that you could talk about your experience at Brick Lane, Pixar, then throw in some Bruce Lee in there as well. Everything you had to say was so relevant.

 

Andrew: This year will be on experience as a first-time director. Just that transition from my comfort zone to being very uncomfortable, learning lessons the hard way. A lot of the stuff I’ve talked about here.

 

[-10:17] Allan: I’m really looking forward to catching up. I think your talk is going to be amazing.

 

Andrew: I hope I can see [your talk]. We have to leave Sunday. That’s the other problem with working on television: getting time off.

 

[-8:41] Allan: I’m excited just because there are so many awesome people coming this year. Neil Blevins will be there. He’s bringing Kat [Evans]. I’ve been wanting to have her on the Podcast. She’s such a ballbuster. She’s in a male dominated industry but doesn’t take crap. And she’s really opinionated, so I think she’d have so much to say. Ryan Church, Dan Roarty, Mike Blum, Ash Thorp. Just in general, this time is going to be great! I’m psyched. I’m hoping to still be in LA, at least once a month. I want to drop by DreamWorks, when I do I’ll let you know I’m in the building.

 

Andrew: Please do.

 

Allan: I’ll see you in a few weeks. The audio is a bit iffy, but I’ll try to make it work. Do you have a personal website?

 

Andrew: I do not. It’s another thing I’ve got to do a bit: Do a bit of self-promotion.

 

[-5:11] Allan: I’m curious, is that something you want to do, establish your presence as a director?

 

Andrew: I think so.

 

Allan: It’s a critical part. I’d be happy to help any way that I can.

 

That is it. Again, I apologize for the audio quality but I hope you were still able to pull some diamonds in the rough from this Episode. I want to thank Andrew again. I personally found this talk to be really inspiring.

 

If you want information on Andrew’s links or the talk he gave at IAMAG Master Class, go to www.allanmckay.com/76.

 

I’ll have another Episode coming out next week. I’ll leave it to be a surprise. Also, I’ve started doing a lot of Facebook streams. I do a lot of career intensives online, but these are more off-the-cuff. So, to be a part of that, you need to follow my public Facebook page. I’ll leave a link for that as well.

 

I’ll be back with a new Episode next week. Until then -- rock on!

On this Podcast, Allan McKay interviews Jason Scheier, a Conceptual Illustrator who has worked with a number of studios including DreamWorks Animation, Warner Brothers Feature Animation and Walt Disney Imagineering. His projects include Kung Fu Panda, Rise of the Guardians, The Croods, Battlefield 4 and many others.

A graduate of CalState, Fullerton, Jason has also studied media arts and animation at the Art Institute of California and entertainment design at the Art Center College of Design. He brings his strong instincts for design, composition, color, and lighting and his experience in cinematography to his passion for virtual environment creation.

He has also taught at the Art Center College of Design, Brainstorm School, Concept Design Academy, Laguna College of Art and Design, and Computer Graphics Masters Academy.

 

For full show notes visit http://www.allanmckay.com/75/

In this Episode, Allan McKay interviews Joaquin Baldwin, a CG Layout Supervisor for the Walt Disney Animation Studios, as well as a photographer and animator (www.joaquinbaldwin.com/). Joaquin has been working for Disney since 2010 where he’s been a part of films like Zootopia, Moana, Frozen, Wreck-It Ralph and many more.

Joaquin’s short animated short films Sebastian’s Voodoo and Papiroflexia have earned him over 100 awards in festivals such as Cannes, Student Academy Awards, USA Film Festival, Cinanima. Joaquin holds a Masters in Animation from UCLA.

Complete shownotes can be found at http://www.allanmckay.com/74/

Pixologic are the developers of Emmy award winning Z-Brush, the industry standard for sculpting and surfacing in 3D.

Throughout this episode Allan talks with Paul Gaboury and Sol Blair about some recent announcements from Pixologic, as well as much of the in-depth history of Z-Brush and the CG industry.

Loads of great insights and core knowledge shared, as well as lots of great laughs!

 

For in-depth notes check out http://www.allanmckay.com/73/

 

 

Allan McKay interviews Mike Blum, an Emmy-nominated director who has won awards as a director, writer and producer. Prior to opening his boutique animation studio Pipsqueak Films, Mike worked as an executive and a supervisor at Walt Disney Feature Animation for over a decade. His Disney animation credits include Chicken Little, Lilo & Stitch, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, and many more.

