Dan Sarto with Jeff Okun at FMX 2011.

As chairman of the Visual Effects Society, Jeff Okun has the difficult and usually thankless task of balancing the wants, needs and positions of different professional groups that often sit, knuckles clenched and eyes bulging, on opposite sides of the conference table. Jeff always walks a fine line between agitator and voice of reason.  He isn’t afraid to speak his mind and does so quite frequently, possibly to his own detriment.  However, he doesn’t do so flippantly or without thought and reason.  He is not one to poke an ant hill with a stick just to see what trouble he can stir up.  He talks with passion, knowledge and conviction about pressing issues of importance affecting several thousand VES members as well as hundreds of thousands of other creative artists, producers and studio executives.   

Consequently, he is not afraid to speak honestly about subjects the make some uncomfortable, nor take positions that might rub some people the wrong way.  The bottom line is that everyone working in film and television today knows fundamental change is afoot in how shows are financed and produced and that the visual effects industry has taken a tremendous beating the last few years, especially in California.  The question is what to do about it.

This year, I had the good fortune to sit down with Jeff and talk about some of these pressing issues.  Edited down to 4 segments, these interview videos provide a frank look at the problems plaguing the industry, how the road ahead is no less rocky than the road just traveled and how the industry needs to work together to bring about the type change that will provide more respect and a better future for creative everywhere.