Even after collaborating with Drake several times, Anil Mohabir says the excitement still feels unreal. On Friday, he admitted he was still in a dreamlike state after helping bring the Toronto rapper’s latest ambitious music rollout to life.
Mohabir worked with Drake’s team to transform the CN Tower overnight, sending an icy blue glow climbing up the landmark in what he described as a dramatic, “real-time, 3D animation.”
The stunning visual display, paired with a fireworks show over Toronto’s waterfront, framed a livestream event that ended with the surprise midnight release of three albums: the highly anticipated Iceman along with Habibti and Maid of Honour.
“We took into account the 3D geometry of the tower and we showed it freezing real-time, with computer animation all the way to the top,” Mohabir said.
“Once it reached the top, we [had] a really fun lighting animation that kind of moves around ambient light, like lights were hitting the ice from different angles.”
Mohabir is the founder of Studio AM, a Toronto-based company recognized for its digital and technical visual design work. He said Drake’s creative production company, DreamCrew, approached him with the concept only three weeks before the event.
Pulling off the massive production required extensive coordination with the CN Tower’s indoor and outdoor lighting teams, Transport Canada, and the City of Toronto. Mohabir also led a crew of roughly 300 people working behind the scenes.
The towering projection relied on 75 projectors gathered from both Canada and overseas. They were installed at three different locations, including the rooftop of CBC’s Toronto Broadcast Centre.
“Each projector averages around $200,000, with each lens anywhere from like $25,000 to upwards of $100,000. So the total value of the equipment is very mind-boggling,” he said, estimating the projectors alone were worth nearly $15 million.
When the projection finally went live, Mohabir said the reaction from his team was unforgettable.
“Everyone was almost in a bit of shock,” he said Friday, laughing.
The CN Tower display followed another buzzworthy campaign Mohabir helped create earlier in the week — a livestream featuring Drake driving through Toronto in an Iceman-branded truck.
In the lead-up to the album release, Drake orchestrated several eye-catching stunts across the city. These included placing a giant block of ice in a downtown parking lot, filming a dramatic explosion at Downsview Park, and freezing over his usual courtside seats at Scotiabank Arena, home of the Toronto Raptors.
For Mohabir, the experience reflects how Drake continues to spotlight local talent and push Toronto’s creative scene onto a bigger stage. Raised in Regent Park himself, he said he’s grateful for the opportunity.
“We’re just a bunch of kids from Toronto that kind of have crazy ideas and crazy dreams…. Through the conduit of Drake we’re given the opportunity to execute [them] at a really high level.”
Harnaik Singh Rathor is the Founder, Publisher, and Editor-in-Chief of StudioX News Canada, Canada's multilingual digital news network serving diaspora communities across 44 languages. With a background in media production, public relations, and multicultural communications, he founded StudioX Film and TV Corporation to bridge the gap between mainstream Canadian media and the country's diverse immigrant communities. He is a member of the Canadian Association of Journalists (CAJ), RTDNA Canada, CPRS Vancouver, Unifor, NEPMCC, and the Canada Freelance Union. He holds CAVCO Personnel Number SINH0106. Based in Surrey, British Columbia. | LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/harnaiksinghrathor/ | Muck Rack: https://muckrack.com/harnaiksinghrathor | Email: editor@studioxnews.ca
