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Every great customer story begins with an experience that resonates. When we spotlight those moments through case studies, success stories, interviews, or testimonials, we connect, inspire, and empower. A brand becomes human, customers become advocates, and a true fan community grows.

Storytelling & Content Services

Through case studies, interviews, and testimonials, I help your customers share the stories that are uniquely theirs—building trust, engaging audiences, and growing a community that cares.

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CASE STUDIES & SUCCESS STORIES

Celebrate wins through stories that drive sales, marketing, and customer success.

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CEO & THOUGHT LEADERSHIP PROFILES

Amplify leaders' voices and vision, and position them as trusted experts.

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CUSTOMER INTERVIEWS

Uncover narratives that engage audiences and insights that inform your strategy.

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CONTENT STRATEGY & EDITORIAL SUPPORT

Verticalize B2B/B2C content for audience, persona, or industry;
Leverage Voice of the Customer and User-Generated Content; Accelerate drafts with AI and refine for human audiences.

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Additional Services

Content writing (blogs, thought leadership, website copy)Ghostwriting (articles, speeches, LinkedIn posts)

Customer Stories Portfolio

I’ve interviewed hundreds of innovators across industries—including literal rockstars—shaping their experiences into stories with impact. My music features for Talk Rock To Me and customer stories for a global SaaS leader demonstrate how warmth and authenticity engage audiences and establish credibility.

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How FuseFX brought serious superpower to Marvel’s Luke Cage

(Originally posted on AREA by Autodesk)

What happens when a lifelong Marvel fanboy and Sr. VFX Supervisor at FuseFX gets tagged to work on Marvel’s latest superhero series, Luke Cage? He punches out enough superpower to make bones break, buildings blow sky high – then viewer demand (at least speculatively), makes Netflix servers implode.On the heels of the recent Luke Cage debut and that infamous two-hour Netflix outage, Greg Anderson gets on the phone from New York to explain how thoughtful planning, passion, and the right balance of VFX put true superpower behind any project.

Tell us about your team and the number of shots delivered for 'Luke Cage.'

The entire team was mostly about 15 people, over 9 months of work. Some episodes were lighter than others, and some, like Episode 4, Origin, required that the crew balloon to 20. We delivered about 1200 shots. We were shocked at the number at first, but for 13 episodes, when you include cleanup, brick removal, and all the fundamentals, it’s easy for it to add up.

"There was a lot of discussion on how we’d show him to be invulnerable, and what the effects of the real world against him would be."

When were you brought in, and what did your role demand?

I was brought in about three weeks before principal photography. I served as the on-set supervisor as well, so I was there on every visual effects day, which, especially toward the end, was every day (laughs). I was also supervising the work in-house, so I was jumping between the set and the office a lot. I was a part of the concept meetings where we discussed what the VFX needed to be, and I was part of the design process when we'd pitch conceptual ideas for how Luke’s power would manifest, for example. There was a lot of discussion on how we’d show him to be invulnerable, and what the effects of the real world against him would be.

"It was a delicate balance to create this world that’s grounded in reality, but where the hero is completely beyond that reality."

And how exactly did you show that?

There tended to be a lot of environmental damage around him. As the villains begin to realize that they can’t hurt him, they attempt to kill him in more and more dramatic ways (laughs). There were a lot of moments where we were destroying vehicles, walls, buildings... All of that was a mix of CG and practical effects.

Was this a case similar to "Daredevil," where a lot was initially planned practically, but then they’d realize on set, ‘No, that’s way too dangerous, we can’t pull it off!’

(Laughs) It’s funny because Luke Cage, unlike Daredevil, is bulletproof. The scale of what would have to happen to him to have any effect, or to even be interesting, was going to have to be big. Marvel’s shows ground their heroes in reality; however, Luke is an anomaly. We had to spend a lot of time debating, questioning, and determining his strength. He’s not The Hulk, but he’s clearly enhanced, so what does that mean? In every episode, there had to be a show of his power, so many discussions were had before shooting began: How heavy is he, and how dense? What happens if he jumps off a building – would he break concrete? It was a delicate balance to create his world that’s grounded in reality, but where he himself is completely beyond that reality.

Which are the key sequences that best capture that delicate balance?

There are several moments throughout the series that I think are really cool visual effects moments. Toward the end of the first episode, you see the first manifestation of his power. He’s in a fight with some thugs who don’t realize who they’re up against, and a guy – a big guy – punches Luke in the jaw and in doing so, breaks his own arm. It’s a slow-motion compound fracture where the bone breaks and sticks through the skin. It was obviously all CG, so that was fun because it involved rebuilding the actor’s arm and creating this very specific animation in super slow-mo that would sell this dramatic moment when you first see Luke’s power.

You mentioned that the violence against Luke progressively increases. How did that impact the scale of your work?

Well, after they punch him, then shoot him, and see that he’s bulletproof, they launch a rocket at a Chinese restaurant that he’s in. They drop the entire place on him. That was our biggest effects sequence. We built the entire interior and exterior of the building, and a fairly complex series of physical simulations, along with simulations for creating a massive fireball, smoke and other environmental effects to really get that sense that the building is coming down – hard. After that, there was the secondary but no less significant challenge of creating the aftermath.

And what did the aftermath entail?

The aftermath is seen at the beginning of the next episode, and that involved creating a new, entirely-CG building, outfitted with multiple, interior apartments that were all different from one another, all damaged, burned out and filled with rubble, in the midst of a real neighbourhood in Harlem. It was a really big sequence, integrating lots of CG very close to camera with practical plates, and Luke is buried underneath it all, and rises unscathed (laughs). Those were definitely our bigger scenes. So that’s the scale I’m talking about.

"Everything we use plugs into [3ds Max]. So did it save the day? Absolutely. It does here every day."

This show is set in New York – an iconic location. Does that make your job easier or more difficult when it comes to blowing it up?

