The Allan McKay Podcast

Dan Katcher is a renowned Los Angeles-based creature designer for television, video games, and film. He is best known for his design of the dragons on HBO’s hit, Game of Thrones, which earned him Emmy recognition for three straight seasons. In addition to Game of Thrones, Dan is currently at work on creatures for a number of DC Comic productions, including The Flash, Legends of Tomorrow, and Supergirl. Dan’s previous work includes the dinosaurs on Fox’s Terra Nova, alien designs for the Green Lantern film, creature designs for MTV’s Shannara Chronicles, and sculpts of the “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles” for Sideshow Collectibles, as well as many other works. He got his start creating collectibles in wax for Todd McFarlane Toys in New York.  Dan was trained at the School of Visual Arts in New York City, where he majored in Animation; and at the Art Students League, where he learned clay figurative sculpture from experts in the field. Dan credits his traditional art background for the depth of understanding of anatomy that sets his work apart. His ability to capture a character’s full range of human emotions gives his creations a signature, unmatched vitality. In this Podcast, Allan interviews Dan about his career -- with all of its ups and downs -- the challenges of being an artist, the lessons he’s learned along the way, as well as his experience as the Father of Dragons on Game of Thrones. For more show notes, visit www.allanmckay.com/216/.

Sergio Paez is a Director and Story Designer who got his start working at companies such as Pixar, Lucasfilm, and Sony. He is also a founding member of Storyboard Art, an online visual story community, with both a content creation and educational focus to further techniques in visual storytelling. In 2012, Sergio authored the book Professional Storyboarding: Rules of Thumb which has become the go-to reference for story artists looking to enter the entertainment business. Mitch Bowler is the Founder of Pencil Kings and Evolve, an online community that provides world class art education for artists, whether they’re trying to get back into art or are working professionals. Founded in 2010, Pencil Kings has established a library of courses on illustration, comics, digital media, entertainment art. In this Podcast, Allan, Sergio and Mitch do a live stream about the mindset of successful artists and give tips on how to overcome challenges and resistances in your learning and evolution.  For more show notes, visit www.allanmckay.com/215/.

The biggest pain point for a lot of us -- is not having enough time. But what would you be able to do if you had an extra 10 hours per week? And if the excuse is “I don’t have enough time", then the question is: Where are your priorities? Most of us want to grow in our careers, and we want to get the most out of what we are doing. On the other hand, we don’t always have time. We’re exhausted from work and other commitments. You’re always going to have distractions. Part of what this Podcast focuses on is how to handle your distractions and be in control of your time; and gives you actionable productivity hacks. This Podcast by Allan McKay is around the subject on How to Win the Day: How to get the most out of your day -- whether it be for your freelance job or your work -- by creating more time for yourself. For more show notes, visit www.allanmckay.com/214/.

Ruairi Robinson is a Filmmaker: Director, Writer and VFX Artist. His science fiction short film Fifty Percent Gray was nominated for an Academy Award. His short film The Silent City with Cillian Murphy concerns a group of soldiers wandering through a perilous post-apocalyptic wasteland. In 2013, Ruairi directed a feature film The Last Days on Mars, starring Liev Schreiber, which was an adaptation of the science-fiction short story The Animators by Sydney J. Bounds. In early 2015, he directed the proof of concept short film Leviathan which became a viral hit In this Podcast, Allan McKay interviews Ruairi Robinson about his career as a VFX Artist and Film Director, his latest short film Corporate Monster -- as well as the importance of being familiar with all the aspects of film making. For more show notes, visit www.allanmckay.com/213/.  

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. 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 Emmy Award Winning VFX Supervisors Jörn Großhans and Thomas Schelesny about their experience on Game of Thrones and how that show changed the realm of VFX for tv. For more show notes, visit www.allanmckay.com/212/.

An FX Technical Director is the coolest job in the world. You get to create some really cool shots! It’s a position that’s challenging to do, is fulfilling and fun and it’s not going to get extinct -- so it has legs to it! You’ll have more options and opportunities in your career as a TD. The more you embrace what this role is, the more you’ll become irreplaceable. But it’s a job that demands problem solving skills. It’s all about exploring and constant learning. The more you play around -- the more you deal with challenges -- the more likely you will become an FX TD. In this Podcast, Allan explains the job and the skill sets of an FX Technical Director, explains how to stay relevant and in demand -- and why this is the coolest job in the world! For more show notes, visit www.allanmckay.com/211/.

Over the past decade of doing my Mentorship and publishing free training, it’s changed my perspective on how I do things, as well as how to help people get results. I’m not out there teaching you how to understand a tool or how to create some crappy explosion. What I am trying to teach is: What tools do I need to give you to get you the end results that you want? Getting on YouTube has been interesting! I just hit 25K Subscriptions. What’s been fascinating is seeing firsthand all the negativity that comes up. In my courses, we weed that out and we get more personable with people. But on YouTube and social media, it’s a different thing. If someone’s tearing everything apart, it allows them to use that as an excuse and sit back and not be successful! They never get the results that they want and hope they no one else does either. What they don’t realize is that there are no shortcuts to success! I had this realization recently: We need to call these trolls out, to point out why they aren’t succeeding. It’s not just your skills that are important. You need to be on top of other aspects. So here is a challenge for you: When you see others out there have that negative behavior, don’t ignore it. Help them out! For more show notes, visit www.allanmckay.com/210/.

In this Podcast, Allan talks about his first real job, getting fired and becoming homeless -- and what he’s learned from that in order to remain successful in his career over the past 20 years. An experience like that affects someone so much that you never want to go through it again! It changes how you handle things. Having something like that happen allows you to think, “Never again!” It fuels you and makes you stay in control of your life. It ensures that you’re always killing it. It also makes you confront any excuses that you may be telling yourself. It teaches you to find the thing that you’re most passionate about -- and go for it! -- because the rest will fall into place. For more show notes, visit www.allanmckay.com/209/.

Brian Dixon is a Business Coach, a Marketing Strategist, a Teacher, Speaker and an Author who helps artists and businesses clarify their message, build their audience, and create and launch life-changing products. His book Start with Your People comes out September 10th, 2019. In this Podcast, Brian talks about the importance of being the artist and the business -- how to increase your impact online and build your audience -- and gives specific tools for visualizing and achieving success! For more show notes, visit www.allanmckay.com/205/.

This Podcast is dedicated to a very common question: “Am I too old (or too young) to work in VFX?” A lot of what gets said out there isn’t true, especially when it comes to the subject of age discrimination. This Episode cover why it’s not true -- and how to avoid it, whether you’re “too old” or “too young”! Visual effects and all the surrounding industries share one thing: They are result based industries. That means that you don’t tell someone how good you are -- you show how good you are. Your work speaks for itself. It’s as simple as that. So it always comes down that: Can you do the work? That’s all that matters in the end. Your age doesn’t matter at all! In this Podcast, Allan demolishes the common fear about being “too old” or “too young” to work in VFX -- and gives some insider tips on how to start working in VFX or how to transition into your dream job from your first career. For more show notes, visit www.allanmckay.com/207/.