Michał Misiński’s name may be familiar to regular listeners — this CG artist turned director helped previous podcast guest Ash Thorp create his Ghost in the Shell homage “Project 2501.” Michał is also a partner at Polish visual effects VFX studio Juice, directing videos for Porsche, Honda, Skoda, Dolby, and more. Recently, Michał brought his talent and passion together for a music video that ties in with sci-fi RPG Cyberpunk 2077’s Phantom Liberty expansion. Michał tells Chris about the process ...
Nov 06, 2023•1 hr 1 min•Ep. 450
Over the past 30 years, Kyle Balda has risen from humble animator to co-director of beloved kids’ movies Minions: The Rise of Gru and Despicable Me 3 . Beginning in animation for films including Mars Attacks , The Mask , and Toy Story 2 , Kyle met director Pierre Coffin in Europe and helped create the animated series Pat & Stan , which would build the foundations for the Minions’ lovable antics. In this illuminating podcast, Kyle shares the essential lessons he learned as an animator and his...
Oct 30, 2023•45 min•Ep. 449
Ryan Woodward began his career in traditional animation for movies, including cult classics The Iron Giant and Space Jam , before becoming a storyboard artist on Spider-Man 2 , Iron Man 2 , and Avengers Assemble , and creating the stirring short, “Thought of You.” Today, he’s pursuing many avenues for his creative powers. In this podcast, recorded at THU in Japan, he talks about how he’s found happiness after some perilous life moments. He also dives deep into story, and how his understanding of...
Oct 23, 2023•1 hr 10 min•Ep. 448
Murai Sadayuki is the writer behind some of the most astonishing and groundbreaking anime films of all time, including the Hitchcockian Perfect Blue , Otomo’s Akira follow-up Steamboy , and the reality-blurring Millennium Actress . But he’s not done yet: he continues to write for TV series, including Knights of Sidonia , Godzilla , and Sabikui Bisco . Conducted at THU via a translator, this podcast sees Chris discover the world of Japanese animated movie-making and storytelling. Murai explains t...
Oct 16, 2023•53 min•Ep. 447
What can today’s artists and storytellers learn from an ancient Japanese method? In this podcast, Chris is joined by Google brand expert Cláudia Cristovão, who practices Kintsugi , the art of taking old ceramics and repairing them with gold-infused sap that grows stronger with time. Building on her presentation at the THU festival in Kaga, Japan, Cláudia explains how Kintsugi’s restorative, meditative process can apply to art and even people themselves. Claudia brings a refreshing perspective on...
Oct 10, 2023•51 min•Ep. 446
Amy Aniobi is a whirlwind of inspiration, smart advice, and creative energy. As a young girl, she was inspired by Frasier and Boy Meets World to become a writer. After graduating from Stanford University, she entered the industry and worked her way up to becoming head writer, executive producer, and director of HBO’s Insecure . In addition, she co-hosts The Antidote podcast and has movie projects coming up with Fox and Universal. Recorded at THU in Japan, Amy talks about getting ahead in the ind...
Oct 02, 2023•55 min•Ep. 445
Kevin Reste is a font of knowledge for companies looking to improve their creative initiatives and campaigns. Beginning his career with mocap for the Rock Band video games, Kevin’s natural people skills and technical confidence have helped him secure work for companies including NBC Sports, Sony Music Entertainment, and WWE, as well as giant financial and pharmaceutical corporations. Chris catches up with fellow THU attendee Kevin, talks about his career so far, and offers some tips on getting a...
Sep 25, 2023•1 hr 14 min•Ep. 444
Jonathan Rothbart’s illustrious career in VFX includes credits on everything from Men In Black to Superman Returns and The Predator . He was a founding member of John Knoll’s Rebel Mac Unit at ILM, he established The Orphanage, where he delivered the HUD shots for Iron Man , and then became a sought-after VFX supervisor for movies including Deadpool and John Wick: Chapter 4 . In this in-depth podcast, Jonathan tells Chris some of the amazing stories from his big-screen adventures, including how ...
Sep 11, 2023•1 hr 45 min•Ep. 443
Ted Lasso became a surprise hit for Apple TV+, blending comedy and drama in just the right way — and it contained a surprising amount of invisible VFX, from set extensions to turning local soccer pitches into international stadiums, complete with cheering crowds. In this podcast, Chris meets James MacLachlan, the VFX supervisor behind the show. James talks about how his love for bringing stories to life has powered his career and whisked him from New Zealand to London. He gives some inspirationa...
Sep 05, 2023•1 hr 4 min•Ep. 442
Andrew MacDonald’s adventurous career packs as many twists and turns as a Hollywood movie. Coming from humble origins in the north of England, Andrew moved to London’s Soho district to begin his career in optical effects, before getting into VFX and being lured to Hollywood to work for big VFX companies, including Digital Domain and Method. In this rollercoaster of a podcast, Andrew talks about the ups and downs of his life and the ebbs and flows of the VFX industry. He shares stories of working...
