CG Garage

Episode 422 - Sean Looper - Chief Technology Officer, Crafty Apes

Over the course of his career, Sean Looper has gone from humble beginnings as an architectural draftsman to chief technology officer at VFX studio Crafty Apes. Along the way, the pipelines he’s built have provided seamless effects for movies including Zathura: A Space Adventure, Guardians of the Galaxy, and Edge of Tomorrow. In this podcast, Sean talks about his career and reveals a natural inclination toward the technical nuts and bolts that help a VFX pipeline run smoothly. He shares som...

Episode 421 - Ben Procter - Production Designer, The “Avatar” Sequels

This week, Chris takes a trip to Pandora to delve into the design of Avatar: The Way of Water, James Cameron’s latest jaw-dropping cinematic epic. His guide is Ben Procter, the super-talented production designer who specializes in creating vehicles and environments for Avatar antagonists the RDA — to the extent that he thinks of himself as the “bad guy” of the art department. Ben goes into a fascinating deep-dive into the design and construction of the S-76 SeaDragon, the formidable whalin...

Episode 420 - Molly Pabian - Head of Studio at Crafty Apes VFX

Inspired by scary movies to pursue a career in the film industry, Molly Pabian has worked her way up to head of studio at VFX company Crafty Apes. Along the way, she’s worked on over 100 movies and TV shows, including Avatar, Real Steel, Star Trek: Picard, The Last of Us, 1923, John Wick: Chapter 4, and Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny. Molly talks about her roles and responsibilities as she’s risen up the ranks. She also discusses the differences between working at big and small comp...

Episode 419 - Chris Edwards - Co-Founder and CEO of THE THIRD FLOOR Visualization

Almost every major recent and upcoming film and TV series has had THE THIRD FLOOR involved in the visualization stage — and beyond. Recent productions include Avatar: The Way of Water, Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, and The Mandalorian season 3. This week, Co-founder and CEO of THE THIRD FLOOR, Chris Edwards, reflects on his 20-plus years of experience in the VFX industry. He also discusses how crucial visualization has become in the movie-making process and reveals how his colleagues ...

Episode 418 - Philipp Wolf - Executive-in-Charge, Corporate Strategy, DNEG

Philipp Wolf has always had a passion for storytelling. He began his career in journalism, then helped shape stories for the reality TV show Big Brother before moving into visual effects production on movies and TV series, including Game of Thrones, Ghost in the Shell, and The Predator. Today, Philipp works at DNEG in Montreal, where his credits include Dune, Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery, Altered Carbon, and The Battle at Lake Changjin. As well as discussing his incredible career, Phi...

Episode 417 - Martini Giant Returns

The Martini Giant is back! It’s been almost five years since Chris and fellow VFX artists and frequent CG Garage guests Daniel Thron and Erick Schiele created the Martini Giant podcast to indulge in their love of all things cinematic and argue about Star Wars. This week, Dan and Erick return to their roots and talk about what they’ve been up to since they last visited the CG Garage. Which turns out to be a lot of stuff! Dan is back in the videogames industry, while Erick is using AI to hel...

Episode 416 - James Blevins - Co-Founder, MESH

James Blevins has been involved in pretty much every step of the filmmaking process, from driving vehicles to virtual production. Films he’s contributed to include Waterworld, Armageddon, Pleasantville, and, most impressive of all, Space Jam. He’s also worked at some of Hollywood’s biggest studios, including Disney, Netflix, Amazon, and LucasFilm for virtual production on The Mandalorian. In this podcast, James delves into some funny stories from behind the scenes of movies, including Crim...

Episode 415 - Andrew Schmied - Chief Strategy Officer, M2 Insights

Andrew Schmied has established himself as an authority on all things related to computer graphics. He’s helped companies, including Samsung, Apple, and Microsoft, explore technology and drive innovation. He’s also a counselor and AI special interest group leader for the RealTime Society, which hosts a community and conference dedicated to the future of CG. In this conversation with Chris, Andrew shares his expertise on artificial intelligence, which is dramatically changing the world of co...

