Nerd For A Living

N4AL's Wendy Buske talks with artist Janet Lee about the Kickstarter campaign for her new adaption of Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice. They also discuss her Eisner-award winning book Return of the Dapper Men, and other comic book projects.

We talk with popular illustrator and t-shirt designer Karen Hallion about her career as an artist, the transition from her previous jobs as a school teacher and waitress, and how she has employed her family to help balance her business. We discuss the influence social media has had on her popularity, the opportunities presented by online retailers, the challenges of working conventions, and the fellow artists that still leave her starstruck.

We talk with Zach Lipovsky, director of Dead Rising: Watchtower, an adaption of the popular Dead Rising Capcom video game franchise. The film, produced by Legendary Pictures, will be released exclusively on Crackle starting March 27th.

We talk with Mark Kolpack, the visual effects supervisor for Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. on ABC. Mark shares the day-to-day process of working on SHIELD and the career path that led him from film editing to VFX.

Kevin Mellon is a storyboard artist for Floyd County Productions, where he works on the hilarious animated spy comedy ARCHER, currently in its sixth season on FX. A graduate of the  Kubert School, Kevin is also an accomplished comic artist. His work includes GEARHEAD and LOVESTRUCK with Dennis Hopeless, HEART with Blair Butler, and his own series, SUICIDE SISTERS.

Sarah Marino is a character designer and background painter at Nickelodeon Animation Studios, working on the upcoming cartoon series SHIMMER AND SHINE. She was previously at animation studio Reel FX, as a visual development artist working on the stunning animated feature film BOOK OF LIFE. We talk about Sarah’s education and artistic background, and how she transitioned from an early production coordinator gig into an artistic career.

Episode 31: Wendy and Adron have a delightful discussion with artist and YouTube breakout star Mary Doodles. You may have seen Mary’s gorgeous, hypnotic, and often hilarious time-lapse paintings and drawings on her YouTube channel. She also produces art tutorials in her “How to Art” videos. Her artwork and engagingly whimsical personality have earned her main YouTube channel almost 247,000 subscribers. She also has a secondary channel, “More Mary Doodles”, which hosts her video blogs about art and entertainment, which has almost 27,000 subscribers of its own. Mary was also recently featured in the "Ghostbusters vs Mythbusters" episode of Epic Rap Battles of History. (She played Mythbuster Kari Bryon.)

Episode 30: We talk with serial entrepreneur, writer and comics artist Josh Blaylock, founder and publisher of Devil’s Due Entertainment. Devil’s Due currently publishes a number of creator-owned comic book titles, including Squarriors, Plume, Drafted, Solitary and Josh’s own Mercy Sparx. Josh also recently launched Blockhouse - his nerd-trepreneur incubator and umbrella for business endeavors outside and alongside comics. 

N4AL's Wendy and Adron talk with professional costume designer and author Kristin M. Burke! Kristin just finished a two season run on the immensely popular Fox television series Sleepy Hollow. And though that show has exposed her work to a broad new television audience, she’s better known for a resume of over 50 films, including The Conjuring, Seeking a Friend for the End of the World, Insidious (1 & 2), Beverly Hills Chihuahua 2, Sex Drive, Crazy, Bring it On Again and many, many more. Kristin is the co-author of Costuming for Film: the Art and the Craft, a college-level textbook on the ins and outs of designing costumes for films. This book is also intended to reach industry professionals looking to broaden their understanding about the role of costumes in the collaborative medium of film. Her second book, Going Hollywood: How to Get Started, Keep Going, and Not Turn into a Sleaze, is in use at film schools and universities in 7 countries.  

Wendy and Adron talk with New York Times bestselling comic creator Cullen Bunn, writer of The Sixth Gun, Deadpool, The Damned, Magneto, Helheim, Lobo, and many, many more. He also wrote the middle reader horror novel Crooked Hills, and has produced numerous short prose stories. Cullen has been nominated for the Eisner Award, Bram Stoker Award, and Ghastly Awards, and won Broken Frontier’s Best Writer Independent Award. We discuss the process of breaking into the world of comics via the independent press, working to establish his personal brand and fan-base via personal appearances and social media, and how he maintains a prolific production schedule.

Recorded live at GeekGirlCon 2014, our How to be a Nerd for a Living panel features guest speakers Susan Eisenburg (voice of Wonder Woman, Justice League Unlimited); Jaimie Cordero (CEO, Espionage Cosmetics); Heidi Gaertner (technology director, Big Fish Games); Jina Heverley (VP/general manager of PC, Mac & Cloud at Big Fish Games); and Rebecca Hicks (creator of Little Vampires). Moderated by N4AL's Wendy Buske.