A bit of both, I think. New York plays as a character here, it’s the fabric of the show. We shot in Harlem, Washington Heights, and the Bronx. Because Luke Cage lives in Harlem, it’s critical that this is a Harlem story. We shot there, and there are people from the Harlem community who appear in the show. The city is iconic, and each neighbourhood has a very specific feel to it.

You know we’re dying to know if 3ds Max saved the day in any way on this show.

Our entire 3d pipeline is based around Max, it’s our mainstay. Everything we use plugs into that. So did it save the day? Absolutely. It does here every day. We use a variety of tools and plugins in conjunction with it, like Fume and Thinking Particles. The combination of them all, plus the tools we write ourselves between our offices in LA and New York, lets us do amazing, high-level work.

And did you develop anything new for ‘Luke Cage?’

Our artists didn’t have to develop anything new, but they were always three inches from the screen (laughs), working through things brick by brick, making it as realistic as we could make it. The challenge was not about accomplishing effects that had never been seen before because it’s all walls, concrete, steel girders. It was about the scale and the balance of the effects. It was about finding the right level of detail that would make them feel impossibly real. That was what it came down to.

"The challenge was not about accomplishing effects that had never been seen before... It was about finding the right level of detail that would make them feel impossibly real."

What set this show apart for you personally?

Lots of things. First, this show is very topical. Given the heightened focus on race in the last few years, on issues like police brutality, to have this black hero who is bulletproof and wears a hoodie as his costume, quietly speaks volumes. Being able to have a part in a show like this, being African American myself, is an honour. Also, I’m a total Marvel fanboy. I’ve been reading Marvel comics, including Luke Cage, since I was 8 years old. That makes this extremely special for me.

Were you having flashbacks of you as a kid, tucked away with your 'Luke Cage' comics?

Oh, yeah, all the time! I still probably have a couple thousand comic books all bagged up at my parents, by the way. I was serious about my comics.

“...when I was a kid, I wanted powers so badly, and now, I’m giving them to others. I can do that.”

You do realize that VFX artists are essentially superheroes, right? You take any idea, anything that can be imagined, and make it real.

(Laughs) You know, it’s funny you say that because just this morning I was thinking about how when I was a kid, I wanted powers so badly, and now, I’m giving them to others. I can do that.

These days, a talented artist and the right tools can make anything possible.

You’re exactly right, we bring about impossible things. The advancements in VFX have allowed all kinds of great stories, like Marvel’s, to rise from the ashes. We can make images that match our imaginations.

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DNEG'S Massive VFX on 'Ant-Man and the Wasp': Spotlight on VFX Supervisor Alessandro Ongaro

(Originally posted to AREA by Autodesk)

Visual Effects Supervisor Alessandro Ongaro led DNEG's massive visual effects efforts in the tiny-superhero Marvel blockbuster, Ant-Man and the Wasp. In his own words, he shares his journey to DNEG, the challenges in this film, and the gargantuan importance of teamwork in any visual effects team. From designing the mesmerizing, reality-bending “phasing” of the villain Ghost to orchestrating a high-speed car chase filled with shrinking cars and towering Pez dispensers, Ongaro and his team pushed creative and technical boundaries at every turn. It's a story of innovation under pressure, a deep pride in craft, and the collaborative energy that powers some of the biggest visuals on screen.

Hi, I'm Alessandro Ongaro

I’ve been working in the visual effects and animation industry for almost 20 years. I’m originally from Italy, but I left for the United States to pursue more significant projects in my field, first for ESC Entertainment, followed by 11 years at Dreamworks Animation, and finally, for the past three years, at DNEG.I loved working at Dreamworks, on films like Madagascar and Shrek, but it was never my passion. I always enjoyed working on live-action feature films, and DNEG was on my radar because I knew they could offer me the opportunity to work on the best.That’s also how I first got involved with Ant-Man and the Wasp: DNEG had worked on the original, so when Marvel greenlit a sequel, they gave us a chance to compete for the right to do the VFX work. The producers came to our Vancouver studios, and we showed them some of our reels and discussed what DNEG could offer on the project. Soon after, we learned that we’d been awarded the project. This was a big deal for our Vancouver studios as it was the first Marvel Studios project we'd led from Vancouver.

The Mandate

Early on, we only knew three things about the project:1) That it would involve a lot of scale manipulation, shrinking and enlarging characters and objects.2) That the shoot was in Atlanta but the story was set in San Francisco, so we’d have to change buildings and landmarks.3) That our main sequence was going to be an epic car chase scene.Eventually, we were also tasked with coming up with the look for Ghost, the film’s villain, played by Hannah John-Kamen. I was very passionate about perfecting her shots, particularly her “phasing” ability, which allows her to walk through walls or disappear and reappear at will. It looks fantastic on screen.

“Very often, with superhero movies, the challenges are a combination of creative and technical.”

The Technical and Creative Challenges

Every show comes with its own challenges. Sometimes, those challenges are primarily technical: how do we pull this off? Other times, they’re creative, and the question becomes how you design something. Very often, with superhero movies, the challenges are a combination of creative and technical. The director has his or her own vision of what they want to see on the screen, and you’re constantly altering your approach.

"...my background in animation has been a real asset..."

Ghost’s phasing ability was an excellent example of this. Of course, there were technical problems that we had to meet, but the primary challenge was the artistic one: how will she look when she phases? We had feedback from the client, but with something so abstract, it’s difficult. If you’re dealing with, say, an enormous wave hitting a city, sure, it’s complex, but there are also so many references you can draw on. You can find documents, real-life situations. You can take inspiration from that and match your work to real footage. But when it comes to designing something magical, or something that defies the laws of physics, you have to approach your work differently.That said, my background in animation has been a real asset since there’s almost always a magical element to what you’re doing in animation. Compared to VFX work, animation is much less directed, much more imaginative. Companies like Dreamworks, Pixar, and Disney aren’t looking for photorealistic animation; they want something magical or stylized, and there aren’t many references for that kind of stuff. So you adapt, you learn to take a different approach.

