Meet Jon Neill

We recently connected with Jon Neill and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Jon, thank you for being such a positive, uplifting person. We’ve noticed that so many of the successful folks we’ve had the good fortune of connecting with have high levels of optimism and so we’d love to hear about your optimism and where you think it comes from.

It could be because I have the ability to recognize opportunities and can see patterns and how they unfold. This goes back to having a great family. I was the youngest of three brothers all of whom were artists as well as my parents. My dad created many of the advertising campaigns of top brands while working in Chicago and was a great source of inspiration and influence. My mom encouraged us to be creative and create artistically . We made super 8 animated films, wood carved, painted and drew. Our mindset is that anything is possible if you believe in it. Later in my teens I found this to be more true as I dug my eyeballs into many self help books such as Think and Grow Rich, Power of the plus Factor and others along that vein. I also liked the biography of Arnold Schwarzenegger in High School. His story was inspiring. It was his thought process and determination that I really identified with. My parents were strong believers in visualizing goals and achieving them. Actually the goal would be achieved if you just focused energy into it and thought about the desired outcome. I found this to be true when I would work on art projects, the things I would imagine about it would, in most cases, happen.

Thanks for sharing that. So, before we get any further into our conversation, can you tell our readers a bit about yourself and what you’re working on?

In the fall of 1993, I came out to Los Angeles to work with the great Stan Winston Studios. That experience was made possible by Stan’s assistant who happened to answer the phone and kindly made sure my portfolio was seen by top brass. I moved there and worked for free for 3 weeks to prove my worth amongst artists I had admired for years on seen in the pages of magazines. It was an amazing time that I call the golden age of practical effects.

Fast forward through making action figures to the present, I work in two worlds during the Fall season. For over 81/2 years, I’ve worked making specialty props for the Jimmy Kimmel Live show in Hollywood, California. A wonderful place and great environment to work in with a top notch crew. I absolutely love my job, it is a fast paced creation game, where the writers come up with wild ideas just to see if I can make their ideas in time to put on the show! It may feel that way sometimes, but it’s not quite like that. The pacing is not for the faint of heart, but for me, I thrive in that environment. What exactly do I do? Make puppets, perform those puppets live in skits, create crazy props like giant whales or gifts for guests on the show or underwear for the Oscars trophies, All of the Elf on the Shelf parodies, the list goes on. I have fun, we all have fun. Jimmy laughs, it’s all good!
Things evolve a bit when August rolls around, I start getting calls to create pumpkin carvings, but not just any traditional triangle eyed orange ball, real looking faces. I always loved the idea about pumpkin monsters. In the 90s I made a book in college about pumpkin creatures with arms, now Im making them. I had an opportunity to be cast on the Food Network show called Halloween Wars. I was on seasons 3 and my team, the Corpse Crushers, were champions of season 4. After that, I had created some Youtube timelapse pumpkin carvings. One of which, called the Scariest Pumpkin Ever, soared to be an early viral sensation. It was surreal that my pumpkin carving was getting this kind of attention. This happened with a handful of my timelapse carvings and now, I make them for popular brand names like Netflix and Disney.

But besides the commercial aspect of it, there’s a couple things though that I get out of this experience though, is it’s something that has been a tradition in the United States, most of us have all carved a pumpkin with our family. I like it that people appreciate seeing something they are familiar with in a new way. When I carve live for people, especially giant pumpkins over 1000 lbs. , People feel they should tell me about their experiences with carving. I become the therapist to discuss pumpkin therapy. Like a priest, people come to me about their secret carving failures and successes. I give them hope that yes, they too can have at least one more good carving.

Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?

The three qualities, skills or areas of knowledge that have been most impactful in my journey have been probably not what one would immediately think of. Firstly, to believe in your own skill set through the things you have learned. Secondly, the ability to recognize an opportunity when it is presented to you. Thirdly, to be a positive person who can get along with people. If you have practiced honing your skills and you know what you can deliver, when an opportunity comes your way, you will be able to seize the moment. People like to work with people they can get along with as well as effectively communicate and execute an idea as a team. I believe these skills help structure a strong foundation for success in whatever you decide to do with your career.

Okay, so before we go, is there anyone you’d like to shoutout for the role they’ve played in helping you develop the essential skills or overcome challenges along the way?

My family clearly set the foundation for me. Growing up with a father who was key in the advertising world in the 70’s and 80’s gave me an insight few have. My mom made sure that I had every opportunity to be creative. Creativity was always encouraged, this also included what I referred to as “boring time”. You may have guessed it, this was time I couldn’t go to a friend’s house, or watch TV. I could go be creative and I could define that however I liked. My brothers, being much older than me, were both artists too and would help me draw, and I would watch them making animated movies and carve wood.

Much later, the biggest momentum, in such a short time was working at Stan Winston Studios, surprisingly working with many of the best artists and mold makers in Hollywood at the time. I refer to that time as the golden age of practical effects, just before the Dawn of CGI. I learned so many tips and skill sets, from so many of my favorite artists, all working under one roof, it was incredible and I knew it at the time.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.jonneill.com
• Instagram: @jon_neill
• Facebook: @jon.neill.art
• Linkedin: jonneill
• Youtube: @jonneillartist

Image Credits

The last image of me carving a pumpkin – photo credit John Calpin johncalpinphoto.com