[smart_track_player url=”<<enclosure url=”https://traffic.libsyn.com/forcedn/allanmckay/EP396_Niklas_Jacobson_PODCAST.mp3″ length=”3896″ type=”audio/mpeg”></enclosure></enclosure>” title=”396 – Important Looking Pirates Co-Founder Niklas Jacobson” social=”true” social_twitter=”true” social_facebook=”true” social_gplus=”true” ]
Episode 396 – Important Looking Pirates Co-Founder Niklas Jacobson
Important Looking Pirates (ILP) is a visual effects and digital animation studio located in central Stockholm founded in 2007 by Niklas Jacobson, Yafei Wu, Carl Hermelin and Eric Hermelin. The studio has more than 200 artists and have worked on big titles like Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom, Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker; and series like Westworld, The Mandalorian, Stranger Things, Lost in Space.
ILP was nominated for a number of Emmys for their work on Stranger Things and Lost in Space.
In this Episode, Co-Founder of Important Looking Pirates Niklas Jacobson talks about the origins of ILP (and its title), their work on Star Wars, Lost in Space and Stranger Things; as well as gives advice on how to stand out as an artist or a company, mindset of a studio owner, and the most important asset of a VFX studio.
Important Looking Pirates Website: https://www.ilpvfx.com
Niklas Jacobson on IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1964620/
EPISODE 396 – IMPORTANT LOOKING PIRATE CO-FOUNDER NIKLAS JACOBSON
Hi, everyone!
This is Allan McKay. Welcome to Episode 396! I’m sitting down with Niklas Jacobson, Co-Founder of Important Looking Pirates, to talk about the origins of ILP and the mindset of a studio owner.
We get into a lot here:
- The Origin of ILP Title and Start of the Company;
- Niklas Talks About His First VFX Job;
- How to Stand Out as a Company;
- Mindset of a Studio Owner;
- ILP’s Proprietary Tools and Software
- ILP’s Work on Star Wars, Lost in Space and Stranger Things;
- AI and the Future of VFX
- What Makes Artists Stand Out
- And so much more!
I am especially excited to talk about the mindset of a studio owner.
Let’s dive in!
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES FROM ALLAN McKAY:
[01:23] Have you ever sent in your reel and wondered why you didn’t get the callback or what the reason was you didn’t get the job? Over the past 20 years of working for studios like ILM, Blur Studio, Ubisoft, I’ve built hundreds of teams and hired hundreds of artists — and reviewed thousands of reels! That’s why I decided to write The Ultimate Demo Reel Guide from the perspective of someone who actually does the hiring. You can get this book for free right now at www.allanmckay.com/myreel!
[1:02:28] One of the biggest problems we face as artists is figuring out how much we’re worth. I’ve put together a website. Check it out: www.VFXRates.com! This is a chance for you to put in your level of experience, your discipline, your location — and it will give you an accurate idea what you and everyone else in your discipline should be charging. Check it out: www.VFXRates.com!
Okay, what did you think? I want to thank Niklas for joining me on the Podcast. This was definitely a lot of fun!
Next week, I’m doing a solo Episode on the subject of Crushing the Interview: Advice to Nail Your Next Job. This is about understanding what questions to ask and how to navigate any interview. There’s a lot there to unpack!
Until then –
Rock on!
Click here to listen on iTunes!
Upload The Productive Artist e-book.
Allan McKay’s Facebook Fanpage.