Principals

Paul Caporicci, Chief Executive Officer
Shawn Jackson, Chief Creative Officer

Website

creativebytesstudios.com

Status

Resident

What we do

Creative Bytes Studios provides game developers with art, code and design services, develops interactive apps for businesses and creates their own video game titles. Whether you are looking to release your product on a gaming console, desktop or mobile device, Creative Bytes Studios can provide you with a unique approach to educate, entertain and inform people around the world. Creative Bytes Studios is assembled from an experienced team that has held leadership positions at reputable video game companies and puts an emphasis on quality for all projects.

Notable Projects

Launched Creative Bytes Studios original title Monsters Assemble 3D on iOS and Android. Assisted bitHeads by adding PC specific gameplay features for Steam port of Spearhead’s PS4 game, Tiny Brains. Assisted Drinkbox Studios by implementing XBox 360 specific functionality for Guacamelle STCE and Mutant Blobs Attack. Assisted Phantom Compass with bringing Rollers of the Realm to Playstation 4.

Why do we choose to be at the Generator at one?

Having an office located at the Generator at one gives Creative Bytes Studios the opportunity to be near other like minded companies and consult expert advice from the advisors at Innovate Niagara. Since the Generator at one is located downtown St Catharines, Creative Bytes Studios has access to the wide variety of local amenities, as well as being able to stay and raise a family in the Niagara region.

Principal

Sandra Tournemille, Founder/Creative Director

Website

imagepropellerstudios.com

Status

Resident

Business Description

At Image Propeller Studios, our goal is to help companies connect to their customers and larger audience. At the core of our services are our animated promotional videos. These dynamic, friendly and non-aggressive videos are valuable sales tools in helping both small and large businesses tell their story to a larger audience. We also provide 2D and 3D illustration, graphics for web design, and video game asset generation. It is our mandate to keep our services current and relevant.

Notable Projects

Festival Venue Maps for Live Nation (Illustration). 2013 Campaign video for United Way Niagara (animation). Promotional video for Innovate Niagara (animation). Asset Creation for Rollers of the Realm (video games).

Why do we choose to be at the Generator at one?

Collaboration: Work with and alongside of talented industry professionals to improve my own professional development and skills. This collaboration will also help me expand my services and stay up to date on new trends in technology.
Local Community: Being a part of the local digital community and contributing to a growing industry here in Niagara is a long term goal of mine.
Support: I am well aware of the failure rate of new businesses within the first 5 years and with very little business background, an incubator seems like the perfect spot to learn from talented and knowledgeable mentors. Being a part of the Generator has given me the confidence that I can make it through these first few difficult years and establish a sustainable business here in Niagara.

Principals

Niagara College

Website

niagaracollege.ca/research

Status

Resident

Business Description

Niagara College’s Research & Innovation division provides real-world solutions for business, industry and the community through applied research and knowledge transfer activities.

Teams conduct projects that provide innovative solutions in advanced manufacturing, agriculture and the environment, food and beverage innovation, and commercialization solutions, including digital media and business solutions. Projects can include producing and testing prototypes, evaluating new technologies, and developing new or improved products or processes for small- and medium-sized businesses.

With funding support from various regional, provincial and federal agencies, students and graduates are hired to work alongside faculty researchers to assist industry partners leap forward in the marketplace.

Notable Projects

In the past year, NC’s Research & Innovation provided applied research experiences to 1,269 students and 32 faculty researchers, in 27 programs, while working on 77 projects for a variety of industry partners. In the spring of 2014, we were able to announce a successful outcome in our bid to open a Technology Access Centre at the Welland Campus, thanks to funding from the federal government. A few months later, the provincial government announced its support for the Centre, -- which provides innovative solutions for the advanced manufacturing sector – by funding of a 15,000 square-foot building, to be constructed during 2015. Another of the year’s highlights involved celebrating the official opening of the Canadian Food & Wine Institute Innovation Centre, housing state-of-the-art labs at the Niagara-on-the-Lake campus.

Why do we choose to be at the Generator at one?

Success breeds success, as we have seen time and again from sharing the same physical space as the many other creative and entrepreneurial types of Innovate Niagara. Together we are focused on offering innovative solutions of varying kinds for the small- and medium-sized businesses who make up our amazing region, and we are then also able to provide referrals to offer the most well-rounded experience to our clients. We have successfully utilized our space to incubate start-up companies – such as HiPO Visualization and Manic North – developed from related project work with NC’s Research & Innovation.

