Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Virginia Cantaro. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Hi Virginia, great to have you with us today and excited to have you share your wisdom with our readers. Over the years, after speaking with countless do-ers, makers, builders, entrepreneurs, artists and more we’ve noticed that the ability to take risks is central to almost all stories of triumph and so we’re really interested in hearing about your journey with risk and how you developed your risk-taking ability.
I am a big fan of taking risk! I think that in life it is worth trying. My way of thinking is this: if I take this risk, what is the worst thing that can happen? For me, the risk has been leaving a permanent position at the start of my career and going to Los Angeles to study Dynamics FX and follow a more ambitious dream. And few years after, once again, I opted to leave another steady job to work in Toronto for a short contract. Now I am a freelancer and I change a lot of studios. Taking the risk of changing a lot it may seem overwhelming, but it allows me to grow, meet new people, learn new tools.
Thanks, so before we move on maybe you can share a bit more about yourself?
I’m a freelance FX artist, currently collaborating with Pixomondo. I’m in the visual effects industry for 7 years, making explosions, snow, clouds, cloth and all these kinds of things for movies and tv shows. Working with studios such as Mr. X, Outpost, El Guirì, I had the great opportunity to collaborate on several projects, including Academy Award – Winning “Del Toro’s Pinocchio”, “Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania” and tv shows such as “Star Wars: Visions 2″.
And for this last project I have been personally nominated, along with my colleagues, to an Annie Awards for Best FX for TV/Media.
I’m also a motion designer and I’m passionate about designing abstract FX using the software Houdini.
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?
I think that the most important factor is being collaborative. When people are collaborative, they help each other and grow together. Secondly, I think another quality that helped me in my journey was not being afraid of explore and discover new things. Motivation and persistence is another crucial factor. When you have plans about your future and your ideal career, the path is not linear and things don’t happen exactly when you want, but you shouldn’t discourage, but just continue to learn and go on with your idea until you make it.
For newcomers embarking on their journey, I recommend collaborate with your colleagues, don’t be afraid to ask for help and be kind with others. Also move out of your comfort zone and take risks. And try to maintain a perpetual thirst for learning.
What would you advise – going all in on your strengths or investing on areas where you aren’t as strong to be more well-rounded?
I think there is a time for both. First, focus on your strengths and then, when you start feeling more confident, try to explore also other things. I’m not saying you have to be efficient or at the top on everything, but give your maximum on your strengths, and sometimes just give you a moment to focus on the weakness that can help you improve in your field or career. For example, I chose a very specific area in visual effects, Dynamics FX with the software Houdini. I know scripting could be very useful for me to improve in my field. So, even if math and codes are not my thing, every now and then, I try to learn a bit more of scripting to fill a bit this gap. I don’t focus all my energies on it though, because I think it could be overwhelming. Let’s say that my energies are on 80-90% on become better on my strenghts and the remain percentage on my weakness.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://virginiacantaro.wixsite.com/visualeffects
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/virginiacantaro/
- Other: https://vimeo.com/809096361
Image Credits
Personal Photo credits: Chiara Santoro. Additional Photos credits: Virginia Cantaro.
