The Allan Mckay Podcast

This is a Live Stream session on How to Take Your 3D Artist Career to the Next Level. In the creative industry, the main thing is to focus on how to get that first job. We tend to be more strategic when looking for our big break. But once we get in, most of us stop trying and our careers become stagnant. The key thing for a lot of us is to look at that as the second phase. Once we’ve gotten in, that’s not the end. It’s just the beginning! In this Podcast, Allan McKay talks about learning to look at your career in phases: how not to get stagnant, how to leverage each job and how to make choices that propel your career forward. For more show notes, visit www.allanmckay.com/202/.

In this Podcast, Allan answers the questions that get asked all the time: “Should I go to school to study VFX or should I study online?” “What school should I go to?” “What are my options?” You will hear the pros and cons of the following three choices: Studying in college; Studying online for free; Paying for online courses. In this Episode, Allan breaks down the pros and cons of going to college to study VFX versus studying online on your own -- for free or in a purchased course -- and how to take full advantage of either route you choose. For more show notes, visit www.allanmckay.com/201/.

In this Podcast, Allan is being interviewed by D2 Conference’s Fabio Palvelli. D2 Conference brings you content to keep learning and keep growing as an artist, so you can unlock your true potential. This is part of the Inspiration Series, a small collection of talks that help connect the creativity dots in and out of our professional fields. In this interview by Fabio, Allan talks about his first creative breakthrough, the secret to his productivity and why he began teaching, as well the importance of becoming a business -- as an artist! For more show notes, visit www.allanmckay.com/200/.

When we work in visual effects, we can aim for realism. But the realization that most clients and directors have when they see “real” effects -- is that nobody wants to see real. Nobody wants to see realistic visual effects. Everyone has that intent until they realize how boring those effects are. So when you’re working on a project, you need to base the idea in reality -- and then go into the “cool factor” direction (instead of going back and forth between real and cool). And you need to have this discussion with other creatives to get on the same page. You have to realize that reality is boring. When you dial it up, it’s really different. That’s the balancing act. Think about how that applies to you in the work that you do. That doesn’t mean that making hyper real is your path. It’s more about figuring out the few elements that take something from real to interesting. It’s also a critical aspect to take responsibility for our shots! We’re still artists, so what can we do to make things look amazing? In t

Whether you like it or not, as artists, we are in sales. We ourselves are the product / the service. Most of us don’t know how to sell that product. However, whenever you revise your reel or cover letter, you’re tweaking your sales pitch. Everything we’re doing -- is sales. This Episode asks you to take look at yourself as a successful salesperson. For that, you’d need to: Have a product to sell; Have people to sell that product to; Know HOW to sell that product. As long as you know those three levers -- you’re good. If one is lacking, you wouldn’t be able to close the sale. Your hard skills include building a reel. Your soft skills -- having the relationships and applying for jobs through those relationships. In this Podcast, Allan talks about using the skills of the most successful salespeople and how to apply those to sell yourself as an artist and a business -- to get your dream job. For more show notes, visit www.allanmckay.com/198/.  

In this Podcast, Allan talks about the topic of branding. As he’s said before, “You could be the greatest artist in the world! But if no one knows who you are, then how are you going to get work?” This Live Stream because with the question: Should we, as artists, use social media? It’s not just about social media, however. When it comes to personal branding, the key thing is building awareness. In other words, you want to do this with an intent, or what Allan calls “Effective Branding”. In addition, you have to think of yourself as a one-person studio on a micro level and do the work that a successful studio (at a macro level) would do! In this Podcast, Allan talks about overcoming your resistance toward becoming a successful business, which includes building an effective brand, creating opportunities for yourself and investing in your social capital. For more show notes, visit www.allanmckay.com/197/.

Established in 1987, Spin VFX is a creative and technically dedicated visual effects studio producing captivating imagery for feature film and television. Over its 30 years of business, Spin VFX has evolved into an internationally recognized studio working with respected Directors, VFX Supervisors and Producers. Its film credits include Suicide Squad, John Wick and John Wick 2, the Academy Award winning biopic Spotlight and many more. Spin VFX's television credits include the Emmy award-winning series Game of Thrones (HBO), the thrice-nominated show The Borgias (Showtime) and the Netflix original series The Umbrella Academy and the SYFY show The Nightflyers (available on Netflix), based on the 1980 novella by George R. R. Martin. In this Round Table with Allan McKay, the Supervisors and Artists at Spin VFX talk about the company’s history, some of its most memorable projects and its new technological frontiers, as well as the skills they look for in new artists. For more show notes, visit www.allanmckay.com/1

This is a Live Stream I did a while back. I walked about what I would do differently if I were to start my career again now. I started my career 25 years ago. I’ve been doing 3D for a bit longer than that. I look at what it took to get my career to where it is: It was a lot of hard work, a lot of persistence, a lot of failure too. But it would be different if I were to start today. Back in the day, there were fewer studios and less competition. In 2019, it would be a different journey. So I want to talk about how I would fast track my career these days. In this Podcast, I talk about the two levers you need to launch your career, give advice on how to learn, how to build your first reel, how to network -- and what it takes to eventually get your Dream Job. For more show notes, visit www.allanmckay.com/195/.

