Today we’d like to introduce you to Sherif Higazy.
Sherif, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
I was born in Sydney, Australia to Egyptian diplomats. I moved to the UK, Jordan, Egypt (where my family is from) and India where I graduated high school. When I was 16, I signed up for a ceramics class, and my father, an endearingly impulsive guy, called the school to get me into a “better elective.” Since Drawing & Painting was full, he signed me up for Digital Filmmaking which was the second most consequential decision he’s made on my behalf after birth. (Decision? Mistake? Who knows. Let the biographers decide!)
Since then, I applied to USC’s School of Cinematic Arts and got in! Halfway through, I got my first break as a music video director doing a music video for an artist named Roger Sanchez. Through that, I met a bunch more labels and video commissioners and ended up doing work for artists such as Pentatonix, Lindsey Stirling, Belly (featuring Travis Scott)! Simultaneously, I started a music video company with my best friend and roommate to capitalize on that momentum.
It was a lot of fun in a really crazy kind of way. We lived in a tiny bungalow (our HQ) near USC which was the scene of some really insane projects. My favorite involved us buying a salvaged 15 ft yacht that we parked behind our house to refurbish between classes. We later towed it to a private lake bed and dumped it in a private patch of desert. The owner agreed to leave it on his property, and It’s still there to this day (I think!). Kelly if you’re reading this, I hope you’ve taken good care of our ship!
When I graduated, my partner and I had different goals, so I left to start my own business – Thermonuclear.
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Absolutely not!
When I came to America, I had never been here before. I had no friends or family in the US, and when I started my business I had no clue what I was doing! I was told it was impossible to break into “the industry” and that if you’re an international student (especially in film!), they ship you off on the first boat when you graduate. (an overwhelmed immigration lawyer I saw early on told me that I made a mistake not majoring in a STEM major).
But, every struggle was an opportunity for growth, and I developed an unreasonable work ethic and grit from my experience. I also was very very lucky. I made friends who treat me like family, clients, and mentors who are gracious and generous. I live in a beautiful town with some of the warmest and quirkiest people! And I get to see Griffith Observatory from my front door!
Alright – so let’s talk business. Tell us about Thermonuclear – what should we know?
We focus on design-driven content. We started off as a post-production company but have expanded into commercials, music videos and other content.
We’ve worked on projects with clients such as IMAX, Nike, Evernote on the advertising side, while also counting every major music label (Republic, Capitol, Atlantic, etc.) as a client on the music side. Recently, we’ve taken a deeper dive into immersive technology and been working on some amazing projects in VR that I’m hoping I’ll get to share with everyone later this year!
Since my background is in VFX, design and software development, I think we really excel at conceptually ambitious work with a design bent. An example of a project we’re working on now that I’m quite proud of involves turning data into architecture. Basically, once it’s complete, you’ll be able to walk around a building in VR generated from sourced data. It’s gonna be really cool!
Is there a characteristic or quality that you feel is essential to success?
Grit! I’ve had multiple major setbacks in my career and personal life, especially the kind where you want to drop it all and just give up. But the one attribute that’s helped me get to the next goal post has been an unreasonable drive to work through these really difficult times.
I take the setbacks as a signal that I’ve got some work to do on myself or on my company and get on with the business of doing it! Sometimes it’s worked out, and a lot of the time it hasn’t. But each trial has inevitably pushed me closer to bigger and better wins!
Contact Info:
- Website: http://thermonuclear.tv
- Email: [email protected]
- Instagram: @sheriff_sherif
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