Aug 28, 2023•1 hr 7 min•Ep. 441
Apple TV+ miniseries Five Days at Memorial shines a light on a disturbing true story of a New Orleans hospital flooded during Hurricane Katrina. In this podcast, the show’s VFX supervisors — returning guest Eric Durst and newbie Matt Whelan — reveal how they recreated New Orleans circa 2005 and added invisible effects that would earn the show an Emmy nomination. Eric and Matt talk about how they worked with the show’s practical team to build versatile sets that would seamlessly integrate with CG...
Aug 21, 2023•54 min•Ep. 440
What if the 1969 moon landing catastrophically failed? That’s the question artist Halsey Burgund poses with his “Moon Disaster” project, which makes use of AI technology to envision then-president Richard Nixon delivering an alternative speech to be used in the case of emergency. In doing so, Halsey draws attention to the fact that such a speech existed and was never broadcast, as well as the ways in which modern technology can fool viewers. Halsey sheds light on the video and audio technology u...
Aug 14, 2023•1 hr 10 min•Ep. 439
Recorded at a high-tech facility in Chaos’ plush new offices in Sofia, Bulgaria, this week’s episode checks in with Vladimir “Vlado” Koylazov, Chaos’ co-founder. Chris discovers more about Vlado’s new role as head of innovation, and how the company is embracing recent technological developments to make it easy and efficient for customers to stage and render scenes. Vlado also shares his thoughts on how artificial intelligence is changing the way software works, as well as how it’s helping his te...
Aug 07, 2023•42 min•Ep. 438
Much has changed since Chaos launched Project Lavina in 2020. Remote working has become the norm, real-time workflows have become increasingly prevalent, and GPU power has accelerated. In response, Lavina has evolved into Chaos Vantage, a real-time ray-traced rendering engine tailored to the needs of today’s VFX and arch viz artists. Simeon Balabanov, Chaos Vantage’s product manager, talks through what makes the engine different from other real-time rendering solutions and dives into current ren...
Jul 31, 2023•1 hr 18 min•Ep. 437
Hanno Basse has been a guiding hand behind the scenes of the modern entertainment experience. At 20th Century Fox, he pushed HDR into the movie experience at home and in theaters, and he helped the entertainment industry adopt cloud computing via his role at Microsoft Azure. Today, Hanno is bringing his expertise to Digital Domain, where he serves as CTO. In this podcast, Hanno reveals how advances in machine learning have taken DD’s famous digital humans from the Avengers ’ Thanos to She-Hulk: ...
Jul 24, 2023•1 hr 3 min•Ep. 436
Terrence Masson’s students are probably the luckiest on the planet. The computer arts lecturer draws on 30 years of experience in the industry, from working on innovative movies including True Lies and Interview with the Vampire , helping create South Park ’s progenitor in CG, and retooling the original Star Wars trilogy for its 1997 reissue. In this podcast, Terrence talks through some highlights of his career, including how he flew the Millennium Falcon and killed Boba Fett for Star Wars , and...
Jul 17, 2023•1 hr 23 min•Ep. 435
Michelle Munson’s passion for internet technology took her from streaming video over LAN to founding data transfer company Aspera. Now, she’s launched Eluvio, a Web3-based content distribution system that makes it easier and cheaper for producers to share media while giving consumers fair access to a high-quality product with added extras. Michelle discusses Eluvio’s partnership with Warner Bros, and its first content: Superman and Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of The Ring . Michelle also bu...
Jul 10, 2023•1 hr 10 min•Ep. 434
After being inspired by Star Wars to pursue a career in entertainment law, Joshua Lastine helped with clearances on everything from American Idol to The Man in the High Castle to Midway to the Hulkbuster armor in Avengers: Age of Ultron and weapons for TV series Echo 3 . Today, Joshua runs Lastine Entertainment Law, which drafts bespoke agreements for everything from YouTube videos to big-budget movies, and he teaches law at Los Angeles Film School. In this podcast, Joshua covers all the hot top...
Jul 03, 2023•1 hr 6 min•Ep. 433
Marc Simonetti’s dreamy visual style has made him a big name in sci-fi and fantasy art — but what does this mean in the age of AI? In this podcast, Marc tells Chris how it feels to have your name used as an AI art prompt some 400,000 times, and what it’s like to see your name attached to artwork that isn’t yours. But it’s not all bad — Marc delves into the advantages of AI art and how it might put the concept back into concept art, and offers positive advice for budding artists who are about to ...
Jun 26, 2023•1 hr 10 min•Ep. 432
Hailing from Detroit, Linden Vennard began his career in visualizing vehicles (of course!). Having established pipelines that turned raw CAD data into sumptuous CG images, Linden became a core part of Speedshape, the VFX studio that specialized in creating visuals for automotive companies. After Speedshape closed, Linden traveled to Asia and Africa before returning to the US to become a freelance CG generalist. Linden talks about his early inspirations to pursue a career in VFX, how he got start...
