We recently connected with Brandon Hilton-Clarke and have shared our conversation below.

Brandon, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Often the greatest growth and the biggest wins come right after a defeat. Other times the failure serves as a lesson that’s helpful later in your journey. We’d appreciate if you could open up about a time you’ve failed.

When I think of failure I think of university. Not because I failed, I actually did quite well and graduated with amazing grades. It’s because of some of the decisions I made after university. I was an international student attending school in the United States, which meant I needed a student visa to be in the country which only allowed me to stay for the duration I was in school. Luckily my school offers OPT to international students so we can stay and work for 1 year before needing a visa/green card. My goal was simple after school get a job as soon as possible and work towards sponsorship to stay in the country and work.

Things were slow in the first couple of months, only got some one-off freelance jobs in the beginning. Then, out of the blue, a director reached out to me needing some compositing and 3D work done. I was extremely excited, my first chance to work on an actual movie. In my excitement though, I missed some major red flags, getting caught up in the idea of finally getting some experience on my resume. Firstly, in my interview, the director told me that he hired a few VFX studios that he had to fire because they were unable to achieve the vision/quality he was looking for. So he’s hiring a recent graduate to replace a whole studio? He explained he wants to bring me on board, no pay to start, but once a portion of the work is completed and I prove myself capable I will be put on salary and he can help with getting my visa to stay and work in the US. Excited about this possible outcome I ignored the red flags to come and did not think of issuing contracts so that promises were in writing and legally binding. Also, I was to replace a whole studio. That meant doing everything from 3D modeling, texturing, and lighting to animation and compositing. But again an empty promise was made that more people would be added to the team in the near future to aid with the workload.

Now I had to model, texture, light, animate, render, and composite 7 different environments within a 7-8 month goal. Now I am a fast worker, but this is still a ridiculous amount of work for one person to do, let alone a recent graduate who knows nothing. But I put my head down and searched the internet for information, spending hours on R&D, trying to go as fast as possible. I completed the first environment in about 3 weeks, but then I realized why this director had been through so many VFX studios. It wasn’t only because they were unable to meet his standards, but he would’ve gone broke with all the changes he made. One change turned into two, then three, then more and more. The next thing I knew it was three months gone and the entire look and scene had changed. He then hired another studio that took over that environment to put in the finishing touches while I started the other environments, but the cycle continued. Constant changes to the point of the whole look change, no extra artists hired to aid in the production, and even added compositing work being thrown my way in between.

Long story short, I slaved away for those months producing only about 3-4 environments fully textured, lit, and rendered all on my own personal laptop. Although I learned a lot on my own, it felt like a waste of time as I didn’t get a full-time job with a salary or help with getting my visa. I had to fly back to my home country, which was ok, but then covid hit. Again it seemed impossible to get a job. I was unemployed, broke, and at a loss for motivation to create. I went two years after University without a job, feeling like a complete failure with a bachelor’s degree that seemed useless.

I found myself on the path to success though, slowly working my way up, to now being an art director at a small ad agency. I hope to one day be back on the path in the entertainment industry, doing 3D and/or VFX work on feature films.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I am a digital artist from Trinidad and Tobago. I wanted to be an animator at a young age, creating movies like the ones I loved as a kid, Toy Story, monsters Inc., etc. Now I am a remote digital artist doing anything from graphic design and photography to animation and VFX. I have become somewhat of a generalist, figuring it out as I go. Working this way has made me a great problem solver, always finding a way to get a job done with the best quality. I am constantly learning and growing, not afraid of any challenge that comes my way.

Where do you think you get most of your clients from?

I think it’s a mixture of networking and applying for jobs. a lot of jobs I apply for I may not get, but sometimes I may gain a client that wants some work done completely different from the job application. That’s why I apply to any job in my field because even if I don’t have enough experience I may get an opportunity. Also, sites like LinkedIn are great for networking with clients or other artists that I collaborate with.

For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?

I love seeing improvement in my skill and the quality of my work as I progress and grow as an artist. Also, the ability to take concepts that seem somewhat boring and add flare and creative punch to captivate the audience. For example, with my photography, I am fully self-taught and have greatly improved from the first time I picked up a camera. Now I mix my photography with my compositing skills to create some unique pieces of art, which in turn will gain the attention of future clients that reach out because of the work I do in my spare time.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://brandonhiltonclark.wixsite.com/website
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/visualbhc/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brandon-hilton-clarke-509039141/