The Allan McKay Podcast

Writer, Director, Producer HaZ Dulull started as a VFX Artist on feature films such as The Dark Knight and Hellboy 2 . He quickly progressed to a VFX Supervisor role and was nominated for several VES awards on shows like Planet Dinosaur (BBC) and America: The Story of US (Discovery). His creativity and smart approach to production also led him to become a VFX Producer on series like Poldark Season...

Gerald Undone is a YouTube creator whose channel is dedicated to different technologies used in the creative process. He tests a variety of tech and gadgets, reviews those products from a value perspective and provides tutorials and guides for content creation using that same gear. In this Podcast, Gerald Undone shares his experience with building a successful YouTube channel, finding a like minde...

Instagram is the number one platform to get exposure and to build your name, to build a following and to get known, and of course, to land clients as well. But how do you take advantage of this if no one is seeing your posts? If you're posting with bad hashtags, your posts are going to get pushed to the side. A lot of us like using lots of hashtags, but that means that our posts will get lost in t...

Looking back at the beginning of his own career, Allan examines what he should've done differently: Instead of sending out his reel over and over, he could've been asking for feedback: "I realize my reel sucks. Tell me what an ideal reel would be to you." The key factor here is empathy. By putting yourself in someone else's shoes, you're able to get the most wins. You're able to start thinking dif...

American author, game designer, graphic novelist and screenwriter Jordan Mechner is best known as a pioneer of cinematic storytelling in the video game industry and as the creator of Prince of Persia , one of the most successful and enduring video game franchises of all time. His other games include Karateka, The Last Express, Prince of Persia 2: The Shadow and the Flame, Prince of Persia: Sands o...

Because of the change that's happening due to COVID-19 and quarantine, a lot of us had to shift to working from home. The day that the quarantine happened, everyone started to shut down. It got scary for a minute. But it's really interesting how every studio was able to pivot and adapt to what was going on. And this is not just visual effects. This is worldwide! It's reflecting on everything. The...

Chris Nichols is the host of CG Garage and Martini Giant Podcasts. He is a CG veteran and Director of Chaos Group Labs.  In 2015, Chris founded the Wikihuman project, a first-of-its-kind panel of academic and industry experts to explore the combination of art and technology in creating a believable digital human. With a background in both VFX and design, Nichols has worked for Gensler, Digital Dom...

What if you had control over your time? What if you could track it and adjust your behaviors to increase your productivity? This system, developed by Allan McKay, takes about 5 minutes a day to do. It's something that's been adjusted and perfected over many years.   In this Podcast, Allan McKay shares an every-day organizational system that he's developed to increase his productivity, as well as t...

Rosana Sullivan is a Director, Storyboard Artist, Writer, and Executive Producer. Since 2011 she has worked for Pixar Animation Studios. In 2019 she wrote and directed her first animated short film, Kitbull , for which she received a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film at the 92nd Academy Awards. Sullivan worked as a lead character designer at Ooga Labs and a 2D artist at...

Rise FX was founded in 2007 by Sven Pannicke, Robert Pinnow, Markus Degen and Florian Gellinger in Berlin. Today, this award-winning company -- with offices in Berlin, Munich, Stuttgart, Cologne -- has roughly 100 permanent staff members in addition to 100 freelance artists, which makes it one of the biggest VFX studios in Central Europe. Rise FX acts as collaborator for episodic series, as well a...

Emmanuel Shiu is a Concept Designer and Illustrator for film and video games. His credits include films Godzilla: King of the Monsters, Pokémon Detective Pikachu, Blade Runner 2049 , Ready Player One; The Amazing Spider-Man 2, Cloud Atlas, Star Trek: Into Darkness, Looper, Superman Returns and Hellboy; and video games including Lost Planet 3, Star Citizen and Destiny 2. Emmanuel began his career i...

To work in another country or to get a work visa, you need to qualify for it. Before an employer can hire you, you have to fit the criteria to get the work visa in the first place. Most of us realize that when it's too late: When you need the job, or even have the job offer -- but we don't qualify for the visa. Then it's back to square one. So how do you go about getting a work visa, to work and l...

