An Early Formula for Success.
Master FX didn't start with a full product line or a large manufacturing floor. It began with a question.
How are they making that fog?
For our founder, Vince Camerano, that question grew out of three early passions: music, Halloween, and building stuff. Theme parks, haunted attractions, and the entertainment world all fed his impulse to learn how high-impact moments are made.
That curiosity led to the practical question that helped launch our company 15 years ago.
Could better fluid make better fog?
To find the answer, Vince went down a rabbit hole of testing and refinement. The sixth sample became CODE 6, our first product and a formula we still make today. In the earliest days, it was delivered from the trunk of a 1993 Buick LeSabre. To hear more about that story and our earliest origins, tune in to Vince’s recent interview.
In 2011, Master Fog was born in the corner of a shared warehouse, our first production hub. We were small, but the approach that would guide us for the next 15 years was already there: listen to the people using the equipment, understand the compromises they face, and look for a better way.
As demand grew, we moved into our own 4,100-square-foot space. Investment in research and development followed, laying the groundwork for our move beyond fluids and into machines.
In 2017, Master Fog became Master FX. The new name reflected the vision we had been working toward from the beginning. Another move nearly doubled our footprint to 8,000 square feet, giving that vision room to take shape. The Prodigy Series debuted as the first machines we designed and manufactured. The Mystic Series followed with a new approach to water-based haze, and the first Atlas upshot fogger launched our series of advancements in CO₂-style effects.
We continued growing deliberately, at a measured pace, typically adding only one or two products and one or two team members at a time. Over the years, that steady progress compounded. In 2020, we outgrew our 8,000-square-foot facility and moved to a 15,000-square-foot space in West Chicago, nearly doubling our warehouse and manufacturing capacity again.
Built for the Work.
Today, Master FX products support concerts, theatrical productions, film and television, major theme parks, broadcast events, fire and rescue training simulations, and permanent installations around the world. They have appeared on Super Bowl halftime shows and in complex integrated environments at Singapore's Changi Airport and LA's Intuit Dome.
Projects differ in scale and application, but they all ask the same thing of our equipment: perform reliably when the moment matters. That expectation continues to shape how we design products, support users, and approach Custom Integration.
The momentum has been especially visible in recent years. Our Genesis low-lying fog generator earned an IAAPA Brass Ring Award for Best New Product, we continue to bring our signature immersive experiences to more industry events, and the newest member of our Atlas Series is now "Ready 2 Rock".
A New Home for the Next Chapter.
This year, Master FX purchased a new 40,000-square-foot facility in Batavia, Illinois. Right now, the team is still transforming it, preparing each area for the work ahead.
A long-imagined showroom and demo space will give visitors a place to experience our products as they are meant to be seen. Dedicated manufacturing zones are already in place for liquid production, machine assembly, testing, and quality control.
Growth is also extending beyond our new headquarters. Through a new partnership with StageKraft, customers in Australia and New Zealand now have regional access to Master FX equipment, fluids, demonstrations, training, and application know-how.
It’s a model for how we intend to approach our international growth: work with partners who understand the technology and are passionate about supporting the people who rely on it.
What Will the Next 15 Years Look Like?
Additional space gives us more room to build and test, more opportunities to bring customers into the creative process, greater capacity for custom systems, stronger support for partners, and the freedom to pursue ideas that do not yet have names.
The same impulses that brought Master FX here will continue to guide our work: listen closely, stay curious, test the idea, learn from the result, and keep the people using the equipment at the center of our decisions.
To everyone who has been part of our first 15 years, thank you. Your trust, feedback, partnership, and imagination helped build Master FX into what it is today.
We can't wait to continue creating with you.