Jun 20, 2023•1 hr 8 min•Ep. 431
Here's a masterclass on rising to the top of VFX supervision. Inspired by classic 80s movies, Sean Faden began his career in practical effects for Starship Troopers and The Fifth Element , helped sink Titanic , and became VFX supervisor on movies including A Nightmare on Elm Street and A Good Day to Die Hard . Then he switched to studio-side VFX supervision for Power Rangers and Mulan , the latter of which earned him a VFX Academy Award nomination. Sean reflects on his career and regales Chris w...
Jun 12, 2023•1 hr 17 min•Ep. 430
If recruiters are the unsung heroes of the VFX industry, Stan Szymanski is Superman. This huge film fan began in graphic design and post-production but quickly worked up the ladder into recruitment, via movies including Virtuosity, Independence Day , Starship Troopers , and Hollow Man . Today, Stan’s company, Stanleyvision, has become a go-to source for the perfect talent for companies including Crafty Apes, MPC, The Mill, and Method, as well as PlayStation, MSG Sphere Studios, and TurboSquid. S...
Jun 05, 2023•1 hr 16 min•Ep. 429
Jeff Barnes’ career has taken him from two Amigas and a VHS deck to the world’s most cutting-edge digital display screens. After discovering a love for post-production, Jeff co-founded CafeFX in the early-90s and created VFX for over 90 movies including Flubber, Armageddon, Panic Room, Pan’s Labyrinth, Sin City, The Mist, and Alice in Wonderland. Jeff then oversaw DD’s 3D pipeline and consulted in the industry before moving to the innovative lightfield company Lytro, where he produced the world’...
May 30, 2023•1 hr 7 min•Ep. 428
If digital humans are evolving, Isaac Bratzel is the scientist altering their DNA. Beginning his career as a character artist (because it represented the biggest challenge), Isaac helped create Amelia, a conversational AI with a digital human face, and then went on to establish virtual social media phenomenon Lil Miquela. Today, Isaac is bringing his expertise in AI and digital humans together in AvatarOS, the company he founded to create digital humans with personalities. In this podcast, Isaac...
May 22, 2023•1 hr 2 min•Ep. 427
For the past 30 years, Digital Domain has been ahead of the CG curve, delivering everything from True Lies’ CG jet to The Last of Us’ desolate landscapes. But what does the future hold for this innovative VFX studio? This week, Lala Gavgavian, the president and COO of DD, explains how it's charting a course through the waters of new technology. Lala talks about how Digital Domain has branched out beyond blockbuster VFX and is now taking on gaming projects and medical imaging. She also talks abou...
May 15, 2023•50 min•Ep. 426
Could Macroverse change the way creative content is created and consumed? In this podcast, Chris is joined by Adam Martin, an assistant director who has worked on productions including Transformers, Dave, and Barry. After growing frustrated with the Hollywood system, Adam co-founded Macroverse to give writers and artists a platform to share their stories and visions. Adam gives a full overview of Macroverse and what makes it work, explaining how its Tap Story system enriches comic stories and gi...
May 08, 2023•58 min•Ep. 425
We want some of Chris Browne’s energy. This multiskilled VFX supervisor, currently working at Sony Pictures Animation, has helped bring animated series to life, including The Fast and Furious Spy Racers, Kung Fu Panda, and Jurassic World: Camp Cretaceous. At the same time, he’s devoted his spare time to his own award-winning short films, beginning with “Gibb” at university, alien sci-fi “Beating the Abductors,” and now “Pleroma,” which examines themes of AI versus humanity. Chris breaks down wha...
May 01, 2023•53 min•Ep. 424
With John Wick: Chapter 4 , the sleeper franchise reaches a violent crescendo, peppering the rogue assassin’s globe-trotting bone-crunching fights with jaw-dropping plot twists. This week, the film’s Production VFX Supervisor Janelle Croshaw Ralla, and Prep and On-Set VFX Supervisor Johnathan Rothbart join Chris for a spoiler-free discussion of the movie. Janelle and Jonathan talk about working with director Chad Stahelski, who takes a meticulous, frame-by-frame approach to filmmaking and prefer...
Apr 24, 2023•1 hr 13 min•Ep. 423
Over the course of his career, Sean Looper has gone from humble beginnings as an architectural draftsman to chief technology officer at VFX studio Crafty Apes. Along the way, the pipelines he’s built have provided seamless effects for movies including Zathura: A Space Adventure, Guardians of the Galaxy, and Edge of Tomorrow. In this podcast, Sean talks about his career and reveals a natural inclination toward the technical nuts and bolts that help a VFX pipeline run smoothly. He shares some of t...
Apr 17, 2023•1 hr 19 min•Ep. 422
This week, Chris takes a trip to Pandora to delve into the design of Avatar: The Way of Water, James Cameron’s latest jaw-dropping cinematic epic. His guide is Ben Procter, the super-talented production designer who specializes in creating vehicles and environments for Avatar antagonists the RDA — to the extent that he thinks of himself as the “bad guy” of the art department. Ben goes into a fascinating deep-dive into the design and construction of the S-76 SeaDragon, the formidable whaling ship...
Apr 10, 2023•1 hr 21 min•Ep. 421