Just because you send in your demo reel doesn't mean that it's going to be seen by anybody. Even if it does, who says it will be watched all the way through? Most reels are skipped over just because there is one wrong thing on there. We don't realize that the people reviewing the reels at first may not know much about your industry, or discipline, or the talents you have. They just enter your reel...

People are afraid of being judged but it's little things that build up over time: For example, if you're shy, try going out to a bar and talking to people. These are little things you could do to get out of your comfort zone and push through your pain points. It takes trial and error. If it scares you -- that's good! That means that the more you do this, the less it will scare you. More importantl...

This Podcast is in response to someone's message, "How do I get things done? And how do I stay motivated?" You have to start thinking like a producer. You have to ask yourself the questions, "Where can my time go so I get more bang for my buck? Where can I make the most amount?" It's about making decisions on where the core of your time goes and what's your Return On Investment (ROI) is. The more...

Marc Rienzo is a Director, VFX Supervisor and Artist. He has over 20 years of experience of working in visual effects, including for studios like Marvel, Disney, ILM, Weta Digital, Digital Domain, Sony Imageworks, and PDI Dreamworks. He's been a creative Nuke Artist for 18+ years in both film and commercials. Marc has worked on multiple projects including Spider-Man: Far from Home, Thor: Ragnarok,...

There are mixed feelings around the topic of a formal college education versus online courses. Colleges are really expensive and they tend to not be pushing the envelope in terms of what you can do. When you invest in yourself, you want to have access to the best people in the world on any given subject. You want to learn the condensed version of their knowledge in a limited amount of time. Also,...

Have you ever reached out to someone and asked them for help -- and never gotten a response? This Podcast is about how to get a better result: How do you get people to want to invest in you, especially when they're busy? When you approach someone, you have to put in the effort to demonstrate that you've put the thought into it yourself -- and that you're committed and that you will see it through....

It is so critical to know when you are reaching out to people who are extremely busy. If you put yourself in the other person's shoes when you communicate with them -- and understand how they're going to react -- that's worth its weight in gold. And it helps you communicate better with them, knowing what their needs and problems are. It's something you have to be strategic about: - How do you get...

Louis Castle 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 Amazon Game Studios Seattle. 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 Westwoo...

Maxon Computer is a leading developer of 3D software best known for its flagship 3D modeling, painting, rendering and animation software Cinema 4D. Red Giant is a creator of unique tools for editors, VFX artists, and motion designers. In December 2019, the two companies reached an agreement to merge under the media and entertainment division of Nemetschek Group to better serve the post production...

Todd Sheridan Perry works in the film industry as a freelance VFX Supervisor / CG Supervisor as well as digital artist, screenwriter, editor and director. He is a classically trained artist, as well as both a traditional and digital animator. His diverse background in video games, film and television has led him to play key roles in projects ranging from Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers to Final...

Looking back at the beginning of his own career, Allan examines what he should've done differently: Instead of sending out his reel over and over, he could've been asking for feedback: "I realize my reel sucks. Tell me what an ideal reel would be to you." The key factor here is empathy. By putting yourself in someone else's shoes, you're able to get the most wins. You're able to start thinking dif...

Looking at other people's work can be really inspiring. If you're looking at it from a place of "Where I want to go" -- rather than comparing yourself to everyone else -- you're going to be fine. If, however, you're looking at everyone else and thinking, "Why aren't I there?", that could be a problem. We shouldn't compare ourselves to everyone else. You don't know what struggles they've had. You o...

American author, game designer, graphic novelist and screenwriter Jordan Mechner is best known as a pioneer of cinematic storytelling in the video game industry and as the creator of Prince of Persia , one of the most successful and enduring video game franchises of all time. His other games include Karateka, The Last Express, Prince of Persia 2: The Shadow and the Flame, Prince of Persia: Sands o...