Episode 414 - Alex Wang, Visual Effects Supervisor - “The Last Of Us”

Becoming VFX supervisor on HBO’s The Last of Us has fulfilled a lifelong dream for movie and game fan Alex Wang. In this podcast, Alex tells Chris about his journey to this hugely prestigious position via his work on movies including The Day After Tomorrow, Sin City, Tron: Legacy, Deadpool, Fast & Furious 8, Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom and Dominion, and Terminator: Dark Fate. Alex also shares some of the key lessons he’s learned throughout his career, including whether it’s better to wo...

Episode 413 - Dr. Mike Seymour

Much has changed since Mike Seymour last guested on the CG Garage podcast almost six years ago. Not only has the VFX sage and digital humans expert become Dr. Mike, thanks to his doctorate from the University of Sydney, but the entire industry is facing a seismic shift thanks to neural networks and artificial intelligence. Or is it? In this podcast, Chris and Mike consider the idea that the latest changes in VFX, art, and technology could just be the next step in a continuous evolutionary ...

Episode 412 - Jonathan Egstad

Jonathan Egstad knows Nuke like few others. He started working with the compositing software at Digital Domain, where he developed a 3D subsystem and bagged an Academy Award, before moving to the pioneering animation studio Image Movers. Subsequently, he joined Dreamworks Animation (formerly PDI) to help integrate Nuke into its compositing pipeline. In this podcast, Jonathan demonstrates the rare combination of artistic and technical talents that have made him one of the most respected nam...

Episode 411 - Meats Meier — Virtual Production Supervisor at Eyeline Studios (Scanline)

Meats Meier is a unique combination of artist and technical director. Not only does he create incredible biomechanical pieces with ZBrush, but he’s also advanced VFX via projects including Hellboy and The Day After Tomorrow. More recently, Meats has art-directed virtual production for Obi-Wan Kenobi and Netflix’s upcoming live-action adaptation of Avatar: The Last Airbender. In this balanced conversation, recorded in person at Meats’ Yucca Valley residence, the artist discusses his backgro...

Episode 410 - Yuval Levy - Director / Creative Director / VFX Supervisor, The-Artery

Chris has interviewed many VFX supervisors and directors on the podcast, but it’s rare to meet someone who does both. Not only does Yuval Levy direct (and creative direct) commercials for the likes of BMW, Ford, and Microsoft, but he’s also VFX supervised a wide variety of Hollywood films, including The Adjustment Bureau, Smile, and Tower Heist. Yuval and Chris dive deep into the world of car commercials, discussing the benefits of shooting in the real world versus using CG. You’ll learn w...

Episode 409 - Andrew Bardusk - VFX Supervisor, Zoic Studios

Andrew Bardusk is a humble legend of the VFX industry. He started as a dustbuster on movies, then moved to compositing for Medium and Once Upon a Time and effects supervision on Arrow. Today, Andrew serves as visual effects supervisor on DC’s Legends of Tomorrow. Andrew talks about how streaming services have revolutionized Zoic’s wheelhouse of episodic work and how demands for 4K HDR content have made small-screen effects more cinematic. Andrew also discusses working from home and going o...

Episode 408 - Culley Bunker & Richard Kidd - Prototype

Digital humans are back on the podcast! This week, Chris is joined by (real humans) Culley Bunker and Richard Kidd, a pair of VFX veterans who have given stars the beauty treatment and worked on dozens of movies. They’re part of the team that formed Prototype, a new company that specializes in creating digital humans, using machine learning to perfect them for cutting-edge projects. Chris, Culley, and Richard discuss the latest in digital humans, including advancements in facial capture, a...

Episode 407 - Evan Jacobs — VP Finishing & Stereo, Marvel Studios

2023 gets off to a flying start with this podcast guest: Evan Jacobs, who has become a critical part of Marvel Studios’ VFX pipeline. Before joining Marvel, Evan created miniature submarines for The Hunt for Red October, herded digital cockroaches in Silent Hill, extended sets for Olympus has Fallen, and converted Alice in Wonderland and Conan the Barbarian to 3D. Evan talks about creating visual effects on low budgets and how he found his niche role at Marvel. He discusses the advantages ...

