From the release
NEW YORK, VENICE, Calif. and LONDON, May 4, 2018 /PRNewswire/ — Psyop, the creative-centric production studio, today announced a new framework that broadens the company’s animation and mixed media offerings in North America and Europe.
Under the new framework, Psyop will fully integrate its New York-based sister company, Blacklist, within the Psyop family of companies to enable a consolidated and cohesive approach to addressing the animation and mixed media needs of its brand and advertising agency clients. Additionally, Psyop has made a strategic investment in London-based animation studio, Golden Wolf, which will add 2D animation to Psyop’s 3D expertise and expand Psyop’s global footprint.
“There’s a reason Ad Age has named Psyop ‘the go-to shop for top notch animation and design.’ We have always been a creative studio, pushing visual boundaries and telling unique stories; these changes empower us to further shake-up the mixed-media space we helped pioneer, while continuing to deliver exceptional creative work that is not bound by location,” said Neysa Horsburgh, managing director at Psyop.
Psyop also announced a minority purchase of Golden Wolf, the London-based production company known for its vibrant and design-minded content targeted at millennial audiences. Since opening its doors in 2013, Golden Wolf has produced tailor-made visual experiences across a range of interactive media for local and global brands, including Gatorade®, Disney® and Cartoon Network®, among others. Psyop’s strategic investment in Golden Wolf will enable both companies to collaborate more rapidly on select projects.
The collaboration will fuse Golden Wolf’s youthful voice and depth of 2D talent with Psyop’s 3D experience to produce innovative and captivating visual content. The investment will also allow Golden Wolf to expand their operation with additional hires. And both companies will be able to optimize operations across New York, Los Angeles and London.
Psyop has elevated Blacklist’s executive producer and managing director, Adina Sales, to head its office in New York City. An experienced creative producer and agency leader with a proven track record of developing talent and creating award-winning work, Sales—who launched Blacklist more than a decade ago—will oversee creative development, production, client services and business development under her new role at Psyop. Both studios’ executive leadership and sales teams will be consolidated into one, strengthening the bi-coastal production team and creative offering. The company is bolstering live action, while streamlining the 2D and 3D team for a more versatile production pipeline.
“For the past 12 years, Blacklist has represented the best-in-class of international visual directors, animators and production studios,” said Adina Sales, newly-appointed managing director at Psyop. “Aligning our amazing creators closer to Psyop, and applying my own efforts directly to both Psyop’s roster as well as Blacklist’s, represents an incredibly exciting opportunity to claim our stake as the go to resource for all things in the design, mixed media and technique driven space. Golden Wolf has been a fantastic partner and a standout on the Blacklist roster. We’ve put together a powerful creative network, and will be stronger together.”
“With these changes, we’re enhancing Psyop’s best attribute–a team of highly adept creative specialists who create unforgettable content led by thoughtful design and breathtaking art–and letting that grow and evolve to better serve our clients,” said Hunt Ramsbottom, CEO and President of Psyop. “By bringing the best talent to the table, we’ll operate with the speed, efficiency and explosive creativity that our customers require, and position ourselves for future growth.”
Recent Psyop work includes Travel Oregon’s “Only Slightly Exaggerated” campaign; Coca-Cola’s “Mural” campaign; Xbox’s “The Super Duper Minecraft Musical” campaign; and Sherwin-Williams’ “Epiphany” campaign (among others).