Chris Ume is a visual effects expert with many years of experience in entertainment and corporate projects. In 2020, he began experimenting with deepfake technology, sourcing AI models from obscure Russian websites, and experimenting with new techniques. That led to a collaboration with an American actor known for Tom Cruise parody videos and Deep Tom Cruise was born. Since then, Chris has worked on titles like South Park and Sassy Justice . Following the viral success of those deepfake videos a...
Nov 01, 2022•55 min•Ep. 375
Emily Dean is an Asian-Australian writer, director, and artist living in LA. Emily holds a BA (Honours I), History and English Major, from the University of Sydney. Following her academic studies, Emily pursued a career in animation first at the Australian Film TV Radio School (AFTRS) and earned a Graduate Certificate in Animation Directing, then further at the California Institute of the Arts (CalArts). Following training at Pixar in the Story Department, Emily has worked as a Story Artist and ...
Oct 25, 2022•42 min•Ep. 374
You need to be ultra specific in how you define yourself when you’re applying for jobs as an artist. It’s the difference between being front-of-mind and standing out -- or blending in with all the other applications. And it’s something that none of us do. By not niching down -- by not being a specific brand -- you’re missing out on an opportunity to make yourself the ideal candidate for the job. So what are you doing to stand out? How do you make sure your reel doesn’t blend in in the hundreds o...
Oct 18, 2022•27 min•Ep. 373
Evan Carmichael #BELIEVES in entrepreneurs. At 19, he built and then sold a biotech software company. At 22, he was a venture capitalist raising $500k to $15M. He now runs a YouTube channel for entrepreneurs with over 2 million subscribers, wrote 4 books, and speaks globally. He wants to solve the world's biggest problem. He's set 2 world records, uses a trampoline & stand-up desk, owns Canada's largest salsa dance studio and has a giant Doritos bag in front of him all day long to remind him...
Oct 11, 2022•29 min•Ep. 372
The WHAT IF? Scenario: It’s an addictive concept for all of us. What if you give up on a career before you ever got started? Fear is just your mind trying to prevent you from change because change is unknown. It doesn’t want you to risk safety for something new. But the big growths and breakthroughs are on the other side of that fear. If you aren’t willing to put in the extra work and see what it would lead to next, if you weren’t willing to leverage one experience to the next, none of that woul...
Oct 04, 2022•42 min•Ep. 371
Scott Rosekrans is a VFX Supervisor and Virtual Production Supervisor for the Real Time Group at Zoic Studios. He's been working to integrate Unreal Engine into every facet of the facilities post production workflow, from previz and on-set virtual production to final renders. He is also Unreal Authorized Instructor Partner for Epic Games. Scott graduated in 2005 from Savannah College of Art and Design, with a degree in Computer Arts. He was trained as a generalist and chose to pursue my focus of...
Sep 27, 2022•1 hr 11 min•Ep. 370
DI4D the world’s leading 4D facial performance capture service that specializes in animation for digital doubles. Their proprietary technology is derived from over 30 years of cutting edge research and development dating back to their own PhD research. Since then, the company has consistently innovated at the cutting edge of what is technically possible in the field. With bases in the UK and US, they work globally with partners across the entertainment and research sectors to develop and deliver...
Sep 20, 2022•37 min•Ep. 369
Eloi Andaluz Fullà is a visual artist with over 18 years of experience in 3D. He’s worked in architecture, motion graphics, advertising, mappings, interactive installations and movies. He is specialized in particles and dynamics simulations. He has worked as a freelancer for different VFX studios, providing tools and workflows for specific shots. For the last 7+ years, he’s been working for Scanline VFX. As part of the Scanline VFX team, he won an Emmy for Outstanding VFX for their work on the l...
Sep 13, 2022•57 min•Ep. 368
Oscar-winning Visual Effects Specialist Ben Grossmann has been paving the way for the new immersive web for nearly 20 years. As a Co-Founder of Magnopus, he’s long had a vision of bringing physical and digital worlds together through connected spaces. His passion for immersive technologies has made him a prominent voice on the subject. Over the years, Ben has used his experience in films to lead augmented and virtual reality projects for brands like Sony, Disney, Meta, and NASA. He led the creat...
Sep 06, 2022•1 hr 12 min•Ep. 367
Sally Slade worked for eight years in the VFX Industry, supporting visionary creators at Oscar award-winning studios, before pivoting to the XR Industry in 2016. Sally was nominated as “Reality Mixer of the Year” by Microsoft for her HoloLens product, Muralize, and further decorated by the AWE for her contributions to back-to-back Auggie award-winning XR experiences: Meow Wolf’s The Navigator , and the Virtual Production System used by Disney’s The Lion King . Most recently, Sally served as a Se...
