CG Garage

Monstrous Moonshine
  • 4.8 (56)
  • TV & FILM
  • UPDATED WEEKLY

Since 2014, CG Garage has brought lively, informal conversations with Oscar-winning legends, visionary artists, and the innovators driving the industry's biggest technological leaps. From in-depth interviews to spirited roundtable discussions, hosts Chris Nichols and Daniel Thron explore the art, craft, and future of filmmaking. With Hollywood in the middle of a major revolution, we talk to the filmmakers who are making that transformation possible, covering everything from behind-the-scenes stories on iconic movies to the cutting-edge tools reshaping the industry.

  1. 3D AGO

    Sean Rourke: The Third Floor and the Tuesday Night Writers Group

    There's a Tuesday night writers group that has quietly shaped the careers of some seriously talented people working in Hollywood right now, and CG Garage is slowly pulling back the curtain on it. Sean Rourke is the second member of that group to come on the show, following Andy Cochrane, and his path through the industry is one of the more unlikely and instructive ones you'll hear. He spent 12 years as Head of Editorial at The Third Floor, the previz studio behind some of the biggest films in production, and he got there by being the only person in the building who remembered how to unjam a three-quarter-inch tape deck. What followed was a career built on dying technology, accidental promotions, and a consistent instinct for being exactly where the creative work was happening. Co-host Daniel Thron and Sean dig into what previz editorial actually is and why it attracts the kind of people who want to direct, how audiences have been quietly rewired by streaming into expecting 10-hour stories and now feel cheated by a 2-hour film, and what AI tools actually look like inside a working production pipeline versus the buzzword version that investors keep funding. Sean also teaches Comic-Con Film School, a four-day filmmaking fundamentals class he has run every year for 20 straight years, and makes a sharp case for why film school still matters even when every specific tool it teaches goes obsolete. And if you follow vampire cinema at all, he runs a YouTube channel called The Vampire's Castle, just scored an interview with Jason Patric about The Lost Boys that has apparently never happened before, and is very pleased about recent awards-season developments. Links:  Sean Rourke / The Vampire's Castle YouTube >  Sean Rourke > The Third Floor (Previz) > Andy Cochrane on CG Garage > Ben Hansford (AI educator, USC) on CG Garage >   This episode is sponsored by: Center Grid Virtual Studio Kitbash 3D (Use promocode "cggarage" for 10% off)

    1h 51m

  2. MAR 9

    Ryan Kelsey on Why Boutique Cloud is the Secret Weapon for Indie VFX Studios

    Most people who end up in VFX spent years obsessing over frames and film. Ryan Kelsey spent 13 years in telecom in Cincinnati, selling fiber and managed IT services, before stumbling into an industry where studios win Oscars and go bankrupt in the same month. That collision of worlds turns out to be exactly the perspective the business needs right now. Ryan is VP of Sales at Center Grid Virtual Studio, and his outsider's eye cuts through a lot of the noise around cloud infrastructure for creative studios. Why are small VFX shops still running overheating GPU racks in their back offices? Why does a freelancer getting a big render job have nowhere obvious to turn? Why does everyone talk about AI compute without knowing what they're actually doing with it? This conversation, recorded live at the HPA (Hollywood Professional Association) Tech Retreat, ranges from the broken economics of fixed-bid VFX work to what a genuinely boutique cloud partner looks like compared to the AWS-sized behemoths, to Chris's teenage son dragging his friends to see Chainsaw Man while the industry insists nobody goes to the movies anymore. Links: Ryan Kelsey LinkedIn > Center Grid Virtual Studio > HPA Tech Retreat >  Scott Ross book > This episode is sponsored by: Center Grid Virtual Studio Kitbash 3D (Use promocode "cggarage" for 10% off)

    1h 12m

  3. MAR 2

    Jess Loren on Gaussian Splats, AI Actors, and the Real Future of Virtual Production

