We were lucky to catch up with Andy Byrne recently and have shared our conversation below.

Andy, appreciate you joining us today. We’d love to have you retell us the story behind how you came up with the idea for your business, I think our audience would really enjoy hearing the backstory.

I came up with the idea of starting my own company after many years of working for other studios. I have been working in the Visual Effects industry for 20 years now, and it just seemed like the next logical step to take.

The writer and actor strikes of 2023 absolutely decimated the visual effects industry. I’m not sure if people really understand how much film and TV are reliant on VFX or “CG” to get any project done. As the film industry was put on hold and projects were suddenly put on hiatus, I saw an opportunity with smaller-budget projects. When you have a couple of hundred employees, you are always aiming for those bigger jobs to keep everyone fed and the wheels moving. When you’re a smaller outfit comprised of decades of experience, you have a lot more room to get creative and, honestly, smarter about it. I don’t take any job for granted, as I know it can all go away in the blink of an eye.

So, while a bigger company might be going after a large tentpole movie, I was going after indie horror movies and commercials. Since our overhead is low and our capabilities are high, we are able to subsidize that in a way with prices. Something more important happens when you deliver to someone and are within their budget: they remember who you are. Guess what? Now, you have a new contact.

Andy, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I have been working in various departments in the VFX industry for 20 years, and I got my start in a small city called Santa Maria, which is located in Central California.

I bugged the HR department and recruiters for over a year until I got in as an unpaid intern. This was my first real job experience as an artist, and it was a huge wake-up call on how much you actually need to learn. After 20 years, I am still obsessed with learning new things. This industry is extremely competitive, and adding any new piece of knowledge to your tool belt is a notch that your competitors might not have.

I started RequiemVFX to search for that passion I once had when I first started out. I needed something different than the daily grind of being a cog in the assembly line. We are having a blast being the new place in town and building our reputation as fast, consistent, and easy to work with. Half of the fun for me is meeting all the new people while working in this industry. Relationships are a crucial necessity in being successful. First impressions are everything, and you need to be at the top of your game at all times. You never know if that producer on that indie movie is going to be a showrunner the following year and hit you up.

We are a full-service VFX shop, but we are also excited about making our own content. Having all the skills and capabilities to create your own IP is everyone’s dream, and having the freedom to do that has been a much-needed change of pace.

We’d love to hear about how you met your business partner.

I first met John Riddle in Los Angeles in 2009. We both worked at a new startup company in Venice and became instant friends. We were both essential in getting that place up on its feet (more him than me). He is from Delaware, and I am from the Central Coast of California. (I say Central Coast because if you know, you know. #805KeepitLocal)

We shouldn’t get along on paper, but it couldn’t be more opposite. We clicked right away and bonded over both being complete nerds. He sings Rob Thomas’ “Smooth” at karaoke, and I sing The Darkness’ “I Believe in a Thing Called Love.” So… there’s that.

John has a vast background in the back end of things with infrastructure and pipeline. He has now played a key role in setting up three major VFX companies for artists, and now we’ve come together to do it on our own. We’ve talked a lot about how we want to work, what kind of automation we need, and what amount of automation starts to hinder your workflow. John had our pipeline up and running in a week. It was pretty damn impressive. We’ve both had many laughs realizing how easy certain things can be when you don’t have any red tape above you. That doesn’t mean there haven’t been speed bumps along the way—power breakers, network speeds, all that fun stuff.

The key to this industry is being a good problem solver, and we both take it on as a fun challenge. It’s stressful in the moment, but it’s always a learning experience, and the knowledge just keeps compounding. At the end of the day, if we fail? Well, at least we tried, had the guts to do it, and did it together.

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

I think the last year is a great example of the resilience it took to get where we’re at right now. We moved across the country from Oregon to Georgia. We stayed in an Airbnb in Roswell, Georgia, and the computers were the first thing we unpacked as soon as we parked. We were delivering a project while moving. The Airbnb had 5G internet, and the power would go out every time it rained. All of this was happening while we were just trying to get acclimated to the new area and new climate. Resilience has to be ingrained to survive in this industry. Anyone going for it in the film industry in the last two years automatically shows resilience. Between the strikes and budgets being cut as fast as property taxes go up, you have to get very creative, become a problem solver, and learn how to make everything work for many people. Most importantly, you have to love what you’re doing.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.requiemvfx.com
• Instagram: @requiemvfx
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/requiem-vfx
• Youtube: https://vimeo.com/requiemvfx
• Other: https://vimeo.com/requiemvfx