The Measure is the Frames: Brian Kubovcik on Creative Leadership at FOLKS
For FOLKS Creative Director Brian Kubovcik, visual effects is never a discipline unto itself. His path from editorial to VFX and on-set production has shaped a creative philosophy grounded in story, craft, and a people first ethos.
Here, Brian reflects on what’s most important in his work and his new role.
There was never a singular moment where I knew I wanted to lead creatively — it accumulated. I came up through editorial, and that explains everything since. Cutting taught me the WHY before the HOW, so when I moved into VFX, I never saw it as a discipline unto itself. A sequence isn’t just a shot count, it’s storytelling, and visual effects is one of the most powerful tools we have for pulling a viewer into a world — but only in concert with Camera, Stunts, Special Effects, Art Department, Costume, all of it.
As a show Department Head, knowing the whole buffet of possible answers and how it relates to each department is the key. Using instinct and hard-earned knowledge to cut through to a decision quickly is the most important quality in a great VFX supervisor. Inevitably a production will look the VFX department head and ask whether we can move on or if we need to go again, and for a lot of people that can be uncomfortable. Getting comfortable being uncomfortable is what brought me to this point.
ONE PARTNER FROM PREP THROUGH DELIVERY
Shows have gotten harder in exactly the ways FOLKS is built for. Budgets are compressed, seasons are long, shot counts keep climbing, and productions are shooting more ambitiously with less time on the day.
“One of our unsung strengths at FOLKS is everything that happens before post…It’s unglamorous [but] that care and leg work dictates whether the back half of a season is calm or a scramble.”
What studios and showrunners want now is one partner who’s there from prep through delivery and doesn’t need to be re-taught the show once we land in post. That’s a continuity and trust business, not a bidding-war business. The opportunity is to stop being thought of as a vendor who receives plates and start being thought of as part of the production who makes decisions long in advance to set us up for success months later.
One of our unsung strengths at FOLKS is everything that happens before post: previz with Square One, concept, scouting, on-set methodology, data capture, LiDAR, lens grids, reference discipline, camera and format strategy. It’s unglamorous, and it quietly adds up to the final product on screen, all with the intent to deliver the highest quality. And that care and leg work can dictate whether the back half of a season is calm or a scramble. One of our superpowers is seeing the rising tide and knowing how to assemble a team to deliver high quality under pressure.
THE BEST VFX WORK LIVES IN PREP
Visual effects starts in prep, not in post, and our industry still mostly talks about it backwards.
The best work I’ve been part of was decided months before anyone opened a comp — in a conversation about a lens, a camera position, or whether we were shooting an element that afternoon.
If I have one thing to push for in this role, it’s getting the visual effects conversation to happen earlier, being a partner to the creatives, supporting their vision and helping to steer the ship in subtle ways that make a difference months down the line. Reinforcing that as a core principle for our supervisors is key, a show is only as good as we make it - so encouraging and pushing the creative is the main function in this role.
STRENGTH IN THE COLLECTIVE
FOLKS is a proud part of Pitch Black and there are opportunities that come with that. The obvious one is capability sharing. Rising Sun Pictures (RSP) has built a genuinely solid, production-proven AI and machine learning capability with REVIZE and now we’ll all be utilizing those tools and contribute to its evolution. El Ranchito has a craft tradition you can see in every frame they deliver, having them at our side is a real pleasure to share in the challenges and the wins. Our strength at FOLKS lies with our incredible team of supervisors, producers, artists and support staff. Now the larger cooperation and collaboration across brands that means that all of our boats rise together.
ON REVIZE AND MACHINE LEARNING
Machine learning (ML) in VFX is a tool we need to embrace. That’s not to say I believe it replaces or should replace artists. It’s the bleeding edge of technology that shifts from day to day — being aware is part of the job as a Creative Director. Again, it’s knowing that buffet of options from traditional VFX, to virtual production, to in-camera tricks. Now ML is part of that buffet of options. Knowing when it makes sense is important — it’s definitely not the big cost and time saver in all instances that it’s made out to be.
“[REVIZE is] a good illustration of what belonging to Pitch Black is for. That capability was built at RSP, and now our larger group is harnessing that power.”
The tool gets you there faster; the eye is what makes it a shot.
REVIZE is proven and the provenance of the learning material is studio approved, which in this field is rare. Face and body replacement that’s already delivered for features like Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga and Sinners. What excites me is bringing it to episodic and smaller budget features, where those problems are constant and the schedules have never allowed a real solution. It genuinely changes what a showrunner can write. And it’s a good illustration of what belonging to Pitch Black is for. That capability was built at RSP, and now our larger group is harnessing that power.
THE PROJECTS I’VE BEEN LUCKY TO WORK ON
Cape Fear is first, and not only for the work. To be the Overall VFX Supervisor on a Scorsese and Spielberg produced project is an opportunity of a lifetime, and Nick Antosca is a hugely talented collaborator that I've been fortunate to work with on multiple projects.
Then Mr. Robot — the continuous-take “oner” episode in season 3, where we stitched 41 separate takes into what reads as one unbroken hour. It’s the one I was Emmy-nominated for, as VFX On-Set Supervisor. That’s experience shaped me in ways that are hard to state. Every seam has to survive an audience that’s actively hunting for the trick — and Sam Esmail is extremely talented, the kind of filmmaker who earns a swing like that.
And Chad Powers stands out, too. I’m a huge sports fan and getting to build a world for a sports show had always been a dream of mine. Michael Waldron’s characters are funny and genuine, and his dialogue beats are both heartwarming and twisted at the same time.
WITHOUT PEOPLE YOU’RE NOTHING
There’s a Joe Strummer line I keep coming back to: “Without people you’re nothing.” That isn’t just a slogan for me, it’s how I move through work and life. I’m not the only one who brings the images to life. There’s the Gaffers, Grips, AC’s, Camera ops, Stunts, SFX — the production list goes on. But in Post — VFX people are my people — the group at FOLKS and Pitch Black are insanely talented. They are the ones who sacrifice hours with friends and family to help bring these shots to life.
Practically, that ethos shows up as kindness, as a production strategy rather than a nicety. VFX runs on people: the Compers, CG, Creature, FX, Producers, Coordinators, Roto & Paint team, IT, and Render Wranglers. They devote themselves to pulling the rope in the same direction and without them, it wouldn’t happen.
I care about protecting the art of visual effects as it continues to evolve and about nurturing the next generation to carry a high standard forward. And not only on the creative side.
The same standard applies to the experience a client has working with us, and how it feels to be on a show with FOLKS; whether people are straight with you and whether the process stays calm when it gets hard. The measure of all of it is the frames themselves — the work that inspires somebody or stirs something in them.