“Maya is an essential software. You need to know how to use it.”

The Essential Tools

We relied heavily on Maya, in particular for the character models, the buildings, and the animations. I’ve been using Maya since the very first beta, so of course, I’m very attached to it. I’ve developed custom tools over the years, and there have been lots of new software options to come along, too, but everything still starts in Maya. Maya is an essential software. You need to know how to use it.Shotgun is the production management tool we use at DNEG, and it’s vital to what we do. To throw some numbers at you: over the ten months that we worked on this project, we had a total of 600 people working on various aspects of it, across three work locations – in Vancouver, London, and Mumbai. Altogether, we worked on about 500 shots, so considering the scale of the project, Shotgun was vitally necessary to manage and coordinate all of that.

“The feeling of camaraderie you develop with the people you spend long hours with on a collective project like this is an underrated aspect of VFX work.”

The Importance of Teamwork

My best memories of working on this project all have to do with my team and my support network at DNEG. The feeling of camaraderie you develop with the people you spend long hours with on a collective project like this is an underrated aspect of VFX work. Our team gave 110%; everyone pushed themselves to the limit, and by the end of it, you are part of a family.

VFX goals

Looking back on Ant-Man and the Wasp, I’m very proud of what we accomplished. The work turned out really well, and we received very positive feedback. As visual effects artists, if the visual effects worked and you get great feedback from the director and the studio, then we’re happy. We achieved our goal.

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Netflix’s Lost in Space: How Image Engine's VFX modernized a classic franchise

(As told to April Robinson by Joao Sita. Originally posted on AREA by Autodesk in Q&A format)

It's no easy feat to update an existing film or TV series for a modern-day audience, particularly when approaching a franchise that was successful the first time around. Finding the balance of honoring the original while making the new take feel modern and of this era is a difficult challenge.This was definitely true with Netflix's reboot of “Lost in Space,” which took the premise of the beloved 1960s sci-fi saga and reimagined it for today while holding on to enduring concepts like the Robinson family, Will's iconic robot companion, and the imaginative, deeply varied alien worlds they encounter along the way.It's thanks to the power and remarkable malleability of visual effects work that a series as familiar as “Lost in Space” can be given new life today, and that creators can successfully reimagine 50-year-old concepts and stories for the modern era.

Starting From Success

At Image Engine, we were thrilled to land 'Lost in Space.' We knew that we would be playing in a world that our parents had grown up with and recalled fondly. I also loved that the show was a family-oriented show; VFX-laden shows are often targeted at older audiences and may have stronger violence or more bite. Like the original show, 'Lost in Space' takes viewers to dazzling new worlds and encounters with colourful, unique aliens, but doesn't lose its heart—or younger viewers—along the way.Most excitingly, it was a property that already had a positive connotation. Sure, the original series is from half a century ago, but strong ideas can be reshaped and refreshed—and it was obvious that 'Lost in Space' had a successful premise to start from.

“Finding the balance of honoring the original while making the new take feel modern and of this era is a difficult challenge.”

However, we knew it would be a challenge to approach updating the source material not only for existing fans but also for a new generation of viewers. Expectations are naturally heightened with reboots, and you're working against the positive memories of fans who have potentially loved the series for decades. We needed to respect that, but also find ways to make the show look and feel current. If it feels like a relic or a retread, then we've failed in our mission. But it's safe to say that the new 'Lost in Space' did anything but rest on its laurels, and it's thanks to a strong collaboration with the client and also internally within Image Engine that we were able to bring a fresh touch to such a hallowed story.

Reimagining the Robot

The famed 'Lost in Space' robot saw a complete transformation for the new series. The original robot reflected the design aesthetic and technological capabilities of its era, but the clunky, slow-moving character wouldn't have the same kind of impact now. Today, with the immense muscle and flexibility of visual effects artistry, we're not limited by the bounds of practical effects.The producers wanted a much more dynamic robot—one that would transform and become something that humans could more easily relate to, even with an alien touch to it. Our mandate was to create that connection and dynamism via animation, lighting, and other flourishes. We ingested the new robot model built by Rhythm & Hues and began working to bring it to life. The robot needed to be able to convey a wide gamut of emotions, from menacing and angry early on to later falling into more of a neutral mode, as well as showcasing what it looks like when a humanoid robot struggles for its life and is losing energy.We began with broad strokes direction from the client, and then I let the artists play with it. I like to let them experiment and apply their touches early on, which only helps lend a natural personality to a clearly inhuman creation. I supplied a wide array of references, whether they were things I liked or things I'd shown the client that they connected with, all to try and help the artists find real-world analogs for these imaginative creations.

“Today, with the immense muscle and flexibility of visual effects artistry, we're not limited by the bounds of practical effects.”

For the first episode, in a scene in which the robot struggles amidst a vast wildfire and is losing energy, we studied reference footage of human exhaustion: laborious movement, jittery hands, etc. The goal isn't to make a 1:1 match, but rather to inspire the artists—and help audiences make a connection with the character. The new 'Lost in Space' robot may not closely resemble the original show's robot, but grounding it with real-life inspiration helps keep it approachable.

Galactic Yet Grounded

Helping to craft the environments of Lost in Space was likewise a unique challenge, and it speaks to the potential of VFX artistry. Back in the 1960s, the series was shot against painted backdrops, which allowed the Robinsons to explore different kinds of alien environments—and viewers bought into that. The times and expectations have changed, but technology allows us to keep up that magical sensation and believability, albeit on a whole new level.When working on the backdrops now, we start with something real—actual filmed footage of real-world terrain. In this case, it was our native Vancouver surroundings. It was very inspiring to have that natural beauty provided for us to play with and to be able to transport it into the show.

“The times and expectations have changed, but technology allows us to keep up that magical sensation and believability, albeit on a whole new level.”

