The Allan McKay Podcast

This episode dives deep into the topic of pricing and going after what you're worth. This is actually a snippet of a live webinar with the FX TD Mentorship which we touched briefly on the subject of pricing. This conversation started as a question proposed "How much money could I expect to make in Los Angeles?" and grew into a much bigger topic about pricing and getting what you're worth. This epi...

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...

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 electr...

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 c...

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 w...

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 h...

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...

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...

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 w...

Darryl Johnson is a 3D generalist working for studios in LA like Blur and Blizzard Cinematics, as well as previously in Detroit at various car commercial houses. This episode is a fun filled episode covering everything from video games and getting started, to diving into a lot of bigger subjects to do with career, moving city's and working at big studios. Show notes here Darryl's Website Darryl's...

Ash Thorp is a director, illustrator and creative director - who has worked on countless feature films and other creative projects. Some of his projects include Dawn of the planet of the apes, Mission Impossible - Rogue Nation, James Bond Spectre, Call of Duty, Prometheus, Iron Man 3, The Walking Dead and dozens of others. He also has a podcast 'The Collective' which interviews many creatives and...

This episode was originally a personal article I wrote about dealing with self doubt, failure and also how all of us have those people around us who push negativity onto us and make us question ourselves. I wrote it for a few people very close to me who have experienced a lot of this that I've seen first hand out influential figures in their lives have made them want to give up on their hopes and...

This episode is an unofficial sequel to Ep 52 on US work visas, but this is more tailored to worldwide rather than just in the US. As well as giving a hands on insight as well as Allan's experiences with the visa process and what to expect. Check out the show notes at http://www.allanmckay.com/54/ To listen to Episode 52 with Amanda Gillespie talking about US work visas go to http://www.allanmckay...

This episode is a big one on goal setting we cover a lot of great subjects and topics situated around goal setting but more importantly actionable steps to building better habits rather than it just being simple mindsets that aren't going to do us any good. Two key things I reference is the Dickens Process S.M.A.R.T. goals (I decided not to link to anything as I'd rather you find the links that be...

Amanda Gillespie is Manager of Extraordinary Ability Cases for Samuel Christensen Law Firm PLLC in New York. Amanda works daily with many of the artists and creatives alike migrating to the United States each year, helping build their cases and assisting them in the process of obtaining visas, greencards and work permits to work in the U.S. This subject, especially for a lot of visual effects arti...

This episode is about how learning a little code, can go a long way for artists and creatives. Most of us are intimidated by programming and think it's only for math guys and people wired a certain way, where it's really about learning just how to approach it a different way - you don't need to know math to code, you don't need to be 'super smart' to code. You just need to know how to apply it to...

This is a 1 hour master class from March 2015 in Paris, condensing a lot of information into a rapid fire session! On top of that, December is about closing 2015 out strong and gearing up for making 2016 your year! Check out the show notes at www.allanmckay.com/50/ If you want to attend the It's Art Masterclass 2016 in Paris in March, check out the links below! Some of the speakers include: Craig...

Next Limit are the creators of industry standard water simulation software 'Realflow' - based out in Madrid, Spain. This episode is with the development team at Next Limit, including NL's CEO Victor Gonzalez, Luis Miguel More, Ivan Alduan, Alex Ribao, Angel Tena and Gus Sanchez. Discussing the history of Realflow as well as much of it's key features and giving insight into the development team! Yo...

Beau is the VP of Business Development at TurboSquid - which a lot of people associate with their enormous 3D model library, as well as plug-ins and other items that they sell for 3D artists. Their industry standard CheckMate process has also made waves over the years as well. And more recently, they've released a service called PixelSquid for generating realtime 3D assets for use by Photoshop art...

This episode is focused on something that affects us all, but also more recently for me has actually been a very critical subject, as we all face those times that completely derail us from our path, habits and routine. Sometimes it's just for a few days, other times it can for months or even years! So how do you deal with this? Whether it's a creative block or whether it's a long relationship that...

Mitch is the founder of Pencil Kings an online training site that teaches illustration and drawing techniques - his background comes from working in film and games for various big name clients in Canada and the United States and China. At a turning point in Mitches life, he decided to risk everything and take action, creating his own business and designing his own lifestyle that would allow him to...

Marc Simonetti is an amazing French illustrator and concept artist who's worked on dozens of high profile projects from the work of H.P. Lovecraft to Game of Thrones fans out there - many of the covers of 'A song of Ice and Fire' on to working with Luc Besson and beyond! Marc constantly gives talks and performs demos for Wacom and Adobe, as well as online on his methods and technique, as well his...

In this episode we explore the many different ways we can make money online as well as even automate our income to give us more freedom and a bit of a 'buffer' to go after out dreams without hurting our savings. In our journey to go after our goals and find our dream job - one of the biggest roadblocks is risk. What if we fail, what if we spend our savings going after something unattainable? To el...