2017
IFCC CROATIA
Read Time: 15 Minutes
About This Talk:
I first gave this talk at IFCC in Zagreb, Croatia, to an audience full of artists. It was my first time speaking on stage in this way, and I wanted to share something more useful than a breakdown of technique or process.
At the time, I had spent nearly a decade working across visual effects, games, concept art, matte painting, supervision, and art direction. I had worked on major projects, jumped between studios, started my own studio, and learned a lot of lessons the hard way. What I had come to understand was that making the art was only one part of building a sustainable creative career.
This talk is about everything that surrounds the work: creativity, clients, money, business, integrity, freedom, and the responsibility of building a life on your own terms. It is a talk for artists who want to do more than make beautiful images. It is for anyone trying to turn their creative ability into a career, and their career into an extraordinary life.
I’ve made it available here in written form for anyone who wants to experience it. There is also a recording, sent to me by a friend who was in the audience, if you’d prefer to listen along instead.
Introduction
Hi! I’m Maxx Burman. I’ve spent the last 9 years working in visual effects and video games as a Matte Painter, Concept Artist, VFX Supervisor, and Art Director.
I’ve jumped around a lot and seen this industry from many points of view. I am by no means a master of this craft. I’m learning new things every day, and I consider myself at the beginning of this journey.
But I’ve been through some shit. My time in this industry has left me with some scars. I won’t talk about those, but I do want to talk about the lessons that came with them.
I’m not going to talk about my creative process or how I paint. That’s always changing, and honestly, it’s not nearly as important as the rest.
Art is the easiest part of my job.
I’m not saying it’s easy. It’s a constant struggle. It’s maddening and beautiful. It’s the highest highs and the lowest lows. As soon as I think I’ve got a handle on it, the finish line moves further away. And the more I do it, the less I understand it.
But doing art is where I feel comfortable. These highs and lows are natural to me, and I’ve gotten used to the fear of a blank canvas.
What isn’t natural, and what I have to really work at, is everything else that comes with being successful as a professional artist.
Before I get into what that is, I want to start with one of the lessons I learned.
"Your job is not to be creative"
I was an art director at an incredible studio, with amazing talent and great projects. I had given up my own studio to go work with these people, and we were killing it. We went undefeated on pitches, our design team was on fire, and clients were loving us.
We had one particular project that had some of my favorite designs. Honestly, it could have been one of the most special projects I’ve ever worked on, except for one thing. The client.
Now, how many times have you guys been there? The client is the problem. You’re throwing yourself at a project, doing some of the best work you’ve ever done, and you get some horrible note that just turns everything to crap. I was struggling to try and sneak in what I thought was the beautiful potential.
Finally, after enough back and forth, I was called into the EP’s office and was told a very harsh truth: “Your job is not to be creative.”
It was shocking, but I also knew it was true. This wasn’t my project. It wasn’t the studio’s project. It wasn’t the director’s project. We were being paid to execute someone else’s vision. This is a lesson I’ve come across many times in my career. I had been jumping around so much, trying every different position, looking for a place where “creativity” was part of my job description.
I thought being an artist on a project was a creative role. It isn’t.
I thought, maybe I need to be the supervisor then? Nope.
Maybe I need to own the VFX studio, then I’ll get to be creative. That’s the least creative job I’ve ever had.
Even at this studio, as an art director, that was the promise and why I joined in the first place. But at that moment, I realized I wasn’t any closer to a creative career.
I packed up my stuff and walked out that afternoon. I went home and just sat on my couch, thinking, out of options. I had literally tried every position, never found what I was looking for, and there was nowhere else to go. I decided I was done. I didn’t want to work in this industry anymore. There was no satisfaction here, and no creativity.
Monday morning came, and I sat down at my home office and started to just paint for myself, with no goal and no project. The only purpose was to create the work I knew I could do, but felt no one had let me.
It was incredible. I felt unchained for the first time in a long time. I fell in love with painting again in a way I hadn’t been in years.
Build a Career on Your Own Terms
After a couple months of this, word started to spread that I had left my staff job, and I started getting emails to work on projects. My instinct was to turn everything down. “What’s the point?”
Then I thought: what would make this worth it to me? What would make it worth it to put my passion and creativity on hold, and give myself to someone else’s vision?
I had gotten into a routine, and created a schedule and lifestyle that I loved. I had found some balance, more than I had ever felt when working for someone else, and this wasn’t up for grabs. But I thought, I could give up my creativity briefly if I could maintain my own schedule and work in the comfort of my own home.
On top of that, every day I gave to someone else would have to give me another week of creative freedom. And I’d only give it up to studios that treated me well and with respect. I made my list of requirements and decided I’d take any job that hit these.
When studios emailed me, I’d politely respond with enthusiasm, what I could do for them, and what I needed to be able to work with them. At first, most studios responded with: “Not possible.” And that didn’t bug me. I kept doing my thing.
Eventually, studios started to say, “That works for us.” And those became my new clients.
Something incredible happened here. I started projects with the understanding that my time with them was time where my creativity was put on hold. These were not my paintings. They did not belong to me. And because of that, I was more than happy to accommodate whatever the client wanted. I was happy to hit notes because now, these clients were no longer the obstacle. They were my customers.
