August 11, 2009 by John Dickinson | 2,732 views | Comments (27)
Jerzy Drozda Jr, the quirky host of Maltaannon.com, is a talented motion graphics and visual effects artist based in Warsaw, Poland. In this extended chat, Jerzy reveals how he discovered the wonders of computer programming at a very early age, his transition to Adobe After Effects mastery and the challenges of working with Polish clients and his troubleshooting-style approach to projects. We also discuss some of the presets and plug-ins available at maltaannon.com including CE Lightwrap and the Youveelizer.
Get the Flash Player to see this player.
27 Responses to this post
August 11, 2009 at 8:43 pm |
Excellent interview, John.
Even as a non-motionographer, it was fascinating to hear George talk about Poland and the early days of his career. Nice demo of his techniques. He’s an inspiration.
Best, Robin
DISCLAIMER: I’m John’s brother and am continually learning from him.
August 11, 2009 at 9:35 pm |
Great job John!
Maltaannon is very interesting and quite inspiring. Always love to see new things coming from him.
August 11, 2009 at 11:02 pm |
Well done! I met Jerzy in Vegas at NAB 2009 but we didn’t get enough time to talk. I loved hearing about his Atari beginnings. Made me want to get him a copy of this book (http://mitpress.mit.edu/catalog/item/default.asp?ttype=2&tid=11696).
Anyway – I really enjoyed the conversation. Thanks to both of you.
August 11, 2009 at 11:42 pm |
Thanks for this nice interview.
Now I can add a real person to all this great tutorials.
And please keep them coming.
August 12, 2009 at 12:15 am |
Take one of my favorite After Effects artists.
Command D on a mac, control D on windows.
Now you’ve got 2 of my favorite After Effects artists in one comp.
August 12, 2009 at 4:28 am |
it’s great Interview man i really enjoyed it .. i hope u make more Interview with Maltaannon
keep it up
August 12, 2009 at 6:19 am |
thank you guys for this videointerview… great fun to watch.
greatings from berlin
August 12, 2009 at 9:52 pm |
I have to agree that maltaannon’s CE Lightwrap is just awesome… I actually found the results to be better (and closer to what one would expect to see) than an industry leading plugin!
great chat, too… it’s clear that you guys are mates
August 13, 2009 at 7:18 am |
I enjoyed this interview. I have a lot of Polish blood in me, but grandma never passed on her heritage, though she would speak Polish around us little kids all the time.
She didn’t teach me After Effects either, come to think of it.
August 13, 2009 at 3:24 pm |
Thanks for all the great comments so far everyone! JD
August 14, 2009 at 1:26 am |
Brilliant interview, cheers John and Jerzy (where J is a Y so you could call him Yerzy, although George is cool
). Good job JD Jr.
August 14, 2009 at 2:01 am |
Thanks Storm, I’m still using different names for him each day!
August 18, 2009 at 1:30 pm |
hey the 2 greats together.
August 19, 2009 at 11:22 am |
John…
Thanks so much for the chance to know Jerzy a bit better. I’m always astonished at his artistry and technical expertise. He is a true inspiration with what he is able to accomplish.
As an editor and AE user, Jerzy certainly sets the bar quite high.
Thanks again…
Rob mize
August 20, 2009 at 2:11 am |
Also, kudos to Jerzy for his excellent English. I know it’s taught in Poland, but I worked with alot of Polish in the UK for a few years at a tv station (Wizja) and their English, although excellent, was still only 50% of Jerzy’s. I think it’s because Malty (another one for you JD) doesn’t let much of his Polish accent in there… he actually sounds more American than Polish so must watch alot of US tv.
Na zdrowie
August 26, 2009 at 9:49 am |
nice one~
both of u are great guys~
August 26, 2009 at 4:19 pm |
Thanks tendest, that’s very kind of you. Best, John.
September 4, 2009 at 10:11 am |
Awesome. Maltaannon is such down to earth and you got the best of him. Do we get to see your interview sometime?
September 4, 2009 at 6:35 pm |
Hey Hafeez, thanks for that compliment, I really enjoy connecting with people in these chats. It seems a lot of people want to hear my story! All the best, John.
October 19, 2009 at 4:46 am |
deine arbeit mr jerzy drozda junior ist nach arschloch
verpich dich liebe freund
October 19, 2009 at 4:57 am |
raus mit angol und ihre pimel
November 3, 2009 at 9:49 am |
Atari was very inspirating computer… not too much games available for this platform (campare to commodore 64) pushed to start programming
November 18, 2009 at 6:46 am |
Gosh, every time I see you interview one of these guys I am astonished at how humble and kind they are. All of these genius level people with people skills. In my experience I have never seen so many high level intelligent people without the “fabulous” gene.
You just couldn’t sit through 15 minutes listening to someone in the fashion industry, without getting hit several times with how fabulous they think they are, and the idea of putting two of them in a room would be dangerous. I just love AE more and more every day. I only wish I had known about it before last year. I feel so far behind. It’s cool that Maltaannon is only 4 years in it. That gives me some hope. But what is the equivalent of 4 Maltaannon years to real humans?
November 19, 2009 at 1:34 am |
Hi James, doesn’t sound like I’ll be getting into the fashion industry any time soon. The motion graphics community and in particular, the After Effects community has a lot of mutual respect and admiration. We all love what we do and love to share. I’ll let you in on a secret about Maltaannon, he’s a computer program! Best John.
November 19, 2009 at 4:37 am |
Hi John,
At 20 I thought the high fashion glamor gig was the pinnacle of WOW! At 50 I know it’s hyperbole, full of insecure copycats, looking to make a name for themselves by plagiarizing the success of people, now gone.It saddens me that this generation has not found a voice to call their own. How many times have the 80’s been rehashed and pushed back out, only to find the public isn’t buying it. When I see you guys doing these tutorials and commenting on how many people would just copy your work and put it on a promo reel of their own, I guess it’s not to far from that.But the AE program is blowing me away, as is the community of creatives supporting it.It’s an amazing feeling to find a new passion at 50.I am reinventing myself again with the help of you your friends and Adobe. And when I feel like OFMG, *%#*@#^!!!, It helps to know that People like Chris and Trish didn’t just open the box yesterday, or that people like Maltaannon, were able to get great material in just 4 years. In both cases I know it was work and commitment to “seeing”(If you can’t see where something doesn’t work, you won’t fix it). I got me a heartful of hope and a headful of ideas. It’s just a great time to be a creative!
Thank you again for your generosity and kindness.
November 20, 2009 at 4:58 pm |
Hi James, thanks for your inspiring comment. I’m hearing of more and more people switching careers for motion graphics. It’s not surprising at all to me, I switched from hairdressing! Keep on trucking! Best, JD
Trackbacks