Of course, we take that pristine footage and augment it to give it a unique, out-of-this-world character. By playing with CG, exaggerated colors, and other effects, we can transform what's essentially our backyard into a believable alien world—yet it still has that photographic realism that helps ground the setting in this day and age. While some action films and shows shoot for hyper-realism, we strived to keep that balance of lifelike terrain amidst alien augmentations.

Modernized Magic

Between defining the new robot's distinctive mannerisms and movement and helping to build these stunning, out-there environments, our goal with 'Lost in Space' was always to maintain the essence of the source material while charting a new path forward via VFX artistry. You look back at what happened in the past, of course, but then you have to do it the way you think it makes sense, given all of the change and evolution seen over the past 50 years.In the end, if you can keep what captivated people in the first place but update and elevate it so that anyone—be it hardened fan or fresh-faced newcomer—can love and appreciate it, then you've done the job right. We believe we accomplished that task with our work on 'Lost in Space.'

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Studio Spotlight: Neill Blomkamp's Oats Studios Flouts Hollywood Norms

(As told to April Robinson by Chris Harvey. Originally posted on AREA by Autodesk)

Everything about the production house Oats Studios seems designed to flout Hollywood creative norms. The Vancouver-based studio, brainchild of South African filmmaker Neill Blomkamp, releases its experimental short films online, for free, but their production values and visual effects rival many big-budget studio films. They also do almost all of their creative work in-house, giving them maximum control over the look and direction of their work.In his own words, Oats VFX Supervisor, Chris Harvey, gives us a glimpse into exactly what makes this small indie studio so unique.

My Background in VFX and Meeting Neill

My background in VFX goes back more than two decades, but my breakout work as a supervisor began with 'TRON: Legacy' and Kathryn Bigelow’s film, 'Zero Dark Thirty.' A turning point, for me, came in 2015, when I met Neill Blomkamp while working on his movie, 'Chappie.' That was the start of our friendship.After 'Chappie,' I worked very briefly at Industrial Light & Magic, as the Creative Director in their Vancouver office, before Neill called me up and shared his idea of starting an independent studio “outside of the typical Hollywood system.” And that’s precisely what we did. Most of our team is made up of people I’d worked with before. We had the luxury of choosing the very best of the best, but because we had this huge mandate and limited resources, we had to be smart about who we picked. I couldn’t load our team with uber-specialists since we knew from the start that everyone would have to fulfill multiple responsibilities. Our ideal candidates were artists with a generalized skill set and maybe one specific area of expertise.

“We do everything here...It's all under one roof.”

Inside Oats Studios

One look at our big warehouse space explains why that’s necessary. We do everything here: shooting, visual effects, production design, editing, sound, coloring – everything – under one roof, the way films were made 40 years ago. We have a mocap stage; we have standing sets for return shoots; we’ve got a photogrammetry booth for doing actor cyber scanning, and we've got a physical workshop where we make practical effects and prosthetics and fun things like that. And then, of course, there's office space for editors and artists. It's all under one roof.

Maximum Creativity

Oats' goal from the start was simply to be as creative as possible. A big part of that means doing things differently, rather than just following the same old scripts. The
idea was, “Let’s tear everything down and then rebuild it,” because maybe there are different ways to do things; perhaps we don’t have to be rigid in our approach or do things the same way they’ve always been done.

"...our studio absolutely pushes to 95%, but then we let go. This frees us up to move on to new challenges...while pushing out as many ideas as we can."

There’s a common joke within the film industry that you spend half your time doing 95% of the work, and the other half doing the final 5%. Well, our studio absolutely pushes to 95%, but then we let go. This frees us up to move on to new challenges, and we can be as creative as possible while pushing out as many ideas as we can. Of course, that means we always have multiple projects going on at one time, but that’s part of the challenge, and it helps keep our work exciting.Making that approach successful involves getting our employees to see beyond their four walls. So, for example, we'll get their input on the early drafts of whatever script we’re working on, no matter what their role in the production. This paints a complete picture of what we’re trying to achieve, and they’re able to give creative input over and above their disciplines. And their input does translate into script adjustments. Someone will say, “This is cool, but this would be a better way,” and we'll make the changes. And because there are always multiple scripts and stories on the go, when something urgent comes up, we might say, 'Okay, everyone, we’re switching gears and focusing on this for the next couple of weeks, and then we can come back to our original work.' It’s a very fluid, fast-paced environment.

The Toolkit

Autodesk tools have played a part every project we've done, across the board. We use Nuke for comp, FX in Houdini, but Autodesk is the backbone of our CG pipeline.Even for our Unity projects – 'ADAM,' for example – Unity is where the end result is; it's where the lighting is done because it's a real-time engine, but all of the asset builds are all Max and Maya; all of the animation is Maya.

"We employ the full Autodesk Media and Entertainment Collection...to have an entire software suite that worked out of the box wasn’t just helpful, it was necessary."

We employ the full Autodesk Media and Entertainment Collection. When we started, we hired ten people – we’ve never had more than 20-25 – and that’s a very small team to be handling as many shots as we handle or to be doing full creature creation. We didn’t have an R&D department; we didn't have the time to write our own stuff. So to have an entire software suite that worked out of the box wasn’t just helpful, it was necessary.I’m a big proponent of not mandating what software people use. If someone is better with one program, then use that. For example, you would probably guess that our main organic modeler, Ian Spriggs, uses Zbrush, but in fact, he’s Mudbox all the way, and I’m great with that. If it gives you results, use it. The Media and Entertainment Collection means we have it all at our disposal.We’ve also made great use of Autodesk subscriptions to get our employees whatever tools they need when they need them. So our dedicated Max guys and dedicated Maya guys work in tandem, and everyone is up and running immediately. We’re constantly moving stuff back and forth between Maya and Max, mostly using Alembic, and it works very well. For motion capture, for example, we’ll start in MotionBuilder, and then that moves into Maya, and eventually, that will branch into Max and Maya running in tandem. Our assets are built in Max, Maya, and Mudbox, and those will branch back together in the final rigs.

