Anyone that grew up near the Great Lakes knows about "lake effect snow." It's a phenomenon that occurs during the winter, when the air above a lake is frigid, but the water inside the lake is still relatively warm.  The contrast in temperature creates a low-hanging cloud over the lake, and when the wind picks up, the area near the lake gets a surprise snowstorm.

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Los Angeles has almost no lakes. No frigid air, either. But when Jimmy and Billy first met in 2013, the film industry was as cold as ice. They were new to the city: no clients, no gear, and no clue how to make anything happen here. What they had, instead, were the kind of warm, innocent hearts that make strangers say "you guys must be from Chicago." And in this pathetic, meteorological metaphor, the contrast doesn't result in a snowstorm -- it resulted in films.

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Six years later, Lake Effect Films is churning out videos for some of the biggest artists and brands on the planet. We aren't clueless anymore, and we've got more gear than we know what to do with.  We've replaced our innocence with experience, but our hearts are still warm. You can take the boys out of Chicago, but you can't take the Chicago out of the boys.