Night Bright is an interactive installation of nocturnal discovery where children use their bodies to light up the nighttime forest and discover the creatures that inhabit it. Listening to the creatures’ sounds children can locate them in the forest, as they play a nighttime game of hide and seek

The wait is over! Since early August this year, Pathé cinemas around the Netherlands have been screening their animated short film project, ‘Ultrakort’. Made possible with the help of the Dutch Film Fund, this program gave four directors the opportunity to screen their miniature movies prior to the commencement of full-length features. And now, voilà! ‘Overlast’, the two and a half minute wonder by our animation director extraordinaire Han Hoogerbrugge, will start screening before the brand spanking new ‘Conan the Barbarian’ feature as of September 8. One ticket please….

Our multi-award winning commercial director Andre van Duren is, literally, all over the Netherlands Film Festival this year. His name will be inked throughout the programme since his feature film ‘De Bende van Oss’ has been selected to play on the opening evening on September 21 AND he’s got a guest speaking stint at the Festival’s ‘Evening of the Commercial’ event on September 29. Boasting a client portfolio that features Albert Heijn, Unilever, Unox, CocaCola, Citroen and Nestlé (we could go on…), it’s easy to see why, right?

Too much of a good thing? Pfft – Not possible! Thankfully, iconic Tilburg based Playgrounds Festival agrees. Collaborating with Submarine Channel, this digital arts convention is beefing up the good times by adding a extra day in Amsterdam on top of its regular 2 day affair. On October 5, the ‘Playgrounds vs Submarine Channel’ event will feature talented motion graphics and animation peeps like Encyclopedia Pictura, Physalia, Tokyoplastic and David Wilson presenting their ideas and inspirations. Tickets are limited so scoot on to playgroundsfestival.nl/tickets and get purchasing!

Yes sir, we know how to pick ‘em! Award-winning documentary director Noud Holtman is joining the crew and with 15 years of experience in directing, we’re pretty sure there’s nothing this guy can’t do…his documentary ‘The Sixth Maestro’ is being released on DVD across 3 continents and his experimental short films ‘Samuel, Condemned to Braces!’ has been screened at film festivals across the world. On top of all this, he’s recently been working on some pretty nifty commercial projects. At the risk of sounding smug, let’s just say we’re pretty happy to have him onboard…

Award-winning documentary director Noud Holtman can attest to variety being the spice of life. With the ability to sincerely convey personal human stories, he uses completely different styles of filmmaking without losing authenticity and this hasn’t gone unnoticed. His documentary The Sixth Maestro has been released on DVD across 3 continents and his experimental short film Samuel, Condemned to Braces! has been screened at festivals across Europe, US and the Middle East. Clearly, after 15 years in the game, thinking laterally comes naturally to Holtman with his skills also spanning to commercial work for Discovery Channel and Shell.

More new recruits! If there’s one thing we love more than a fresh thinking creative director, it’s two fresh thinking creative directors working together and here they are: Theo and Emily. Yup, they’re with us now and this interactive directing team are combining slick design and precise sensory motion to create characters and environments that have everyone jostling for a turn in front of the screen. Between them we think the possibilities are infinite, but the coolness rating? Immeasurable!

A quadruple animation combination? It’s not a tongue twister, it’s a summertime cinema highlight! Pathé cinemas around the Netherlands will commence screening four short animation films over the course of the summer, forming the ‘Ultrakort’ program. From August 3^rd, the introductory leader for the series will be launched and will unveil the four short animated gems that have all been funded by the Dutch Film Fund (Nederlands Filmfonds) and Pathé cinemas. How’s this for a double whammy: not only was the leader created by our animation/interactive star Han Hoogerbrugge and produced by Submarine, he also directed one of the animation films in the series. Kaboom!

Like ABBA at a roller disco, or a cherry on a sundae, we’re serving up the perfect pairing. Directing duo Mirka Duijn and Nina Spiering are sending hearts swooning with their dreamy collection of works to date. International Film Festivals are smitten (Rotterdam AND Cannes!) and the Dutch Film Festival had them up for an award. Rich and aesthetically pleasing motion graphics, commercials and music videos created with meticulous art direction and styling is just their thing. Mmmm… delightful!