Aug 30, 2022•56 min•Ep. 366
Orion Tait is a Director and Partner at Buck, leading its New York studio in creating commercials and content for major brands from all over the world. With a background in filmmaking, fine arts and graphic design, his varied body of work is rooted in visual storytelling and continues to push the boundaries of innovation and quality in the commercial realm. A champion and steward of Buck’s well regarded culture of collaboration, Orion has led teams large and small, developing campaigns and direc...
Aug 23, 2022•50 min•Ep. 365
Aaron Sims, the visual creator behind some of this generation’s most unforgettable cinema creatures, began his career over two decades ago as a special effects makeup artist. His pioneering techniques in the world of visual effects influenced the face of character and creature design in Film, Television, Games, Previs, and VFX early on in their application. Aaron Sims Creative [ASC] was formed in order to bring together a wide range of the world’s most talented concept and visual effects artists...
Aug 16, 2022•56 min•Ep. 364
Carlos Stevens is an Animation Director, Writer and Executive Producer. He’s a former Student Academy Awards nominee for his animated short film Toumai . This achievement kick-started Carlos's career working on a variety of Cannes Gold Lion award-winning commercial campaigns, notably for Sprint and Sony. Additionally, he has directed and designed campaigns for X-Box, Netflix, Marvel, EA, Lexus, SyFy, UFC, Target and many others. His short film titled The Alchemist's Letter , narrated by John Hur...
Aug 09, 2022•40 min•Ep. 363
Henrique Reginato is a VFX Supervisor and the Founder of NOX Visual Effects. After working in VFX for over 13 years, Henrique launched NOX Visual Effects during COVID-19 by purchasing the Nuke Indie license and working from home. Born in Brazil, Henrique first studied at Centro Universitario Senac, in Sao Paolo. He then pursued 3D Animation and VFX training from Vancouver Film School. He’s worked at a number of studios, including Pixomondo. His credits include: Star Trek: Discovery, For All Mank...
Aug 02, 2022•1 hr 6 min•Ep. 362
David Vickery is a VFX Supervisor at ILM, well known for his work on films such as Sherlock Holmes, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Parts 1 and 2, Fast & Furious 6 and Jupiter Ascending . His work has been recognized with an Academy Award® nomination and the 2012 BAFTA Award for Special Visual Effects for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 in addition to numerous Visual Effects Society Award nominations and wins. Vickery joined ILM having spent the past 13 years at London effe...
Jul 26, 2022•52 min•Ep. 361
Fred Ruff is the founder of Refuge FX, a Portland based visual effects studio responsible for projects like For All Mankind, Helstrom, Queen of the South, Runaways, Grimm, Last Knight . Fred 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 Episode, Allan McK...
Jul 19, 2022•1 hr 21 min•Ep. 360
Bilali Mack is a VFX Supervisor Based in NYC. Born in Accra, Ghana and based in Brooklyn, Bilali has spent the better part of the last decade honing his craft at visual effects at studios such as Brickyard VFX, Smoke and Mirrors, MPC and Alkemy X. Bilali has supervised and executed on visual effects for commercials, tv and film for a number of high profile clients such as Adidas, Google, BMW, Starz, HBO, and Focus Features; as well as working with notable directors such as Dave Myers, The Russo ...
Jul 12, 2022•1 hr 3 min•Ep. 359
Tim Miller is a Film Director, Animator, Creative Director and VFX Artist. He was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film for the work on his short film Gopher Broke . He made his directing debut with Deadpool . He is also known for creating opening sequences for The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo and Thor: The Dark World . In 1995, Tim co-founded Blur Studio with David Stinnett and Cat Chapman. Blur is where animators and artists can collaborate and be in control of their crea...
Jul 05, 2022•1 hr 20 min•Ep. 358
Janga FX was founded in 2016 by Nick Seavert, an entrepreneur who is well versed in both startups and real-time VFX. Janga FX was initially bootstrapped with credit cards, software sales, and many thousands of man hours instead of outside investments. The company’s core motive is to provide real-time VFX tools to artists and designers who work in video game or film industries. The first tool by Jang FX called VectorayGen was released in 2017. EmberGen is a standalone real-time volumetric fluid s...
Jun 28, 2022•50 min•Ep. 357
When Nate Black decided to start a YouTube channel, he had a significant advantage: As an actor, he’d been in thousands of live stage performances and knew how to play to an audience. After leaving the stage, he moved through various jobs until he found a passion for teaching. When he launched Channel Makers, a YouTube Channel that tackles the question “How to succeed on YouTube”, the number of subscribers grew from 0 to 25,000 in its first year. He creates original, data-focused informational v...
Jun 21, 2022•58 min•Ep. 356
Clinton Jones is a Director, Content Creator, VFX Artist and Photographer. He has worked at Rocket Jump and at Corridor Digital. On his YouTube Channel, where he is known as Pwnisher, he launches challenges for his community, as well as creates tutorials. His YouTube Channel has a massive following of over 557K subscribers, while his Instagram has 110K followers. Currently, Clinton is working on co-writing his first feature film, creating content and making art. In this Podcast, Allan McKay and ...
