Newly formed animation/design firm Psyop has entered into a deal with production house MTV Commercials for exclusive domestic spot representation. Both companies are based in New York.
Prior to formally opening, Psyop had already collaborated with MTV Commercials on projects such as Starburst’s "Revelations" via Grey Advertising, New York, and a client-direct Pepsi Fruitworks spot, "Professional Fan League.
Currently, Psyop is pitching for a second Starbursts assignment, and is working on both a VH1 campaign and a TV Land ad. (VH1 and TV Land are sister cable networks to MTV.)
Psyop’s roots are firmly entrenched in MTV soil. The animation/design firm was founded by three former MTV networks’ colleagues: designers/directors Marie Hyon and Todd Mueller; and technical director Eben Mears. Hyon was an art director at TV Land; she previously held the same job at sister networks Nickelodeon and Nick at Nite. Earlier in their careers, Mears was Nick Digital’s chief animator, and Mueller was senior producer of on-air promos. Mueller had also created and produced the ’96-’99 show amp, MTV’s weekly mix of electronic music and experimental animation. Most recently, Mears and Mueller were at the Sci-Fi Channel (USA Networks), where they served, respectively, as visual effects supervisor/Inferno artist and art director
The alliance between Psyop and MTV Commercials seemed an obvious move, according to MTV Commercials’ executive producer/director Nick Litwinko. "Todd and I worked together when he was at MTV, and Eben and I worked on some commercials when he was at Nick Digital," related Litwinko. "So when they went to the Sci-Fi Channel, I kept in touch with them. When they were getting ready to leave and start Psyop, I wanted to work with them. … So we formed an alliance. … Everybody there has worked with us at MTV, and that’s why the relationship makes sense."
The decision to found Psyop came partly from the artists’ determination to avoid certain pitfalls in the production process. Said Mueller, "I’ve definitely had the experience where the process was under a time constraint-if you’re in a Flame suite by the hour, you don’t really have the time to experiment and find the best solution. Here we don’t have that problem." Furthermore, "I’ve seen relationships between clients and directors be adversarial rather than collaborative. With Starburst and Fruitworks, the client really had a lot of important information and we tried to encourage a thorough back and forth."
Psyop’s staff also includes designer/director Kylie Matulick, who created the network redesign for FOX Kids, through Lee Hunt Associates, New York (now Razorfish); Todd Akita, a freelance head animator at Nickelodeon; and Marko "Vuks" Vukovic, also a former freelance animator at Nickelodeon. Psyop’s executive producer is Kimmy Ng, another MTV recruit.
Hyon, Matulick and Mueller are Psyop’s key designers/directors. "Kylie, Marie and myself represent a lot of different looks," said Mueller, who is also available individually as part of MTV Commercials’ directorial roster. "Eben does compositing, integration and animation. Todd Akita does animation and technical direction, matching CG into live action. Vuks does animation and flash animation," Mueller continued.
Psyop can team on spots with any of MTV Commercials’ directors, including Litwinko, Greg Buyalos, William Hines, Geoffrey Johnson, Lalita Khosla, Laura Margulies, John Payson and Olivia Ward.
MTV Commercials’ national head of marketing and sales Henry Hagerty handles representation on the East and West Coasts, while Rich Newman and Sue Rosen of Chicago-based Rich Newman Associates cover the Midwest. This sales force will market Psyop nationally for commercials. However, MTV Commercials is not involved in Psyop’s music video and broadcast design business.