Enrique Torres is an Emmy Award winning artist with an expertise in VFX, character design and concept design. He has a Bachelors Degree from the Art Institute in Media Arts and Animation. In the past 10 years, he utilized his talents by working within the movie, television and game industries. Enrique has worked on films such as Twilight, The Day The Earth Stood Still, Sport Science, Thor, Captain America, Avengers and more. Since 2006, he has worked on over 300 projects that vary from commercials, music videos, games, ads, print, web development, to film. He is currently a Creative Director at BOND, one of the leading Hollywood-based studios responsible for creating film posters. In this Podcast, Enrique talks about his background as a generalist, the importance of understanding the pipeline and the biggest mistake that all junior VFX artists must avoid making! For more show notes, visit www.allanmckay.com/194/.  

This is replay of a Live Stream I did recently on YouTube where I talked about the levers we need to pull to get ahead in our career and maximize our success. This is a subject that have talked about in the past. The reason behind that is that building our technical skills -- without doing the outreach or network building -- isn’t enough. It’s really important! I really want to reiterate this subject and kick your ass, so you can get to it. This was a really well received Webinar with some positive feedback. In addition, any success stories I hear from my students come from their doing this work and other skills they develop after listening to my Podcast. Being talented, in 2019, is no longer enough. It’s the equivalent of just showing up. We all have the resources and technical abilities, but it doesn’t mean shit -- if you aren’t getting your work in front of the right people! I practice what I preach -- and this is everything you need to double down on, to get that success. In this Podcast, I talk about the

I want to talk about the topic I get asked about all the time: The state of the industry in 2019 and is the industry stable? I want to dive into this subject because it’s pretty serious, at least for me. I want to answer this question and talk about all the scares we’ve had in the industry. Some of you may take this Episode the wrong way. I’m okay with that! This is my outlook and my opinions. I will dive into the reasons why I started this Podcast in the first place, as well as some of the results that have happened when people have applied what I talk about -- to become successful. And I couldn’t be more proud of that! To me, this is a giant pay-off, so I’m going to continue giving back! In this Podcast, I want to talk about the common and unnecessary fears about the state of the industry and how to bypass them by focusing on constant learning and evolving both as an artist and a business. For more show notes, visit www.allanmckay.com/192/.

In this Podcast, Allan is giving a peak into a Career Intensive Webinar. This is a session that Allan has done recently inside his FXTD Mentorship Course. Normally, these Webinars are private. This is a chance for you to be a fly on the wall -- and get some valuable information. Usually, it’s a Q&A session, but this time, Allan had his students submit questions ahead of time. If you’re interested in the FXTD Mentorship, the enrollment will be opening soon for 2019. Either way, you will get a lot from this. In this Live Career Intensive Webinar, Allan answers questions about negotiating, networking, setting impossible goals and the determination that it takes to become a successful VFX artist. For more show notes, visit www.allanmckay.com/191/.

Alessandro Ongaro is a CG Supervisor at Double Negative. With almost 20 years of experience, he is presently considered to be among the CG Industry's top professionals.  Alessandro was born in Switzerland and holds a dual Italian and Swiss citizenship. While studying design at the School of Design in Milan, Italy, Alessandro first began using computers to create photo-realistic 3D renderings for the architecture industry. He began working in the feature films after moving back to Milan where he was recruited by Digitalia Graphics, the first Italian company to work with a film negative. It pioneered all the visual effects for the very first Italian sci fi movie, Nirvana.   After 5 years at Digitalia Graphics, Alessandro was offered a position by ESC Entertainment where he began to work on Constantine. Soon after finishing work on Constantine, he was recruited by DreamWorks Animation where he worked on such films as Madagascar, Over The Hedge, Flushed Away, Bee Movie, Shrek: Forever After, Turbo and Kung Fu Pan

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, 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 Round Table Podcast, Allan, Sergio and Mitch do a live feed on the subjects of traveling as an artist, working abroad, freelancing in other countries, global networking, visas and much more!    For more show notes, visit

