The Cinematic Advantage

We wield a unique advantage within the landscape of architectural visualization. For over twenty years our studios in Los Angeles and New York have drawn from the filmic ubiquity around us and endeavor to channel that richness into our work. We are inspired by the strength of our relationships forged as we collectively explore the intimate kinship between architecture and film.

We journey forward, pressing the visual media of the built environment toward cinematic expression. When we see a building we look for the stories inside it; how to artfully frame each space; how to light in a way that showcases the subject; what sequence of shots goes beyond describing a procession of rooms but celebrates them with the emotive vitality of theatrical filmmaking. By combining this directorial approach to visual storytelling with the passion and goals of our partners we imbue architectural experiences with cinematic life. This is our advantage.

Shimahara

Leadership

We believe our partners can trust us in the fierce pursuit of artistic and cinematic excellence, sharing what we’ve learned over the many years in order to deliver the graceful solution. We believe that good form fuels our success.

Craig Shimahara

Craig is the President and Founder of Shimahara Visual. With over twenty years of experience he leads the company’s pursuit of artistic and cinematic excellence. His devotion to his clients and their goals is what enables the company to consistently deliver superlative architectural experiences through film, branding illustration, and virtual reality.

Past clients include Lightstone Capital, Hackman Capital Partners, Federal Reality, Hudson Pacific Properties, Gehry Partners, Gensler, and Morphosis.

Brett Ribeneck

Brett is the Studio Director for the Los Angeles office. With a background in concept art and watercolor architectural illustration, he is able to help the team with composition, design and production of each project.

He will be the main point of contact
for client communication to streamline comments and scheduling to produce cohesive and compelling final packages.

Recent past clients include Shigeru Ban, Gehry Partners, RMPLA and Morphosis.

Chase Morikawa

Chase is the Director of Operations for Shimahara Visual. He will take the lead in delivering innovative new media content. With over 12 years of experience he is able to provide technical and creative direction for animations, virtual reality, and interactive technology projects.

Past clients he has worked with include Gensler, Killefer Flammang Architects, Hudson Pacific Properties, Kilroy Realty, and Perkins + Will.

Igor Neminov

Igor is the Studio Director at Shimahara Visual. Igor joined the studio in 2015 and has produced an innumerable amount of marketing and competition images for a some of LA’s award winning Architecture firms, which includes Morphosis,
P-A-T-T-E-R-N-S, Tom Wiscombe and Frank Gehry Architects.

Igor is an award winning artist with over 10 years of professional experience. He is also a gifted leader who is able to raise the artistic bar of everyone around him.

Elizabeth Parker

Elizabeth is the Chief Creative Officer for Shimahara Visual. She creates and nurtures relationships in multiple markets. With a background in photography she also helps lead the team to create unique narratives and compelling assets for diverse projects. She will be part of the team executing and conceptualizing creative and strategy for campaigns.

Notable past projects and clients she has worked with include Frank Gehry, Related, Commonwealth Partners, SOM, Facebook, Olympia (Gateway Towers) and Townscape Partners.

Mark Villanueva

Mark is the Director of Branding for Shimahara Visual. He brings over 7 years experience in leading creative campaigns in digital, graphic, print, and interactive design. Mark will lead the design team on execution of creative assets to produce cohesive and cinematic marketing campaigns.

Past clients he has worked with include Federal Realty, Tishman Speyer, Spear Street Capital, Palisades, MAD Architects, Zaha Hadid Architects, and Morphosis.

Brian Martinez

Brian is the Studio Director of the New York office. He has been building Shimahara Visual’s presence on the East Coast since he helped launch the office in 2017. With a background in flimmaking and photography he leads the team’s efforts in the production of high performance imagery through the use of the cinematic language.

Notable clients include Shigeru Ban, Richard Meier, HKS, Ceruzzi, Lightstone, and Gensler. Brian also led the design and production of the virtual reality exhibit of Never Built New York which ran at the Queens Museum in 2018.

Client List

AC Martin
AECOM
BCV Architects
Brandywine Realty Trust
Brookfield
CallisonRTKL

CBRE
Clive Wilkinson Architects
DLR Group
Ennead Architects
ERYC Architects
Federal Realty
Forum Real Estate Group
FXCollaborative Architects
Gehry Partners

Gensler

Grimshaw Architects

Hackman Capital Partners
Handel Architects

Harley Ellis Devereaux

Hensel Phelps

HGW Architects

Hines

HKS
HLW International

HNTB
HOK
Hudson Pacific Properties
IMT Capital

Jerde Partnership

Johnson Fain
KFA
Kilroy Realty

LBA Realty

Lightstone
LPA

Millennium Partners
Monian Group
Montalba Architects
Macerich

Moore Ruble Yudell
Morphosis

NBBJ
P-A-T-T-E-R-N-S
Perkins Eastman
Perkins & Will

RCH Studios
RMPLA
RXR Realty

Serious Work
Shigeru Ban Architects
SOM

Steelwave

Stonebridge Companies

Stonehill & Taylor Architects
Studios Architecture

The Ratkovich Company
Trammell Crow
Westfield

ZGF Architects