BrightFX, a new full-service advertising agency, has opened up on Front Street in the space once occupied by Aimee’s Linens and later Embellish!

    BrightFX is headed by Tony Boutwell, a former Peavey employee and Leading Edges alumni.

    “I had been at Leading Edges for 13 years as the creative director — loved working there,” Boutwell said. “I was at Peavey before that for almost eight years.”

    When Boutwell left Leading Edges he really wanted to work primarily with video.     “I thought there was a need here for someone doing high end video production,” he said.

    On the day Boutwell decided to start his production company, he ran into Tom Sikes, who had a ministry called “Paving your Way.” Apparently, on the same day on Sikes had decided to produce a TV show for his “Paving Your Way” ministry called “The Road In Between.”  

    Two months went by with the two men working on their respective projects before they finally met.

    “It really was the road in between and how God puts people in your life, in your path, you know,” Sikes said. “The exact person you need. He needed me, I needed him. I’m not a part of BrightFX but I’m one of his first clients … So it turned out perfect. Tony helped me start ‘Paving Your Way’ outreach back in 2000, so it’s been a full circle.”

    Boutwell explained the origins of the BrightFX name.

    “I wanted to do something that left people brighter than when we started,” he said. “We will always do production but I wanted to be more community minded. What can we do to help the nonprofits? What can we do to help the businesses downtown that are wanting to do something that is growing the downtown?”

    “There is no place I’d rather be than downtown,” he added. “It’s the perfect place.”

    BrightFX has an Advertising for Impact program that Boutwell said offers “huge discounts” to local nonprofits that are making a difference in the community.

    “I wanted to do things that made a difference,” Boutwell said, “and Tom’s ministry is about making a difference.”

    BrightFX is primarily a high end, digital effects video production company but will eventually be a full service ad agency offering graphic design, web development, logo, print, and social media services.

    “We are doing a lot of web development and social media right now, which is not where we thought we would start but that’s what the clients are asking for,” Boutwell said.

    The agency has a two man staff but  Sikes is a fixture in the shop and Bill Barham has joined Sikes in working on Tom’s ministry. Boutwell hires extra freelance staff when needed for remote production.

    “We have also started a relationship with MCC (Meridian Community College), to get interns from their broadcasting program,” Boutwell said.

    The location for the business was a conscious decision for both Boutwell and Sikes.

    “Being across from the Mississippi Arts and Entertainment Center is not only creating a future but it is also creating a present, right now because that’s why we’re here,” Sikes said. “We’re going to get to watch it develop and we want to be a part of that.”

    Boutwell has a personal history with the MAEC.

    “When I was at Peavey back in ’94, Jere Hess said, ‘Hey, we’re working on this presentation to give in Jackson to see if we can win this arts and entertainment center for the state of Mississippi and we’re going up against a bunch of people. Can you help us produce a very high end PowerPoint presentation that will help us compete against the big guys?’ Boutwell said. “And way back in ’94 we created a full blown 3-D animation of it. We took satellite imagery and build the site in 3-D and we did all this amazing animation that was really trying to show that Meridian could step up and really perform. And we got that — we won it.”

    Later, while at Leading Edges, Boutwell helped Bob Luke of LPK Architects with his presentations as well.

    “I feel like I’ve been trying to get this thing done for a long time,” Boutwell said. “Now we’ve opened up our business right across the street from them. To me it’s kind of a nice full circle.”

    Boutwell said his business will be more than just an advertising agency.

    “Any time you do an agency you partner with people but when you partner with people that do community-minded stuff it’s another whole level of satisfaction that you get,” Boutwell said.

    To learn more about BrightFX, visit the company’s website at http://brightfx.org.