Digital Monarch Media

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Digital Monarch Media

Digital Monarch Media is a division of Unity centered around virtual cinematography, filmmakers and filmmaking, and the tools that aid in the process.

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+16047829064

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http://digitalmonarch.media/

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Uncommon Commonality

Winter 2002, I was a brand new immigrant to Canada starting my first day at Electronic Arts in Burnaby B.C. I hadn’t been at my new desk for more than 30 minutes when a tall Persian guy stepped in and asked if we were the Bond team. The team had beeen working on a new video game James Bond: Everything or Nothing. I and the new guy were starting on the same day and with just as much wonder as questions. He soon let on that he was a veteran of the film industry and was changing over to video games to explore new horizons, while my sojourn into Canada was my new adventure, but by no means would it be temporary. We quickly found out how much we had in common, he had worked in art, design, and had a bit of an engineering background while I was an engineer with a background in the arts. That day was to be the start of a long relationship in creative processes and projects.

In 2005 we had shipped another game together, Need For Speed: Most Wanted. But this time there was something special about the endeavour. The process of artistic expression, engineering of envigorating simulation, and the tools that brought them together was lighting in a bottle. We had achieved something very unique and the awards and recoginition that it brought upon the studio and our team were abundant.

In January of 2010 I had decided that it was time to move on. With a heavy heart I walked into my friends office, cluttered with random electronics and laptops, and broke the news, “I am leaving the company”. He looked up with a grin and said, “So am I”. Taken back, I exclaimed “I am going to Microsoft”. His smile grew ear to ear, “So am I”. And thus as we came together, we left together and new chapters began.

After a year of working on various projects in the new job I decided that I was interested in what my old friend was doing and put in to be transferred onto his crew. It was a combination of very venerable engineers that I had had the pleasure to work with over the years so I felt quite at home. From this group we built the foundations of the technology that would later be deployed on some of the most memorable films in Hollywood. It took many trials and many failures to find the right mojo for the tools and more so the process behind the tools. Each project we worked with drove it closer to our goals.

It was 2013 and our team had split up, some moved onto various game teams, some decided to move on. I had promised my friend earlier that if I were ever to leave this group and found myself on my own, I would create a company and follow these dreams again. This is exactly what I did. Digital Monarch Media was founded in the second month of 2014 as a media centric software company. I worked alone for the first year building technology and relationships, but then had the chance to work with a visionary production called “The Junglebook”. It launched in 2016 with my company being the backer for the software tools needed for real-time virtual produciton. My friend had also been involved, working with the VFX supervisor. In the end the movie was a outstanding success, gaining the coveted Academy Award for Visual Effects.

Later we repeated these same efforts under Steven Spielberg on Ready Player One. A great visionary, a great director of people, but also a very intense and commanding personality. We pushed the boundaries of what was possible on set and off with virtual film tools. This project had opened the door to working with other groups in LA, including working on the post produciton of Blade Runner 2049 with Denis Villenueve. My partner had officially joined DMM as we applied our technology so as to allow the DP and Director to fill the holes in virtual shots on VFX scenes. With great success, the film was one of the most beautiful endeavours we had ever been a part of.

Today our company is a strong set of 5. We have two more senior and very capable engineers leading the technology efforts. We have added a brilliant person to run our business administrative work as well as head up Quality Assurance. And there is still the two of us, uncommon friends with great commonality, a Persian artist with an eye for the mechanical and a Metal Head engineer with a taste for the artful. DMM is a gathering place for us, a we see it as one for our clients and friends as well. In the end, DMM is just a company, but it is a company of minds who keep circling back together, it is something special, something rare, and something very very real.