    Jess Loren has built one of the most-followed voices in the entertainment technology space on LinkedIn, and she has earned it by calling industry shifts before they become consensus. Her read on Gaussian splats as a genuine production tool, not a novelty, is proving correct. As co-founder of Global Objects and a board member of the Visual Effects Society, Jess has spent the last year turning that conviction into working pipelines: partnering with XGrid as California's media and entertainment distributor, building Go Scout for collaborative splat-based location scouting, and installing a virtual production wall inside ISS (Independent Studio Services) where filmmakers can shoot a full day on LED for $6,000, props included. Recorded live at the HPA (Hollywood Professional Association) Tech Retreat in Palm Springs, this conversation covers why polygons are giving way to splats, how AI is quietly restructuring VFX workflows, the uncomfortable reality of synthetic actors and deepfake-flooded social feeds, and what happens when a research lab asks you to find 40,000 random objects for training data and you realize the answer is a prop house. Jess also breaks down Global Objects' partnership with ISS to digitize the world's largest prop library, creating 3D assets destined for Fab, Turbo Squid, and eventually, robot training sets. //links// Jess Loren on LinkedIn >  Global Objects >  Independent Studio Services (ISS) >  XGrid >  Visual Effects Society >  HPA Tech Retreat >  This episode is sponsored by: Center Grid Virtual Studio Kitbash 3D (Use promocode "cggarage" for 10% off)

    56 min

  4. FEB 23

    Lights, Camera, VidViz! Richard Crudo Joins Chris and Daniel to Plan Our Western: June July

    Here is a radical idea: what if you rehearsed the movie before you shot it? Not storyboards. Not an animatic. Live actors, real cameras, and actual creative decisions being made in the room. That is what Chris Nichols and Daniel Thron have been doing on June July, and cinematographer Richard Crudo, ASC joined them to find out if it actually works. Richard brings perspective from the Coen Brothers' dime-store ingenuity on Raising Arizona (yes, an Arri 2C strapped to a two-by-four), decades navigating the film-to-digital transition, and a long-standing argument that the industry has built a priesthood around tech complexity that actively gets in the way of the story. What he found in the VidViz sessions was the opposite: a blue screen, a rough key in OBS, and a team moving fast enough to make creative breakthroughs that quietly rewrote the arc of the entire film. One actor's performance changed the screenplay without changing a single line of dialogue. That kind of discovery does not happen in a pipeline. It happens in a room. Links: Monstrous Moonshine >  Richard Crudo's website > Chaos Vantage > Chaos Arena > This episode is sponsored by: Center Grid Virtual Studio Kitbash 3D (Use promocode "cggarage" for 10% off)

    1h 7m

  5. FEB 16

    Stop Waiting for the Studio to Save You: Andy Cochrane on the New Media Frontier

    Why are we still waiting for a green light from people who do not understand our craft? This reality is at the heart of our conversation with Andy Cochrane, a creative who has spent twenty years navigating the collapsing bridges of the entertainment industry. Andy takes us through the trenches of his career, from the grueling 70-hour weeks as a runner on CSI: Miami to the high-stakes visual effects world of Asylum and Terminator Salvation. We discuss the hard realization that being a "button pusher" in a massive pipeline is no longer a safe bet, and why the most vital work is now happening in the "weird stuff" between traditional film and immersive technology. The future of storytelling belongs to the tactical generalists who are willing to build their own labs rather than wait for a studio to discover them. We look at how Markiplier bypassed the traditional, expensive studio marketing machine by leveraging his own fanbase to bring Iron Lung to life, and why artist-driven projects like Everything Everywhere All at Once have become the new blueprint for success. Andy breaks down his current mission in Santa Monica, where he is bypassing traditional distribution models to create "Loud Movies," an open-source medium that prioritizes human experience over corporate commodification. It is a deep dive into why the most important tool in your kit isn't a new piece of software, but the willingness to keep moving while the building collapses around you. The CG Pro Show > Andy Cochrane on LinkedIn > Andy Cochrane on IMDB > Mark Duplass: The Cavalry is not Coming >    This episode is sponsored by: Center Grid Virtual Studio Kitbash 3D (Use promocode "cggarage" for 10% off)

    1h 49m

  6. FEB 9

    Rob Nederhorst and Ben Hansford: The end of "good enough" in filmmaking

    The "good enough" era of streaming is hitting a wall, and a new rebellious streak in Hollywood is reclaiming the theater as the primal source of the cinematic experience. We are joined by two veterans navigating this shift: Rob Nederhorst, a VFX supervisor who has shaped the visceral worlds of John Wick 3 and The Conjuring, and Ben Hansford, a prolific commercial director now leading the charge in AI filmmaking at USC. They are not just talking about tech for tech's sake. They are discussing how to move past the "lens test" phase of AI, where everyone is just showing off what the tool can do, and getting back to the actual discipline of telling a story that makes an audience physically flinch. The conversation pivots from the "all-or-nothing" marketing hype of AGI to the practical, gritty reality of modern production budgets. As Netflix-style algorithms push for "dumbed down" content designed for second-screen scrolling, these creators are using tools like VidViz (being championed by Monstrous Moonshine) to fight back. We explore how AI is fundamentally altering the landscape of what is affordable and accessible, allowing independent filmmakers to compete with massive studio footprints. Ultimately, it is a breakdown of why a $35 million set and a toilet paper roll prop are both just tools, and why the only metric that matters at the end of the day is finishing a film that carries a human fingerprint. Monstrous Moonshine's VidViz for June July > "Another" by Dave Clark | AI Horror Film - Rob Nederhorst, Producer and VFX Supervisor > Ben Hansford's website > Rob Nederhorst's website >  Ben Hansford on IMDB > Rob Nederhorst on IMDB >   This episode is sponsored by: Center Grid Virtual Studio Kitbash 3D (Use promocode "cggarage" for 10% off)

