Scott Altman | Film Director | Animator | No Shame Podcast #108 Paddy Holohan's No Shame Podcast

We’re joined by award winning director & animator Scott Altman for episode #108 of Paddy Holohan’s No Shame Podcast. Scott is on the show to discuss some of his recent projects surrounding the homeless crisis in Ireland along with touching on his impressive career to date. This episode of the podcast is an extremely relevant discussion on the Ireland of today, encouraging plenty of discussion & debate, saddle up.In 2013, Scott Altman won the Wide Eye Media (formally Carlton Screen Advertising) Director of the Year award for his cinema advert to promote Hot Press magazine. That year Altman worked with Kanye West and soon after set-up Defunct Films where he has directed and executive-produced hit pop videos for Shift K3Y, Philip George & Anton Powers and Jax Jones, that have received millions of views online and been Top 20 most downloaded videos on iTunes. More recently Scott was commissioned by Saatchi & Saatchi to direct a series of adverts to promote new soft drink FreshBe, and directed a pilot involving actors Alan Ford (Snatch), Adam Fogerty (Legend), Natasha Byrne (Holby City) and new talents.


Scott grew up with a talent for art & began working in Ardmore studios while still in school. He studied animation in Ballyfermot & upon graduation received funding from the Irish Film Board to complete his first film, about a rat who snorted crack- cocaine.
Altman found it difficult to break onto the Irish animation scene & began working on the toll bridge beside the Three Arena, (the Point Depot). One night after completing a shift he wandered onto the movie set of ‘Evelyn’ in his uniform & was mistaken for security by the crew. Within 20 minutes he was guarding Pierce Brosnan, keeping the growing crowd at bay. This added fuel to the fire & encouraged Scott to follow his heart & pursue his dreams.Scott eventually got contract work in Ireland as an animator but when those projects where completed he went travelling with his friends on a world trip for a year. Altman’s first stop was in LA, he was staying near Skid Row, an area inhabited by thousands of homeless people. At 23 years of age this was Scott’s first real experience with homelessness. After a year of travelling with long spells in Australia & New Zealand Altman returned to Ireland. His time was brief however, with a lack of jobs & frustration mounting, he booked a one way ticket to Bangkok, Thailand had an excellent VFX scene. Within a week he’d landed the job he wanted, which would see him stay in Bangkok for year.
Scott’s work in Bangkok didn’t go unnoticed & MTV came calling. Altman worked on the MTV awards & spent the next few weeks located in their Camden office in London. This was a milestone for Scott as he’d grown up admiring everything MTV created. He spent the next 2-3 years raising his profile with MTV while working on side projects too. Some of the music videos Scott created for Digitalism & Seasick Steve received widespread praise. Scott received representation soon after & his transition into the directing world was complete.
As a young director Altman received a lot of rejection, which was gut wrenching at times, but he dug deep, never gave up & got stronger at his trade, eventually making him one of the strongest candidates for any project he pitched for. One particular music video from Shift K3Y put Altman on the map as the guy who created the Ibiza styled videos. This was a popular trend in the music industry at the time & everyone wanted Scott to recreated to same style, with a fraction of the budget. By this stage of his career the digital age was in full swing & declining budgets, along with unrealistic client expectations left Altman exhausted & drained mentally.


Scott realised it was time for a change, stripped everything back & began working on his own projects independently.