Brian Walters of Sony Pictures Imageworks: 5 Things I Wish Someone Told Me When I First Became A Content Creator

As a part of our series called “5 Things I Wish Someone Told Me When I First Became A Filmmaker”, I had the distinct pleasure of interviewing Brian Walters.

Brian is a Layout Supervisor and Artist at Sony Pictures Imageworks where he has worked on 25 films over the past 13 years, including as Rough Layout Lead on the Oscar winning Spiderman: Into the Spiderverse. Currently living in Vancouver, Canada, Brian is married with 2 kids.

Thank you so much for joining us in this interview series! Our readers would love to get to know you a bit better. Can you tell us a bit of the ‘backstory’ of how you grew up?

I grew up in the Hudson Valley Region of upstate New York. My parents were always very supportive- whether it was for me being creative, playing sports (baseball, football), or music (trombone, then guitar and bass guitar). I always had a drive to make things, to create something from nothing, and was taught from an early age that anything and everything is possible if you work hard enough for it. At the time, my childhood didn’t seem very remarkable, but looking back, I realize just how fortunate I was. My family is a big reason I am where I am today.

Can you share a story with us about what brought you to this specific career path? *

I once had the ridiculously fantastic opportunity of co-designing the steampunk drumkit Neil Peart played when Rush was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. I also created a 1-minute long 3d animation that played in sync to his drum solo on stage during their 2010 Time Machine Tour. That earned me an invitation to their tour dress rehearsals that year at the Sony Pictures Studio Lot in Culver City. During breaks, I would wander around the lot by myself thinking that this would be an amazing place to work. About a month later, I saw a job ad looking for Rough Layout Artists at Sony Imageworks down the street from there. I had never used the software they were using, but because of my pleasant experience, I applied anyway on a whim. 13 years, 25 feature films, and 2 kids later, I’ve been in Layout at Imageworks ever since.

Can you share the funniest or most interesting story that occurred to you in the course of your content creator career? *

Oh man, I have a few, but how about most awesome? A few years back I was asked by Happy Madison to create a Mike Tyson’s PunchOut! style game from the ground up in order to promote the Keven James film, Here Comes the Boom. That experience earned my wonderful wife and I invites to Happy Madison’s holiday party 3 years in a row, up until we moved to Vancouver. This is the sort of party where everywhere you look; you recognize somebody. Cell phones were collected at the gate. Coincidentally, one of those years I was working on the first Hotel Transylvania and our director Genndy Tartakovsky walks by as I’m talking with Adam’s brother and gives me a big smile and a look like, “who the heck let YOU in here?!?” It was an absolutely awesome moment lol… It was the moment my freelance career as an artist and my professional career crossed paths at one of the coolest places possible. Later in the night, Joe Walsh showed up with his guitar and played “Life’s Been Good” about 10 feet away from me. At that point, I had to agree. Being a content creator can have its perks.

Who are some of the most interesting people you have interacted with? What was that like? Do you have any stories? *

When I was still in college, I took a semester off to work as Milos Forman’s personal assistant during post production of his film, Man on the Moon. Very intimidating at first, but that energy just proved to be his focus and determination. I learned a lot just by watching him work in the edit bays and reviewing tapes in his apartment together. I even baby proofed his apartment when his second set of twins were born! When that wrapped, I was asked to join producer Michael Hausman’s next film, American Saint, where I got to drive across country with the great character actor Vincent Schiavelli as we followed Jack Kerouac’s On the Road. Vinny is the only actor to appear in every one of Milos Forman’s films, but is most recognized as playing Mr. Vargas in Fast Times at Ridgemont High and the Subway Ghost in Ghost. I got to drive the length of Tennessee with just him in our NYC checkered cab. He told me stories of being on set of Cuckoo’s Nest and Amadeus. We were on the road for about a month together. Also joining us on that film was producer Scott Ferguson, who most recently produced Succession for HBO. Amazing trip, learned so much!

None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story about that? *

That would have to be Colin Cheer of Strega Imaging. 20 years ago, I was creating spinning 3d logos for websites. He saw something in me as an artist and together we went on to create the opening 3D sequences to broadcasts of the Grammy Awards, Tonys, CMAs, and the Primetime and Daytime Emmy Awards, along with work for the NFL, MLB, and NBA. We also created the backdrop used on Jimmy Kimmel Live for almost a decade together. My time with him gave me the confidence that I could actually survive as an artist in this crazy industry. The work we did together allowed me to create a demo reel that would get me to the next level.

Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life? *

That would be the ‘Bubblegum Machine Theory’ given to me by my Dad. He worked in sales and saw a lot of parallels with me trying to make it as a freelance artist. He would tell me never to count on just one prospective job to come through, because often times it will never come. It’s best to collect many possible opportunities, like gumballs in a machine, because when one is ready to fall into your hands, it’s often out of your control which one will actually land. Fill up that gumball machine with opportunity, don’t just wait for that one golden ball to drop. Nothing can drop if the machine is empty.

What are some of the most interesting or exciting projects you are working on now? *

I just finished working on Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire and am now a Layout Supervisor for a new animated feature in production at Sony Imageworks.

Which aspect of your work makes you most proud? Can you explain or give a story?

Working on big, Hollywood movies is exciting, but what makes working in Rough Layout special is that we have the opportunity to pitch shot ideas to the directors, creating moments in these films that wouldn’t be there if we weren’t a part of it. One example was when I was working on Spiderman: Into the Spiderverse. There is a shot towards the end of the 5 Spidey’s swinging towards Fisk Tower with Manhattan in the background. That was my sequence and that shot wasn’t in the storyboards. I felt the moment should be much more epic and pitched that big swinging shot instead, including the character blocking and camara. It didn’t only stick in the movie; it was the shot shown at the Academy Awards when the directors and producers were walking to the stage to collect their Best Animated Feature Oscars. Very rewarding.

What are your “5 things I wish someone told me when I first started” and why. Please share a story or example for each.

1 through 5 are all the same answer- Learn Business!! Learn to protect yourself and your work, learn to negotiate deals and contracts, don’t let yourself get taken advantage of!

When you create a film, which stakeholders have the greatest impact on the artistic and cinematic choices you make? Is it the viewers, the critics, the financiers, or your own personal artistic vision? Can you share a story with us or give an example about what you mean? *

When I’m creating a project for myself, then it’s definitely my own personal artistic vision. For this VR film, I took special account for the viewer to create an experience that would be easy to watch in a 360 environment without getting overwhelmed. But if it’s a film at Sony, then it’s a matter of 100% delivering the director’s vision.

You are a person of great influence. If you could spread an idea that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can prompt. :-)

Shine your light. No matter who you are, what you do, or what you enjoy, be proud of it and own it. Be true to yourself, be who you are, and don’t give in to the haters. Shine bright.

We are very blessed that some of the biggest names in Business, VC funding, Sports, and Entertainment read this column. Is there a person in the world, or in the US whom you would love to have a private breakfast or lunch with, and why? They might see this. :-)

James Mangold. We actually have a lot in common (except for his crazy success lol). We both graduated from the same high school, Washingtonville High School, in NY. We both have connections to Columbia University Film School, Robert Redford, and Milos Forman. The sole actor in his college film ‘The Barn’ was coincidentally the father of the main actor in my college film. ‘The Barn’ was also produced by Scott Ferguson, whom I drove cross country with. His film Copland is about our hometown. He wrote it while at Robert Redford’s Sundance Institute. I interned for Robert Redford. When I was in high school, I would dream big of being the first person to direct both a Star Wars and an Indiana Jones movie. Then would quickly think, ‘nobody from Washingtonville will ever get to do that’… well, the joke is on me lol… Second to that, I would love to meet a Children’s Book Publisher and share my books for the preschool audience called ‘The Rare Square Bear’ and ‘Too Many Mammoths’.

How can our readers further follow you online?

Instagram.com/gandgvr/ facebook.com/groups/1356433864954162 brian-walters.com

facebook.com/brian.walters.351 linkedin.com/in/brian-walters-a650a4a/ instagram.com/gandgvr/

This was very meaningful, thank you so much! We wish you continued success!

About The Interviewer: Susan Johnston is a Media Futurist, Columnist as well as Founder and Director at New Media Film Festival®. The New Media Film Festival® — honoring stories worth telling since 2009, is an Award-winning, inclusive, and boundary-pushing catalyst for storytelling and technology. Susan was knighted in Rome in 2017 for her work in Arts & Humanity.