Filmmaker and VFX producer David Cordon has launched Pixel Puzzle, a podcast series uncovering the people behind the images that define modern cinema. Through honest, cinematic conversations with filmmakers and artists around the world, the show restores visibility to the creators who turn imagination into reality.
“Every pixel carries a human fingerprint,” says Cordon. “You just have to look closely enough to see it.”
With listeners in 38 countries — including the UK, US, Canada, Germany and Spain — Pixel Puzzle is fast becoming a meeting point for artists, audiences, and anyone curious about how emotion and technology intertwine to make stories come alive.
Re-Humanising the Digital Frame
Visual effects have become the nervous system of storytelling, yet the people who craft them often remain unseen.
At a time when VFX artists are unionising for the first time and AI is rewriting creative workflows, Pixel Puzzle explores how empathy, authorship, and collaboration can survive inside a machine-driven world.
“Technology should amplify emotion, not erase it,” Cordon says. “That’s the future we’re building.”
Rather than talking software or render speeds, the podcast reveals the human rhythm of modern filmmaking — the creative pressure, the silent victories, and the craft that holds blockbusters and indies alike together.
Inside the Conversations
Highlights include Kate Herron, director of Loki and Sex Education, describing how she uses VFX as “emotional punctuation” — where subtle digital choices guide the audience’s heart, not just their eyes.
Eben Bolter, cinematographer of Cape Fear and The Last of Us, recalls a day when bad weather threatened an entire sequence until a single sky replacement quietly saved the emotion of the scene. “The kind of fix nobody notices,” he says, “but it protects the truth of the performance.”
Earlier episodes feature Scott Ross, co-founder of Digital Domain, dissecting how business structures affect creative freedom, and Sophie Maydon, director at PXL Talent and mental-health advocate, explaining why mentorship and empathy are now the real engines of production.
Together, these voices form a living archive of the invisible labour that powers the screen.
A Turning Point for Creative Work
Cinema is at a crossroads. AI can reproduce style but not intent; automation delivers content but not meaning. As studios chase efficiency, Pixel Puzzle argues for the values that built the industry — trust, credit, and craft.
Cordon doesn’t long for older tools. He’s defending the human pulse that must remain inside the new ones.
“The next revolution in storytelling won’t come from smarter software,” he says. “It’ll come from the courage to stay human.”
Behind Every Frame, a Story
What began as a passion project has evolved into a cultural record of creativity in flux. Through each episode, Cordon and his guests remind listeners that every perfect frame hides hundreds of imperfect human moments — choices, corrections, and acts of care that make the impossible believable.
In an age obsessed with faster pixels, Pixel Puzzle calls for deeper ones: images built on trust, empathy, and intention.
If you’ve ever been moved by a scene without knowing why, this is where you meet the people who made that feeling possible.
Explore Pixel Puzzle through David Cordon’s website, or tune in on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, YouTube, and Instagram. Join the movement that is not just changing how we see films, but how we feel them.
About David Cordon:
David Cordon is a filmmaker and VFX producer who has worked on a number of high-profile productions. Frustrated by the lack of recognition for the visual effects industry, Cordon founded Pixel Puzzle to highlight the human stories behind the pixels that shape modern cinema. Through his podcast, Cordon brings attention to the essential contributions of VFX artists and advocates for greater recognition and fair treatment within the industry.
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