Mike’s current studio Pipsqueak Films has completed animation projects for clients like Comedy Central, Netflix, DreamWorks TV, MTV and others. Mike is currently in development on his original series Enko the Eskimo which he sold to Cartoon Network. At the same time, he is directing and Executive Producing the animated series Super Slackers with David Silverman (The Simpsons). He also runs a live-action production company, Blumayan Films and as well as Our Next 4 Years, a volunteer organization staffed by over 250 animation professionals that create animated PSA’s countering the regressive policies of the current administration.

In this Episode, Allan and Mike talk about artistic paths, pitfalls and challenges in the industry, as well as what it takes to be a successful artist.

Mike Blum’s IMDb Page: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0089692/

Pipsqueak Films: http://www.pipsqueakfilms.com

Our Next 4 Years: www.ournext4years.org

Check out the full show notes at http://www.allanmckay.com/72/

Some of us make the mistake of thinking we can just 'go it alone' and not need guidance from others. This episode we break down the importance of mentors, but also how to find them. In addition, going beyond this and starting to target mentors in many parts of our life and career, building a braintrust to help as stay motivated, and give key advice, as well as help us see when we're F!@#'ing up and maybe don't even know it..

 

Check out the in-depth show notes @ http://www.allanmckay.com/71/

Also check out the December Live Action FX challenge at www.allanmckay.com/challenge/

 

Episode 70 - Ash Thorp Interview

Ash has worked on graphics for Ender’s Game and Total Recall, as well as contributed to the design concepts for Spectre, Prometheus, X-Men First Class, Call of Duty and others. His first directorial debut started with the assembly of an international team for his Ghost in the Shell tribute, as well as the main title for OFFF Barcelona 2014. In 2015, he was requested to assemble an international team of designers and create the title sequence for FITC Tokyo. Later that year, Ash co-directed “Ares -- Our Greatest Adventure”, a promotional trailer for the feature film The Martian.

Lost Boy: https://vimeo.com/188650521

Ash Thorp’s Website: http://ashthorp.com/info

Ash Thorp’s IMDb Page: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm4500808/

Ash Thorp’s Company Learn Squared, Inc.: https://www.learnsquared.com/

Andre Cantarel is a LA based CG Supervisor originally from Germany, he's worked on films such as 2012, Whitehouse Down, Independence Day Resurgence and dozens of others.

He has a ridiculous attention to detail in his work, and it shows on everything he touches. This episode discusses everything from Andre's work history, to behind the scenes on many of the projects he's worked on, his early career as well as personal projects and health. In general this episode has been a great insight into what's involved to pull off some of the biggest visual effect film projects.

Check out the show notes at http://www.allanmckay.com/69/

 

This episode dives deep into the topic of pricing and going after what you're worth. This is actually a snippet of a live webinar with the FX TD Mentorship which we touched briefly on the subject of pricing. This conversation started as a question proposed "How much money could I expect to make in Los Angeles?" and grew into a much bigger topic about pricing and getting what you're worth.

This episode was not intentionally made for release to the public and covers a lot of subjects no holds barred. Check it out and share this around with those who you think will benefit from this episode!

Check out the show notes at http://www.allanmckay.com/68/

Don't forget to also sign up for the live career intensive December 7th! Where we will hold a live webinar and go over many core subjects as well as talk live with Allan McKay about many career related material that will push our careers into overdrive as we prepare for 2017!

An overview of the process to safely switch careers down the road. Some of us are in careers that we aren't 100% satisfied and want to make the change over to a creative industry. However there is so much risk that we face that it's almost a gamble this late in our career. This episode we delve into the process and thoughts behind how to build a plan around switching successfully from your current career path to your dream job!

 

Check out the shownotes at http://www.allanmckay.com/67/

While speaking at the It's Art Masterclass 2016 event in Paris, we teamed together to enjoy some beer and talk VFX for this episodes podcast.

This episode dives into many subjects from what we look for when hiring or building teams for projects, what it takes to work at big studios, lots of great insights into getting work and being a better artist, as well as workflow, process and what our electricity bills tend to look like when boasting a render-farm!

Mark Theriault is an FX Lead at Image Engine in Vancouver, previously working for studios such as Industrial Light + Magic, Dreamworks, Blur Studio, Frantic Films/Prime Focus and many others. He has an extensive background in VFX working on films such as Star Wars, Deadpool, Independence Day: Resurgence, Avengers and many others.

