Today we’d like to introduce you to Casey Latiolais
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
Motion designer turned director turned design studio founder. I’m the Director of the creative studio, Good Secrets.
I was a business major in college, made friends with film school kids, questioned my reality, and decided I was going to force my way into getting paid to be creative. Since business school wasn’t going to get me there, I taught myself all the software I could learn when Youtube barely existed.
That turning point came during college while making a short film with friends that needed some lightsaber vfx. It seems so trivial now, but in 2006, it felt impossible. I fumbled my way through After Effects and still feel like I pulled it off by student film standards. Ever since, I’ve been hooked on animation production.
I kept stacking skills and absorbing knowledge like a sponge everywhere I worked. From production companies making local furniture commercials to a photography studio starting a motion department, and even a mega-corporation that rhymes with Schmamazon, I was often the only motion designer or one of the best wherever I worked. However, there wasn’t much room to expand those specific skills from others in my niche field.
When I landed my dream job at BUCK as an Art Director, I finally found my people. Surrounded by hyper-talented artists, I realized, ‘Oh, I’ve got a lot more to learn.’ I was both humbled and inspired. It was the best discovery at that point in my career. I made friends with these world-class artists, animators, and designers, and soaked up as much knowledge as I could.
Now that Good Secrets is up and running, most of my days involve creating decks, meetings, and all those little tasks that come with running a business. I try to stay fresh with the style zeitgeist but am the first to admit when we need to lean on our talented artists to drive a visual approach. I don’t make much digital art for myself anymore but have ammassed a huge army of camera gear. It comes into play when trying to mix media, or just making beautiful vacation videos.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
Trying to break out of a stale market was insanely challenging. I was in Memphis, TN, which may be known for music but is certainly not known for animation. The local market didn’t offer much opportunity for career growth. After deciding to leave Memphis and move to St. Louis, I met some of my best friends who are incredibly talented. Over the years, we’ve fed off each other, pushing one another past our limits and growing more than I could have imagined. After that I made my way to the west coast, first in Seattle then on to LA in 2018.
Fast forward to 2020, something weird happened. I can’t quite put my finger on it, but it threw the whole industry into disarray. Suddenly, it was very normal to work remotely—way more productively, actually. All of these artists that I had worked with over the years were suddenly spread throughout the world, yet available to work with daily.
I wasn’t looking to start a company, but one independent project led to another, and I sort of fell into running my own studio. After being approached by a client directly, I threw out a proposed budget that felt absurdly high to me, but was an absolute steal for them. At the advice of my accountant, I needed to start a company ASAP just to handle the tax implications. Hiring a bunch of artists gets complicated, and nothing teaches you as quickly as being thrown into the fire.
During the pandemic, the motion design and 3D industry was booming. Not being able to shoot live action swung the pendulum over to our line of work. This sudden boom required me to manage multiple roles—working on projects myself, running the jobs, handling clients, and managing payroll—all while making sure my friends didn’t hate me. Balancing all these roles was a daunting task, but it taught me time management, leadership, and how to be a big boy.
2023 was pretty rough; layoffs at tech companies rippled down to overall cost cuts in the industry. I decided to bring on a business partner to help keep us organized. It’s amazing what can happen when you have someone thinking about margins, keeping a schedule, and most importantly, being ‘The Heavy’ when talking to clients. This lets me always and forever be ‘The Good Guy’. Having the structure my partner brings gives me confidence to weather the ups and downs. On top of that, my wife is in the same industry and is a brilliant strategic mind. It honestly feels like a cheat code to have her as a sounding board.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know?
The creative studio I started is Good Secrets, and we’re purposefully small to stay nimble. We’re incredibly adaptable and handle a huge range of project types, primarily focused on advertising; but we’ve also done work for TV, experiential design, and documentaries. Our services include 3D, 2D, illustration, design, and our specialty: animation. Animation is the root of my love for the creative industry, and remains the facet of Good Secrets’ work that I’m most comfortable giving strong opinions on (sorry to my working teams for that one).
What sets us apart is the combination of our small, agile size with our extensive roster of super talented colleagues. Staying small lets us tap the perfect artists when we scale up per project, keeping things efficient and cost-effective by avoiding bloat and artist downtime. It’s that same roster that empowers us to quickly come in and rescue projects that might seem impossible to finish on time. Every person who works with me through Good Secrets is an expert artist and trusted friend. You can count on them to get it done, whether we’re seamlessly embedding within existing production teams, or helping as the production arm for agencies that can’t handle everything in-house. We love managing all aspects of the creative process, keeping things variable and embracing change—which always keeps me interested and engaged.
We’ve got a real simple brand philosophy: just be nice. There are too many assholes in our industry, and I don’t want to be one. We believe in building friendly, open relationships with our clients, understanding their needs; being measured and candid in setting expectations so there’s still room for us to over-deliver.
Now, in 2024, we finally have a website that I don’t hate, a real demo reel, and even some awards on the shelf! We’re starting to plot our own course. Feeling more in control of our heading and destiny feels equally empowering and terrifying at the same time.
Before we let you go, we’ve got to ask if you have any advice for those who are just starting out?
Don’t be an asshole. Be cool to work with. Whoever hires you, make their job easier. I will always, always hire the person that’s a joy to be around over the best artist who’s all ego.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.goodsecrets.co
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/goodsecrets.co/
Image Credits
Ian Kose
