 Hi, I'm Paul at The Verge. I'm here in Queens at the Museum of the Moving Image. I'm going to meet Masioka from Heroes. He was in Hero in Heroes, which should give you a clue about how awesome he was in that show. And he's basically the best human being on the planet Earth. So just no big deal. So you worked at ILM back then. That was before Heroes, right? That was before Heroes. How long were you with ILM? Well, I would say probably a good 10 years maybe. Okay, you were involved with like, during the prequels. I was involved with the prequels as well, yes. Cool. What software were you making for them then? Well, our main platform was Maya, so I wrote a lot on Maya plugins. A specific example might be like where Boba Fett chases an asteroid sequence. So basically the production said, hey, we need to be able to destroy this asteroid in a million pieces, but we want to be able to control which way everything goes. Okay. Yeah, because an animator needs to be able to have all that fine control. And in ILM, when in visual effects, you want to be able to do it so that it's visually accurate, but not necessarily physically accurate. It has to be physically accurate enough. So there's a lot of communication back and forth where they want to make something look and you just have to enable them. Yeah. I remember one shot where we had to do breast enhancements. Really? Yeah. So it was like, there was a shot of a breast and the director wanted it bigger, so we had to like digitally enhance that. That sounds like really hard work. Yeah, it is. Right after ILM, you got the job with Heroes. That's like why you left, right? Well, actually what it started was, San Francisco was their headquarters, so I was there and I finished my first big show there on Perfect Storm. I was on there like two or three years. And I said, you know, I loved working here. I'm a lifer. I could stay here. So that meant that was a sign for me to leave. So I came down to LA and I ran out of money very quickly. So I was like, oh shit. I got to do something about my financial situation. But then ILM said, you know what? If you're going to look for a job elsewhere, why don't you just stay working for us? You could telecommute for us in LA. Wow. So that was very nice of them. But I had to sign this contract saying if I didn't get a recurring role on a pilot or a supporting role in a film in my first year in LA, I would have to move back up to San Francisco. I feel like Heroes was this realization that you could do movie-level effects now on a TV show. And was that a pretty big leap forward? I actually think before that, you know, Lost did a great job of bringing something cinematic, especially when you tell a serialized show. With that always comes budget. You know, I think now if we do Heroes, we could do it on a slightly cheaper budget and it's going to get better and better. Did you have any of these growing up? I actually didn't have a lot of the figures. The only one I had was that dude with the cape. I don't even know his name. It's great because there's all these fans of that world, you know, and to have people who are so passionate about it. But it's also, you know, it's upon the filmmakers. My former boss George, you know, he needs to take care of that fan. These days it's getting to a point that I feel like he's milking every cent possible, which is, you know, I get it. It's a business. And, you know, he was a great creator when he created the first Star Wars. He created something revolutionary. If you see the original original Star Wars, there's a lot of interesting mistakes. He saw all these mistakes when he first created it. So he had ILM do an entire pass at the movie and makes little changes. Were you there at the time? Yeah, I was there. Like, there were those projects. Just like simple things like putting their badges here to here. You know, there's actually a fan project to restore the original cuts because you can't buy in high definition the original cuts of the movie. So they're like, they're trying to undo you. They're reverse engineering your work. Well, I think there's a reason why it was a classic of that. I think you need to embrace the mistakes as well. There's always going to be mistakes. Even this shoot right now, like I was wearing a watch and I'm not wearing a watch. Everybody's going to freak out. Do you have action figures of yourself? Were those made? My action figure was like really loosely made so the head would always come up. That's kind of like a diss. I have a confession. I saw the first two seasons and then I saw the first episode of the third and I just walked away. I totally understand. Are you okay with that? Yeah, I think so. I think the first season of that show was absolutely brilliant. So even as a fan myself, I was a fan of the show. We were so proud and everybody around the world, you know, it was a phenomenon. Without a doubt, I'm very proud of the work we did in the first season. Do you think there's something to that where you get a backlash, like with Star Wars, because the first season or the first movie was so good and fans just expect that greatness throughout and they get mad when that's not met? Yeah, I mean it's a little bit difficult but at the same time, that's our job. I think you need to make a bold choice and see if sometimes it works and sometimes it didn't. So you play emulated games? I play emulated games, yeah, absolutely. I spent so much quarters on gauntlets so I kind of go back and play. I played some gauntlet. That thing is designed to make so much money. I didn't realize that but I was like, wow, it's a money charger. I love the shot directors and the players. Where do you see yourself going? Do you want to direct? Yeah, I think ultimately I love to direct. I love the collaborative nature of behind the scenes. I also like being in front of the camera so I think directing seems to be a natural way of culminating all the experiences I've had. You've got sort of all angles of the craft. I try. You think you have a blind spot? I have so many blind spots. This is a continuing education. You can always be learning. I could be like nine years old and I could still be learning stuff. That's what's kind of fun. I enjoy knowledge. I create new stuff. I love exploration and it's constant learning something new every day which is great. That's cool. Well, thank you so much. Take care.
 Hi, I'm Paul at The Verge.
 I'm here in Queens at the Museum of the Moving Image.
 I'm going to meet Masioka from Heroes.
 He was in Hero in Heroes, which should give you a clue about how awesome he was in that
 show.
 And he's basically the best human being on the planet Earth.
 So just no big deal.
 So you worked at ILM back then.