"Shotgun has been huge for us. We were able to hook it into Max, Maya, Nuke, and all those different tools."

And I can’t leave out Shotgun. Given our insane workload, and how many projects we take on, we needed some kind of asset management software, and Shotgun has been huge for us. We were able to hook it into Max, Maya, Nuke, and all those different tools. We hired a freelancer to do a bit of custom coding, just to make sure it was hooked up exactly as we wanted it, and it handles all of our dailies, our asset management, and that kind of stuff. It’s helped us streamline our pipeline, and that has saved us a ton of time and energy.The last thing I should say on this subject is that we’re against an uber-rigid pipeline. Flexibility is our mantra, and we gravitate towards tools that offer us the freedom to experiment. So, say someone comes up with some weird, free tool, we’ll grab it, test it and run it through its paces. If it works, we’ll incorporate it into our pipeline. We can be very nimble regarding adopting new things or trying out new techniques. Being a very small company, we’re able to be light on our feet, adaptable, and that’s a massive advantage for our creativity.

'Rakka'

'Rakka,' was our first major project. It’s set in the near future, when aliens have invaded Earth and are attempting to terraform, to transform our atmosphere into one favorable to their life and not ours. From a visual standpoint, there were a few one-offs, but the main effect was the alien creatures. The total running time is only about 21 minutes, but there are about 250 VFX shots contained within that, so it’s very CG-heavy. We used a small team for that project – maybe two animators and three or four lighters, a handful of compositors, one rigger, three FX artists and a matte painter. We settled on a creature design, which was based on an initial physical maquette, and then we built some texture variations and modifications to alter the creature between shots – all pretty standard. Shotgun came in handy here: We had just the one alien but multiple texture sets. It helped us keep a handle on everything.

'Firebase'

The next project we did was 'Firebase,' which is a 22-minute, fictional take on the Vietnam War, involving this skeleton-like creature and something we called the Spiderman, which rips out of the skin of the people it targets. From a CG perspective, there were other small things and a few larger one-offs, too, but that was the main part of 'Firebase': four or five different sequences, each requiring different assets, different look dev. So that was its own challenge.

'Zygote'

Finally, we get to 'Zygote.' The main creature was incredibly complicated; he was so complicated that he was actually seven different assets. There was a separate asset for his right side – for each arm and leg – and for his left side, as well as for his torso and his head. These seven different assets would then be merged, and the reason for that was that he was just too heavy to work with as a single asset.

"The main creature was incredibly complicated...we scanned about 63 different people to make [him up]."

The animators could load in individual main rigs to focus on that animation, and then the proxy would reload there, in high-res, and the other side would work on that. We’d take all of these caches and recombine them so they could light render the final full asset. And that final creature is made up of cyber scans of people at the office and their friends – arms, legs, bits, and pieces of different faces. In total, I think we scanned about 63 different people to make up this one creature. It was quite a challenge for Eric, our rigger, because all of these different limbs had to be able to grab each other, and then let go and open up or fold into each other again. And we wanted the physics of this to be accurate, as if each arm had a bone inside it. In the end, we had to bring in extra animators – five total – because he was such a heavy creature to animate. And then we had five separate damage scenes, where he gets shot, loses limbs, breaks a bone, so we had to do damage takes as well. All of that, the cyber scanning and subsequent detailed modelling were handled in Mudbox, as well as the various damage textures.To coordinate all of this, we’d make custom fields in Shotgun, corresponding to the different damage states. That way, you could just pull the right rig in, and people would know what they’re supposed to load.

Working with Neill Blomkamp

Sam Nicholson has built his career around creative innovation. As the founder and CEO of Stargate Studios, he’s shaped some of television’s most striking visual worlds – from the zombie-infested apocalypse of 'The Walking Dead' to the rain-soaked streets of Seattle in 'Grey’s Anatomy.' But for Nicholson, it’s never just about the pixels or the tools – it’s about pushing boundaries, and about creating moments that stick with you long after the screen goes dark.

"Neill gives simple, honest, real opinions....there’s no wasted time trying to figure out what people mean."

Neill gives simple, honest, real opinions, and he expects the same back from his team so that there’s no wasted time trying to figure out what people mean. I think that’s crucial, and that approach is a big part of what makes our team successful. We encourage that from everyone. Give us your feedback because maybe you see something that we don’t.

Anti-Hollywood and proud

We’ve learned a lot by doing things our way, rather than just accepting how things have always been done. When I look at how the typical Hollywood movie is made, I see so much waste, and at some point, something has to give. Hollywood keeps getting bigger and bigger, but the box office returns don’t necessarily support that. Take 'Blade Runner 2049': It was very well received and looked incredible, but it hasn’t had the kind of financial return to justify its budget.

"We’ve learned a lot by doing things our way, rather than just accepting how things have always been done."

In Hollywood, everyone is isolated; there isn’t as much coordination between departments or artists or technicians. Someone will make a choice, and it might be a valid choice, but it might not serve the larger story, and it could well have
ramifications far outside that one person’s area of expertise. With everything under one roof here at Oats, we are forced to have those conversations, forced to identify those key choices, and get on the same page about what we’re doing and why.And we think our final product reflects that.

★

Bloody, amazing: Sam Nicholson on the art and orchestration of visual effects – and ‘The Walking Dead’

(Originally posted on AREA by Autodesk in Q&A format)

Neill and I get along well. He comes from a VFX background, so we have that in common, and it gives him a better knowledge of that area than most directors have. The big thing, though, is that we’ve been working together for a few years now, and we’ve established a certain amount of trust. We can be very direct with each other, and we speak in a good shorthand without misunderstandings.

“I love solving complex problems, living on that edge of tech and art and doing things that have never been done before.”

“Working in VFX is a collaborative art," Nicholson explains. "You work closely with an amazing group of talented people, both in and outside your field, creating something together. It’s like an orchestra with everyone playing a different instrument.”

