Interview with Alex Lindsay, founder and Chief Architect of the Pixel Corps, USA (eLA 2007)

Alex Lindsay is Chief Architect of the Pixel Corps. He has been involved in computer graphics for nearly twenty years. Alex has extensive experience in digital production including print, real-time graphics, multimedia titles, forensic animation, television, and film. He spent several years on the production of Star Wars: Episode 1 (at JAK Films and then at Industrial Light and Magic). Alex has taught at the Academy of Art and at the San Francisco State Multimedia Studies Programs. He writes for 3D Magazine, 3D World, and Post and is a regular guest on TechTV.

www.pixelcorps.com

eLA: Could you introduce the organisation of the Pixel Corps and the training concept you provide?

Alex Lindsay: The Pixel Corps is a Guild for Digital Content Creators. We have over 500 members in 35 countries. We are developing a global workforce able to work smoothly together around the clock and in every corner of the world. We do this primarily through online training and discussion. Because of this, we are very focused on how to produce effective computer-based training. This focus is driven both from the need to train our members and the belief that the production of online training could be one of the most lucrative businesses for our members in the next decade.

eLA: What were your main reasons for founding the Pixel Corps?

Alex Lindsay: My original concept was more philosophical. I wanted to connect people all over the world and provide them with the tools and training to tell their stories. This concept sharpened to something more imperative during the Rwanda crisis when it was clear that the West wouldn't help because they saw no interest in doing so...I became more focused on how to generate this interest through media...engaging the West in African music, arts, and culture. I felt this would make Africa more real and more important to voters in the countries that regularly ignore the Continent that, I feel, contributed heavily to their success.

Of course, this all sounds great but there was no business model. This emerged as I prepared to produce this "Global Conversation Where No One is Left Out". I trained myself not by going to school but by working in every area of the industry. I started in radio, then print design, then real-time 3D games, then interface design for CD-ROMs, then Legal Animations, then TV graphics and then ended up at Lucasfilm and Industrial Light and Magic working on "Star Wars: Episode 1." On my way, it became clear to me that the current education system wasn't working for artists. By itself, in our quickly changing and skills-based industry...it was slow, ineffective, and costly. I saw an opportunity to provide a more hands-on and group-driven solution. This is where the Pixel Corps really began. I started with three students in a coffee shop...we grew to twelve in the first year, thirty in the second year, 200 in the third year, and 1200 in the fourth. We expect to grow to 2000-3000 this year.

eLA: What do you see as the main assets of the guild organisation, e. g. compared to "traditional" ways of knowledge acquirement in your field?

Alex Lindsay: We call ourselves artists but, in reality, we are craftsmen...similar to the Craftsmen Guilds of Europe in the Middle Ages. At that time, members were organized and slowly trained in both skills and culture. It wasn't like what we see in groups that call themselves guilds today...which are really labor unions. It was an approach that was centrally guided but driven by member-to-member support and distribution of knowledge. This is very important because our industry isn't history or math...it changes very quickly, and schools simply can't keep up on their own. The funding requirements in the US specifically make it impossible to change the curriculum fast enough.

That said, we do find our most successful members are somewhere in between...often going to art schools or universities and joining the Pixel Corps at the same time. We're working closely with a growing number of schools to add our processes to established systems. Our end goal is not to be a school but a skilled membership.

What really sets our program apart is production-driven training and challenges. We provide training but also do a great deal of member development by dropping members into the deep water and then telling them how to swim...and often letting them figure it out together. This provides not only skills but generates a culture and connection that is not possible if we simply illustrate how to do something and let everyone follow. We also focus heavily on the entire pipeline, not specific skills alone. The skills need to be seen in the context of the whole or they become abstract and harder for members to remember and master.

eLA: The Pixel Corps has members worldwide, also in Africa. From which sectors do they come, and are your training opportunities "customised" to the different learner groups - because people from diverse cultural backgrounds may have diverse needs?

Alex Lindsay: We have members in 35 countries. About forty-fifty percent are professionals in the industry. These professionals are either trying to add tools to their arsenal, move from one part of the industry to another, or find other members to work with. About thirty percent are students of all ages, the youngest member is ten, looking to enter the industry eventually.

Approximately twenty percent are "enthusiasts" who simply love to produce graphics and enjoy the benefits of membership, such as access to training and software. Within the Pixel Corps, there are members from nearly every ethnic, religious, and political background.

We see the diversity in both background and skill level as a key feature of the membership. In a traditional training environment, you have a handful of "experts" and a large number of "students". This is inherently inefficient because it puts too much strain on the central distribution of knowledge when, in our industry, we're all often learning and all can contribute to each others' progress.

We don't specialise our training in a traditional sense. Our goal is to create a unified and global culture that celebrates its membership's diversity. We are sensitive to political issues...which are forbidden in our online discussion. We find that when you remove this element of the conversation, you have a remarkably cohesive group. We also currently provide all training in English. From a production background, it is very hard to see how we can use a variety of languages and remain efficient. English is the standard in our industry (including many of the high-end tools).

Our training is designed to adjust to individual needs because it is nearly all self-paced and interest driven. We allow the members to participate in as much or as little as they choose. This allows them to pace themselves and get involved with what calls to them and work at the level that they are able. The heterogeneous, ongoing, and peer-to-peer nature of the membership means that if one member skips a training today, others learn it and are there to support that member when they get to it. This organically adjusts the training to the members.

Culturally, we celebrate the diversity by engaging members to show who they are and to express their view of the world. This is done through "Photojournalist" challenges where members show their home life and homeland. We see our members, no matter where they come from, as primarily similar, with subtle, but important, differences. We highlight and celebrate the differences but focus on developing the similar traits to build a cohesive production culture.

eLA: How do you address technical differences, such as lack of broadband connectivity or the increased use of mobile technology in Africa?

Alex Lindsay: This is something that is one of our largest challenges on the Continent and one that I can't say that we've mastered. Lack of broadband, in particular, is difficult. We send training videos via DVD to be distributed among members and have designed processes to allow them to return their work with very small control files. We are beginning discussions with universities and technical colleges to develop partnerships so that we can provide our training to as many students and professionals as possible. We also plan to build small facilities in target countries and slowly expand from there to more rural locations and other countries.

eLA: Digital content for learning produced by Africans for Africans is increasingly needed. Where do you see the benefits an organisation such as the Pixel Corps can offer in this market?

Alex Lindsay: Our goal is to train hundreds and then thousands of African artisans...capable of state-of-the-art media development. We believe that they will be uniquely positioned to produce content for their community as well as content for the rest of the world.

eLA: How can one apply for the Pixel Corps?

Alex Lindsay: African nationals need only apply with a scan of proof of citizenship (or at one of our events in Africa). It is currently free for African nationals (in Africa or not). We are very committed to growing our membership here.

eLA: Mr Lindsay, many thanks indeed for your time.

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