An Inspired Chat with Dima Drapikovsky & Valery Rieka of Playa Vista

We recently had the chance to connect with Dima Drapikovsky & Valery Rieka and have shared our conversation below.

Dima & Valery, so good to connect and we’re excited to share your story and insights with our audience. There’s a ton to learn from your story, but let’s start with a warm up before we get into the heart of the interview. What do you think is misunderstood about your business? 
Many assume we’re just photo or graphics guys, when in fact our value lies in the synergy between both. We don’t just deliver images or animations, we create a cohesive visual identity. From personal portraits to brand storytelling. The strength of our work is in the way we blend emotion and structure, intuition and production logic, art direction and execution.
It’s a creative partnership, which is more than just a service list.

Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
Hi, we are Dima and Valery, the couple behind Pacific Creative Services. We live and work in Los Angeles, and our studio is really just the two of us doing what we love, together.

Dima is a motion designer with a long background in graphics for live shows, sports, and esports. Valery is a photographer who started out in sports management, but somewhere along the way picked up a camera and never put it down. She is all about capturing people with honesty and emotion.

We work as a team, often blending motion and photography into one story. We have found that our different strengths make the work stronger, and being a family makes it feel more grounded.

Thanks for sharing that. Would love to go back in time and hear about how your past might have impacted who you are today. What’s a moment that really shaped how you see the world?
Valery grew up cherishing family photo albums and later began documenting people while studying sports management. She discovered how photography could elevate everyday people, shaping their identity and pride.

Dima started as a motion designer in esports and once stood before 30,000 spectators during a stadium show in China. Watching the crowd react to the visuals he had helped design, he realized that motion graphics could drive emotion on a massive scale.

These early moments shaped our belief that visual storytelling is not just craft, but a powerful way to connect people and amplify their presence.

When did you last change your mind about something important?
We used to believe that building a creative business as a couple in a new country was too risky. We feared losing stability, blurring personal and professional lines, or not being ready enough. But over time, we changed our minds. We realized that our shared values, complementary skills, and mutual trust were not weaknesses. They were our biggest strengths.

That shift allowed us to stop waiting for the perfect moment and start building something of our own. Pacific Creative Services was born not out of certainty, but out of choosing possibility.

Alright, so if you are open to it, let’s explore some philosophical questions that touch on your values and worldview. Where are smart people getting it totally wrong today?
Many people believe that investing in AI tools guarantees creative results. It doesn’t. After the initial excitement, we’re now seeing the limits of automation in studio-scale work. Yes, we speed up our pipeline with AI, but direction, concept, emotion, and control remain human.

The lie our industry tells itself is that strong creative minds are optional. They’re not. Fewer are needed than before, but without them, the work falls flat. We’re proud to still be those minds and hands clients can trust.

Okay, so let’s keep going with one more question that means a lot to us: If you laid down your name, role, and possessions—what would remain?
If we laid all that down, what would remain is care. A real, stubborn care for the work, for the people we work with, and for what it means to make something good. Not loud or trendy, just good.

That care does not come from titles or tools. It comes from who we are. A small team that shows up fully, listens deeply, and delivers with heart. That is the part you cannot buy. But you can hire it. And we would be honored.

Contact Info:

• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/109065082

Image Credits
All images courtesy of our family photo archive