Psyop Adds Gaming & Interactive

Psyop's Brian Kehrer (Creative Technologist) and Will Adams (Interactive Creative Director)

 

With two key hires and a slate of digital work in its pipeline, bi-coastal production company Psyop (http://psyop.tv) is adding interactive design and game development to its service offerings.
 

Two strategic hires, a growing team
Hired last November as Psyop’s first Creative Technologist, Brian Kehrer co-founded Muse Games, where he directed Guns of Icarus Online and served as Technical Director for CreaVures.

 

Kehrer is joined this May by Will Adams, formerly of B-Reel, where he worked on award-winning interactive projects including AFL-CIO's "Work Connects Us All," True Blood “Dig Deeper,” and Hotels.com “Trip Your Face”  — all winners of the coveted FWA Site of the Day award.  

 

Together, Kehrer and Adams pitch and direct alongside Psyop’s creative directors and CG teams on a variety of projects, from microsites to branded games.

 

“This is our roots, actually,” explains Psyop co-founder and Creative Director Marco Spier. “We’ve always been about technology and art and trying to smash them up in interesting ways. We’re just getting back to that in a really organic way.”
 

A promising portfolio
Psyop recently launched several interactive and cross-platform projects, including an interactive graphic novel for Fanta on iOS and Android; an FWA award-winning documentary site (with Jam3 and Fathom Film Group); an animation played out on Coke fans’ t-shirts (with Ogilvy and Bossa) and two multi-platform campaigns for McCann-Erickson and David & Goliath.

 

Psyop’s gaming team is also creating an innovative point-and-click adventure game for a non-profit client.

 

“It’s an exciting time,” says Lucia Grillo, Manager Director of Psyop’s New York office. “With Kehrer and Adams leading our in-house designers and developers, we’re bringing the level of artistry from our broadcast work to the digital space.”

 

Side-stepping the siloed production model in which each project is divided between 'specialized' vendors, Psyop is partnering with agencies and brands to bring integrated creative solutions and leveraged value.

 

Producing broadcast assets alongside digital development also cuts the length of iteration cycles to a minimum, so the creative realizes its full potential faster and agencies gets what they need, when they need it.

 

Justin Cone, who joined Psyop as the Director of Special Operations in 2011, is now turning his considerable energies towards digital as well.  Cone says, “It’s a three-way win. You get Psyop quality with quick turnaround, tight art direction and unified management. I’m putting all my chips on this.”