Today we’d like to introduce you to Jeff Masters.
Hi Jeff, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself
Art was something that was always a central part of my life. When I was a kid I was into anything art-related and ended up landing my first high profile gig as a cartoonist for my middle school newspaper, with at least one person finding them endlessly hilarious. I can remember going to Disney World and being so inspired seeing the animators at work, hoping that my love for drawing could one day result in such a revered role. One Christmas, I asked for a Light Box to draw 2D animation, but my tech-savvy uncle instead decided that computer animation software would be the right tool to guide me towards the future of animation and VFX.
I initially started fiddling around with 2D animation software before I was able to get my hands on 3D software which led to attending Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD) as a VFX major and dove into the creative exploration headfirst. Every summer while I was in college, I would go back to my hometown of Pittsburgh and intern at a different post production company in town each year. I was able to amass hands-on experience in motion graphics, editorial and for the last two years, VFX for commercials. It was invaluable to be able to graduate not just with a portfolio of all the work that I did in college, but actual professional work on my demo reel.
I landed my first official gig at Digital Domain as they were opening a new studio in Florida. As one of their first artists in this new studio, I was in awe at the level of talent that they brought in and I was able to work alongside. It was a melting pot of several hundred extremely talented people from some of the biggest and most respected animation and VFX companies in the industry, like Disney and ILM. Having the opportunity to be mentored by such amazing and experienced artists in the industry allowed me to fast track my professional growth and I had the opportunity to work on some major feature films, including Thor.
After a couple years with Digital Domain, I branched out to try something new in the realm of feature animation as a Lead Lighter at Reel FX in Dallas. The studio was rapidly expanding when I joined and a month into this new role I was able to work on the company’s first independent feature animated film, Free Birds, as a Lighter and Compositor. It was an exciting time of growth and creativity. I tapped into my artistic perspective and brought a storytelling component to the art that I was working on with my team at Reel FX.
In 2018, I transferred over to Reel FX’s sister commercial company, now named ATKPLN, where I’ve been working ever since. In the commercial world, you never know what you’re going to get. I work across live action, design, VFX and animation, and it’s fun to blend all the best of those disciplines together. With the accelerated timelines, I enjoyed running on all cylinders and having the opportunity to apply my backgrounds in both VFX and animation depending on the needs of the individual project.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
In September 2012, Digital Domain’s Florida studio suddenly closed and we were all without jobs overnight. I was one of the lucky ones that was able to secure my next gig rather quickly, but looking back, had it not happened that way, I may have never shaken things up. I realize now that while it was a major (and unexpected) shift moving to Dallas with my wife when neither of us had ever even been to Texas, it was absolutely the right move for my career as a whole. It turned out to be a major turning point for me and I was able to become a better, much more well-rounded artist because I’ve had experience in both the feature animation and VFX sides of the industry. Bringing both animation and VFX together allows me to be much better at my job.
We’ve been impressed with ATKPLN, but for folks who might not be as familiar, what can you share with them about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
ATKPLN is a design-first creative studio specializing in design, live action and animation with a human-first approach.
While design is always what leads the work that we do, we’ve worked on quite a diverse range of projects including animated film trailers, live action broadcast spots for major brands and even episodic VFX projects. When we approach new types of projects, we are able to bring such a vast toolset to the table from the wide range of experience we have on various projects, which lets us dig deep and get creative to provide unique solutions. We don’t focus on one specific space as a specialty; rather, we bring a design lens to offer creative solutions to the diverse needs that brands and agencies have.
As a highly collaborative person, it’s exciting to work with a tight knit team and work together to figure out what that unique solution looks like for each project, and that’s fun and rewarding.