Episode 406 - Taylor Moll - VFX Supervisor, Feature Animation, DNEG

Taylor Moll has worked on a string of hit animated movies, including Happy Feet, Shrek Forever After, and Rise of the Guardians. Recently, she founded the feature animation department at London-based effects studio DNEG, whose projects include ​​Ron’s Gone Wrong, Entergalactic, and the Unreal animated short “Mr. Spam Gets A New Hat.” In this podcast, recorded at THU, Taylor shares some of the important lessons she’s learned throughout her career, including how to respect people and deal wi...

Episode 405 - Aoi Yamaguchi - Master Calligrapher

Visitors to this year’s Trojan Horse was a Unicorn digital arts festival in Troia Portugal were wowed by Aoi Yamaguchi’s opening performance, in which the artist created beautiful large-scale calligraphic figures in response to pieces of music. Chris caught up with Aoi and discovered more about the ancient art of calligraphy, including its range of 2,000-plus characters, the importance of the tools she uses to create them, and its role in the digital world. This isn’t just about writing, t...

Episode 404 - Eugénie von Tunzelmann — Head of VFX, Attractions; Framestore

How do you make a modern theme park ride? Framestore’s Eugénie von Tunzelmann has the answers. As the Head of VFX for the studio’s rides department, Eugénie has contributed to some incredible rides, including the Jurassic World VelociCoaster at Universal Orlando's Islands of Adventure. Eugénie talks about how her experience on movies including Interstellar and Batman Begins has fed into attractions, which sit somewhere between VFX, animatronics, engineering, and theater. She talks about so...

Episode 403 - Karin Fong - Director, Imaginary Forces

Opening or closing credits have become a key part of the cinematic or televisual experience. In just a few minutes, these mini masterpieces have to convey the essence of the film or TV show in terms of its vision, music, and characters, and they serve a legal requirement in listing its cast and crew. Joining Chris this week is Karin Fong, who tells the story of how she became title designer for an array of productions including Spider-Man: No Way Home, Cowboy Bebop, Boardwalk Empire, and m...

Episode 402 - Sean M. Ritchie & Chris Cook - CG Supervisors, Crafty Apes

Crafty Apes’ Sean M. Ritchie and Chris Cook have seen changes in the VFX industry first-hand. The CG Supervisors both began their careers in architectural visualization before moving into VFX for movies and TV including The Walking Dead, Gravity, Once Upon a Time, Guardians of the Galaxy: Vol. 2, and Dune. Now, Sean and Chris work at Crafty Apes, the prolific VFX studio that’s delivered effects for Spirited, The Orville, Star Trek: Discovery, and many more. Sean and Chris shed light on wha...

Episode 401 - Dylan Sisson - Marketing Manager, Pixar Animation Studios

How has rendering evolved, and what does its future hold? In this podcast, Pixar’s Dylan Sisson answers these burning questions, covering everything from Toy Story’s and Renderman’s beginnings in the mid-80s to the way Disney is now using AI to generate visuals, and even hone scripts and analyze audience reactions. Dylan also discusses his background in Macromedia Director and CD-Roms, how Moore’s Law and Blinn’s Law have both proven to be true, and Pixar’s championing of the USD format. I...

Episode 400 - Scott Leberecht - Director, “Jurassic Punk”

Break out the Martini, the CG Garage Podcast is 400 episodes old! To celebrate its quatercentenary, Chris has attracted a very special guest star: director Scott Leberecht, whose new documentary, Jurassic Punk, explores the impact VFX pioneer Steve Williams had on the movie industry via films including The Abyss, Terminator 2, Jurassic Park, and Spawn. In doing so, Scott sheds light on the turbulent history of VFX, including how studios present themselves and their work, the knock-on effec...

Episode 399 - Tom Teller - Founder & Executive Producer at Frame 48

Could Muse’s “You Make Me Feel Like It's Halloween” become the soundtrack for the spooky season? The legendary rock band’s song is packed with references to classic horror tales, and the music video brings the lyrics to life (or should that be death?) with a spooktacular trip into a deeply haunted house. In this podcast the video’s director, Tom Teller discusses the creative process behind the promo, from collaborating with the band and coming up with ideas, to its final execution with V-R...

