Exxodus Pictures made a name for itself when it premiered its first feature-length film, "
Jinn," a couple years ago. Since then, the 6-year old firm has expanded into several other areas, including developing television commercials and handling 3D modeling and animation work for the auto industry.
"A lot of our business comes from the commercial side," says Ajmal Zaher, co-founder & owner of
Exxodus Pictures.
The downtown Detroit-based firm, whose offices are in M@dison Building, has done a lot of regional commercial work. Its largest customer for television commercials, however, is
One Reverse Mortgage, for which Exxodus Pictures handles all of its national spots.
Exxodus Pictures has also taken on work creating computer graphics for industrial clients. That includes General Motors, which hired Exxodus Pictures to do 3D modeling and animation work.
Even though Exxodus Pictures has diversified its revenue streams, it still hasn’t stopped making movies. The firm received $1.3 million in tax incentives from the state of Michigan to film three made-in-Michigan movies last year. One such film is "My Soul to Keep," which follows 9-year old Eli Braverman, who is terrified of his basement and the evil that might lurk there.
"Remember when you were little and thought there was something living in your basement?" Zaher says. "This movie explores that."
Exxodus Pictures and its core team of five people -- which staffs much more when a film is in production -- has finished shooting "My Soul to Keep" and is in the process of editing it. Zaher expects to release the movie in late 2016 or early 2017.
Read more about Metro Detroit's growing entrepreneurial ecosystem at SEMichiganStartup.com.