    1h 30m

  7. FEB 2

    Why Safdie and PTA are Saving Cinema: Marty Supreme and One Battle After Another Breakdown

    If the movies you're seeing lately feel like they were assembled by a committee rather than a creator, you're looking at the wrong side of the lens. We are dusting off a classic format today, leaning into the kind of raw film breakdowns we used to live for. The spotlight is on two heavyweights: Josh Safdie's Marty Supreme and Paul Thomas Anderson's One Battle After Another. Both of these pictures have just locked in Best Picture nominations for the 2026 Academy Awards, and it feels like a signal fire. After years of franchise fatigue and focus-tested safety, we are looking at a lineup that suggests great, uncompromising cinema is finally clawing its way back to the center of the frame. Fair warning: we aren't holding anything back here, so consider this a total spoiler warning. We are going deep into the structure, the endings, and the technical magic tricks that make these films work: from the anxiety-inducing rhythm of Safdie's 1950s ping pong subculture to Anderson's mastery of the long-lens Mojave car chase. This year's nominations feel like a turning point, a collective realization that the audience is hungry for movies that challenge them rather than just pat them on the back. It's a look at why the "cavalry isn't coming" for Hollywood, and why that might be the best news we've heard in decades for anyone who actually cares about the craft of visual storytelling. //links// Monstrous Moonshine > Marty Supreme Trailer > One Battle After Another Trailer > Original Ending of Marty Supreme >   This episode is sponsored by: Center Grid Virtual Studio Kitbash 3D (Use promocode "cggarage" for 10% off)

    1h 36m

  8. JAN 26

    Jeff Okun's Decades-Long Battle for VFX Respect and the Future of the VES

    Long before he was codifying the industry in the VES Handbook, Jeff was a kid in Los Angeles pouring ketchup on his friends to stage fake street fights for a hidden camera. His journey into the heart of cinema began under the mentorship of graphic design icon Saul Bass, where he learned that pushing the right buttons could lead to miraculous results. This foundation in precision and storytelling propelled him from a midnight gopher to the primary "fix-it guy" for landmark projects like The Last Starfighter and Stargate, ultimately leading to his pivotal role in founding the Visual Effects Society Awards. Beyond the technical wizardry and stories of killing Samuel L. Jackson on screen, Jeff offers a raw look at the systemic struggles within the visual effects industry. He explores the "kerfuffle" of 2013, the complexities of global unionization, and the rising tide of AI in the creative process. By advocating for a heist mentality where every shot is planned with surgical precision before a single frame is captured, he provides a roadmap for a more sustainable and respected future for artists in a "fix it in post" world. Jeff Okun on IMDB > The Visual Effects Society page > Press release announcing VFX Handbook >  VFX Handbook order page >  Press release announcing special honorees for upcoming VES Awards >  Press release announcing nominees for upcoming VES Awards >  Press release announcing new VES Board Executive Committee leaders >  This episode is sponsored by: Center Grid Virtual Studio Kitbash 3D (Use promocode "cggarage" for 10% off)

    1h 36m
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4.8
out of 5
56 Ratings

About

Since 2014, CG Garage has brought lively, informal conversations with Oscar-winning legends, visionary artists, and the innovators driving the industry's biggest technological leaps. From in-depth interviews to spirited roundtable discussions, hosts Chris Nichols and Daniel Thron explore the art, craft, and future of filmmaking. With Hollywood in the middle of a major revolution, we talk to the filmmakers who are making that transformation possible, covering everything from behind-the-scenes stories on iconic movies to the cutting-edge tools reshaping the industry.

Information

  • Creator
    Monstrous Moonshine
  • Years Active
    2014 - 2026
  • Episodes
    100
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Show Website
    CG Garage

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