Principals

Jason Lupish, Founder/Creative Director
Ralph de Groot, Producer

Website

openconceptfilms.ccom

Status

Resident

Business Description

We are a team of storytellers driven by a passion for creating innovative and entertaining new media that balances creative storytelling with an emphasis on brand strategy. OCF's creative team is led by a team of award-winning filmmakers whose passion for storytelling has been the inspiration behind many of our films. Our goal as a production company is to deliver engaging and compelling stories that embody the vision and core brand ideas of our clients.

Notable Projects

OCF's "A Kind of Wonderful Thing" screened at the Niagara Integrated Film Festival, and won Best Niagara Rises Feature, beating out April Mullen's Dead Before Dawn, and the Jason Priestly film Cass and Dylan starring Richard Dreyfus.

In a Best Of the Year in Canadian Film list from a notable film critic, OCF received:
- Top 5 Actresses in Canadian Film (Erica Sherwood)
- Jason Lupish Top 10 director
- Top 10 Canadian Film

OCF also produced their first Choose Your Own Adventure interactive film for Epilepsy Toronto, which is scheduled for release in 2015.

Why do we choose to be at the Generator at one?

The Generator at one has opened the doors to opportunities that we never thought existed in terms of funding, and access to equipment. Our company has grown exponentially in the past year, having gone from a small company of one person working out of an office with no windows, to having 3 full-time employees, 2 part-time employees, and several subcontractors working on an ongoing basis. Our income has quadrupled in less than 6 months, and our project slate is growing by the day. Because of our access to services and equipment at the Generator, we are able to fully realize projects that were not necessarily possible before, now that we have access to specialized technology, the other companies inside and associated with the Generator at one and Innovate Niagara's network.

Principals

Tony Walsh, Founder/Director
Ericka Evans, Head of Production
Jas Yule, Technical Director

Website

phantomcompass.com

Status

Resident

Business Description

Phantom Compass is an independent game company with offices in Toronto and Niagara. Their team combines veterans from web software development, TV production and triple-A console game development. Phantom Compass offers full game services from consultation to documentation to full production for game developers, IP owners, filmmakers and kids TV owners.

Notable Projects

Phantom Compass' most recent project is also their biggest original IP, the pinball RPG Rollers of the Realm, which was nominated for a 2013 IndiCade award. Phantom Compass launched Rollers of the Realm in November 2014 on Steam worldwide, and on PlayStation4 and PS Vita in the Americas and Europe. Phantom Compass has contributed to a number of award-winning and award-nominated projects – chiefly, web game suites based on Canadian TV series such as Splatalot and Rollbots. They received a nomination in the International Trade category in the Niagara Entrepreneur of the Year Awards.

Why do we choose to be at the Generator at one?

We love being close to home and family as well as taking advantage of the amenities in-house and downtown St Catharines. It’s been great to see the companies close to us grow – especially with the mentorship, advice and connections to academia. As the company grows, we look forward to bringing people more skilled jobs to the Niagara community.

Principals

Alex Golebiowski and Chris Iacobucci

Website

pixelnauts.ca

Status

Resident

Business Description

PixelNAUTS Inc. is an art production and gaming studio. The company is co-owned and operated by two artists with years of experience and whose work can be seen across the industry.

Notable Projects

2014 was a big year for PixelNAUTS, as they signed an agreement with Sony to release their game LOST ORBIT on PlayStation4, which was also Greenlit by Steam Community. LOST ORBIT was exhibited at PlayStation Experience in Las Vegas, at GDC Play and the MIX in San Francisco, and at Niagara ComiCon. In addition, their 2013 game Contrast launched on Xbox One after being nominated for twelve Canadian Video Game Awards, including Best Visual Art, and won for Best Game Innovation.

PixelNAUTS was nominated for a Niagara Entrepreneur of the Year Award in the category of Innovative Small Business.

Why do we choose to be at the Generator at one?

"Being in a creative environment and seeing others develop their projects is part of the magic of being in this space. It’s inspiring and a bit competitive, which is nice,” said Iacobucci. “It’s all about the people around us and collaboration,” added Golebiowski.

Principals

Brock University

Website

brocku.ca/cdh

Status

Resident

Business Description

The Centre for Digital Humanities supports academic programs, research and innovation that engages and facilitates computing, in an interdisciplinary environment, for the creation, preservation, transmission and analysis of human culture with a special focus on interactive media, visualization, game studies, serious games, immersive and virtual environments.

