Mafic Studios--bringing ideas to life.

• Author: Stewart, Nick
• Position: SPECIAL REPORT: SUDBURY

From Pilot Investors to Focus Magazine, to a variety of aerospace firms, more and more international clients in need of bringing their ideas to life are turning to a Sudbury-based 3-D illustration and animation company.

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

At the center of it all is Kris Holland, founder of Mafic Studios, whose status as his company's sole employee is increasingly jeopardized as business picks up.

"I've gone from being kind of busy to being insanely busy," says Holland, with a laugh. "Last year, 50 per cent of my time was paid for. Now it's about 120 per cent, and I'm working 16- and 17-hour days just to try and keep on top of things. I've more concurrent contracts than I've ever had before."

While the company's early days following its creation in 1999 found a relatively slow trickle of work, recent months have seen a variety of windfalls for Holland, who recently signed a three-year contract to create animation for the Canadian Space Agency. What's more, Popular Science magazine has regularly hired him to create an illustration every month, occasionally requesting that he produce an additional one or two.

With the ability to easily spin concept sketches and conversations into detailed images through the use of commercial software, Holland is in high demand and has recently completed work for clients in New York, Los Angeles and Italy, with regular clients continuously knocking on his door.

Holland estimates that the majority of his current work has fallen into a specific aerospace niche, with 60 per cent of his time going towards clients in that sector.

Much of his remaining...