We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Shant Hamassian a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Shant, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Let’s start with a story that highlights an important way in which your brand diverges from the industry standard.

Absolutely. We believe a strong I.P. can thrive on any medium.

Our specialty for our company, Fantastik Beyond, which is a horror entertainment startup, is that we embrace the role of a studio that does not focus on live-action, but fully digital real-time engines which helps us simultaneously develop films, video games, with VR ports and experiences for a fraction of the cost.

We can create and enter the market with an I.P. in multiple mediums, therefore, capturing a wider audience, and creating cross conversions between mediums. As fans of horror, we want to watch it, we want to play it, and we want to be immersed into it. This multi-experience is what we want to bring to people.

Shant, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

As someone who seeks a better way to solve problems, I noticed a lot of issues in the entertainment industry and began seeking a new way to create films without all the legacy issues that made production so difficult and expensive.

Back when my short film, “Night of the Slasher”, exploded on to the scene, landing meetings with agents, managers, and major production companies and studios, I got more of an insider’s point of view, realizing the system gets in its own way of efficiency and needed a change.

Fortunately, Unreal Engine 5 was released not long after and opened up a door of possibilities, and I decided to pivot to a real-time engine workflow that gave us the ability to develop not only films, but also videogames and VR experiences as well. And with the encouragement from multiple friends in finance and tech to own my own business, and the valuable I.P. generated within it, Fantastik Beyond was born.

Any advice for managing a team?

What has worked for me when working with a company or team to execute ideas is that I think it’s important to have an optimistic attitude and use as much clear language as possible. When reviewing problems together, always make it feel like they are on your team approaching the issue together, like a teammate in a video game. When you are unhappy with the progress of a project, I would avoid the label of “good” or “bad”. Instead, discuss what is moving in the right direction of the goal, and what isn’t, and why. Be less emotional, and more analytical about the issue at hand. Also, ask for feedback and ideas on how they would solve an issue. Ask them what they would do differently, because the first approach might not work. This creates agency for them and a sense of belonging to a team.

Are there any books, videos, essays or other resources that have significantly impacted your management and entrepreneurial thinking and philosophy?

I practice everyday from the wise words of Chris Voss, an expert negotiator who wrote, “Never Split the Difference”.

There are other entrepreneurial books that I cherish such as “Creativity Inc,” by Ed Catmull, “No Rules Rules” by Reed Hastings and Erin Meyer, “Pour Your Heart Into It” by Howard Shultz, and “Shoe Dog” by Phil Knight.

What most of these books have in common is about having CANDOR. You express your issues openly, honestly, and provide a potential solution. The goal isn’t to insult an individual, but to emphasize the issue at hand, and how to solve it. And the other important thing is flexibility. Flexibility isn’t about changing your vision, but changing your approach on how to reach it. It’s a luxury most small companies have to be able to pivot quickly on their feet.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.fantastikbeyond.com/
• Instagram: @fantastikbeyond
• Facebook: @fantastikbeyond
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/shant-hamassian/
• Twitter: @fantastikbeyond