30 years back three different, yet extremely enterprising men - Andre Timmins, Viraf Sarkari & Sabbas Joseph came together to lay the foundation of Wizcraft International. The three friends that time had little idea that the brainchild of their collaborative efforts, vision, and travail would in the future be referred to as a phenomenon that would establish the Indian events fraternity as a force to reckon with on the face of the global experiential ecosystem.

Commenting on the occasion, Andre Timmins, Sabbas Joseph and Viraf Sarkari, Co-Founders of Wizcraft said, “30 years ago, we had a dream to scale new heights and as we celebrate and look back at the glorious years pioneering the world of communication and entertainment industry in India, Wizcraft is the accomplishment of that dream. The 30 year old journey has been extremely exciting, full of ups and downs and beautifully eventful. For us at Wizcraft it’s all about going where no man has gone before and it’s about achieving the impossible and we are really proud and delighted as we celebrate a milestone of Wizcraft’s existence, it’s a very small part of a long journey that awaits us.”

How it all Started

Like all great things in life, Wizcraft is a story of humble beginnings. The establishment was set-up by Andre Timmins, Viraf Sarkari, and Sabbas Joseph with a not-so-princely sum of INR 7500 and hosted its first big event, ‘The Zed’s Fashion Carnival’ on Feb 14th, 1988. And hence, started a journey that produced stellar experiences one after the other, creating an illustrious lineage for other companies in the industry could learn from.

Though events as an industry was at a nascent stage at the time started to create a niche for itself from the go. Having gained significant experience from some stellar on-ground events, Wizcraft attempted to create history for India when they braved to bring the iconic pop legend Michael Jackson to India in 1996. While competitors in the market thought that the manoeuver was too risky and would bury the agency forever, the three Wizzes rose like a phoenix and delivered India the biggest concert that the country could have ever hoped to see.

As a result, Wizcraft as the magicians who had crafted the most celebrated event in the country’s history became a household name. The rules of the game changed too, India from that event on, became one of the biggest markets for international artists and large-scale events. Anyone who till now believed that India could never host a massive event of international stature, had their doubts cleared, the Wizcraft way!

The Journey

Over the years, Wizcraft continued its legacy of creating spectacular event concepts and delivering them beyond perfection. Some of the biggest events produced by Wizcraft over the last 30 remarkable years include- Uptron Awards in 1992 which was one of India’s first televised events, the futuristic 50 Years of Indian Independence Celebrations in 1997, India's official Millennium Celebrations in 1999, the spectacular Opening & Closing ceremonies for the Commonwealth Games in 2010, the incredible Hannover Messe Opening Ceremony in 2015, ensuring the state celebrations of the Make in India Summit and the Global Entrepreneurship Summit in 2017. The curation of all these marvelous experiences have not only given Indians another reason to be proud of themselves but have also paved the way for events as an industry to be recognized and stand on a ground of its own.

Right from immersive product launches to glittering award ceremonies, social events to technological extravaganzas and awe-inspiring exhibitions to mammoth milestone celebrations, Wizcraft has done it all and with such magnificence, that the enterprise today has successfully established itself as a synonym of unrivaled excellence across the world.

Wizcraft is also rightfully responsible for getting event management as a profession, the respect it truly deserves. With an incredible lineage of formidable work in events, Wizcraft is credited as the first event agency in the country and an increasing number of youngsters are joining the Indian events industry every day in the hope of either working in Wizcraft or becoming a ‘Wiz’ someday. In fact, if one looks at the current crop of brilliant event agencies existing in the events market today, they will come to know that most of them (if not all) have been founded by former Wizcraft employees. Wizcraft also started Wizcraft MIME in 2016 to create the next generation of event professionals through intensive industry-focused training.

Wizcraft Today

Wizcraft today is India’s biggest communication and entertainment giant that integrates creativity, strategy, technology, and unmatched excellence to create unprecedented experiences for audiences in and around the world. Headquartered in Mumbai, Wizcraft has offices in Delhi, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Chennai, Ahmedabad and Vizag in India, with international liaison offices and associates across the world, employing a task force of over 600 employees or ‘Wizzes’ as they are famously called.

