Nathan Fowkes is a Concept Artist whose film credits include How to Train Your Dragon, The Legend of Puss in Boots, The Prince of Egypt and many more. He has worked for numerous studios including DreamWorks, Paramount Feature Animation, Blue Sky, Disney, Blizzard Entertainment, Riot Games, Ubisoft and Rovio. 

In addition, Nathan is a teacher of color, light and design. He currently teaches at the LA Academy of Figurative Art, the Art Center College of Design, as well as online at Schoolism.com. 

In this interview, Nathan talks to Allan McKay about the history of CG animated movies, his dedication to both digital and live painting and the importance of communication in art.

For more show notes, visit www.allanmckay.com/95/. 

David Allen is a bestselling author of Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity, the first edition of which was published in 2001. David is also a management consultant and a productivity expert. In addition to founding his multimillion dollar company based on the GTD methodology, he has founded Actioneer, a 1994 start-up specializing in productivity tools. 

In this Episode, Allan McKay and David Allen discuss the four steps to productivity according to the GTD System, and the tips for freeing up space -- for more creativity.

For more show notes, visit www.allanmckay.com/94/. 

Nikolai Lockertsen, a Norwegian Concept Artist, Matte Painter, Illustrator and Art Director, has worked on more than 30 features films, as well as many commercial and television projects. Some of his films include Trollhunter and Kon-Tiki. He has previously worked at studios like Gimpville, Filmkameratene and Storm Studios.

Nikolai is also a pioneer in iPad art: He does all of his artwork -- including concept designs for feature films -- on an iPad Pro using a painting app called Procreate. He posts his tutorials on www.artstudyonline.com.

In this Episode, Allan interviews Nikolai about the evolution of his career, paying dues as an artist, and how technology can revolutionize one’s approach to art. 

For more show notes, visit www.allanmckay.com/93/. 

Freddie Wong is a Director, CEO and a Co-Founder of RocketJump Studios, a YouTube channel that has gained nearly 8 million subscribers since its inception in April 2010. Named as one of Hollywood’s brightest stars by Forbes magazine, Freddie is the most subscribed video director on YouTube.

The channel’s flagship series Video Game High School now has over 50 million views. In 2013, the series was named the #1 Web Series by Variety magazine. Freddie has also successfully launched RocketJump Film School whose mission is to give a new generation of filmmakers the tools to share their stories.

In this interview, Freddie Wong talks about the history of RocketJump, the inception of Video Game High School, and shares his insight on great storytelling, low budgets and the most useful technology.

For more show notes, visit www.allanmckay.com/92/. 

Image Engine is a high-end visual effects studio based in Vancouver, BC, that specializes in creature design and animation for feature films and television. Founded in 1995, the studio has worked on films like District 9 and Chappie, Independence Day: Resurgence and Jurassic World; shows like X-Files and Game of Thrones (Seasons 5 and 6); and much more. In 2010, the company was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Visual Effects, for their work on District 9. 

In this Episode, Allan McKay moderates a round table with the Creature Supervisors at Image Engine. They discuss the company’s history, work flow and pipeline; and their commitment to furthering the art of visual storytelling.

For more show notes, visit www.allanmckay.com/91/.