Spring might be well and truly over, but our very own André Bergs should be doing some cleaning and making some room on his mantelpiece in anticipation for a big night in September. His short feature animation ‘Pivot’ has been one of six animations nominated for the Cartoon d’Or 2011 – the European award for best animated short film. A tale of cat-and-mouse set in urban streetscapes, ‘Pivot’ was made in conjunction with il Luster Productions. The winner will be announced on September 15 in Sopot, Poland – we think a Cartoon d’Or would be a handsome addition above the fireplace, alongside his Golden Calf award from the Netherlands Film Festival…

Design I O

Theodore Watson

Theo Watson is an artist, designer and experimenter whose work is born out of the curiosity and excitement of designing experiences that come alive and invite people to play. Theodore’s work ranges from creating new tools for artistic expression, experimental musical systems, to immersive, interactive environments with full-body interaction. His recent work includes the Eyewriter, an eye controlled drawing tool, Graffiti Research Lab’s Laser Tag, laser graffiti system and Funky Forest, an immersive interactive ecosystem for young children. Theodore works together with Zachary Lieberman and Arturo Castro on openFrameworks, which is an open source library for writing creative code in C++.

Emily Gobeille

Emily Gobeille is an artist and award-winning designer who specializes in merging technology and design to create rich immersive design experiences. Working in concept development, visual design, interaction design and creative direction, her experience over the past ten years spans many disciplines, including web, print, motion graphics, wireless platforms and installations. Emily’s unbound energy and affinity for telling stories lends to her playful approach to projects. With an emphasis on meaningful interaction and systems built to support open play and discovery, her work creates a sense of wonder and delight.

A rich, remarkably stylised, visual aesthetic and an eye for detail define the work of emerging directing duo Mirka Duijn and Nina Spiering. They search for beauty in ugliness, which is especially reflected in their precise art direction and unique choice of arenas. Nina and Mirka create idiomatic worlds that seem familiar and unknown at the same time.

Mirka started her career at public broadcasting station VPRO where she won several prizes (a.o. a Silver Spin Award) for her concepts for interactive, digital television programs. Next to her work at the VPRO she has always been working as freelance director and motion designer. Nina Spiering has a background in film for theater, working with well known Dutch theatre companies like Orkater and Oostpool.

The kickstart to their career as a directing duo came with their short film Manitoba, which premiered at the International Film Festival in Rotterdam, screened at the Cannes Film Festival and was selected for the Debut Competition at the Dutch Film Festival. Since then they have been working on a wide range of short and longer fiction projects, motion graphics, commercials and music videos.

De Bende van Oss (Sigma Pictures) – the handiwork of our esteemed gentleman director Andre van Duren – has been selected as the opening film for this year’s Netherlands Film Festival. A.k.a the premiere happens on September 21st in Utrecht followed by movie theaters nationwide from September 29th. The film harks back to Holland’s cinematic 1930’s and gives us a fascinating peek into the oft-overlooked criminal underworld of the Netherlands (yes we DO have gangsters– real hardcore ones too, if you must know).

Following his explosive oriental successes with Yu-Lan, and Shanghai Trance, David Verbeek’s fourth feature Club Zeus is a sumptuous cinematic masterpiece that follows the intricacies of life as a boy toy in a Chinese “host” club for ladies. Set in a Blade Runner-esque, Chinese metropolis, the film addresses the illusion of romance, emotion, and friendship in a dystopic world of artificial human connections. Coming to a cinema near YOU (if you’re in Netherlandish) on June 9th. It’s beautiful!

Ooh aren’t we lucky duckies?! As of right about NOW, we are graced with none other than Sander van der Vegte – the revered, self-taught megabot who brought us multiple award-winning, multi-platform fun times with Rocket Riot and Gatling Gears. Counting code, art and sound among his very favorite things, he is the sort of obsessive compulsive most agencies can only dream of signing…. Sigh / swoon / hurray (in equal measure).

The incredible self-taught megabot Sander van der Vegte is a rare gem in the world of interactive talent: a game designer who’s repertoire spans everything from board games to multi-million dollar Xbox and PlayStation projects. Mildly obsessed with core game mechanics and balance, he is the brains behind critically acclaimed and multiple award-winning Rocket Riot and Gatling Gears, both of which are available across several platforms. So skilled and multifarious is our Sander that he has completed entire game productions 100% on his lonesome – making clients like Disney, Microsoft and Sony very happy bunnies.