Episode 398 - Jinko Gotoh - Producer

What does it take to produce an animated movie? In this podcast, Chris meets talented and ambitious producer Jinko Gotoh, who has been a driving force behind pioneering, Oscar-nominated films including Space Jam, Dinosaur, Finding Nemo, The Illusionist, Klaus, and The LEGO Movie 2. Jinko discusses her journey into movie-making, from being inspired by Lady and The Tramp and Astroboy to learning computer programming, starting a production company, and then shifting into the film industry. Sh...

Episode 397 - Mikal Vega - Actor/Performance Capture Director

Strap in for a tour de force podcast episode. Mikal Vega’s inspirational story begins in small-town Ohio, where he played Dungeons and Dragons and made movies with his grandma. After serving in the military, he received a break into movies via a role in Transformers: Dark of the Moon. From here, Mikal’s combat experience and creative skills landed him directorial roles on mocap for games, including Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War, Call of Duty: Vanguard, and Diablo 4. Mikal talks about ho...

Episode 396 - Jingna Zhang - Fine Art Photographer and Art Director

This week’s podcast guest is truly inspirational. By the age of 20, Zhang Jingna had won bronze for air rifle shooting at the Commonwealth Games and broken records in the sport. After moving into photography, she immediately picked up clients including Mercedes Benz, Canon, and Wacom, and produced fashion editorials for magazines such as Vogue, Harper’s Bazaar, and Elle. In this podcast, Zhang talks about her passion for Manga and how it influences her photographic style, as well as the te...

Episode 395 - Oliver Markowski - Head of 3D, RISE | Visual Effects Studios

Taking part in a CG Garage podcast has been on Oliver Markowski’s bucket list for some time — and with good reason. The self-proclaimed VFX geek has a lot to talk about in this lively and honest conversation with Chris, from his work on movies including Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Guardians of the Galaxy: Vol. 2, Spectre, and Black Panther, to how new file formats and pipelines are making it easy for vendors to collaborate on visual effects. Oliver reminisces about his early days ...

Episode 394 - Angie Jones - Animation Supervisor, Educator, & Author

Angie Jones’ passion for character animation has fuelled a career that’s taken in some of the world’s biggest movies and games. Beginning with the groundbreaking videogame Oddworld: Abe’s Oddyssey, she’s gone on to animate a variety of characters for Stuart Little 2, X2, Freddy vs. Jason, Stealth, Pan’s Labyrinth, Red Dead Revolver, Bloodshot, Fortnite, and many more. Angie is full of hilarious insight and deep knowledge in this rundown of her career so far. She talks about how she switche...

Episode 393 - Garman Herigstad - Visual Effects Educator / Writer

An epic career deserves an epic podcast. During Garman Herigstad's 35-year journey in CG, the Houdini wizard has traveled to over 30 countries and worked on everything from real estate commercials in Bangkok to Disney videogames and Hollywood movies. At the same time, he’s taught at prestigious institutions, including Savannah College of Art and Design and Gnomon, and he even completed his most recent degree in his 60s. Garman recounts his humble beginnings in greetings cards, through to e...

Episode 392 - Mio Markovic - VP of Animation Production, DreamWorks Animation

Mio Markovic’s creative, production, and tech skills have resulted in some of the best animated TV series of recent years, including Voltron: Legendary Defender, Jurassic World Camp Cretaceous, and Fast & Furious Spy Racers. But Mio didn’t just jump into animation: he had already risen to a high level in the advertising industry and, like Chris, had worked on large-scale architecture projects. Mio talks Chris through his career and reveals how his earlier experiences enabled him to change ...

Episode 391 - Jerome Denjean - Supervising Creative Director; Love, Death & Robots

Over the past five years, Love, Death & Robots has completely resculpted the landscape of animation, feeding Netflix viewers bite-size chunks of violence, sex, and gore. Supervising Creative Director Jerome Denjean is a key player behind-the-scenes, giving Love, Death & Robots’ talented directors the freedom to execute their visions (literally!) while ensuring that each episode fits in with the series' overall vision and tone. In his second podcast with Chris, Jerome breaks down some of th...

Episode 390 - Justin Mitchell - VFX Supervisor, Scanline

VFX supervising Stranger Things is the latest in a series of remarkable achievements for Justin Mitchell. After trying his hand at acting and lighting, Justin moved into animation and VFX, scoring credits on Charmed and Final Destination 2. In 2008, Justin joined Scanline VFX, where he’s worked on a succession of incredible projects, including 2012, Super 8, Iron Man 3, Tomb Raider, Cosmos, and The Nevers. Justin talks about how he’s seen the industry shift since he started working in it, ...