 That was before Heroes, right?
 That was before Heroes.
 How long were you with ILM?
 Well, I would say probably a good 10 years maybe.
 Okay, you were involved with like, during the prequels.
 I was involved with the prequels as well, yes.
 Cool.
 What software were you making for them then?
 Well, our main platform was Maya, so I wrote a lot on Maya plugins.
 A specific example might be like where Boba Fett chases an asteroid sequence.
 So basically the production said, hey, we need to be able to destroy this asteroid in
 a million pieces, but we want to be able to control which way everything goes.
 Okay.
 Yeah, because an animator needs to be able to have all that fine control.
 And in ILM, when in visual effects, you want to be able to do it so that it's visually
 accurate, but not necessarily physically accurate.
 It has to be physically accurate enough.
 So there's a lot of communication back and forth where they want to make something look
 and you just have to enable them.
 Yeah.
 I remember one shot where we had to do breast enhancements.
 Really?
 Yeah.
 So it was like, there was a shot of a breast and the director wanted it bigger, so we had
 to like digitally enhance that.
 That sounds like really hard work.
 Yeah, it is.
 Right after ILM, you got the job with Heroes.
 That's like why you left, right?
 Well, actually what it started was, San Francisco was their headquarters, so I was there and
 I finished my first big show there on Perfect Storm.
 I was on there like two or three years.
 And I said, you know, I loved working here.
 I'm a lifer.
 I could stay here.
 So that meant that was a sign for me to leave.
 So I came down to LA and I ran out of money very quickly.
 So I was like, oh shit.
 I got to do something about my financial situation.
 But then ILM said, you know what?
 If you're going to look for a job elsewhere, why don't you just stay working for us?
 You could telecommute for us in LA.
 Wow.
 So that was very nice of them.
 But I had to sign this contract saying if I didn't get a recurring role on a pilot or
 a supporting role in a film in my first year in LA, I would have to move back up to San
 Francisco.
 I feel like Heroes was this realization that you could do movie-level effects now on a
 TV show.
 And was that a pretty big leap forward?
 I actually think before that, you know, Lost did a great job of bringing something cinematic,
 especially when you tell a serialized show.
 With that always comes budget.
 You know, I think now if we do Heroes, we could do it on a slightly cheaper budget and
 it's going to get better and better.
 Did you have any of these growing up?
 I actually didn't have a lot of the figures.
 The only one I had was that dude with the cape.
 I don't even know his name.
 It's great because there's all these fans of that world, you know, and to have people
 who are so passionate about it.
 But it's also, you know, it's upon the filmmakers.
 My former boss George, you know, he needs to take care of that fan.
 These days it's getting to a point that I feel like he's milking every cent possible,
 which is, you know, I get it.
 It's a business.
 And, you know, he was a great creator when he created the first Star Wars.
 He created something revolutionary.
 If you see the original original Star Wars, there's a lot of interesting mistakes.
 He saw all these mistakes when he first created it.
 So he had ILM do an entire pass at the movie and makes little changes.
 Were you there at the time?
 Yeah, I was there.
 Like, there were those projects.
 Just like simple things like putting their badges here to here.
 You know, there's actually a fan project to restore the original cuts because you can't
 buy in high definition the original cuts of the movie.
 So they're like, they're trying to undo you.
 They're reverse engineering your work.
 Well, I think there's a reason why it was a classic of that.
 I think you need to embrace the mistakes as well.
 There's always going to be mistakes.
 Even this shoot right now, like I was wearing a watch and I'm not wearing a watch.
 Everybody's going to freak out.
 Do you have action figures of yourself?
 Were those made?
 My action figure was like really loosely made so the head would always come up.
 That's kind of like a diss.
 I have a confession.
 I saw the first two seasons and then I saw the first episode of the third and I just
 walked away.
 I totally understand.
 Are you okay with that?
 Yeah, I think so.
 I think the first season of that show was absolutely brilliant.
 So even as a fan myself, I was a fan of the show.
 We were so proud and everybody around the world, you know, it was a phenomenon.
 Without a doubt, I'm very proud of the work we did in the first season.
 Do you think there's something to that where you get a backlash, like with Star Wars, because
 the first season or the first movie was so good and fans just expect that greatness throughout
 and they get mad when that's not met?
 Yeah, I mean it's a little bit difficult but at the same time, that's our job.
 I think you need to make a bold choice and see if sometimes it works and sometimes it
 didn't.
 So you play emulated games?
 I play emulated games, yeah, absolutely.
 I spent so much quarters on gauntlets so I kind of go back and play.
 I played some gauntlet.
 That thing is designed to make so much money.
 I didn't realize that but I was like, wow, it's a money charger.
 I love the shot directors and the players.
 Where do you see yourself going?
 Do you want to direct?
 Yeah, I think ultimately I love to direct.
 I love the collaborative nature of behind the scenes.
 I also like being in front of the camera so I think directing seems to be a natural way
 of culminating all the experiences I've had.
 You've got sort of all angles of the craft.
 I try.
 You think you have a blind spot?
 I have so many blind spots.
 This is a continuing education.
 You can always be learning.
 I could be like nine years old and I could still be learning stuff.
 That's what's kind of fun.
 I enjoy knowledge.
 I create new stuff.
 I love exploration and it's constant learning something new every day which is great.
 That's cool.
 Well, thank you so much.
 Take care.