Meet Luis & Allison | Co Owners of BLAS Center Productions

We had the good fortune of connecting with Luis & Allison and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Luis & Allison, what do you attribute your success to?
One of the most important factors is our value system which has been never chase money, but rather build relationships. Networking, community organizing, and collaborations with other business owners has tremendously helped our brand grow. An example of this would be during the pandemic, as we ventured off into a new project to create social media content for small business owners in NYC who were just starting their business or needed help with creating content to help promote and market their brands. Many relationships developed from this project.

Alright, so for those in our community who might not be familiar with your business, can you tell us more?
BLAS Center Productions is a full production company focusing on film and Photography services for all types of private events. We work with non profits, business owners, and we also do content creation for many brands across NYC. We are different in the sense that we work with everyone and we are constantly creating new ideas, projects and ventures. The production side of the company focuses on content creation and full production services that also include, music, dj, mc, event planning, make up artists and photo booth services. The Center part of the company focuses on giving back to the community and we have developed internship programs for the youth who are interested in learning more about film and photography. We are also looking to develop more employment opportunities to older adults who have this same dream to create and capture special moments. The Center also helps start up companies and small business owners create their social media content to help promote their brands and attract more customers. We are excited about the launch of BLAS Studios which is becoming a new part of the company, where we will be doing all types of shoots for business owners, podcasts and other clients. Building a production company was not easy as we faced various challenges throughout our journey. Dreaming is amazing but you have to keep pushing and never give up on your dream. You can also have multiple dreams and that is what keeps you going. Do not let people tell you that you cant make it. You have to believe in yourself first. We endure staffing issues, low or free jobs that we had to do to get the experience, family issues and envy, cold nights working out doors, late nights of no sleep editing and working on contracts, but because we loved what we did, it was never a job and we never got tired. We kept moving on. Lesson # 1 for us is never chase money first, find something you love to do that you can do all your life even if you never got paid, thats how you find your true passion and the money will come be patient. We are a family owned business that started their company in a small studio in NYC and like everyone else we had our careers and jobs but we always had a passion and a dream to shoot photos and create films. However, we took a risk and we chase that dream until it became a reality. Couples can work together if you share the same vision and love for the business.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
They will def stay at BLAS Studios and we would also do some photos and video coverage of the visit for our friend to take home as memories. As photographers we know all the spots in NYC where to shoot that are great for tourists but also for those who are looking for something different.

Staying at BLAS Studios: photo shoot fun
Day 1: Visit our secret spot in Brooklyn NY BEACH 97 that has the most amazing peruvean dishes and sea food, it is also owned by small business owners so we would be supporting their brands as well.

Day 2: Classic but always great to take photos Coney Island Park Brooklyn NY. has some of the best hot dogs in NYC.

Day 3: Statue of liberty and Rhandals Island, great for photos, but also great to learn the history of NY and potential ancestors.

Day 4: Queens NYC Flushing area, has some of the best underground chinese food and also Indian restaurants

Day 5: The Hamptons in Long Island, this is the tip and last exit on Long Island that has great places to see and enjoy.

Day 6: a day in Manhattan NYC , def by the High Line park, has great malls, scenery and spots for photos.

Day 7: Park where I grew up Corona Flushing Meadow Park, very relaxing, you get to see soccer games, volle ball, and great Ecuadorian Food, this is also the home of the Tennis championships

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
Absolutely. Goodwill Industries of NYNJ. I worked here for over 15 years in social services and during this period I started to develop the film part of our company. I met my wife here too and together we developed our film and photography company. The Goodwill management team supported our dream, gave us the creative freedom to create content for the company and once we decided to leave to venture full time in our business, Goodwill NYNJ continue to support us and now they are one of our biggest non profit clients that we work with in NYC. Special shout outs go to Sheree Fergusson Cousins, Beatriz Baldwin, Yanique Calvert, Natalie Bryatn, for being such instrumental parts of our journey and mentors to both my wife and I.

Website: https://blascenterproductions.com

Instagram: @blascenterproductions. our Studio page: @blasstudios. our wedding page. @blasweddings

Youtube: blas center productions