Production company Motion Theory has signed noted art and engineering collective Syyn Labs for exclusive commercial and music video representation as a directorial team. Syyn Labs is a group of creative engineers from varied sectors who collectively marry the worlds of art and technology into exhibits that transcend multiple mediums and incorporate designs that encourage viewer engagement and social collaboration.
Syyn Labs joins a Motion Theory directors’ lineup that includes Mathew Cullen, Jesus de Francisco, Grady Hall, Mark Kudsi Christopher Leone and Chris Riehl.
“In signing Syyn Labs, we’ve gone outside of the traditional live-action pool of talent to build our roster,” said Javier Jimenez, executive producer/partner, Motion Theory. “Syyn Labs is an incredibly talented group of individuals who tell visual stories with inventiveness and originality that tap into popular culture.”
Syyn Labs was formed in 2008 by a group of artists, thinkers, technologists, engineers and scientists who build and twist together art and technology in original diverse ways. The group’s work became a viral sensation in 2010 when it co-directed (with both James Frost of ZOO Film, and OK Go) the “This Too Shall Pass” music video for OK Go, which has been viewed almost 20 million times online. The video’s unique assembly builds creative contraptions and interactive installations that encourage audiences to play together by lowering social barriers. The Syyn Labs members’ have designed and developed an elaborate portfolio of proprietary technology including ArtFall, an interactive whiteboard; Rubens’ Tubes, a sound-reactive fire sculpture; Sonic Stalagmites, painting with sound; and the Cloud Mirror, which uses augmented reality to bring an event’s badges to life. Their exhibits have been showcased in commercials for Comedy Central, Disney XD, and Google, and exhibited at LACMA and the Santa Monica Glow Festival.
Adam Sadowsky, Syyn Labs’ president, said that his collective felt simpatico with Motion Theory, noting that the production house “has built a community of creatives who come together to experiment, which is the very reason for why we started Syyn Labs in the first place.”
While Syyn Labs will be represented by Motion Theory as a directing team who conceives, directs and executes end-to-end, the collective will continue to collaborate with outside directors on commercial projects that want to tap into its creative skills.
Apple and Google Face UK Investigation Into Mobile Browser Dominance
Apple and Google aren't giving consumers a genuine choice of mobile web browsers, a British watchdog said Friday in a report that recommends they face an investigation under new U.K. digital rules taking effect next year.
The Competition and Markets Authority took aim at Apple, saying the iPhone maker's tactics hold back innovation by stopping rivals from giving users new features like faster webpage loading. Apple does this by restricting progressive web apps, which don't need to be downloaded from an app store and aren't subject to app store commissions, the report said.
"This technology is not able to fully take off on iOS devices," the watchdog said in a provisional report on its investigation into mobile browsers that it opened after an initial study concluded that Apple and Google effectively have a chokehold on "mobile ecosystems."
The CMA's report also found that Apple and Google manipulate the choices given to mobile phone users to make their own browsers "the clearest or easiest option."
And it said that the a revenue-sharing deal between the two U.S. Big Tech companies "significantly reduces their financial incentives" to compete in mobile browsers on Apple's iOS operating system for iPhones.
Both companies said they will "engage constructively" with the CMA.
Apple said it disagreed with the findings and said it was concerned that the recommendations would undermine user privacy and security.
Google said the openness of its Android mobile operating system "has helped to expand choice, reduce prices and democratize access to smartphones and apps" and that it's "committed to open platforms that empower consumers."
It's the latest move by regulators on both sides of the Atlantic to crack down on the... Read More