The studio founder and CEO is indeed something of a maestro, orchestrating the precision of a technician with the unpredictable energy of an artist. He’s a tech-savvy, creative entrepreneur at heart, pushing his teams to innovate under pressure, even when the stakes are high and the timelines are beyond tight.Take 'The Walking Dead,' for example. From the pilot episode, Nicholson and his team at Stargate Studios set out to create a signature style that would define the show’s grim, visceral tone. They chose to shoot on 16mm film – a rare choice in an industry typically dominated by digital formats – to capture the grit and grain of a world falling apart.“Zombies look great in 16mm, but visual effects tend to be too clean, he admits. "Achieving effects that are seemingly casual and dirtied up is a challenge."

“To degrain and regrain, to add shake and weave and dust hits and make it feel organic is a challenge to any visual effects artist. It’s not ‘Toy Story,' it’s ‘The Walking Dead.’”

This unyielding commitment to authenticity is what sets Nicholson’s work apart. He’s quick to credit his collaborators, like executive producer Gale Anne Hurd and original showrunner Frank Darabont, for setting the tone early on.“In the beginning, we’d sit for hours in Frank's office dissecting every single visual effect, talking about their ramifications, and the genre’s history. There must’ve been 10 hours of discussions alone on how blood should explode when someone’s hit with a bullet.”

“Every single aspect of the first season of 'The Walking Dead' was decided upon with such extreme attention to detail, and those decisions have carried forward stylistically for years.”

For Nicholson, this obsessive focus on detail goes beyond visual impact – it’s about storytelling. “When you’re doing certain shots, you just know they’ll be iconic,” he reveals. “The one where Rick is riding down the highway on the horse toward Atlanta – the one that became the poster shot – wasn’t particularly difficult to shoot, but it had to be very pure and simple."

“It’s not always complexity that makes a shot great; it’s the strength of the design. That shot gives you the whole story, and immediately, you understand the concept of the whole series.”

Leading a studio like Stargate means balancing artistic vision with the hard realities of production: rigid budgets, relentless deadlines, and the constant necessity to innovate.But Nicholson is clear about what it takes to survive in the visual effects industry: “You can have a hit show, but if you’re over on these things, what good is it? To have a career in high-end television like this, the ‘good-fast-cheap’ triangle has to be met all at once.”For all the pressure, his deep investment in the craft is palpable when he talks about iconic shots with pure reverence.

“I love a single shot that becomes a poster moment and captures everything the show is about. The shot that gives you the whole story instantly.”

And if the measure of success in visual effects is audience impact, then Nicholson’s work on 'The Walking Dead' has, without a doubt, delivered. Fans dissect every frame, looking for flaws, hunting for secrets, and celebrating the bloody, amazing moments that have defined the series.“The concern used to be that an editor or director would stop on a frame in the edit bay and point out a problem with it while four or five other people were standing around, but now, hundreds of thousands of people scour your shots online for some sort of a flaw. It’s incredible.”But for Nicholson, the long hours, the constant problem-solving, and complex orchestration are nothing short of thrilling. “When everybody is perfectly tuned and in sync, incredible things happen.”

★

★

Film director and Baobab Studios CFO, Eric Darnell on the emerging language of VR storytelling

(As told to April Robinson by Eric Darnell. Originally posted on AREA by Autodesk)

From a journalism major just learning to cut news stories to a pioneering director at the forefront of computer animation, Eric Darnell’s path has been anything but linear. A chance encounter with a PBS documentary in the early '80s sparked a lifelong fascination with digital storytelling, eventually leading him to the helm of animated classics like 'Antz' and the 'Madagascar' franchise.Over decades in the industry, Darnell has learned that at the heart of every great film is a simple truth: the story comes first. Now, as he dives headlong into the emerging world of virtual reality, he tells us in his own words how he approaches this uncharted medium with the same curiosity and humility that first drew him to the craft – eager to push boundaries, break conventions, and discover what’s possible when the audience isn’t just watching the story but stepping into it.

I was a Journalism major at the University of Colorado as an undergrad. I started taking film classes just to learn how to cut a news story together, and got really interested in film. Then, in 1983, when I was flipping through the channels and saw a PBS documentary on computer animation, which I’d never seen before, I was blown away. I knew what I wanted to do with my life.It took me a while to find my way and create enough content to get into grad school at California Institute of the Arts, but I did do a Master's program there in the late '80s. That led to a job working at Pacific Data Images (PDI), which in 1991 was the oldest computer animation company in the world. There was a group of guys there that were interested in storytelling, although the bread and butter for PDI was television commercials. When DreamWorks partnered with – then purchased PDI – and signed us up to create 'Antz,' the first computer-animated film that DreamWorks would release, it was a dream come true.

“I learned during this time, above all else, to be the caretaker of the story...the story was always my focus.”

Because of some short films that I had made in my spare time, I was lucky enough to be asked to partner with Tim Johnson to direct 'Antz.' It came out in the late '90s and was the first animated film of any kind that DreamWorks Animation released.From there, I went on to be writer and director of the 'Madagascar' films, I did some storyboarding, and I even wrote a song for 'Shrek.' That was basically the next 20 years of my life. I learned during this time, above all else, to be the caretaker of the story. All of these talented artists and specialists working on these films can do amazing stuff without me telling them what to do - but they may not know exactly which direction to go. The direction to go is dependent upon the story, so the story was always my focus.

“When I put on a VR headset, I immediately reacted. I decided, ‘Let’s do it. Let’s see if we can make this happen.’”

After directing and working on five or more feature films, I wasn’t sure what I was going to do next. Then Glenn Entis, a friend and one of the founders of Pacific Data Images, introduced me to Maureen Fan, who was then a VP at Zynga in charge of new IP. She had always wanted to start an animation company and felt strongly that this time of technological disruption – of virtual reality – was one where we could have an unfair advantage and be able to compete against some of the big players. When I put on a VR headset, I immediately reacted. I decided, ‘Let’s do it. Let’s see if we can make this happen.’ That was about a year and a half ago.

