Creative collective Syyn Labs has joined the roster of The Cavalry Productions for spots, virtual and augmented reality, and experiential branding. Syyn Labs is probably best known for its physics-based branding spectacle-centered videos and installations. Among the collective’s most notable credits are the Rube Goldberg machine music video for OKGO’s “This Too Shall Pass”–which has earned tens of millions of views and a UK Video Music Award–along with videos and interactive installations for ESPN, Chevrolet, Ford, Allstate, Red Bull, Google, Disney, Sears, Target, and Xbox.
“Talking with Adam (Sadowsky, Syyn Labs president), he has infectious creativity, childlike excitement, and he comes from a place of pure collaboration, offering up awesome, crazy ideas,” said Ross Grogan, Cavalry executive producer. “I was immediately impressed with their work. I realized that the Cavalry needed to represent Syyn Labs. In an age where we’re tricked into believing something is real through heavy visual effects, Syyn is grounded in reality and the physical world. It’s happening right in front of your eyes and 100 percent authentic and organic.”
For his part, Sadowsky felt on the same page with Grogan and Cavalry EP Tanya Cohen. “We had a fantastic initial conversation,” said Sadowsky. “I told them some of my craziest ideas–things that I haven’t yet had an opportunity to do. They absolutely got it. They clearly shared my enthusiasm for these ideas and what Syyn does. Of course, we do some pretty unusual stuff. But at the same time, we must remain focused on the engagement of our audience and the narrative. After all, story is essential for our projects to achieve that engagement–it’s the way we spread the message for our client brands. Not only do we figure out how to make it work, we make it work so that it has the maximum audience impact.”
Sadowsky heads a group of Syyn Labs creatives–designers, engineers, scientists–who are all dreamers. The imagination-centric collective first gained recognition for its physics-based stunt videos. “Syyn has an innate ability to brand through their videos and installations,” said Grogan. “They are also very forward thinking in technology, including VR and AR. It’s really the perfect time for Syyn Labs.”
Sadowsky has spoken at a variety of conferences including TED, InkTalks, Google Zeitgeist, CaT, F5, and Web2.0. Earlier Syyn Labs had been repped in the ad arena by Motion Theory.
Rom-Com Mainstay Hugh Grant Shifts To The Dark Side and He’s Never Been Happier
After some difficulties connecting to a Zoom, Hugh Grant eventually opts to just phone instead.
"Sorry about that," he apologizes. "Tech hell." Grant is no lover of technology. Smart phones, for example, he calls the "devil's tinderbox."
"I think they're killing us. I hate them," he says. "I go on long holidays from them, three or four days at at time. Marvelous."
Hell, and our proximity to it, is a not unrelated topic to Grant's new film, "Heretic." In it, two young Mormon missionaries (Chloe East, Sophie Thatcher) come knocking on a door they'll soon regret visiting. They're welcomed in by Mr. Reed (Grant), an initially charming man who tests their faith in theological debate, and then, in much worse things.
After decades in romantic comedies, Grant has spent the last few years playing narcissists, weirdos and murders, often to the greatest acclaim of his career. But in "Heretic," a horror thriller from A24, Grant's turn to the dark side reaches a new extreme. The actor who once charmingly stammered in "Four Weddings and a Funeral" and who danced to the Pointer Sisters in "Love Actually" is now doing heinous things to young people in a basement.
"It was a challenge," Grant says. "I think human beings need challenges. It makes your beer taste better in the evening if you've climbed a mountain. He was just so wonderfully (expletive)-up."
"Heretic," which opens in theaters Friday, is directed by Scott Beck and Bryan Woods, co-writers of "A Quiet Place." In Grant's hands, Mr. Reed is a divinely good baddie — a scholarly creep whose wry monologues pull from a wide range of references, including, fittingly, Radiohead's "Creep."
In an interview, Grant spoke about these and other facets of his character, his journey... Read More