Jun 14, 2022•53 min•Ep. 355
Ian Spriggs is a 3D Digital Artist and a VFX Artist. He completed his first 3D portrait in 2014. His work has become widely known for being photorealistic because they seem to represent the subjects’ inner selves. As a Lead Character Modeler, he has worked for studios like Unity Technologies, Scanline VFX, ILM, Mr. X. His projects include The Mandalorian, Mulan, Bloodshot . He is also the author of A Portrait of the Digital Age , a book on creating his meticulous character studies. In this Podca...
Jun 07, 2022•52 min•Ep. 354
Since 1975, Industrial Light & Magic (ILM) has set the standard for visual effects, creating some of the most stunning images in the history of film. At the forefront of the digital revolution, ILM continues to break new ground in the field not only in visual effects but now virtual reality, augmented reality, immersive entertainment, and virtual production. Founded by George Lucas, ILM is the leading effects facility in the world, with studios located in San Francisco, Singapore, Vancouver,...
May 31, 2022•41 min•Ep. 353
Activision Blizzard’s history goes back more than 40 years. Two incredible gaming brands Activision and Blizzard Entertainment merged, bringing together the best creative talent in gaming. The acquisition of King in 2016 further strengthened the company’s vision to bring the world together through epic entertainment. Their professional gaming properties include the Overwatch League™, the Call of Duty League™, Hearthstone® Grandmasters, and the World of Warcraft® Arena World Championship, among o...
May 24, 2022•1 hr 5 min•Ep. 352
When Oscar®-nominated, Emmy® award-winning filmmaker Ava DuVernay teams with some of cinema’s most noted directors in the new HBO Max original docuseries One Perfect Shot , movie lovers will see dazzling, unprecedented views inside memorable shots from film history. The series provides a never-before-possible perspective on filmmaking, allowing directors to step into their favorite shots and take viewers on amazing 360º views of their visions. DuVernay and her production company, ARRAY Filmworks...
May 17, 2022•1 hr 4 min•Ep. 351
Mike Price is a Writers Guild Award and three-time Emmy Award-winning Writer and Producer. He is the Executive Producer and Showrunner of the acclaimed Netflix animated comedy series F is for Family , which he co-created with series star Bill Burr. He is also a Writer and Co-Executive Producer on The Simpsons , having written over 20 episodes of the show – and served as a script consultant on The Simpsons Movie. In this Podcast, Allan McKay interviews Emmy Award-winning Writer, Producer and Show...
May 10, 2022•52 min•Ep. 350
Kemer Stevenson is the Character Effects Supervisor at Blur Studio in Los Angeles, California. With more than 15 years of experience in feature film, marketing and communications, he has previously worked for DreamWorks Animation, Rhythm & Hues, Republic Studios. His credits include: Trolls, Penguins of Madagascar, How to Train Your Dragon franchise ; Monsters vs. Aliens, The Incredible Hulk. In this Podcast, Allan McKay and Blur Studio’s Head of Character Effects Kemer Stevenson talk about ...
May 03, 2022•54 min•Ep. 349
DNEG ( www.dneg.com ) is one of the world’s leading visual effects (VFX) and animation studios for the creation of feature film, television and multiplatform content. DNEG employs nearly 7,000 people with worldwide offices and studios across North America (Los Angeles, Montréal, Toronto, Vancouver), Europe (London) and Asia (Bangalore, Chandigarh, Chennai, Mumbai). DNEG’s critically acclaimed work has earned the company six Academy Awards® for Best Visual Effects and numerous BAFTA and Primetime...
Apr 26, 2022•50 min•Ep. 348
Perfection is our inability to balance out our priorities or see the big picture. We get so fixated on everything being perfect, we fall behind our responsibilities, eventually failing to deliver anything at all. This is a huge problem for a lot of junior artists who make this mistake which stops them from succeeding. Borrowing from what Allan McKay has learned as a VFX Supervisor, Producer in film, as well as a Studio Owner, he talks about: How to manage projects successfully and how to grow as...
Apr 19, 2022•42 min•Ep. 347
DNEG ( www.dneg.com ) is one of the world’s leading visual effects (VFX) and animation studios for the creation of feature film, television and multiplatform content. DNEG employs nearly 7,000 people with worldwide offices and studios across North America (Los Angeles, Montréal, Toronto, Vancouver), Europe (London) and Asia (Bangalore, Chandigarh, Chennai, Mumbai). DNEG’s critically acclaimed work has earned the company six Academy Awards® for Best Visual Effects and numerous BAFTA and Primetime...
Apr 12, 2022•55 min•Ep. 346