Episode 389 - Mike Romey - Director of Pipeline and Software Development, FuseFX

Mike Romey, has an incredible talent for uniting the creative and technical aspects of productions. Before he’d even landed a full-time job, he’d already animated an advertisement, set up a curriculum, and created an interactive CD-ROM for a laser printer (yes, this was definitely the 90s). Then, his career took in successively bigger projects, from planetarium shows and Time Square electronic signage to content for Disneyland’s Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge. Today, Mike has taken his talents t...

Episode 388 - Isaac Irvin - VFX Supervisor, Carbon VFX

Isaac Irvin’s incredible VFX industry adventures have taken him across countries and over oceans. From enthusiastic beginnings at Texan TV stations, he moved to Scotland to work on TV series and game cinematics, before returning to the States to flit between studios including Digital Domain, Method, Marauder, and Psyop on projects such as Speed Racer, Iron Man 3, Robocop, and more. Today, Isaac has taken his big-screen VFX experience to the fast-paced, tech-heavy world of commercials. He t...

Episode 387 - Bob Bacon - CEO and Co-founder, Virtue Animation

As an executive at Disney in the 90s, Bob Bacon witnessed the rise of CG, supporting the production of increasingly big-budget blockbusters, including Beauty and the Beast, Mulan, and Lilo and Stitch. He then joined Elton John for Gnomeo and Juliet and moved to Paramount for The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge out of Water. Now, Bob is Head of Studio at Virtue Animation, a Web3-based company inspired by his time working for the late Kobe Bryant. Bob details how the traditional animation studio sys...

Episode 386 - Sean Devereaux - Producer & Visual Effects Supervisor

Sean Devereaux has fulfilled his childhood dream of making movies, and he started and sold a software company along the way. After being inspired by a viewing of The Wizard of Oz, Sean got a break at Digital Domain thanks to fellow alumni Jonathan Egstad. After working on movies including How the Grinch Stole Christmas and Vanilla Sky, he returned to Boston to found Zero VFX, which has created shots for American Hustle, The Equalizer, and Patriots Day. Sean also discovered the financial an...

Episode 385 - Mathew Giampa - VFX Supervisor, Scanline VFX

After getting on-set experience for a Canadian TV series, Mathew Giampa picked up compositing roles on White Noise 2, Sucker Punch, Journey to the Center of the Earth, Green Lantern, and more. He then moved up to progressively more challenging VFX supervision work on The Joker (yes, there were visual effects in that movie!), Black Widow, The Suicide Squad, and the Cowboy Bebop TV series. Mathew talks about the joy of invisible VFX, moving between studios and countries to further his career...

Episode 384 - Bill Plympton - Animator, Graphic Designer, Cartoonist, and Filmmaker

Episode 383 - Marc Morissette - VFX Supervisor/Owner, Cluster

Thinking about starting your own VFX company? This week’s podcast guest, Marc Morissette, has done just that. After gaining experience and friendships at Digital Domain on projects including Peter Pan and Ghost Racer, Marc returned to his native Canada to form his own studio, Cluster. The company has taken on a variety of CG work, from a VR version of the Universal Studios globe for The Mummy to product shots and digital de-aging. Marc explains the reasons behind starting Cluster and his v...

Episode 382 - Scott Kirvan - VFX Supervisor

This week Scott Kirvan shares his unique and in-depth understanding of the VFX pipeline, from on-set supervision to rendering the final frame. While working as a VFX programmer at Blur Studio, Scott developed Brazil R/S, the early ray-tracing renderer used on Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith and Sin City. That’s not all — he also VFX supervised movies including Swordfish and Jeepers Creepers. And he’s started Slaughter County Brewing, a successful craft beer producer. After a hia...

Episode 381 - Eddie Smith - Visual Effects Artist, Digital Domain

Eddie Smith is a MacGyver of the VFX industry. Over his career, he’s figured out how to unveil the president as the bad guy for G.I. Joe: Retaliation, explode characters into cubes for Tron: Legacy, destroy planets in Ender’s Game, all the way up to some spoiler-ific effects for Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore. Eddie’s weapon of choice for VFX is Houdini, SideFX’s versatile node-based effects software. Eddie breaks down some of his favorite work and reveals how he’s often charg...

