In this in-depth podcast interview, we sit down with Aaron Blaise, a legendary animator with 38 years of experience, known for his work at Disney Animation Studios during the golden era of the 1990s. Aaron shares incredible stories from animating Disney classics like Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, The Lion King, and directing Brother Bear.

Aaron opens up about his life-changing journey after the devastating loss of his wife in 2007, a moment that led him to leave Disney and rebuild his career from the ground up. He founded Creature Art Teacher (The Art of Aaron Blaise), an online education platform dedicated to teaching drawing, animation, and traditional animation techniques to artists around the world.

We dive deep into the creation of SNOW BEAR - A Hand-Drawn Animated Short Film. Created digitally while using classic traditional animation methods, the making of Snow Bear was fully documented across Aaron’s YouTube channel and website, building anticipation for the film, which has just been shortlisted for Best Animated Short at the upcoming Academy Awards.

Inspired by grief, healing, and finding love again, Snow Bear tells the touching story of a lonely polar bear searching for companionship, making it both heartbreaking and heartwarming.

In this conversation, we discuss:

✅ Aaron Blaise’s career at Disney Animation in the 1990s

✅ Working on iconic animated films like The Lion King and Aladdin

✅ Leaving Disney and starting Creature Art Teacher

✅ The emotional story behind Snow Bear

✅ How to create an animated short film from scratch

✅ Using traditional animation techniques in a digital workflow

✅ Art, loss, resilience, and finding purpose again

Whether you’re an animator, artist, Disney fan, or storyteller, this episode is packed with inspiration, practical insights, and honest reflection from one of the industry’s most respected figures.

🎬 Video Podcast:

🎬 Watch Snow Bear: https://youtu.be/xOXolSQcEb4?si=9LTK7XS0g4DfE97o

🌐 Official Snow Bear Film Website: https://snowbearshort.com/

🎨 Aaron Blaise’s Website / Creature Art Teacher: https://creatureartteacher.com/

🐻‍❄️ Polar Bears International: https://polarbearsinternational.org/

In this interview, writer, director, and self-taught animator Denver Jackson shares the incredible journey behind creating not one, but two solo animated feature films — Esluna: The Crown of Babylon and The Worlds Divide. From teaching himself 2D animation, to battling carpal tunnel and back issues, to reinventing his workflow in Blender 3D, Denver breaks down exactly how he built these full-length, anime-inspired films with a tiny team and massive determination.

We dive deep into his creative process — how he writes, how he animates, how he stays motivated, and what it really takes to make a solo filmmaking dream a reality.

If you're passionate about animation, indie filmmaking, anime films, or the idea of creating your own solo animated feature film, this conversation is packed with insight, inspiration, and practical advice.

➡️ The workflow behind creating two full animated features

➡️ Building worlds and characters as a solo filmmaker

➡️ Staying motivated through long-term creative projects

➡️ Advice for aspiring animators and indie creators

➡️ How combining 2D & 3D with Blender saved him

VIDEO PODCAST

DENVER JACKSON

We chat with UK-based illustrator Luke Preece, who started his career as a graphic designer, moved into video game GUI work, and eventually found his true calling — illustration. In this interview, Luke takes us on a creative journey from designing for games to producing iconic artwork and posters for some of the world’s biggest rock and metal bands, including Metallica, Blink-182, Pantera and Foo Fighters — and even the final “Back to the Beginning” show of Black Sabbath.

He’s also created art for major video games, movies and skate brands, including Gears of War, Alien Earth, Tony Hawk's Pro Skater, and the legendary skate label Santa Cruz Skateboards.

This episode is a little different from our usual deep dives into VFX, animation and storytelling — but we had to make it happen. We’ve been long-time fans of Luke’s work, and it’s simply too good not to share. In this special edition of the show, we explore his incredible career journey and creative process.

https://www.lukepreece.com/

VIDEO PODCAST

In this episode, we talk with Magnus Møller, animator, 3D artist, and creative director of Tumblehead Animation Studio — an award-winning production company based in Viborg, Denmark, which he runs with his partner Peter Smith.

Magnus shares how he built Tumblehead from the ground up and what it takes to run a successful animation studio. He offers practical advice on getting clients, maintaining creative freedom, and why he believes making original short films under your studio’s name is more effective than any showreel — helping attract the kind of projects and collaborators you actually want.

The conversation also explores Tumblehead’s short film “Turbulence,” created with Christopher Rutledge in collaboration with SideFX to test the new Houdini animation tools. Known mainly for its VFX power, Houdini has rarely been used for character animation — until now. Magnus explains how the team built a custom Houdini animation pipeline, executed the film from start to finish inside the software, and ultimately switched their entire studio pipeline to Houdini. As he puts it, “having every department in the same software feels like living in the future.”

➡️ How to start and grow a creative animation studio

➡️ Why short films can replace traditional showreels

➡️ Insights into Tumblehead’s Houdini pipeline

➡️ Behind the scenes of the short film “Turbulence”

Watch - TURBULENCE

Watch - VIDEO PODCAST

Connect -TUMBLEHEAD

We sit down with Character Animator & Director Luciano A. Muñoz Sessarego, who shares his remarkable journey through the animation industry.

We dive into the making of Freelance — a solo short film that grew into a worldwide collaboration and was ultimately completed with the help of Tumblehead Animation Studio.

💬 In this conversation:

 • The highs and lows of creating Freelance over six years

 • How collaboration transformed the project’s scope and finish

 • What it really takes to survive and thrive as a freelance 3D artist in 2025

Packed with honesty, insight, and experience, this episode is a must-listen for anyone navigating the world of freelance animation and 3D art.