Notable Projects

The Centre delivers the Interactive Arts and Science program (IASC), a multi-disciplinary program that provides students an opportunity to study and work in digital media, 3D online environments, computer games, emerging digital platforms, and any other environment that combines digital media and interactivity. The program combines theory and practice to enable students to develop a depth and breadth of understanding about new media, and to create their own integrative digital media projects. As we teach our students to be interactive media artists, developers, and innovators, we also teach them to be readers, writers, and thinkers. Our graduates analyze and communicate how we use interactive media to communicate now and in the future, and develop the interactive media that is transforming life in the twenty-first century.

Why do we choose to be at the Generator at one?

Being located at the Generator at one provides our researchers and our students an opportunity to work closely with the other tenants on projects. It provides important access to expertise and technology.

Principals

Adrian Thiessen & Kristen Nater

Website

fourgrounds.com

Status

Graduate

Business Description

We are an award-winning motion-picture production house located in St. Catharines, Ontario, and have spent the past five years creating engaging video content that helped our clients stand out in the noise. From commercial spots to full-length feature films, our experienced crew has the passion and knowledge to bring any story to life on-screen.

Notable Projects

Corporate work in both Canada and the U.S. for clients like Corona Canada, Brock University and Green Mountain Coffee Roasters have helped us make a name for ourselves, and creative projects like "The Auteurs of Christmas", "If Santa Was Hip" and "Heritage Minute" have helped us make a dent in the viral realm with a combined 1,726,157 views. In 2012 we co-produced a Hollywood feature titled "Without Ward", and we are currently in post production on our first independent feature film "The Hotel Dieu" (for updates visit thehoteldieumovie.com).

Why do we choose to be at the Generator at one?

Our early days spent as tenants and technology partners of the Generator at one helped us establish important connections and experience that contributed to our current success. Having access to world-class technology, and forming strategic partnerships with complementary businesses allowed us to bid on projects that might otherwise have been too large in scale. The invaluable support and resources available at the Generator at one eventually allowed us to move on and open up our own studio, and is high recommended to any start-up in the tech sector.

Principal

Tom Madej, Founder

Website

furi.ca

Status

Graduate

Business Description

We are a team of designers, developers, and technologists that build awesome things with our customers. Do you have an idea? Let us execute it. We take your intangibles and turn them into working interactive software on desktop, web and mobile platforms.

Notable Projects

In 2014, Furi Co-developed INcube with Innovate Niagara, a CRM software service to help Regional Innovation Centres improve efficiencies and track information online. The Furi team also developed and launched the Niagara Industrial Association website (niagaraindustry.com), attended Startup Weekend in Hamilton (majority of the team), and launched the Indyoh.com platform for on-demand viewing of Indie films. In addition, Furi hosted and aided NIFF in the development of their website.

In the IT realm, Furi expanded their IT client base, providing service of large scale, high availability online web hosting, and migrated a client's entire IT infrastructure from site to site with minimal downtime.

Why do we choose to be at the Generator at one?

As a company at the forefront of software development and IT in the Niagara region, Furi owes much of its success to the team and facilities at Innovate Niagara and the Generator at one.

Principal

Tobias Weigand

Website

morroimages.ca

Status

Graduate

Business Description

morro images is a visual effects and 3D computer animation company, based in St. Catharines, Canada and Potsdam-Babelsberg, Germany. morro images Canada specializes in two sectors: Product Development and Entertainment. 3D Scanning, 3D Printing/Rapid Prototyping, and Motion Capturing is our expertise.

Notable Projects

Specializing in live, real time motion capture work, morro images has worked on a number of “fun” projects recently including; a real-time motion capture performance at the Canada 3.0 conference; a real-world tour simulation called “the Generator Experience”; and a stereoscopic 3D movie called StrAngel: the Angel of Odd, which was featured at the Cannes International Film Festival and won best animation at the Catalina Film Festival. The team has also been collaborating with Koppers Fishing & Tackle to do product development, as well as rapid prototyping work for Bombardier.

Why do we choose to be at the Generator at one?

My motivation was two-fold – to avoid cabin fever and to found a North American division and grow through the opportunities here. The networking and access to technology at the Generator at one have been the biggest benefits for morro images, followed closely by the ability to stay in touch with cutting-edge new talent.