Special effects company among Innovate Niagara success stories
IF A CLIENT WANTS a clear blue sky on a cloudy day, Masoud Azimi can do it.
He can make a car driving through a wooded area in the winter appear to be travelling through the city on a hot summer day; or a man walking along a path can suddenly be climbing a mountain slope on a rugged trail.
And if he does his job right, it’s impossible for someone watching the video to tell that what they’re seeing is not real.
“When we do everything perfectly, no one will notice what we have done,” said Azimi, director of Black Wings Effects, a special effects company he established two years ago with the help of Innovate Niagara.
The business is in its infancy, but Azimi has big plans and ambitious hopes for the future.
Working with his brother-in-law Amin Kasraian as well as Shamin Shabramnia, he eventually hopes to hire more people and expand the business, while continuing to refine skills and take on bigger projects.
Azimi is confident he chose the right location to build the business, and teamed up with the right organization to make it happen. Originally from Iran, he was a graphic artist living in Malaysia a few years ago, dreaming about creating a specialeffects firm in North America, where the movie industry is far more developed.
He learned about Innovate Niagara while searching online.
The local organization now cele- brating its 10th anniversary has helped make his dream a reality.
The community welcomed Azimi and his family with open arms.
Staff from Innovate Niagara did far more than provide Azimi with the resources and office space he needed to get to work. Representatives even met him at the airport when he arrived.
“They helped me from the first day that I moved here,” he said. “Just imagine coming to a country where you literally don’t know anyone and they come and pick you up.”
When a shipment of furniture he ordered for his rented home was delayed, an Innovate Niagara staff member brought him a mattresses and other furnishings.
When Kasraian, the company’s creative director, joined his brotherin-law a few months ago, Innovate Niagara staff gave him the same warm welcome.
“Any questions we have, we just go through the guys here. They are really helpful,” Kasraian said.
He shares Azimi’s hopes for the company’s future, hoping to build Black Wings Effects into a successful company employing 10 to 12 experts at their job, “who can handle really big projects for big brands.”
“I don’t see it really far (in the future). Maybe two or three years of hard work, I think we can get there,” he said.
Innovate Niagara is continuing to help them work towards that goal, including by creating networking opportunities — one being the Big Thinkers Innovation in Business event, taking place Wednesday, May 16, at FirstOntario Performing Arts Centre on St. Paul St., from noon to 5 p.m. The event features panel discussions on maximizing data, and on health care in Niagara and Buffalo, N.Y., while also showcasing projects of local entrepreneurs and giving business owners such as Azimi an opportunity to build connections with other business leaders.
Although Azimi and Kasraian said they may have to eventually move their business to Toronto, depending on the demands of the industry, they would prefer to remain in St. Catharines for years to come.
“I’d rather be in a calm and quiet place,” he said. “This is the best place ever.”