GETTING INTIMATE WITH YOUR INDUSTRY!

Watch Freelance: HERE

Connect with Luciano: HERE

Watch the Video Podcast: HERE

Trevor Carlee shares his inspiring journey — from creating a 3D artwork for every episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, to his first fan short, “Buffy: Into the Slayerverse” (a Spider-Verse-style Buffy animation), to discovering Bricklink and Mecabricks, the online platforms that changed everything.

With these platforms’ free LEGO 3D meshes, Trevor was able to speed up his workflow and bring his LEGO-style animations in Blender to life — and his channel exploded.

He’s now known for recreating iconic scenes from popular TV shows and movies in LEGO form, a creative niche that’s earned him a dedicated following.

In this interview, we dive deep into:

🔹 How Trevor got started animating LEGO after discovering these tools

🔹 Tips & tricks for LEGO lighting, cameras, and animation

🔹 His workflow from start to finish

🔹 Dealing with negativity as a content creator

🔹 How to stay motivated and consistent on YouTube

Whether you’re a Blender artist, LEGO animation enthusiast, or aspiring 3D content creator, this episode is packed with insight, inspiration, and practical advice to help you level up your own Blender projects.

TREVOR CARLEE LINKTREE

VIDEO PODCAST

In this exclusive interview, we sit down with Luke Angus, a professional animator and director from Glasgow, to talk about his award-winning 3D animated short film Solstice.

Solstice has already made waves on the festival circuit, winning multiple awards including Best Short at the prestigious Short Shorts Film Festival – an OSCAR® and BAFTA accredited festival. This win has secured Luke the opportunity to submit his film for Oscar and BAFTA consideration.

What makes Solstice even more impressive is that Luke created the entire film solo – from writing and storyboarding to animating in Maya and experimenting with Houdini for the first time. In this conversation, Luke gives us insight into:

✨ His creative process and storytelling approach

🎨 The challenges and hacks of solo filmmaking & animation

🏆 Tips for navigating the film festival circuit and getting your film noticed

We were lucky enough to get an exclusive private screening of Solstice (it isn’t online yet, since eligibility rules prevent films from streaming before Oscar/BAFTA submissions). Trust us – this is one of the most beautiful and moving animated shorts you’ll see.

If you’re passionate about animation, short films, or filmmaking, this is a must-watch interview.

VIDEO PODCAST

WATCH THE SOLSTICE TRAILER

We sit down with three members of TMC — James Dower, Constantin Kormann, and Bernhard Engstler — the indie filmmaking collective behind the incredible BattleTech fan film series HIRED STEEL.

In this conversation, we focus on HIRED STEEL - A Mech Machinima – Episode 4, the first project where TMC integrated Unreal Engine (UE5) into their filmmaking pipeline. They reveal how they combined Blender for modeling and animation with Unreal Engine for rendering and VFX, unlocking new levels of cinematic storytelling.

TMC began as a group of competitive BattleTech gamers and has since grown into a powerhouse team of artists, animators, and filmmakers. From hobbyists to AAA game developers, their combined skills have brought HIRED STEEL to life, earning recognition from fans worldwide — and even from the creators of BattleTech themselves.

We also dive into:

🎮 Staying true to BattleTech lore as fans

⚙️ The challenges and opportunities of switching to a UE5 pipeline

🤖 How their work led to collaborating on MechWarrior 5: Clans cinematics

Whether you’re a BattleTech fan, a filmmaker, or just passionate about indie animation, this discussion is packed with insights into the future of fan-driven storytelling.

VIDEO PODCAST: WATCH HERE

In this episode, we sit down with Josué Zabeau, a 3D artist with an engineering background, to break down his incredible Blender short film Heritage. What started as a small personal project quickly evolved into one of the most action-packed Blender short films, showcasing jaw-dropping 3D realism, cinematic motion, and high-speed intensity — all created inside Blender.

We explore the full creative journey behind Heritage:

✅ How Josué achieved photorealism in Blender using smart workflows and detailed references

✅ Why references are essential for building believable environments, lighting, and textures

✅ The tools, add-ons, and techniques that powered the production

✅ How the focus on momentum, velocity, and action makes this short film stand out

✅ The surprising story of why this incredible Blender film almost didn’t get released

💡 If you’re passionate about 3D art, animation, and filmmaking in Blender, this interview is packed with insights, tips, and inspiration for artists who want to push realism and storytelling through motion.

The VFX Process Podcast #71

Getting Intimate With Your Industry!

For the video podcast: click here

Watch HERITAGE: click here

We sit down with Peter Haynes, the director and creator of the acclaimed fantasy live‑action webseries AFK and the viral Star Wars parody series For The Empire, hosted on his channel Epically Casual.

We dive deep into Peter’s transition from live‑action filmmaking to digital production using Unreal Engine during the COVID lockdowns — a journey that began with a viral tech test featuring two stormtroopers on their first day of the job, and evolved into three hilarious seasons of For The Empire.

He explains how his live‑action experience shaped his digital filmmaking style, the challenges of the Unreal Engine learning curve, and offers valuable tips for new creators. We also explore his plans for a long‑awaited Season 3 of AFK and his future digital projects, along with insights into how he is raising funds for indie digital and live‑action productions.

Whether you’re a Star Wars fan, an Unreal Engine enthusiast, or an indie filmmaker, this interview offers a behind‑the‑scenes look at how Peter Haynes is pushing creative boundaries in both fantasy live‑action and virtual production.

The VFX Process Podcast #70

Getting Intimate With Your Industry!

For the video podcast: click here

Watch For The Empire & AFK: click here