Today we’d like to introduce you to Nicolas Nami.
Nicolas, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
I am just a curious kid from Iran, where I always liked to play around with my toys while coming up with epic scenarios. Coming from an entire family of immigrants, I have been through a war, religious issues, Language barriers, Prejudice, and Isolation. However, I have paved myself through hardship by utilizing the infinite power of art to communicate. I’ve chosen the path of earning real friendships with as many people that I possibly can to survive. Practicing the philosophy of martial arts has given me strength and resilience, choosing positivity and finding solutions instead of blame, and handling things one step and one day at a time have been my tools to get by.
I ended up in Virginia in 1992, along with my family. Obviously, I just skipped the 15 years of the hardship of growing up in a religiously dominated regime thriving to stay dependent. Followed by a period of migration to America through Europe. So, yes, when arriving in America, we were finally ready to start a new life as religious asylums.
In 9th grade, I became interested in motion graphics and video editing when my uncle allowed me to play on a fancy Amiga “Video Toaster 4000” with “Lightwave 1.0” loaded on it. So, I started learning and figuring out software to communicate and tell stories.
In 1997, when applying to universities, because of the help of my fine arts teacher and the assistant principal in high school who had great faith in me when observing my motion graphics skills at the time, I got into the only university that I was interested in. This was the one university that once rejected me because of language insufficiencies.
In 1998, when I was 18, I got my first full-time job in an advertising agency. I was attending George Mason University full time at the same time. Driving a limousine to help pay bills every morning as a second job. In the university, I was pursuing Pre-med and wasted 2 1/2 years studying biology and badly failing. Later, I switched majors back to Visual technology and became a straight-A student.
Upon graduation, due to some family issues, I moved to California with my parents. I started a design firm with my father. It was tough working with a family member, so, years later, I started running my own freelance motion graphics business independently. Since then, I’ve had the opportunity to work with reputable companies, earned friendships, and now work as a super busy freelancer with a network of freelance co-workers in Southern California. I’ve won awards and continue growing my skills and network in this challenging field.
My aspiration is to enjoy simple things that usually get unnoticed by my family and friends. My philosophy in business is to give value to my clients first and earn friendships. I believe in a resource-based economy similar to Jacque Fresco’s ideas for humans to survive in a happy, peaceful way. I’m now married with two young daughters and work remotely in an outside home office space. 🙂
So let’s switch gears a bit and go into the Nami Pictures story. Tell us more about the business.
I do Motion design, VFX, and editing. I also do creative direction and currently practicing screenwriting. I specialize in corporate motion design, storytelling, doing convincing pitches of products through video and animation. I also do broadcast/web streaming designs. I’ve won an Emmy with a team that I was part of in 2018. What sets me apart is that I ship the products that I promise to my clients no matter what. I always give more, and my goal is to Wow them. I am communicative and honest.
Additionally, I work with a whole powerful network of independent, skillful freelancers. I run a meetup group for motion designers and VFX artists in the OC and North SD area. We periodically get together and catch up in person, however, we mostly work on projects together remotely. Pandemic or no pandemic, we always have and will be working remotely. It’s awesome.
Has luck played a meaningful role in your life and business?
I consider myself lucky to be alive, however, generally, I don’t believe in luck when it comes to achieving goals. I think of it as a random algorithm with a random seed every time. It’s too unstable to rely on, so I believe in smart and hard work than anything else. It’s a more reliable way of going for things.
Contact Info:
- Address: Nami Pictures
18062 Irvine Blvd Suite 209 Tustin, CA
- Website: http://www.nicolasnami.com
- Phone: 9493420000
- Email: [email protected]
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nicolasnami/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/NamiPicturesOC
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/NamiPictures
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