“I’ve always loved 3d. But when you add this immersive quality that’s unique to VR, it’s one of those things that you can’t describe.”

My grandfather had one of those old-timey 3d viewers where you put the cardboard slides in, and when I’d visit, I gravitated to that thing, so really, I’ve always been passionate about 3d. But when you add this immersive quality that’s unique to VR, it’s one of those things that you can’t describe. It’s something people have to do themselves to really understand. They can like it or not, of course, but until you actually put a VR headset on, you can’t know what it’s actually like.The challenge and possibility of telling stories where the viewer could be a part of the world, not just this external observer, is fascinating. There’s the experience of a movie theatre, sitting in a chair in a dark room and looking at a rectangular window into a world you could never be a part of, and then there’s VR, where you are in the world. When a character can run up to you, look at you and acknowledge that you are there with them without breaking the fourth wall – that offers so many possibilities and can become emotionally profound for people when it’s done correctly.

“I don’t think that the only way to tell a story in VR is to invent a new kind of story that nobody has ever thought of before.”

There are certain preconceptions I have about what works and doesn’t work in Film that I bring with me when I go into VR. Sometimes those things work, and sometimes they don’t. In 'Invasion!,' the first piece that we made, we have a spaceship fly up and emerge from behind a grove of aspen trees. I thought it
was a great opportunity to build suspense and some dramatic tension by delaying the ship coming over the treetops above our heads. I figured we’d build the music and build the sound of the spaceship getting louder and louder, but after just three or four seconds of this, audiences started looking away. They started doubting their senses, and 90 percent of them were looking 180 degrees off-axis by the time the spaceship appeared. I realized that if you give the viewer the chance to look around, they will. I wanted to give them dramatic tension, and all I did was motivate them to start looking around for what they were missing. It created anxiety and took them away from the story I was trying to tell them.

“So, how do you know this stuff? You don’t. Nobody really does. The only way to learn about the language of storytelling in VR is by doing it.”

You have to show it to people, then watch how they watch the piece. We tested 'Invasion!' with over a thousand people and then made changes based on where their attention was going on average. Recognizing that you don’t know everything and that you don’t always have the answer is the most important thing. It’s humbling. You have to approach it with humility.

“People wave to the bunny in 'Invasion!' They talk to her. That confirms to me that there’s something special about the immersion that VR can offer.”

At first, I had a little bit of skepticism about empathy because it has been such a buzzword around VR for so long. Just the repetition of hearing that made me feel like maybe it was some kind of crutch. But in Invasion!, when that bunny comes out and hops up to them, people react powerfully, in ways that I didn’t expect or anticipate. If you sit in a theatre and a character walks up to the camera, looks into it and seemingly addresses you, nobody in the audience imagines that the character is addressing you. Nobody reaches out, talks back, or recoils. People wave to the bunny in 'Invasion!' They talk to her. That confirms to me that there’s something special about the immersion that VR can offer.

“Rhythm, tone, pacing, and structure are important. If you give that over to the viewer...you lose the momentum that great storytelling can provide.”

It was this that inspired us to dig deeper with 'Asteroids.' We wanted to find ways to engage the viewer in the story and the characters, but also to allow the viewer to become a participant in that story and play a part. We’ve been working really,
really hard at that; it’s not an easy thing.Great storytelling is really difficult. It’s like a piece of music, with all these little pieces that have to come together and add up to something greater than the sum of its parts. Rhythm, tone, pacing, and structure are important. If you give that over to the viewer, as so many do right now in VR, you lose the momentum that great storytelling can provide. If you stop to give them unlimited time to solve a puzzle or to kill zombies or whatever, just by design, you’re sabotaging your ability to tell the best story you can.

“...soon enough, audiences will want more meat on the bones, and it’s my job as a storyteller to give it to them.”

There’s no doubt that for a first-time viewer, when they put that headset on, just the fact that they’re even in some other world and it feels immersive, that’s enough. But as time goes on and audiences get savvier and more experienced, a lot of the VR experiences you see now won’t be as interesting or important to viewers. They’re going to want something that has more depth and something that’s more tuned into their emotions. It’s going to take time for audiences to get comfortable enough with VR to really go there, and perhaps more importantly, it’s going to take time for the VR content creators to be able to consistently deliver what audiences are craving. But, soon enough, audiences will want more meat on
the bones, and it’s my job as a storyteller to give it to them.

“Right now, VR creators should come with an open mind and stop telling each other what they can’t do. Just go out and do it and prove what you can do.”

There are lots of technical things to learn with VR, and they’re tougher to pin down because there’s no history, no reference. A lot of people list dos and don’ts and produce manifestos about VR and how it should be used. I tend to take all of that stuff with a grain of salt. There were so many things that were said, even 18 months ago, like, ‘Oh, you can’t do cuts. You can’t move the camera. VR’s not good for this, it’s only good for that.’ Pretty much everything that I had heard at that time, I wrote it all down, and they’re the same things that have since been proven wrong by somebody who saw an interesting, creative, intelligent way to work around those things. Right now, it’s best for VR creators to come with an open mind and stop telling each other what they can’t do. Just go out and do it and prove what you can do. That’s where the rubber meets the road.

“VR is much more capable of accomplishing things than people might imagine. It’s really what the creators bring to the table that matters.”

In any medium, storytelling is difficult. I’ve been doing it for the last 25-30 years, and I don’t imagine that I’m any good at it yet. I always feel like I’ve got a long way to go and there’s a lot to learn. So, when some enter into VR with a little bit of storytelling experience, try to tell a story, and it doesn’t work, we can’t conclude from that that stories don’t work in VR. Maybe they just need to learn a little more about storytelling. I have heard people say, ‘We tried a drama in VR and it didn’t work, so drama doesn’t work in VR,’ or ‘We tried a comedy in VR and it didn’t work, so comedy doesn’t work in VR.’ VR is much more capable of accomplishing things than people might imagine. It’s really what the creators bring to the table that matters.