This episode captures one of our N4AL panels from GeekGirlCon 2014, The Business of Self Promotion: Marketing Your Art or Small Business Online. Nerd for a Living’s marketing director Wendy Buske hosted this discussion of how an individual or small business can work to establish their brand and promote themselves online. She was joined by Amanda Nuckolls, owner of GnomeAcres, and Christal VanEtten, the press and social media coordinator for Espionage Cosmetics.

We talked with voice actress Susan Eisenberg at GeekGirlCon 2014. Susan is best known as the voice of Wonder Woman from the DC animated universe's Justice League cartoon, video games and direct to DVD movie releases. She is also an in-demand voice-over artist working in commercials, and has provided voices for video games like Skyrim and Destiny.

N4AL talks with Jason Anarchy, the creator of the tabletop RPG card game "Drinking Quest". We discuss how he created this very popular, social game experience, designed to merge D&D-esque questing with easy to learn rules and the extra (optional) complication of alcohol. Jason tells how how he used a background in sales and business management to help him bootstrap the initial marketing of the game, followed by successful crowdfunding campaigns to produce the sequel editions. Jason is currently in pre-orders for a new expanded Trilogy Edition of the game, and has released a comic book based on the Drinking Quest world.

We talk with the co-creators of the new illustrated children's book, "Archibald's Next Big Thing" - including co-writer Tony Hale (Emmy-Award winning actor for his role on HBO's "Veep", and Buster Bluth from cult-hit "Arrested Development"), co-writer Tony Biaggne, and artist Victor Huckabee. This funny and delightful conversation covers the creative collaborative process by a group of poeple (including artist Misty Manley) working together from around the country whilst juggling day jobs and other commitments. We talk about the real commitment required to take an idea to fruition, and the joy of seeing all that work fully realized and in print. 

We talk with Jaimie Cordero, Chad Downing, and Christal Summer from innovative, woman-owned Espionage Cosmetics. Espionage creates make-up, nail wraps and more products aimed at the underserved female nerd market. Based in Tacoma, WA, Jaimie stepped aside from her award-winning professional career in makeup for film, TV, and web to start a business around her interests, quickly recruiting an intensely passionate, hard-working team to make awesome niche makeup accessories. A year ago, they crowdfunded a new line of products via an immensely successful Kickstarter campaign. Now they look to do it again with an ambitious new campaign, new product licenses, new innovations and a growing staff devoted to making awesome makeup for awesome fans.

This episode, N4AL’s Wendy and Adron talk with Lee Joyner, sculptor and special effects make-up artist, and director of admissions for Cinema Makeup School in Los Angeles. Cinema Makeup School is dedicated to educating the next generation of makeup artists for the film, television, fashion and entertainment industries. They aim to provide students with all of the skills needed to succeed as makeup artists and to give them a solid foundation for any job they seek. In addition to makeup techniques, CMS students are taught professionalism, ethics, business, and history. 

N4AL's Adron Buske talks with Robin Linn of The Third Floor, a previsualization studio that creates animatic storyboards for Hollywood film and commercial productions. Previs helps directors and producers pitch and plan films, saving money in the production by pre-planning shots, pacing and CGI needs. Robin is an artist manager, supervising, training, and recruiting animators for the Third Floor team. He has an extensive background in art, animation and film. But he started as a bank manager who only did sculpting as a hobby. Learn how a chance opportunity turned into a 25 year career in the film industry. 

N4AL talks with Dark Horse Comics editor-in-chief Scott Allie. Scott has been an editor on some of Dark Horse’s most popular books, including Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Serenity, Hellboy, B.P.R.D., Star Wars, and many more. He gives us a really in-depth perspective on what that job is, the other editorial departmental positions that support it, and how he and Dark Horse hire their editors. Scott's been at Dark Horse for about 20 years, and he's still a hands-on editor even as he guides the ship. He also stays involved in the marketing and PR strategies with the company.

From a packed room at San Diego Comic-Con 2014, we present the How to be a Nerd for a Living panel with guest speakers Lee Joyner (director of admissions, Cinema Makeup School); Tom Kurzanski (art director, TeeFury); Claire Hummel (production designer, HBO); Pat Loika (host, Loikamania Podcast); Brad Herman (lead product designer, DreamWorks Animation); and Karen Hallion (illustrator and T-shirt/apparel designer). Want to work in a fandom-related industry you're passionate about, but not sure where to start? These professionals discuss careers within gaming, film, comics, illustration, podcasting, and more. Our speakers share their career-building experiences. Topics include training, online resources, networking, and tactics to use (and avoid) for breaking into your dream industry. Moderated by Nerd For A Living's Wendy Buske.