Hollywood digital artist hired locally
In a move that marks a significant point in a company’s young life, the Ohio Film Group has hired an awardwinning Hollywood digital artist to be the company’s visual-effects and animation supervisor.
Nasheet Zaman is “a prime example of what Ohio Film Group set out to do,” said Len Hartman, the company’s president and chief operating officer.
In July 2015, when the Ohio Film Group, a private company, opened its 7,000-square-foot postproduction, visual-effects and animation studio at 380
E. Broad St., the intent was not only to offer editing, visual effects, animation and other post-production work to filmmakers in the state, but also to help stem the brain drain of talent that previously went to the West Coast to find jobs in those specialties.
Zaman, a 2000 graduate of Hilliard Davidson High School, was one of those who left Ohio to work in Hollywood.
After graduating from Cornell University, Zaman moved West and built a career working for such studios as Rhythm & Hues, Disney Animation and Sony Imageworks on major live-action films including “Life of Pi” and “Beowulf” and
on the animated films “Frozen,” “Wreck-It Ralph,” “Big Hero 6” and “Moana.” She also codirected, co-wrote and was executive producer of the 2016 animated short film “One Per Person,” which won awards at independent film festivals.
Zaman said her new position — and return home — came by chance.
“There was a lot of serendipity involved,” she said. “I happened to be back home visiting my family after I finished my last project with Disney. I heard about the Ohio Film Group, and I thought, I have to check this out. It was all completely new.”
About a month after Zaman began talking
with the company, she was hired.
“It’s a shining example of how we’re growing, expanding,” said Hartman, a veteran screenwriter and film producer. “Our base of clients is growing, and we’re able to keep and retain talent.”
In addition to her work at the film company, Zaman will serve as a visiting faculty member at Columbus College of Art & Design, furthering the company’s bond with the school and its commitment to recruiting Ohio talent.
“I’m really excited about it,” she said. “There’s a lot of potential here. People are enthusiastic about the craft. There’s a lot of talent in Ohio, and this is going to provide a lot more opportunity.”
Over the first two years of its existence, Ohio Film Group has
worked on 16 movies, most of them independent films but also some studio films. The company has already signed up four film productions for the summer.
“It’s going well,” said Hartman said, as the company has grown from five employees to 16 full-time employees and a couple of parttimers. “We’re hoping to grow to about 30 or 40 in a year or two.
“It’s really about growing this creative class, giving them the opportunity to do something they never had: stay in Columbus and work in the entertainment industry. We have a number of employees who started as interns, who now have film credits on a dozen movies. That’s great for them and great for us.”