“There are a lot of things that I’m really excited about trying in VR,
things I think could make VR storytelling really unique and special
for an audience.”

The potential for a big market for VR excites me. When VR began and the first headsets were coming out, pretty much everybody sort of imagined that VR was games. Period. What I think surprised a lot of people, and I guess to a degree even surprised us, is that Invasion! shot to the top of the charts. A lot of headset manufacturers were blunt and said, ‘We didn’t think that what you’re doing was going to capture the audience’s imagination the way it did.’ That’s very encouraging to us. It makes us feel like we’re on a great path and that there is a future for the kind of work that we’re doing.There are a lot of things that I’m really excited about trying in VR, things I think could make VR storytelling unique and special for an audience. It’s a big motivator for me right now to unlock those treasure chests and open up VR to storytelling in ways that audiences have never experienced before.

★

★

Film director and Baobab Studios CFO, Eric Darnell on the emerging language of VR storytelling

(Originally posted in Q&A format on AREA by Autodesk)

Gwen Frey is a technical animator with over a decade of experience in the games industry, but passion project 'Kine' is something different – a game born not just from code and art, but from the need to create, to push into new territory, and to see what’s possible when you strike out on your own. For Gwen, 'Kine' is her outlet, her joy, and a reflection of the creative fire that has driven her career from the start.

“[I was] looking for different ways to push tech art and tech animation in the games field.” – Gwen Frey

Finding Her Way

Gwen Frey’s journey into game development wasn’t the straightforward, calculated path of a traditional engineer. It was an act of discovery, a pull toward something that felt right. She started in the complex world of MMOs, working with legends like John Romero and Dave Brevik. From her early days of rigging and pipeline tools, Gwen built a reputation for pushing tech art forward. At Irrational Games, she worked as a senior technical animator on 'BioShock Infinite,' diving deep into in-engine work, background characters, and physics.This was a time of intense learning and growth, a period that stretched her skills in ways she hadn’t imagined. “I focused a lot more on in-engine stuff, background characters, physics... looking for different ways to push tech art and tech animation in the games field,” she says.When Irrational closed, Gwen didn’t retreat – she co-founded The Molasses Flood, a small, scrappy studio that came together around a single, audacious goal: to make a rogue-like survival game from scratch. They launched a Kickstarter campaign, pulled together a tight-knit team, and poured themselves into the project. The result was 'The Flame in the Flood,' a game that defied the odds and found a home on nearly every major platform. “We said we would need about two years to make a rogue-like game, and we did,” Gwen reflects. “I’m proud of that.”

“I knew I would never work on [a puzzle game] unless I just did it myself.”

The spark of 'Kine'

But it was in the solitary hours at home that Gwen found her next great project – a game that would become a deeply personal exploration of creativity, design, and self- expression. That game was 'Kine.'“It’s a cocktail of all the things I like; there’s jazz music, and it’s heavily inspired by ‘La La Land,’ which I just adore,” she says. “I wanted this game to be light and happy, mainly because there’s so much negativity in social media and the world today.”Of course, this wasn’t just about building a game – it was about reclaiming the pure, unfiltered joy of making something for the sake of making it. For Gwen, 'Kine' is a love letter to puzzle games, to jazz, to the creative process itself.“I loved puzzle games, but I thought I’d never be able to work on one,” she admits. “No AAA studio is going to invest a lot of money into building a truly gorgeous puzzle game. I knew I would never work on one unless I just did it myself.”

“I’ve never had to be the character artist, so this was something new to me.”

Building Without a Net

Creating 'Kine' has meant stepping out of her comfort zone, taking on roles she had never considered before. As a technical animator, Gwen had always been the one fixing geometry, tweaking rigs, and building pipelines – but now, she had to become the character artist, the designer, the visionary. “I’ve never had to be the character artist, so this was something new to me,” she says.Instead of starting with concept sketches, she dove straight into Maya, sculpting characters in 3d without the safety net of 2D designs. “There was absolutely no trying tosketch it out in 2D. That would be pointless because the design constraints are so crucial for the character design,” she explains.This hands-on, trial-and-error approach allowed her to shape Kine’s quirky, jazz-infused characters in a way that felt immediate, real, and true to the spirit of the game.

“Working on this has been my outlet, my joy.”

A Creative Life Becomes Reality

For Gwen, making 'Kine' is more than just another project – it’s a reminder of why she fell in love with game development in the first place. It’s about the thrill of creation, the excitement of seeing an idea take shape, and the deeply personal satisfaction of having your vision become reality.“Working on this has been my outlet, my joy,” she says – the kind of joy that only comes from building something deeply, unmistakably your own.

★

MY STORY

I’m April, a business writer and interviewer with a long-held passion for storytelling. Over the past 20 years, I’ve shaped marketing, community, and editorial strategies across global B2B and B2C go-to-market, SaaS storytelling, and even my own music publication, Talk Rock To Me.

I got hooked on customer storytelling during a decade at a global SaaS leader. Tasked with scaling content and engagement for media & entertainment audiences, I leveraged my experience interviewing literal rockstars and turned to customers for inspiration — uncovering unexpected challenges, technical innovations, and creative wins.

Through telling their stories, I humanized a tech company, celebrated the expertise of our users, and built a trusted network of thought leaders and collaborators. Overnight, those customers went from being delighted subjects to engaged advocates, collaborating with us to produce high-quality, high-value content that educated and inspired, and sparked meaningful engagement in our community. It was nothing short of magic.

With Rockstar Storytelling, I blend corporate marketing experience with journalistic curiosity and a storyteller’s sensibility: knowing which questions reveal insight, which details resonate, and how to shape them into brand narratives that stick.Because nothing speaks louder than real-world experience—and nothing gets remembered like a well-told story.

Customer stories are
your most powerful asset.
Put them center stage.