Local business in the Rio spotlight

Honestly we’re just fortunate to have the opportunity to be able to work with the team at CBC. They were just phenomenal throughout the process. It was really a privilege for us to do this. They let us do our thing.”

Brent Porter

A local web developer got to play in the big leagues this year at the Rio Olympics.

Form & Affect took on three contracts with the CBC to make the Olympics more immersive.

The St. Catharines business has been around for just four years. They had less than a year to finish all three campaigns from their small downtown office.

CBC chose Form & Affect to do the first project, a website for Petro Canada that featured Olympic athletes and hopefuls interviewing each other. The hopefuls had received Petro Canada’s FACE grant funding. From there, they were offered two more projects.

“We’ve never advertised, we never talk, so to have people have an interest in what we’re doing, that’s really fantastic,” said Brett Porter, co-founder of Form & Affect.

The second was Samsung ’s “Rio on the Edge” where two Canadian winter Olympic athletes filmed segments around Rio on a Samsung phone.

The final was a VISA virtual reality and 360 degree experience. Viewers could watch over 100 hours of live footage on their smartphones, computers, or virtual reality headsets.

Co-founders Brent Porter, Paul Vance, and their team were involved in all aspects of the process — from working on the advertising campaign to building the websites.

In most cases they were given a vague idea, and were able to construct an entire campaign on their own.

“Honestly we’re just fortunate to have the opportunity to be able to work with the team at CBC,” said Porter. “They were just phenomenal throughout the process. It was really a privilege for us to do this. They let us do our thing.”

Since they weren’t on the ground, Form & Affect had to make several backup plans in case anything went awry.

“We were on our toes,” said Porter. “We had a lot of late nights, but it was fun, it was a huge experience for us.”

“We’re actually pretty passionate about this stuff, sometimes to our own detriment,” said Vance. “We love what we do. Really, we do.” Porter agreed. “Everything we do is about the end user. Everything is about their experience. If it makes it harder for us to build something? Too bad. That’s the way it needs to be.”

They’re most pleased they are able to represent St. Catharines on a national scale and contribute to the growth of the city. Even mayor Walter Sendzik sent them a congratulations on Twitter.

“We’ve just had a boatload of support from the city, from the community too, and other businesses here that have continually really brought us up,” said Vance.

“We’re very, very proud of being this tiny little shop from this tiny little city who is punching above their weight,” said Porter.