Vikkal Parikh is founder of New York City’s Ataboy, a design-driven production company with a strong emphasis on visual storytelling. The company uses a variety of media — from animation to live action — to tell stories. Since its inception, Ataboy has evolved from a small motion design studio to an award-winning content agency. Its techniques range from traditional 2D and 3D animation to live action, VFX, motion graphics, design and more. In addition to starting the company, Parikh wears many hats, including those as executive creative director, director, troublemaker and problem solver.
Adidas
Let’s find out more…
How long have you been working in visual effects?
Close to 20 years.
How has the VFX industry changed in the time you’ve been working?
There’s been a huge transition in terms of computing power to software enhancements. Greenscreens are a thing of the past. The only obstacle between you and your vision is the limit of your imagination. All you need is a decent computer with some tools/platforms as well as a passion for storytelling. I’ve seen and worked with some talented designers and technologists who are self-motivated and self-taught.
Why do you like being on set for shots?
It’s primarily the energy of collaboration between the various units that make a shoot happen. It’s a lot of relying on the expertise of your team members to be able to accomplish the task at hand. The ability to learn and share from experience to make a vision come to life is irreplaceable. I’m a very tactile kind of creative, which means that being able to feel the space and energy is really, really important to me.
Did a particular film inspire you along this path?
I’m a Tim Burton fanboy, so pretty much all of his films continue to inspire me. In terms of VFX, it’s hard to replace Inception in recent times, but The Matrix is where it all began for me personally.
Did you go to film school?
After studying architecture as an undergrad, I did my masters in fine arts at Savannah College of Art and Design where I was able to incorporate filmmaking into my curriculum. So technically (kind of), but not really.
NATO
What’s your favorite part of the job?
It’s hard to narrow down one particular task, but initial concepting in general is the most exciting part of the process for me.
What’s your least favorite?
Losing a pitch that I feel very connected to. It’s disheartening.
If you didn’t have this job, what would you be doing instead?
Designing buildings or a stay-at-home dad.
What are some recent projects you’ve worked on?
We recently brought to life animated narratives for some of the world’s leading brands ranging from Adidas, the National Association of Theatre Owners and Progressive to Haven Life and Facebook. We also have a slew of some killer work slated to be released shortly that I’m really stoked about.
Progressive
What is the project you are most proud of?
I’m really proud of the work we’ve done for charitable organizations promoting social causes. A piece we did for non-profit Shared Hope International, called Waiting For You To Notice, is the closest to my heart. It captures the trauma and emotions of sex-trafficking victims along with the brand’s mission to fight this exploitation. After approaching the subject matter with justice and sensitivity, the compositions came out beautifully, and it was very well-received.
What tools do you use day to day?
Depends on the day, but it’s hard to remember a day without my laptop, Wacom tablet and Slack.
Where do you find inspiration?
I love architecture, and I’m continually inspired by the effect of space and lighting on our mood.
How do you de-stress from it all?
I de-stress by goofing around with my three kids and listening to some high-energy Bollywood music.
