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.
Netflix Series “The Leopard” Spots Classic Italian Novel, Remakes It As A Sumptuous Period Drama
"The Leopard," a new Netflix series, takes the classic Italian novel by Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa and transforms it into a sumptuous period piece showing the struggles of the aristocracy in 19th-century Sicily, during tumultuous social upheavals as their way of life is crumbling around them.
Tom Shankland, who directs four of the eight episodes, had the courage to attempt his own version of what is one of the most popular films in Italian history. The 1963 movie "The Leopard," directed by Luchino Visconti, starring Burt Lancaster, Alain Delon and Claudia Cardinale, won the Palme d'Or in Cannes.
One Italian critic said that it would be the equivalent of a director in the United States taking "Gone with the Wind" and turning it into a series, but Shankland wasn't the least bit intimidated.
He said that he didn't think of anything other than his own passion for the project, which grew out of his love of the book. His father was a university professor of Italian literature in England, and as a child, he loved the book and traveling to Sicily with his family.
The book tells the story of Don Fabrizio Corbera, the Prince of Salina, a tall, handsome, wealthy aristocrat who owns palaces and land across Sicily.
His comfortable world is shaken with the invasion of Sicily in 1860 by Giuseppe Garibaldi, who was to overthrow the Bourbon king in Naples and bring about the Unification of Italy.
The prince's family leads an opulent life in their magnificent palaces with servants and peasants kowtowing to their every need. They spend their time at opulent banquets and lavish balls with their fellow aristocrats.
Shankland has made the series into a visual feast with tables heaped with food, elaborate gardens and sensuous costumes.... Read More