The Allan McKay Podcast

An overview of the process to safely switch careers down the road. Some of us are in careers that we aren't 100% satisfied and want to make the change over to a creative industry. However there is so much risk that we face that it's almost a gamble this late in our career. This episode we delve into the process and thoughts behind how to build a plan around switching successfully from your current career path to your dream job!   Check out the shownotes at http://www.allanmckay.com/67/

While speaking at the It's Art Masterclass 2016 event in Paris, we teamed together to enjoy some beer and talk VFX for this episodes podcast. This episode dives into many subjects from what we look for when hiring or building teams for projects, what it takes to work at big studios, lots of great insights into getting work and being a better artist, as well as workflow, process and what our electricity bills tend to look like when boasting a render-farm! Mark Theriault is an FX Lead at Image Engine in Vancouver, previously working for studios such as Industrial Light + Magic, Dreamworks, Blur Studio, Frantic Films/Prime Focus and many others. He has an extensive background in VFX working on films such as Star Wars, Deadpool, Independence Day: Resurgence, Avengers and many others. Anselm Seherr-Thoss (Ansi) is a VFX Supervisor located in New Orleans, Louisiana. He's worked for studios such as Blur Studio, Frantic Films/Prime Focus, Atomic Fiction, Pixomondo and many other studios around the US and Europe. Some of the projects Ansi has worked on include Quantico, NCIS: New Orleans, Grimm, The Expendables 3, Star Trek 2, Avatar and GI Joe. You can also listen to the AM Podcast with Ansi at http://www.allanmckay.com/ansi/ for those of you not on the inner circle, it's free to sign up. I literally just shared Friday 25 hours of free training content that is not publicly available anywhere else on Maya and MAx training I plan to release some Houdini videos very soon also. I typically send out 1-2 emails per week related to developing your skills as well as your career, lots of great stuff from actual emails I use to get work, tips on negotiating and bidding on film projects, through to step by step videos on creating a lot of the visual effects I do on various high-end film projects. Next week I have some vfx case studies I'm doing coming up which you probably don't want to miss You can sign up to get all of this and more, at http://www.allanmckay.com/inside/ For shownotes visit http://www.allanmckay.com/66/

I've gotten into so many conversations about the gear lying around my house from camera equipment to art on my walls with friends and with everyone on Facebook when a photo gets posted that I thought I would share some of these things. Better yet, I wanted to share the devices, apps and services I use almost DAILY to freelance and get my work done, work faster, more efficiently, even if it means coming off a bit weird with some of these things! Oh and lastly - I have no affiliation with any of this stuff, other than I use it, no profit or gain from sharing this, other than if I get to start seeing people standing on foam rollers at their stand up desk one day, I'll feel a little proud inside. So I just wanted to get that out of the way ;)   For an in-depth report and links to all of the tools, check out the show notes here

After a small hiatus, Allan McKay returns with a new episode 'Creative Negotiation'. Learning to step away from the black and white form of trade that we're typically used to, and instead prioritize what your real current career goals and needs are, and proceed to negotiate actual needs that benefit you more. While also acknowledging the other party's needs to align the discussion with what they want, to get what you really want. Show-notes at http://www.allanmckay.com/64/  

Probably one of the more controversial episodes put out - as is anything to do with money. But this episode dives into understanding the logistics of what you charge as a freelancer and how to re-think it all to get what you are worth, but also do it in a way that your clients get exactly what they want as well.Show notes at http://www.allanmckay.com/63/

Pete Draper is an industry veteran with 20 years of experience working in the UK and India on many amazing projects. He's co-founder and CTO of Makuta in Hyderabad, India a vfx studio responsible for many high profile feature films. This was a fun chat covering so much from freelance to relocating to new countries, touching on much of the 3D industry 'back in the day' as well as productivity and his book 'Deconstructing the elements' as well as plenty more! Makuta VFX Pete Draper's Website Deconstructing the Elements Check out show notes at http://www.allanmckay.com/62/  

This episode is a sit down with Chad Wanstreet (Episode 18 and 19) casually talking about overtime, burnout and a lot of issues with the industry. This is from two people who know the grind all too well and shedding a lot of light on it from many different and unique perspectives.   Chad Episode 18 Chad Episode 19 Chad's Vimeo Show notes located at http://www.allanmckay.com/61/  

  Jami works at Bungie in Seattle, WA well known for Halo and Destiny among other high profile projects. This episode we dive into her role at Bungie on Destiny, as well as her experiences graduating from college and going into video games, and how she managed to literally walk into a job at Bungie and a lot of the key reasons behind that which I think is really fascinating. As well as sharing her own female perspective of working in the video game industry as well. There's a lot of really valuable takeaways from this episode as well as just being an all-round fun episode to listen to!   For show notes visit :  http://www.allanmckay.com/60/ Jami's Twitter : https://twitter.com/justjamij Jami's GDC talk handout : http://www.gdcvault.com/play/1021793/Animation-Bootcamp-The-Missing-Link  

Matt Conway is a Digital Matte Painter having worked on movie projects such as Avatar, Avengers Age of Ultron, Shutter Island, Game of Thrones and dozens of others. During this interview we discuss everything from his initial upbringing and transition into VFX to travel, techniques and superbowl, as well as Stallone and Arnie and a heck of a lot more. We dive into lots of good stuff, lots of goofy stuff, we do talk sex and censorship and other ridiculous things - so those who might be a bit sensitive maybe skip ahead if hearing words like 'boobs' offend you.   Matt Conway's Website : http://mattconwayart.com/ Artist Insight Series :  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kScuvirgjjI  

Omar is a character TD at Dreamworks Animation in Los Angeles working on projects like Kung Fu Panda 2, How to train your dragon 2, Rise of the Guardians and many others. During this episode we cover a lot of really great subjects and particularly dive into his experience going from a student into a character TD role at one of the biggest animation studios in the world, and many of the struggles we typically face that he was able to overcome.