The Allan Mckay Podcast

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 Pro

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/.