Anselm Seherr-Thoss (Ansi) is a VFX Supervisor located in New Orleans, Louisiana. He's worked for studios such as Blur Studio, Frantic Films/Prime Focus, Atomic Fiction, Pixomondo and many other studios around the US and Europe. Some of the projects Ansi has worked on include Quantico, NCIS: New Orleans, Grimm, The Expendables 3, Star Trek 2, Avatar and GI Joe.

You can also listen to the AM Podcast with Ansi at http://www.allanmckay.com/ansi/

for those of you not on the inner circle, it's free to sign up. I literally just shared Friday 25 hours of free training content that is not publicly available anywhere else on Maya and MAx training

I plan to release some Houdini videos very soon also.

I typically send out 1-2 emails per week related to developing your skills as well as your career, lots of great stuff from actual emails I use to get work, tips on negotiating and bidding on film projects, through to step by step videos on creating a lot of the visual effects I do on various high-end film projects.
Next week I have some vfx case studies I'm doing coming up which you probably don't want to miss

You can sign up to get all of this and more, at http://www.allanmckay.com/inside/

For shownotes visit http://www.allanmckay.com/66/

After a small hiatus, Allan McKay returns with a new episode 'Creative Negotiation'.
Learning to step away from the black and white form of trade that we're typically used to, and instead prioritize what your real current career goals and needs are,
and proceed to negotiate actual needs that benefit you more.

While also acknowledging the other party's needs to align the discussion with what they want, to get what you really want.

Show-notes at http://www.allanmckay.com/64/

 

Probably one of the more controversial episodes put out - as is anything to do with money. But this episode dives into understanding the logistics of what you charge as a freelancer and how to re-think it all to get what you are worth, but also do it in a way that your clients get exactly what they want as well.

Show notes at http://www.allanmckay.com/63/

Pete Draper is an industry veteran with 20 years of experience working in the UK and India on many amazing projects. He's co-founder and CTO of Makuta in Hyderabad, India a vfx studio responsible for many high profile feature films.

This was a fun chat covering so much from freelance to relocating to new countries, touching on much of the 3D industry 'back in the day' as well as productivity and his book 'Deconstructing the elements' as well as plenty more!

Makuta VFX

Pete Draper's Website

Deconstructing the Elements

Check out show notes at http://www.allanmckay.com/62/

 

This episode is a sit down with Chad Wanstreet (Episode 18 and 19) casually talking about overtime, burnout and a lot of issues with the industry. This is from two people who know the grind all too well and shedding a lot of light on it from many different and unique perspectives.

 

Chad Episode 18

Chad Episode 19

Chad's Vimeo

Show notes located at http://www.allanmckay.com/61/

 

 

Jami works at Bungie in Seattle, WA well known for Halo and Destiny among other high profile projects. This episode we dive into her role at Bungie on Destiny, as well as her experiences graduating from college and going into video games, and how she managed to literally walk into a job at Bungie and a lot of the key reasons behind that which I think is really fascinating. As well as sharing her own female perspective of working in the video game industry as well.

There's a lot of really valuable takeaways from this episode as well as just being an all-round fun episode to listen to!

 

For show notes visit :  http://www.allanmckay.com/60/

Jami's Twitter : https://twitter.com/justjamij

Jami's GDC talk handout : http://www.gdcvault.com/play/1021793/Animation-Bootcamp-The-Missing-Link

 

Matt Conway is a Digital Matte Painter having worked on movie projects such as Avatar, Avengers Age of Ultron, Shutter Island, Game of Thrones and dozens of others.

During this interview we discuss everything from his initial upbringing and transition into VFX to travel, techniques and superbowl, as well as Stallone and Arnie and a heck of a lot more.

We dive into lots of good stuff, lots of goofy stuff, we do talk sex and censorship and other ridiculous things - so those who might be a bit sensitive maybe skip ahead if hearing words like 'boobs' offend you.

 

Matt Conway's Website : http://mattconwayart.com/

Artist Insight Series :  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kScuvirgjjI

 

Omar is a character TD at Dreamworks Animation in Los Angeles working on projects like Kung Fu Panda 2, How to train your dragon 2, Rise of the Guardians and many others. During this episode we cover a lot of really great subjects and particularly dive into his experience going from a student into a character TD role at one of the biggest animation studios in the world, and many of the struggles we typically face that he was able to overcome.

 

Darryl Johnson is a 3D generalist working for studios in LA like Blur and Blizzard Cinematics, as well as previously in Detroit at various car commercial houses.

This episode is a fun filled episode covering everything from video games and getting started, to diving into a lot of bigger subjects to do with career, moving city's and working at big studios.

Show notes here

Darryl's Website

Darryl's Vimeo

Linkedin

The Wedding Video!