Episode 380 - Ioanna Ivanova - 3D Artist, INK

Originally from Bulgaria, Ioanna Ivanova was inspired by Pixar and Tangled to pursue a career in CG. Having studied at Bournemouth University in the UK, she subsequently moved to London where she works for INK, the inventive creative studio that’s rendered everything from funny furry planes to amazing Maseratis. In this inspirational podcast, Ioanna talks about the importance of networking and meeting people, and the benefits of working for smaller CG studios where you can have more creati...

Episode 379 - Jeff Stringer - Director of Production Technology, Laika

There’s a surprising amount of tech in Laika’s movies. The Portland, Oregon-based studio still makes use of its intricate hand-crafted stop-motion techniques, but it's increasingly augmenting them with CG elements, 3D printing, and even virtual production. Jeff Stringer, Laika’s director of production technology, reveals the advantages of combining the physical and the digital. Jeff also talks about his career in the entertainment industry, from his early days in theater projections to sof...

Episode 378 - Adam Sidwell - Founder, Future House Studios

Adam Sidwell is pioneering a new generation of entertainment. His CG career began working with Chris on I, Robot, and he went on to create effects for movies including King Kong, Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End, and Warcraft: The Beginning. Now, Adam has taken his modular approach to VFX into real-time to create AR, VR, and online content featuring Justin Bieber, The Weeknd, and Kaskade, through to Sonic the Hedgehog and Georges W. Bush and Clooney. In this podcast, Adam breaks do...

Episode 377 - Jeff Mottle & Lon Grohs - CGarchitect & Chaos

CGarchitect has become a massive part of the global archviz community. The all-in-one site incorporates LinkedIn-style job listings, the latest industry insights, and a super-smart AI-powered gallery that curates impressive renders from thousands of submissions. And now, CGarchitect has become part of the Chaos family. In this podcast, Chris is joined by CGarchitect founder Jeff Mottle as he prepares to pass the mantle of running the site to Chaos’ Director of Creative and Communications, ...

Episode 376 - Darin Grant - CTO, Animal Logic; Director, SIGGRAPH Electronic Theater

Darin Grant is back! And a lot has changed in the three years since the Animal Logic group chief technology officer and general VFX genius last recorded with Chris. As always, Darin offers expert industry insight into the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on working from home, cloud computing, and how digital content is created and consumed. Darin also details his role as director of the Electronic Theater at this year’s SIGGRAPH conference. You’ll learn about some of the stunning and deepl...

Episode 375 - Ben Mauro - Creator, “Huxley”

Is Huxley the new Star Wars? This week, Chris chats to Ben Mauro, the film and game concept artist who single-handedly created Huxley, a comic book set in a richly detailed post-apocalyptic sci-fi universe. Thanks to the power of NFTs, Huxley has evolved beyond the pages of a graphic novel into something far bigger, with a film from Marvel producer Avi Arad in the works, plus trading cards, a potential TV series, and much more.  Ben talks about the incredible journey of Huxley, from how he...

Episode 374 - Matteo Santoro - World Builder

Joining Chris for this week’s podcast is Matteo Santoro, an energetic, enthusiastic, and versatile filmmaker who might just be revolutionizing the way movies are made. After graduating from art college, Matteo created opening titles and VFX for film including The Incredible Hulk, Aliens vs Predator - Requiem, and X-Men Origins: Wolverine. At the same time, he created his own sci-fi IPs, including the short film Offline and the feature Higher Power. Now, Matteo is working on SIFT, an ambiti...

Episode 373 - Judith Crow - VP of Strategic Partnerships, SideFX Software

Judith Crow has seen both sides of the effects industry. After developing an enthusiasm for coding, she worked her way into Digital Domain, where she pioneered visual effects for Interview with the Vampire, Apollo 13, Titanic, and Fight Club. Then, she switched sides and took on a role with Houdini developer SideFX. In this podcast, Judith talks about everything from her early days in community arts curation to how she got her foot in the door at Digital Domain and created visual effects f...