The Allan McKay Podcast

TEHMINA BEG is a New-York based VFX supervisor currently working at Molecule VFX. She has previously worked at Zoic Studios, The Mill, MPC. Tehmina’s credits include Homeland, Quantifco, The Blacklist, And Just Like That, Modern Love and many more. She is a self-taught artist and photographer. MAGGIE OH is currently a Sr. Technical Program Manager for Machine Learning and Computer Vision on Google's Project Starline. Her previous roles include TL, Lighting TD, Lead Technical Artist, and programmer on projects such as Stadia, Mandalorian, #LiveCGX (AR Fashion Show at London Fashion Week 2018), Hololens, Halo 4, Star Wars, Pirates of the Caribbean 2, and Cars. She holds a Masters from Harvard and a BSci from MIT. ERIN RAMOS is Head of Effects Animation at Walt Disney Animation Studios. As an award-winning VFX Supervisor she’s also worked for Weta, Rhythm & Hues. Her credits include Moana, Frozen II, Ralph Breaks the Internet, The Hobbit and many more. CONNIE SIU is a Virtual Production Manager at Eyeline Studio (Scanline VFX / Netflix). Her credits include How to Train Your Dragon, Kung Fu Panda, Rise of the Guardians.  She is also a Writer and Director of short film Jeffrey which was shot using virtual production in 2020 (www.allanmckay.com/277).  In this Podcast, Women Leaders and VFX Artists discuss the importance of representation, business mindset in artists, give advice on how to find mentors and provide resources to women starting out in visual effects. For more show notes, visit www.allanmckay.com/345/.

JINKO GOTOH is an Animation Producer and Consultant whose credits include The Little Prince; the Academy Award nominated The Illusionist; the Academy Award winning Finding Nemo. Jinko also serves as Vice-President of Women in Animation dedicated to advancing women in the field of animation. NELL LLOYD-MALCOLM is the Founding CEO of Xydrobe, a new luxury NFT platform. Previously, Nell has worked as a VFX Producer and Coordinator at Framestore, Double Negative, ILM, Sony, Untold Studios; on titles like Aladdin, Mowgli, Bohemian Rhapsody, Ready Player One, Star Wars, as well as The Crown on Netflix. KAITLYN YANG is the CEO of Alpha Studios, the first Woman-owned visual effects company in the U.S. She is a VFX Artist turned Supervisor whose titles include The Shrink Next Door, The Good Doctor, Absentia, Modern Family, Robot Chicken, Gangster Squad, and many more. Kaitlyn is a list maker for Forbes 30 Under 30 in Hollywood & Entertainment — and a Founder of 1IN4, an intersectional coalition of disabled creatives currently working in Hollywood. In this Podcast, Women Leaders in VFX discuss the statistics of representation, talk about the impact of #MeToo and Time’s Up movements, give advice and provide resources to women starting out in visual effects. For more show notes, visit www.allanmckay.com/344/.  

Tehmina Beg is a New-York based VFX Supervisor currently working at Molecule VFX. She has previously worked at Zoic Studios, The Mill, MPC. Tehmina’s credits include Homeland, Quantico, The Defenders, The Blacklist, Modern Love and most recently And Just Like That. She is a self-taught artist and photographer. In this Podcast, Allan and Tehmina talk about balancing creative and technical skills, courage to learn and ask questions, benefits of gaining experience as a generalist and a freelancer – and why 2022 is the best time to be a VFX artist! For more show notes, visit www.allanmckay.com/343/.

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 EMMY® Awards for its high-quality VFX work. Upcoming DNEG projects on behalf of its Hollywood and global studio and production company partners include Dune (October 2021), No Time To Die (October 2021), Ron’s Gone Wrong (October 2021), Last Night In Soho (October 2021), Ghostbusters: Afterlife (November 2021), The Matrix 4 (December 2021), Uncharted (2022), Borderlands (2022), Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom (2022), The Flash (2022), and Shazam! Fury of the Gods (2023). Dan Glass is an acclaimed VFX Supervisor with numerous accolades over the course of his 25-year career, including a BAFTA nomination and two Visual Effects Society awards. He is a long-time collaborator of the Wachowskis and Terrence Malick, and production VFX Supervisor on films such as Jupiter Ascending, Cloud Atlas, Tree of Life, Batman Begins, The Matrix sequels, Deadpool 2, and many more. In addition to his impressive list of film credits, Dan also served as VFX Supervisor on two seasons of Netflix’s sci-fi cult hit Sense8, while directing two episodes himself; and previously served as Executive Vice President and Chief Creative Officer for Method Studios. In this Podcast, the acclaimed VFX Supervisor for The Matrix: Resurrections Dan Glass talks about the underlying message of the film, shares some behind-the-scenes, and discusses technological innovations throughout the franchise’s history. For more show notes, visit www.allanmckay.com/342/.

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 would be easy. We always get tested! It’s easier to take the lesser path. But we get to choose that Sliding Doors moment -- or we get to choose to have it all. In this Podcast, Allan reflects on the choices he’s made throughout his career that lead him to face his fears, take huge risks and to have his dream job (which would eventually lead to his night at the Oscars). For more show notes, visit www.allanmckay.com/341/.

