Rising Stars: Meet Peter Quinn of Mount Washington

Today we’d like to introduce you to Peter Quinn.

Hi Peter, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
Born in Belfast, Northern Ireland, I came up thought various design + video production agencies.
I had a very intense, baptism of fire, stressful couple of decades at video agencies both in Belfast and in Vancouver canada.

I spent a long time wishing for perfect projects, always dreaming of a brief to come in where I can get a little silly or dip into strange/weird VFX but it was rarely the right moment. Agencies just kept me operating at max-capacity so there wasnt a lot of energy left over for fun stuff.

When I moved to LA in 2015, I tool a job at Dollar Shave Club which just let me PLAY. The freedom to ‘mess around’ mixing humor with visual effects and animation allowed me to find some new ways to work.

After covid I had developed my personal brand and business really just becuase my instagram was doing well.., now I was making things for brands off my own back. I had worked with a bunch of celebrities, Snoop, Will Smith, James Corden, Weezer, John Cleese, Jared Leto, Michael Buble, Serena Williams, Derek Hough and some others I’m probably forgetting.

Somehow I had also worked with some of the best brands – Meta in particular was huge – I’ve had a ton of big video projects but also repeatedly flying all over the world to do talks about making videos for instagram and working with brands. That’s been one of my biggest repeat clients.

Other brands include Meta, Netflix, Ritual, Rivian, KitKat/Nestle, Old Navy or Adobe.

This success was just off the back of having free time to play. My instagram continues to be a mix of fun things and brand or celebrity work.

I’ve found an extra niche with sharing tutorials which is really cool. I really enjoy educating folks on how to achieve VFX or video production tricks, so I’m very often chatting with other creative folks who are interested in learning.

Right now I’m really busy again – but this time it’s my own TV show idea. I’m interviewing tons of creators and planning my pitch deck for ‘The Creators’ – a minidoc series! Episodes that look into the worlds of real people making real art… So I find myself on the ‘anti AI’ side, favoring painters, modelers, puppet makers, designers, vfx artists or photographers… it might be the best project of my life.

The goal is get myself into ‘the room’ at one of the big networks to pitch my idea. I want to remind the world that art and creativity is best left to real humans, and not to the machines.

Press write-up’s

This was maybe the best summary of me, although was in 2022
https://lamag.com/celebrity/peter-quinns-hobby-made-him-the-accidental-vfx-artist-to-the-stars/

Fast Company
https://www.fastcompany.com/90842389/peter-quinn-hollywood-vfx

*these tend to focus on Snoop story but that has been told a lot – it’s totally ok to mention but maybe not the main peice or the puzzle.

Here’s a bio that was written for my rep’s website:

Motion designer, VFX artist, and creative director Peter Quinn is many things: gleefully nonconformist, impishly innovative, ridiculously prolific, Irish, and LA-based. But most of all, he’s a master of benevolent mischief. Sometimes slapstick in nature and always disarmingly clever, his viral content (for Will Smith, Jared Leto, and James Corden, among others), ad campaigns (see: Camila Cabello for OLIPOP), and music videos (Weezer) embrace playfulness and absurdity in equal measure. In one mind-bending clip, Peter has Serena Williams whacking a mini Serena across the tennis court with her mighty racket. Working with little more than his iPhone and computer, he gets people to do crazy things, harms no one, and delights all who watch—including Snoop Dogg, one of his frequent collaborators.

Growing up in Ireland with a dad who taught art (and two brothers who also became motion designers), Peter would be pointed to a sketchbook if he professed boredom. You could say he’s been concepting his entire life. He went on to work at a design-focused creative agency in Belfast where typographical perfection was prized and, later, to become “the video guy” for Dollar Shave Club, where he produced witty ideas in high volume on demand. Beneath his creative mayhem is a deep well of experience and strategy, and an endless desire to surprise even the most seen-it-all viewers. An enthusiastic speaker on the subject of creativity and technology, Peter has appeared at events hosted by Meta, among others. Stay tuned to see where he’ll pop up next.

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
My main struggle has been my own free time.

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I’m a director and creator with a penchant for witty, almost homemade feeling visual effects. I favor 2d, Monty Python style techniques rather than glossy 3d.

I take my playful VFX vibe and apply it to any willing celebrities and brands, and so far that’s unfolded into a really enjoyable career.

What do you like and dislike about the city?
Everything just happens in LA. I’ve lived in various cities and none of my success would have come to me anywhere else. It’s got an energy just below the surface and if you’ve got a little talent and go digging it just gives it to you.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.peterqu.in/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/peterquinstagram

Image Credits
shot by me…
I think I’ll probably shoot another photo for you guys, that one is a bit old but I’ll follow up later.