Mariana Acuña Acosta is an entrepreneur who is driven by her passion for new and emerging technologies. Over the past four years, her focus has been in VR, MR and AR workflows, cross-pollination of products; the changing landscape of entertainment and the new ways of creating content. She is the Founder of Jolt VR and a CPO and Co-Founder of Glassbox Technologies (previously known as Opaque Studios), a company that is pioneering gaming technology in Virtual Production, utilizing VR and AR by creating a framework for visualizing performances, environments, virtual collaboration, virtual location scouting, and much more for real time production.  As a VFX Artist, Mariana has years of experience working as a Compositor on films like Invictus, Alice in Wonderland, Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps, Green Lantern, The Rum Diary and the show Lost.  In this Podcast, Mariana talks about her experience working in different companies around the world, the importance of knowing every part of the pipeline; the latest devel

Derek Spears is an award-winning VFX Supervisor. His career in Visual Effects started with the founding of Cinesite’s 3D department where he was involved with the production of Kevin Costner’s Waterworld and helped develop Cinesite’s 3D tracking system. Over the years, Spears served as the Digital Effects Supervisor on Face / Off, The X Files movie, as well as the VFX Supervisor for The Sum of All Fears. His other film credits include Superman Returns, The Wolfman, X-Men: Days of Future Past, The Mummy 3 and Around the World in 80 Days. Most recently, he’s been a VFX Supervisor at Pixomondo where he’s worked on films Goosebumps 2 and Midway, as well as the Clio-winning “Joust” Super Bowl 2019 spot for HBO / Bud Light. Derek has a background in Electrical Engineering and brings a deep understanding of the fusion of art and technology. Prior to working in the film industry, he worked at Silicon Graphics and was a key developer on the Academy Award-recognized Cineon compositing system. Derek is a member of the b

A lot of us find out that when we start to learn an new subject, we read up everything and get basic information, often without knowing how to apply it. By having a set goal, the learning becomes more intense and we have apply it all in a context. It allows us to connect the dots and come together in a context. And it also means you’re going to start to see your progression as you go along -- and really measure your success. Check out some previous Podcasts I’ve done on this subject: How to Learn and Retain Information: www.allanmckay.com/79/  Optimized Learning: www.allanmckay.com/162/  In this Podcast, I talk about how to find the right teacher, how to learn and retain information -- specifically when starting in VFX -- and the importance of setting learning goals. For more show notes, visit www.allanmckay.com/186/.      

This is a personal essay on how to level up. I don’t think this Podcast is going to be for everyone; and if doesn’t resonate with you, it might not be the right time for you. I want to cut the bullshit and call it what it is: If you want to level up -- LEVEL UP! I get asked a lot the following questions: How do I get started? (www.allanmckay.com/184/) How do I become successful? Why are other people successful and I am not?  Having a Mentorship and helping my friends and students get their career going, it gives me inspiration. It makes me want to put more material out. On the other hand, the people who can’t seem to achieve success -- they themselves are the reason for that. It’s not the city or the country they live in, it’s not that they aren’t smart enough -- it’s the excuses that they make to prevent themselves from trying. They are either not willing to put in the work to make it happen. Or, if they’re willing to put in the work and time, but they aren’t thinking about what they’re doing. In this Podc

This is an Episode that has been a long time coming. This is easily the one question I get asked every day: How do I get started in visual effects? Where do I turn? I’m overwhelmed: Which software should I study? There are two ways to answer this question:  One: The generic way of “Just do it!” or “Go to school!” Instead, I want to dive deeper and give you the specific answer, as well tell you which mistakes to avoid. This applies not only to when you’re starting out. You could be a few years into your career but still figuring out what your purpose is; what you’re trying to do. I want to remind you what intrigued you about this career in the first place and laser focus on what that goal is.   In this Episode, you will learn to set your Sometime Goal, how to stay focused, choose the right tutorials and software, overcome resistance and roadblocks -- and how to get closer to your Dream Job! For more show notes, visit www.allanmckay.com/184/.    

Going into a job interview as a creative means that they have seen your work and they like what they’ve seen. It isn’t that they’re coming in to consider you. It means that they’re narrowing down to a couple people. They just want to know if you’re a good fit for the company. This isn’t an interrogation. It’s more about finding out what kind of personality you have. That also means that you’re completely in control of the situation and the tonality. It’s a two-way street. Don’t feel like you’re going to be just answering questions. You’re just as in control of the outcome! Just keep in mind to stay friendly. You want them to make it out that you’re easy going and you get along with everyone. It’s important to be confident about your work and yourself. In this Podcast, Allan talks about the types of interviews and questions you can expect as a VFX applicant, how to follow-up afterward, and most importantly -- how to give the best answers that make you stand out and land you the job! For more show notes, visit