With a deep-rooted expertise in experiential marketing, Wizcraft today enjoys a sterling client portfolio having more than 500 leading MNCs and corporate houses in its kitty. Brands like Amazon, Pepsico, Goggle, Twitter, Honor, Apple, BMW, IBM, Zee TV, Bacardi, Audi, Wipro, Redbull, Adidas and their custodians have unwavering faith in the power that is Wizcraft.

It is often said that the most crucial ingredient of success is constant reinvention and the same stands true for Wizcraft. The agency has constantly renovated itself with time and has over the years added multiple florets into its bouquet of proliferate offerings. What started as an event planning and management firm by three friends three decades ago has today turned into a gigantic enterprise that has all the answers to the alternative demands of a modern-day client.

With its specialized verticals like Wiz Spk Communication and PR (Ensuring the right conversations with maximum reach across traditional & social media), Wiz Theatricals (Pioneers of India’s first live Broadway-style Bollywood Musical shows), and Wiz Sports. Wizcraft has revolutionized the media & communication space in India. Additionally, Wizcraft’s wedding planning & management division- Wedniksha recently celebrated 4 fantastic years in the business, already having curated some of the grandest weddings for Indians in and around the world.

Taking India to the world, some of our proudest and biggest achievements are taking the glory of India across the globe. With its nucleus firmly set in India, Wizcraft today stands a global phenomenon owing to its brilliant international events and Intellectual properties in the entertainment domain. In addition to that both the Grand Opening Ceremony for GES 2017and the Commonwealth Games was showcased India across the world.

Wizcraft had set themselves the mission of putting Indian Cinema on a global platform by celebrating and recognizing the talent within our film industry with this annual ceremony at an international destination. IIFA (International Indian Film Academy) the flagship brand by Wizcraft is the biggest global celebration of the Indian Cinema on a global platform and is also referred to as the Oscars of Bollywood owning to its grandeur and opulence. IIFA is dedicated to building bridges across cinemas, businesses, communities and nations, creating everyone’s dream: “One People. One World”. With increased visitation and people of strong economic power flocking to IIFA destinations, it is only fitting to see what this results in the city/country benefiting from immediate economic impact.  With all the guests, fans, media and IIFA contingent all having a great time they make the most of enjoying the hospitality, dining, nightlife and shopping in destinations all adding up to economic contribution.  This brings value with tens of millions of dollars being spent within a span of 1 week of the IIFA weekend.  Proof that this event presents much more than an event. 

GiMA, most definitive platform that honours talent in Indian music has set itself an ambitious mission to create a movement for Indian music, in more ways than one. Taking this initiative ahead, GiMA also presents – GiMA Concerts. GiMA Concerts is an annual multi-city tour with an objective to celebrate the biggest music artists in the country, in a Live, never seen before format.

The Global Citizen Festival in India created and managed by Wizcraft and headlined by Coldplay and Jay Z helped raise $5.9 Billion in social commitments. The concert is fondly remembered as the finest and proudest memory of I.3 Billion people in the country.

Tryst With Technology, Wizcraft has also led from the front, constantly upgrading the use of technology; introducing and using world class technology to enhance experiences and setting benchmarks with technological firsts. Proving that ‘Digital India’ is truly what we as a country practice and excel at.

Projects For A Cause, Wizcraft has partnered with many causes on a no-profit basis to spread awareness and generate funds for Tsunami, 26/11, IIFA Foundation-Celebrity Charity Fundraiser to name a few.

Vision for the next 30 years

After 30 incredible years in the business, the list of feathers in Wizcraft’s golden cap is endless and the honors and awards on the shelf are too many to count. However, as Wizcraft as a holistic enterprise is set to celebrate 30 historic and eventful years of its existence on Feb 14, 2018, the custodians at the establishment can still be seen beaming with a never seen before excitement. The happiness on their glowing faces evidently reveals that the best in the world of events and entertainment is yet to come for the Indian audiences, as Wizzes across the country are gearing up to flag off another 30 years of creating bigger, larger and more groundbreaking experiences. Taking inspiration from the Mahatma’s words, we continue to set new goals. To set up a school for event and experiential education. To expand more and more into rural marketing. To continue to take India to the world in innovative and imaginative ways.

Wizcraft is truly the embodiment of Make in India.