Zoic Studios is a VFX company of accomplished artists and producers with a deep understanding of story, process and relationships. With offices in Los Angeles, New York and Vancouver, the company has prided itself in partnership, integrity and enthusiasm as the key founding principles. Their projects are born in think tanks, where every idea has value and potential. Dynamic ideas are fleshed out, and a plan for crafting a visual representation of the idea is set early in the creative process.  Since 2002, Zoic’s team has a proven track record of success. They are masters in their fields of 3D, Compositing and Production Management. Their reputations, in turn, attract additional talent and foster a strong work ethic. They built a robust digital infrastructure, which is flexible and strong to support the staff. It is a “liquid” pipeline, designed by their team for rapid expansion and contraction. This custom pipeline is resolution-independent and changeable based on project needs. Leading visual technology firms provide additional support and insight to the latest methods.  Zoic has worked on a variety of high-end productions, both in film and television: Many Saints of New York, Judas and the Black Messiah, Mother!, Game of Thrones, The Walking Dead, Legends of Tomorrow, Breaking Bad, Homeland, See, The Underground Railroad, The Boys, Fargo, and multiple more. In this Podcast, Andrew Orloff, Executive Creative Director / Co-Founder of Zoic Studios, talks about the change in the industry with introduction of streaming content and virtual production, how Zoic has incorporated Unreal Engine into their pipeline – as well as gives tips to up-and-coming artists and VFX supervisors alike! For more show notes, visit www.allanmckay.com/340/.

Perception is an Emmy nominated design lab pioneering the visionary process of Science Fiction Thinking to architect the future. They divide their time equally between the parallel worlds of science-fiction—working with trailblazing filmmakers and science-fact—collaborating with the world’s most innovative technology brands. Drawing upon their vast experience of conceptualizing and developing future tech for the biggest sci fi blockbusters of the last decade, they’re able to inspire and guide the most cutting edge tech leaders across the globe. Using Science Fiction Prototyping, they create futuristic, forward looking experiences that look and feel as authentic as possible in order to open the minds of corporate leadership and stakeholders to the wondrous potential of what their technology is truly capable of. The list of titles that Perception (http://experienceperception.com/) has worked on includes: Black Widow, Spider-Man: Far from Home, Black Panther, Thor Ragnarok, Captain America, Iron Man 2, The Avengers, and many more. In this Podcast, Perception Co-Founders Jeremy Lasky and Danny Gonzalez talk about their growth from a startup (21 years ago) to becoming a frequent collaborator of Marvel, as well as the influence of their concepts on today’s technology. For more show notes, visit www.allanmckay.com/339/.

Louis Castle is a prolific American video games designer. He is known for co-founding Westwood Studios and for his work on the Command & Conquer real-time strategy series. In 2017, he became the Head of Amazon Game Studios Seattle.  Most recently, Louis joined GreenPark Sports as Chief Product Officer. As the co-founder of Westwood Studios, Louis was instrumental in the launch of the C&C series, one of the leaders in the 1990s RTS boom. He co-founded Westwood Studios in 1985. After its purchase by EA in 1998, he held various senior positions at that company. In 2008, he collaborated with Steven Spielberg on the Boom Blox and Boom Blox Bash Party video games for the Nintendo Wii console, based on Spielberg’s design ideas. Since 2010, Louis held a number of roles, including at GarageGames and Zynga. Louis Castle is a BAFTA and GDC Lifetime Achievement Award winner. In this Podcast, Louis shares valuable insights on how to start a business, how and when to sell your business; the importance of risk and lessons of failure; how to look for new opportunities, negotiate your salary and raises, give and receive criticism and so much more! For more show notes, visit www.allanmckay.com/338/.

There's such a shortage of visual effects people right now. It's insane how many projects have been greenlit. And even for a 3D artist, there's so much stuff out there – and that's a good thing! Visual effects in general is such a healthy industry, but it's also about where there’s room to grow. There's always going to be new territory to cover.  It's about training your brain to know what you want and then to see the opportunities to connect the dots. So, look for your opportunities! And when you start to pick up on it, you start to see that there are opportunities everywhere. It might simply be someone you meet and they mention that they're doing a certain thing. But if you were just to mention what you do and what you're interested in – or ask more questions about what they're doing – that could be your next gig. That could be your next way to break into the industry.  You never know what opportunities are around the corner, but you've got to be aware that they exist. And the best way to do that – is to start figuring out what you want. Be more observant in identifying those opportunities, those omens that are hiding just around the corner. In this Podcast, Allan shares his personal experience of looking for a recent staff position, how to determine what lifestyle you want and how to train your mind to look for opportunities that are meant for you. For more show notes, visit www.allanmckay.com/337/.

Cinecom is a YouTube channel and a media organization from Belgium founded in 2014 by Jordy Vandeput. The goal of the channel is to provide educational content for filmmakers and video editors around the world. Jordy Vandeput graduated from a film school in Brussels, Belgium in 2012. Right after, he started working as an independent freelancer for various video-productions. One of his clients at the time was Envato for whom he made online courses about various aspects of filmmaking and video editing. After founding the Cinecom in 2014, Jordy expanded his team. By December 2018, the YouTube channel reached 1 million subscribers. By the summer of 2019, the team started their second channel Premiere Basics. In this Podcast, Jordy talks about starting Cinecom Belgium, the secret to going viral, how and when to grow your team, the importances of deadlines — as well as some of his projects as a filmmaker.  For more show notes, visit www.allanmckay.com/336/.