Every day they wanted to work with me, they were giving me the gift of another week of creativity. Every day they wanted to work with me, they gave me the gift of being able to live a lifestyle on my terms, from my home, and with my own schedule. And when a project ended, I was okay with not jumping on whatever came up next. I could pass on projects that weren’t going to be done on my terms, or with clients that I love, because I felt I had earned the time off and could get back to being creative.
If a row of great projects lined up one after another, I could take them back to back, knowing that I was building up my time, and would be able to take months off or longer when it was done.
So, Lesson 1: Your job is not to be creative, so stop looking for creativity there. Instead, treat your clients and projects as tools to give yourself that creative time and satisfaction.
Stop Acting Like an Artist
Now, back to the other half of being a successful professional artist. It’s business. You are a business. That’s what makes you professional. So, stop acting like an artist.
I don’t need to tell you how important it is, as a professional artist, to do good work. What I want to emphasize is how important it is to do good business.
This is not the glamorous stuff. You’re not going to see people posting this on forums and websites. Most people don’t want to talk about this, and most people haven’t figured this out. I wasn’t trained in business. My career has been like a pinball machine. I’m the ball, and I’ve been slammed around learning these lessons the hard way.
I hope that you guys can skip a lot of the painful steps. And honestly, this isn’t nearly as complex as color theory or composition. The more attention you give to business, the more freedom you have to take great projects, and the more clients will want to come back. I’m going to break down a couple of the basics. This is business 101, artist edition.
Finances: Money In, Money Out
Money coming in needs to be more than money going out.
If you’re making $1,000 a month, and your rent and living expenses are $1,500 a month, you are not doing this right. You cannot afford to keep working that job.
The exception is if you’re investing in yourself. You’ve saved up to give yourself the opportunity to take a loss, and the only way to do this is with a safety net.
Build a Safety Net
You’re making $2,000 a month. Your expenses are $1,500.
If you save all your excess money for 3 months, you’ve bought yourself a 1-month safety net.
When you start working professionally, your first and only priority, financially, is to get to 6 months of safety net.
Minimum.
Take freelance jobs. Double book yourself. Do whatever you need to do. You cannot make a move until you have that security.
You cannot invest in yourself until you have that safety net.
Understand Your Operating Cost
In business terms, your monthly overhead — that $1,500 — is your operating cost.
Break that down per day. It’s costing you $50 a day to operate.
Your day has a value assigned to it.
If a client pays for your day, that cost is covered. If they don’t, guess what?
You’re buying the day yourself. So don’t waste it.
It’s really important to get this down.
I can’t tell you how many incredible artists I know, with more experience than me, who have not mastered these few core concepts. I want to slap them sometimes and go: Do you realize what is possible for you as an artist, as a person, if you would just take some time and get this down? To just understand that money equals freedom.
If you’re working to buy the next gadget or some new car, and you haven’t given yourself the security of being able to survive when a studio closes down, when a project goes away, or when you get sick and can’t work, you’re not doing good business.
And I pray that you don’t have to experience one of these events to learn this lesson. I’ve experienced all of them, multiple times, and I wish I didn’t have to in order to figure this out.
The Studio Is Not a Person
It’s also important to mention that this is your business, no one else’s. A studio does not care about the events in your life, because they are focused on surviving and being a good business themselves. That’s not to say there aren’t great people at studios who look out for you, but they are not the studio.
The studio is not a person. It is a business. As soon as you stop expecting a studio to act like a person, you will save yourself a lot of disappointment and a lot of heartache.
I owned a studio. It was rough. And I was only responsible for a handful of people’s livelihoods, not the hundreds or thousands that these big companies hold in their hands.
Studio decisions can’t be made on a personal level. There are too many other factors, and as an artist you will never know what is going on behind the scenes.
If you did, you’d say, “Wow, that place is very unprofessional.” So what do you think they say when you share your personal business with them?
How I Operate My Business
If you want to know how I work, how I really work, and how I’ve been able to accomplish what success I’ve had, don’t look for painting techniques.
Look at how I operate my business.
There are a couple rules.
Keep Your Personal Business Private
My personal business is forever and always hidden from my clients. If I get sick, they will never know. If my computer crashes, they will never know. The only thing they will know is that I’m going to give them what they need, when they need it, and it’s going to look exactly how they want it.
Make Everything Black and White
There is no grey area. I’m upfront always, and I lay out everything in black and white. I do not assume how they will operate. I do not assume that they know how I work. Before we start, I will make sure a client understands how long a painting will take me, when I will send it, what I am delivering, and how much it will cost them.
When notes come in, I’ll never assume they know the cost implications. When the schedule changes, I’ll never assume that they know my schedule. They don’t. They’re focused on their schedule. Operate like a business, and make sure your customers understand the product, the timeframe, and the cost.
Give Your Customers a Great Experience
I give my customers a great experience. They are my lifeline. They allow me to live this lifestyle, and because of that, I want them to feel great. That’s what I’m selling.
