Former Bobcat Zachary Dembinski has known what he wanted to be since he was 15 years old, when he first encountered a computer graphics program called LightWave.

“It blew my mind that whatever vision or idea I had I my head I could create on the computer and show people,” Dembinski said, during a phone interview from his home in Toronto, Canada.

Since those early days tinkering with the program, Dembinski, 25, has built a career off his passion. Three weeks ago, Dembinski and his special effects team at MVF Maverick in Toronto were notified that they had been nominated for a special effects category Emmy for the creation of computer graphics church utilized in a scene from the Hulu drama “The Handmaid’s Tale.” The show was recognized as the Banff Media Festival Program of the Year.

But, before every Emmy nomination, comes hours honing and perfecting a craft.

After graduating from Brandywine High School in 2011, Dembinski continued his education at the Vancouver Film School in Vancouver, Canada. The program essentially packs four years of instruction into one, meaning that, after a 12-hour day of class, Dembinski could be found working up until 2 a.m. at the lab on a project.

After a year, Dembinski earned a degree in three-dimmensional animation and visual effects and eventually got a job working as a computer graphic artist for MVF Maverick. As a graphic artist, his duties include creating special effects for movies and TV shows.

The Emmy-nominated special effect scene takes place in season one, episode two of “The Handmaid’s Tale.” The episode is called “Birth Day.” It was Dembinski’s job to help create a digital crumbling church that would look realistic.

“The Handmaid’s Tale” is based on the book written by Margaret Atwood. The story is set in dystopian future, where a rigid society has replaced the former way of American life and dreams. The main character, June, is a captive, dreaming of escaping and re-uniting with the family who was taken from her.

Creating the church took about a month to complete. After all that work, Dembinski said the special effects team realized that something was wrong.

“When we got closer [the images] they looked low resolution,” Dembinski said. “They were not high quality enough to be visually pleasing to the eye.”

With only a week left to go in his deadline, Dembinski said he had a stroke of luck, when he found out that a church was being demolished just down the block. At the demolition site, Dembinski drew his inspiration from the demolished church’s rubble. Using a computer program called MAYA, Dembinski and the team perfected their church model for the scene.

In the finalized scene, the handmaids pass by a church reduced to near rubble. In reality, there was nothing more than a vacant lot in the scene, but with the use of special effects, the church’s broken façade creates an eerie backdrop.

When Dembinski heard that the team was nominated for an Emmy following their efforts on the church scene, it felt like hard work paying off.

“I was super excited for everyone and for the studio in general,” Dembinski said. “It is a collective group effort.”

But the hard work does not stop there.

Next, Dembinski will be using his talents to create special effects for a show called “Salvation” airing on CBS and a show called “The Expanse,” on SyFy.

“I am a big science fiction fan, so that is right up my alley,” Dembinski said. “I am glad I am here and working on the shows.”

In his spare time, Dembinski is also working to create his own short film.

To those considering a career in the industry, Dembinski encouraged them to not be afraid of making mistakes.

“Don’t be afraid to fail,” Dembinski said. “I have failed so many times doing something and that is how I grew. My biggest growth was by failing. Just go with your gut and your heart, and put all of your work into it.”

Visit: mavericks-vfx.com/work/the-handmaids-tale/ to get an inside look at the special effects design process.