 

Join the career intensive here

 

Ash Thorp is a director, illustrator and creative director - who has worked on countless feature films and other creative projects. Some of his projects include Dawn of the planet of the apes, Mission Impossible - Rogue Nation, James Bond Spectre, Call of Duty, Prometheus, Iron Man 3, The Walking Dead and dozens of others.

He also has a podcast 'The Collective' which interviews many creatives and I highly recommend it. Ash also runs his own online school 'Learn Squared' and his various personal film projects in the works.

This is a fantastic episode that covers a lot of insights into working, life balance, keeping your creative drive, and so much more. Ash is as insightful as he is talented and shares a lot of really vital information that any creative in the industry should benefit greatly from.

(More links to come)

Shownotes @ http://www.allanmckay.com/56/
Sign up for this video series to receive more information about the mentorship

The website of Ash Thorp
The Collective
Our episode of The Collective - episode 13
More information on Lost Boy
Learn Squared
Ash's Twitter

This episode was originally a personal article I wrote about dealing with self doubt, failure and also how all of us have those people around us who push negativity onto us and make us question ourselves.

I wrote it for a few people very close to me who have experienced a lot of this that I've seen first hand out influential figures in their lives have made them want to give up on their hopes and dreams and go after something more 'realistic'.

We should all be careful about what we say to others and how our words can have impact on those around us, and we mightn't even be aware most of the time that we're doing this - but we're all in a position to help bring people up rather than pull them down.

Show notes @ http://www.allanmckay.com/55/ (You can read the original article there)

To access the mentorship as well as download 8 hours of new high-end free training videos go to http://www.allanmckay.com/55download/

 

 

This episode is an unofficial sequel to Ep 52 on US work visas, but this is more tailored to worldwide rather than just in the US. As well as giving a hands on insight as well as Allan's experiences with the visa process and what to expect.

Check out the show notes at http://www.allanmckay.com/54/

To listen to Episode 52 with Amanda Gillespie talking about US work visas go to http://www.allanmckay.com/52/

For Dan Roarty's episode go to http://www.allanmckay.com/30/

For the episode on 'How to start your own country' check out: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=syujTp5m5Vk

Please leave comments or ask questions for upcoming episode visit the show notes.

Otherwise email Allan at amckay@allanmckay.com 

 

This episode is a big one on goal setting we cover a lot of great subjects and topics situated around goal setting but more importantly actionable steps to building better habits rather than it just being simple mindsets that aren't going to do us any good.
Two key things I reference is the

Dickens Process
S.M.A.R.T. goals

(I decided not to link to anything as I'd rather you find the links that best resonate with you on this subject!)

I would love to get your feedback, so please leave a comment in the show notes http://www.allanmckay.com/53/ any questions you have - or questions about visas, or other discoveries I'd love to hear about them and I plan to answer a lot of them in next episodes podcast!

 

Amanda Gillespie is Manager of Extraordinary Ability Cases for Samuel Christensen Law Firm PLLC in New York. Amanda works daily with many of the artists and creatives alike migrating to the United States each year, helping build their cases and assisting them in the process of obtaining visas, greencards and work permits to work in the U.S.

This subject, especially for a lot of visual effects artists, game designers, directors, musicians, and other creatives in our industry is quite a ellusive subject, as many of us aspire to at some point in our career work in the UK, EU, AU, CAN, USA and other countries and typically it's not so straight forward in terms of obtaining exactly 'how' to go about this.

Whether you have always wanted to work in the U.S. or you simply might want to take some of the insights here to apply to your plans to work in other countries - this episode is a goldmine of information straight from one of the top authorities on this subject.

One that I personally have worked with personally throughout the process of most of my visas while living in the United States, Amanda is able to share such a great wealth of knowledge on the subject, as well as answer a lot of listeners questions that were submitted about where to start and what to expect during the process.

I can already tell this will be a favorite among many of us!

 

This episode is about how learning a little code, can go a long way for artists and creatives. Most of us are intimidated by programming and think it's only for math guys and people wired a certain way, where it's really about learning just how to approach it a different way - you don't need to know math to code, you don't need to be 'super smart' to code. You just need to know how to apply it to what you're doing and approach it a little differently to the norm.

This is all about learning to automate your tasks and work more efficiently, and in this episode we dive right into this! Check out this free video below on how to get up to speed fast with a little bit of scripting!

Show notes @ http://www.allanmckay.com/51/
Video tutorial intro to scripting @ http://www.allanmckay.com/51download/