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.
Jennifer Kent On Why Her Feature Directing Debut, “The Babadook,” Continues To Haunt Us
"The Babadook," when it was released 10 years ago, didn't seem to portend a cultural sensation.
It was the first film by a little-known Australian filmmaker, Jennifer Kent. It had that strange name. On opening weekend, it played in two theaters.
But with time, the long shadows of "The Babadook" continued to envelop moviegoers. Its rerelease this weekend in theaters, a decade later, is less of a reminder of a sleeper 2014 indie hit than it is a chance to revisit a horror milestone that continues to cast a dark spell.
Not many small-budget, first-feature films can be fairly said to have shifted cinema but Kent's directorial debut may be one of them. It was at the nexus of that much-debated term "elevated horror." But regardless of that label, it helped kicked off a wave of challenging, filmmaker-driven genre movies like "It Follows," "Get Out" and "Hereditary."
Kent, 55, has watched all of this — and those many "Babadook" memes — unfold over the years with a mix of elation and confusion. Her film was inspired in part by the death of her father, and its horror elements likewise arise out of the suppression of emotions. A single mother (Essie Davis) is struggling with raising her young son (Noah Wiseman) years after the tragic death of her husband. A figure from a pop-up children's book begins to appear. As things grow more intense, his name is drawn out in three chilling syllables — "Bah-Bah-Doooook" — an incantation of unprocessed grief.
Kent recently spoke from her native Australia to reflect on the origins and continuing life of "The Babadook."
Q: Given that you didn't set out to in any way "change" horror, how have you regarded the unique afterlife of "The... Read More