Mia Plays and Kouman channel broadcasts are among the content to be created at new North Vancouver studio.
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A trio of North Vancouver YouTubers are turning the notion that Canadian content creators are all about working from home on its head.
Mia Ravangar, Kourosh Zarandooz and Iman Dastpak are behind a newly established 4,000-sq.-ft. production studio on the North Shore. The two-storey facility includes four filming sets with a dedicated workspace, all intended to expand production quality, staffing and explore other directions in creative output.
All told, the trio produces a minimum of 10 to 12 videos and four to six podcasts a month.
“When we started Mia’s channel on YouTube seven years ago, we could not have anticipated that it would turn into a viable career for us all,” said Zarandooz. “With the growth of the two channels, we’ve been able to build a content business, hire a team, and now open this studio in Vancouver. We can’t wait to continue to grow, with more channels, growing our team and footprint along the way.”
Ravangar and Zarandooz are married and started their first online company in 2020. Dastpak was a neighbour. They all met in the building elevator bonding over common interests in content creation.
“I was born in Toronto, moved to Vancouver when I was young and then moved with my family back to Iran,” said Zarandooz. “That’s where I met Mia and we moved back a few months before the pandemic started.”
“I moved here from Iran with my family in 2008, moved to Australia to go to uni and study aviation management, and then came back here to finish my degree in business management at UBC,” said Dastpak. “None of us have backgrounds related to what we’re doing now.”
Zarandooz is an architect. Ravangar is an industrial designer. She was the first one to jump on the YouTube wagon posting about gaminga — hence the Mia Plays title of her channel.
“I really liked playing video games and doing art and, in 2017, I started my channel reviewing games and discussing gameplay,” she said. “Luckily, it took off and I kept at it.”
Zarandooz was behind the camera in the early years and was shy about getting in front of it. He found his rhythm in front of the camera with Dastpak, who always had an interest in cameras, broadcasting and was already a podcaster. The two found their comedic online chemistry clicked. Sitting down sharing trivia contests, interviewing subjects or just messing about, they play off one another with obvious glee.
“We have lots of challenges, games and special events, including changing up the studio into a carnival once,” said Zarandooz. “If you’ve seen late-night show segments with parts like that, it’s us. We find content in meetings with staff as well as personal inspirations, and I’m constantly searching the net for different ideas.”
The decision to make a move to a brick-and-mortar base arose out of a combination of demand and necessity.
“Starting in 2021, we were doing all of this in an apartment, as you do,” said Dastpak. “Even though we really weren’t that loud, after about the seventh or eight noise complaint you get, you have the choice of, ‘You move out or we kick you out.’ We were also located on the ground floor, so people walking by could see all the cameras, lights and so on.”
A search began in March 2024, and they took possession of the new studio space in May.
“Then, we spent about six months renovating and building,” said Ravangar. “Everything is purpose-built and designed by us for our ideas. There is additional space for in-house camera people, editors and so forth, which we didn’t have in the residential setting.”
Previously, Kouman Entertainment had farmed tasks out to contract freelancers. All three found relaying information over online communications came with its own challenges to both creativity and spontaneity. Generating fun comes quicker with instant feedback, they say.
“If I see the person behind the camera laugh, then I know I got it,” said Zarandooz. “If I don’t, then I know the joke fell flat and I have to do it again. That instant feedback is what I really like.”
Besides the core trio, Kouman Entertainment employs five additional staff performing a number of production and marketing functions. Committing to creating content and moving into the studio was a big, risky decision for all involved.
Dastpak quit a full-time project management job with a construction company. Zarandooz left his gig as well. Ravangar never foresaw this career path when she started her channel.
“When I started, for the first two years it made no money, and I never expected it to be monetized,” she said. “But after those two years, I was getting good feedback and realized I could and started gradually earning. From there, it just kept developing.”
Today, all three are frequently recognized on the street in North Van. Zarandooz says his mother “absolutely loves it.”
Besides their online lives, Ravangar and Zarandooz are also musicians in a modern rock band named Aemia, which performs in English. The most recent video, titled Stars, was posted in December 2024.
Another benefit of the new studio is as a rehearsal space. For Kouman Entertainment, it’s yet another creative avenue to explore.