This is a service industry.
When someone hires me, they know that I have their back. When they buy my day, their problems become my problems, and I will stop at nothing to help them overcome any obstacles. My professional mission is to work with great people to create beautiful worlds. The more money I make, the more I get to focus on this mission.
Money is freedom to pursue your mission, and good business is how you make money.
I also want to add, some old clients are going to hear me say this and go, “Bullshit, that is a side of Maxx I’ve never seen.” And it’s true. I’ve fucked up a lot, and it’s taken me too long to learn this. But this is my credo, and I hope y’all can adopt this now, rather than enduring sleepless nights and angry emails before you change your approach.
So, lesson 2: Stop acting like an artist. Start acting like a business.
Keep Your Word
Now I want to deviate a bit and share two situations.
First, you and I make plans to grab a beer after work. I tell you that I’ll be at the bar at 7. I roll up around 7:30, and we share drinks and laughs.
We plan on going out again next week. I have to cancel. Something came up. This kind of goes back and forth. We make plans. Sometimes I cancel. Factors out of my control. Sometimes I’m there, usually running a little late. We make plans to go to the movies, and I have to cancel. We make plans to go to the beach. I’ll pick you up in the morning, but I don’t get there until the afternoon.
Now, when I say, “Let’s go on a road trip. Pack your things. I’ll pick you up at 9 a.m. on Saturday,” how likely do you think it is that we’re taking that trip?
Second scenario: I’m at the bar at 7 p.m., on the dot. We make plans for the next week, and I’m there. I’m always on time. We make plans to go to the movies, and I show up with tickets in hand, ready to go. Beach plans: you look out your window in the morning, and I’m there waiting.
Now when I say, “Let’s go on a road trip. Pack your things. I’ll pick you up at 9 a.m. on Saturday,” how likely do you think it is that we’re taking that trip?
After that road trip, when I then say, “I’m going to do a painting today,” do you believe me? When I say, “I’m going to do 10 paintings this week,” and you think, “That’s impossible,” do you believe me? You should, because I’ve never given you a reason to think that I won’t do what I say.
That’s called integrity.
Another way to say it: Keeping your word.
Every time we don’t keep our word, our word loses power. And every time we do, we strengthen our ability to turn our words into reality. If you say you’re going to be somewhere at 7, that’s not 7:30. It’s 7.
There are always going to be factors out of your control, but if you’re upfront and give someone proper notice, you don’t compromise your word.
It starts simply. Be on time.
It escalates from there. “I’ll send you the painting Tuesday night.” That doesn’t mean Wednesday morning. For me, when I say Tuesday night, I mean before midnight. And I will not compromise. I will make sure, no matter what, you have that painting in your inbox on Tuesday before midnight.
The more we practice this, the more powerful it becomes.
When I say, “I’m going to teach another class, open an online store, have an art show, and make a video game this year,” do you believe me?
If you’re brushing this off, then you’re not truly getting the weight of it. I’ve worked with hundreds of artists and met thousands of people, yet I can count on one hand the people who get this, and they’re the most powerful and prolific people I know.
So take away the art and the business. Understand what it actually means to be powerful: To keep your word.
Master this in your own life, and when you apply it to your career, you will see success like you’ve never known. I’m very fortunate. I came from an incredible and prolific family, and this was something I was raised with. I didn’t have to learn this lesson. Instead, I had to learn the harsh lesson that this is not how most people operate. And I had to learn how important it is to surround yourself with people who get this. And for God’s sake, do not go into business with anyone who doesn’t.
Lesson 3: Keep your word. It is your power. And surround yourself with people who value their integrity as much as you value your own.
Creating an Extraordinary Life
The art is the easy part.
There are a whole lot of other things that go into being successful as a professional artist. Find creativity and satisfaction within yourself. Don’t go looking for it at a studio or with a project. Make sure that the work you’re doing is worth it, and allowing you to live the life you want to live.
Operate like a business. Treat your clients like customers. They allow you to live your life. Take control of your finances, and be smart about this, so that you can have the freedom to pursue whatever your life’s mission is, and the security to endure whatever happens in this industry.
And keep your word. That is your power. Without it, you have no control of your life, and no ability to shape things the way you want.
The last thing I want to mention on this is: if you are blessed with people in your life who understand integrity, use them. Tell them your goals, and let them hold you accountable. It’s a lot easier for someone else to hold you to your word. They can’t make excuses like you can.
Which brings me to the real purpose I’m up here.
Like I said in the beginning, this is where the work comes in for me. I’m putting these ideas out there to you to hopefully share some lessons, but also to hold me accountable. When I stray, I now have a couple hundred people watching, who can call me on my bullshit and say: “Hey, what happened to finding your own creativity?” or “Hey, what happened to treating your clients incredibly?”
It’s a scary thing to put this out there to all of you, but I know it will only make me stronger and more powerful in my life.
I invite you to do the same. To declare the person you want to be, and how you want to operate, to as many people as you can, and let them hold you accountable. Because, at the end of the day: What’s the point of being able to create these amazing worlds if we can’t create an extraordinary life?
Thank you.