Nearly 20 years ago, I moved from Puerto Rico to Florida, with the dream of becoming a computer animator. In 2015, Safari and I started a creative studio together. And in 2024 we decided to step back, and explore other ideas. This article is about some of the lessons we learned on our journey from being artists to entrepreneurs.

From Artists to Entrepreneurs: How Your Past Work Can Land Your Future Work

In 2013, Safari and I made a pact over drinks: within a year, we'd quit our film jobs and dive into game development. At the time, we were both working in film and tv, I was doing visualization at The Third Floor, and Safari was deep in VFX at Luma Pictures.

Our first project, Full Throttle Moxie - a quirky, ambitious game - didn't exactly pan out. But here's what matters: that "failure" taught us how crucial clear roles and solid foundations are when starting a business.

Applying those lessons, we successfully founded Happy Mushroom and Narwhal Studios in 2015. Sometimes past mistakes serve as your best tools for future success.

Securing Your First Gig: Leveraging Legacy Work for Future Success

Here's the truth: as a creative entrepreneur, you are your product. You're selling your talent, your perspective, and your ideas. The biggest challenge is clearly defining what you want to offer versus what your clients actually need.

For Safari and me in 2015, that meant diving deep into mastering Unity and Unreal Engine for about eight months. When we felt ready, we combined our past film experience with new game-engine experiments into a sizzle reel and started sharing our journey on social media. By showcasing our transition, we made it clear to potential clients: our past was solid, but our future looked even brighter.

Use your legacy work to validate your skills, but boldly highlight your new direction. Clients are drawn to passion and clarity- show them you're excited and committed, and they'll trust you to explore new ground together.

Clarity in your vision and leadership: Communication frameworks

As the studio scaled, we leaned into communication frameworks to guide our brand. Working closely with Tiffany Graeff at Not Robots, we were asked questions that helped us define our mission, vision, personality, beliefs, and value proposition. The answers became our internal compass, and built the framework above.

That clarity helped us scale while staying consistent. Everyone we brought on understood not just what we were doing, but why we were doing it - and how to contribute to it.

The Mandalorian: Scaling from 15 to 50 and above - the Growing Pains

Our big break came with "The Mandalorian." Andrew Jones invited us on board with a clear mandate: develop a virtual production workflow in Unreal Engine as robust as the Unity setup used on "The Lion King." Collaborating with Epic Games, we created virtual location scouting tools that became foundational in Unreal Engine's virtual production toolkit today.

After winning an Emmy for our work with the production designer on Season 01, the success catapulted our team from 15 to 50 artists almost overnight and with that rapid growth came critical lessons. Scaling quickly highlighted just how essential strong leadership structures and clear processes are. Safari, myself, and our management team implemented new strategies, like a buddy system, to encourage cross-disciplinary collaboration and effectively handle the challenges of rapid expansion.

When we hit 100 employees, familiar challenges around leadership, security, and HR resurfaced - but amplified. One of the best moves we made was seeking outside expertise. With Laurent Marschepa’s support as a consultant, we restructured our leadership and operations, hiring heads of HR, Tech, Production, and Operations, enabling Safari and I to step back from daily management and refocus on creative leadership and strategy.

Don’t hesitate to get expert advice as you scale. Building a solid leadership team early allows you to keep your creativity and strategy sharp, even through challenging times.

hope for the best, prepare for the worse

Some of our toughest lessons came from legal support - or initially, the lack thereof. We underestimated how essential experienced lawyers are when setting up contracts, partnerships, and the business itself. Clear contracts save headaches down the line - YouTube advice can only take you so far.

A major crisis hit after January 6th, 2021, when a leadership member’s involvement in the Capitol riot forced us to renegotiate all client contracts and completely rebrand from Happy Mushroom to Narwhal Studios. This taught us the critical importance of adaptability and preparation for unexpected events.

No matter the relationship - friend, family, or partner - having proper agreements in place protects everyone involved. It’ll save your ass when things get tough.

Final Thoughts

Reflecting on our journey, here's some advice to guide your own path:

Clearly define roles and responsibilities early on.
Embrace mistakes as opportunities to learn and grow.
Invest in building strong foundations for scalable growth.
Prioritize clear communication and leadership within your team.
Make sure you're seen - use your creative ability to attract the opportunities you'd like.
Communicate your value clearly, and use social marketing to extend your reach.

If you’re facing challenges you think we might be able to help with, feel free to reach out. You’re also welcome to sign up for the newsletter, thanks for reading.

scaling a virtual production co. | Narwhal Studios