Andy Fowler’s career has combined his creative eye with his incredible production skills. Beginning in London’s burgeoning VFX scene with titles such as Lost in Space, 300, and The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian, Andy picked up an Emmy for his work on The Life and Death of Peter Sellers. Then he moved to LA to work on Tron: Legacy, Noah, and The Revenant, before moving to Netflix and becoming Vice President of Production Innovation, overseeing an astounding 10,000 shots per year.

In this podcast, Andy reflects on his career and how it’s evolved alongside the technology that makes VFX shots happen. He talks about live-action at Disney, making convincing digital humans for Scorsese’s The Irishman, and how virtual production emerged from the pandemic. Andy also gives his thoughts on AI and how it’s going to affect production.

Over a 40-year career, Joel Hynek has helped bring some incredible VFX to life, beginning with optical effects for Xanadu, then making the Predator a terrifying opponent for Arnie, and moving onto a range of movies, including xXx, Judge Dredd, Stealth, plus blockbusters from India and China. He picked up a sci-tech Oscar for the design and development of an optical printer, and a VFX Oscar for his quietly revolutionary work on What Dreams May Come.

Joel shares incredible stories from the world of VFX, including how he developed the Predator’s invisibility cloak and night vision, the scrapes and near-misses he got into while filming Stealth, and reveals some interesting trivia about The Matrix and The Bourne Identity. He also talks about working with industry luminaries including Doug Trumbull, Rob Cohen, Doug Liman, and reveals his impressive lineage.

Kathryn Brillhart has always been ahead of her time. As a teen, she assisted her father in shooting documentaries; then she combined her sharp eye as a cinematographer with her passion for VFX to become a virtual production and volume capture expert. Projects she’s worked on include Las Vegas’ ginormous MSG Sphere, pioneering virtual production short “Ripple Effect,” and the movie Black Adam. Most recently, Kathryn has helped create the stunning, desolate world of the Fallout TV series.

Kathryn shares her unique perspective on the way digital technology has transformed the industry, from her early days shooting on celluloid to DV tapes, as well as the rapid evolution of virtual production technology and how it was fuelled by restrictions created by the pandemic. She also gives her thoughts on artificial intelligence and its potential to democratize the industry by making advanced tools accessible to indie filmmakers.