Studio Offers Design & Production Services for Film, TV, Ads & Games

Creative director Kathy Lajvardi and Executive Producer Tamim Nashir have launched Special Blend, a digital production studio servicing the advertising, broadcast, feature film and interactive gameing industries. Combining skilled talent and unique creative vision, the company offers a complete solution for digital media production, including concept development, branding, motion graphics design, production, visual effects, 3D animation and editorial. Off to an exceedingly fast start for a boutique house, Special Blend has already completed a rebranding project for City Explorer TV, the global hotel television network, as well as a promotional campaign DirecTV and a series of Dominos commercials.
Special Blend plans to distinguish itself through a flexible business model and creative approach designed to deliver a top quality product with maximum efficiency. The depth of its talent pool also allows Special Blend to tackle a great variety of assignments from feature film trailers and graphics to network branding campaigns to commercials to cinematics for the gaming industry. “We can act like a traditional service provider, supporting an ad agency, production company or game company with any one of our specialized design, animation or editorial services,” Lajvardi said. “Or we can act more like an agency, developing a concept and taking the project from start to finish.”

“Our personal motto has always been ‘in for a penny, in for a pound’ and that rubs off on the artist and clients that pass through here,” Lajvardi added passionately. “That gives Special Blend the creative flexibility to accommodate projects of any scope and turn them around quickly, without sacrificing quality.”

“What separates Special Blend from other design studios is the caliber of the work,” said Nashir. “It looks like it was produced by a large steel and glass company with an unlimited budget. And our small projects look just as good as major campaigns-we give every project the treatment it deserves.”

Special Blend’s work for City Explorer TV provides a case in point. The network, featured in some of the world’s top hotel chains, came to Special Blend seeking an upscale image and a look comparable to leading broadcast networks. For DirecTV, the company produced 12 promotional spots for markets in Central and South America and the Caribbean.

Lajvardi and Nashir bring diverse skill sets and experiences to their new venture. Lajvardi’s background includes senior design post with the television series Extra. She also developed the branding and look for the popular series Celebrity Justice, a nation-wide series which ran for three years. She has worked as a freelance designer and animator with Brass Knuckles Editorial, NBC, Fox, G4TV and The Ant Farm. Her work at The Ant Farm included designing trailer graphics for the films Bee Movie, Stardust, Reno 911, Evan Almighty, and Iron Man. Her clients also include Paramount Pictures, Marvel, Atari, Midway, Disney, and Honda. Educated at Otis College of Art & Design, she is the recipient of four Telly Awards for creative excellence.
Nashir has an established career as a director of music videos and commercials. He studied filmmaking at the Academy of Art College in San Francisco where one of his projects, a PSA for Amnesty International titled Death Penalty won a Silver Telly and also went on to became a finalist for Clio and AICP awards. His first video, Ultrasonic Sound, for Los Angeles DJ Hive was nominated for an MVPA Award, competing for Best Electronica Video against Spike Jonze’s Weapon of Choice video for Fatboy Slim. He subsequently signed with 5150 Productions, headed by actors Balthazar Getty and Shon Greenblatt. Most recently, he made his debut in narrative filmmaking, writing and directing the short film David Shakes His Head.

Special Blend is located at 13020 Pacific Promenade, #107, Playa Vista, CA 90094. For more information, call 310.909.7338 or visit www.specialblend.tv.