Since Psyop came into existence in 2000, Todd Mueller and Kylie Matulick have been turning out memorable, boundary-pushing work all over the world. Lending their creative talents to brands including Nintendo, Nokia, Nike, Bombay Sapphire, Twinings and beyond, the duo continues to show that their artistic range knows no boundaries. This is showcased with their long-running relationship with Cricket Wireless, continually weaving imaginative spots for the brand with the help of Cricket’s imaginative, colorful cast. In 2007, their work received an Emmy nomination for Coca-Cola’s ‘Happiness Factory,’ was honored with the Silver Cannes Lion, and then went on to garner an Emmy Award for Coca-Cola’s ‘Heist’ in 2009.
Awards won in the name of Psyop include honors from D&AD, the CLIOS, the Annie’s, Ciclope and have also led to addition of the MOMA’s permanent collection. Most recently, Psyop was awarded “Best Animated Television / Broadcast Commercial” for their beloved Coca-Cola spot “Man and Dog” at the 2015 Annie Awards. Whether it is a long running campaign or a new opportunity to put the Todd and Kylie touch on a new creation, the outcome of their work never fails to push the envelope.
Compelling stories and spellbinding visuals characterize the diverse commercial films of Director Marie Hyon, a co-founder of Psyop. Marie has recently released her short film Bottle Cap, which is making a splash at film festivals such as Clermont Ferrand, Stuttgart, Aspen, and at Annecy, among others. The film highlights our society’s toxic love affair with plastics and she hopes it will inspire change and action against single use plastics. Marie’s versatility and her unique vision allows her to flow from character driven heartfelt, emotional stories, to hard hitting action game trailers, to the mesmerizing visual language of music videos and installations, and a variety of dramatic and whimsical commercial entertainment. Her work has won numerous accolades over the years including top awards at the Cannes Lions, the Clios, D&AD, AICP, and ADCs to name just a few.
Marie is a Korean American who moved from Seoul to Williamsburg, Brooklyn at the age of 9. Growing up as a female immigrant in the city, Marie was faced with many challenges, but the tactile, disruptive, inspirational atmosphere of New York City is where she has grown to love and call her home. She earned her BA at Parsons School of Design for illustration, had her work published in publications, such as the New York Times and the Village Voice, and had a long run as a designer/art director at Nickelodeon and MTV Networks. In 2000, Marie co-founded Psyop with four other partners in a small storefront bar in New York’s East Village. Recently named a Standout in Ad Age’s 2022 Production Company A-list, Psyop has been raising the bar for design-led visual storytelling for over two decades, and has now grown into a global creative collective of makers who inspire one another to keep evolving and doing the best work possible.
Marie views the world through empathetic eyes, sees beyond the surface of things, and her passion pushes her to create with meaning and depth, transporting audiences into the heart and soul of a scene. Marie continues to explore, feeding her curiosity, discovering opportunities to grow, and expanding her horizon, both internally and externally, always seeking joy in the process.
Every human being is an artist, a freedom being, called to participate in transforming and reshaping the conditions, thinking and structures that shape and inform our lives.
– Joseph Beuys
As founder and Emmy winning Director for Psyop, Marco Spier has directed the Gold Cannes Lion-winning Adidas “Together” campaign, as well as the more recent projects for Adidas Parley, Apple, Facebook, IBM and the new Sesame Street opening, to name a few.
Outside of Psyop, Marco helped start Parley for the Oceans, a creative collaboration space where creators, thinkers and leaders come together to raise awareness for the beauty and fragility of our oceans and to stop their destruction.
Borja Peña Gorostegui is a Spanish Director based in Los Angeles with over 16 years of experience in the advertising industry.
Borja has written and directed a wide range of animated and live-action films over his career. He has garnered hundreds of millions of views online and won several awards, including THE ONE SHOW, AICP & ADDY. His work for the Clash mobile game franchise continues to be one of the most celebrated campaigns in advertising.
Growing up, he idolized the films of Steven Spielberg, influencing his approach to storytelling and his passion for adventure. Borja is incredibly detail oriented when it comes to his work and passionate about every aspect of the process.
Borja attended the Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD) where he practiced and experimented with every medium of storytelling he could get his hands on. While finishing SCAD he freelanced at both The Ebeling Group and Radical Media before moving to New York in 2005.
During his time in New York, Borja worked for some of the top advertising studios taking on a wide variety of roles and responsibilities. Over the years his “Swiss Army knife” set of skills placed him as a designer, lead compositor, 3D animator, CGI generalist, technical supervisor and project lead, to name a few. In 2012, Borja accepted a Director position with Psyop, honing his craft as a storyteller while working with high end clients, such as COCA COLA, PEPSI, SUPERCELL, NINTENDO, SAMSUNG, FRITO-LAY, PLAYSTATION AND DELTA AIRLINES.
Borja relocated to Los Angeles in 2018 to further his career in filmmaking. Most recently, he wrote and directed his first animated short film, due to release in the fall of 2020.
Prior to joining Psyop, Jack directed the award-winning animated short “Wire Cutters” which showed at over 100 film festivals worldwide and went on to win runner up for Vimeo’s Top Animated Film that year and garnered nominations for both a Student Academy Award and a Student BAFTA.
Technique agnostic and a compulsive learner, Jack Anderson never misses an opportunity to add new tools and abilities to his skill set, adapting to the fast moving technical landscape of computer animation and always identifying the best ways to tell memorable stories. The end result is a portfolio of work that spans a spectrum of emotions and new media platforms.
His most recent projects at Psyop include a multi-faceted campaign for Cricket which spanned a 3 minute Blockbuster film, a real-time, live stream event featuring the Cricket CG characters alongside Mario Lopez and an interactive OOH activation, as well as, a bittersweet film for Traveler’s on the dangers of distracted driving.
From a background in design, advertising and fine art, Alan Bibby directs commercials, fashion films and music videos, collaborating with artists such as Stevie Wonder, Ariana Grande, Pharrell, Zendaya, Coldplay and Rihanna, and global brands including Audi, Lexus, Microsoft, Google, Sony, Nike, Marc Jacobs, General Motors, IBM and Budweiser.
His films have been shown at international festivals and museums including MoMA PS1 andthe Museum of Art and Design in New York, the Tate Modern in London and Palais de Tokyo in Paris.
Alan has served as a judge for The One Show, ADC and AICP, and regularly speaks at conferences across the world. With a focus on automotive, fashion and technology, his eye for design, storytelling and visual effects has created award-winning work exploring the intersections between art, music, advertising and culture.
Christian Bevilacqua is a versatile filmmaker, visual artist and storyteller with an ever evolving style which he describes as inspired by a pleasant barrage of new things. His background as an animator and addiction to technology lends an extra dimension to his craft. He combines live action with performance, VFX, and design to create dynamic and distinctive work. He’s directed innovative attention-grabbing campaigns for major brands worldwide such as the NFL, Nescafe, Toyota and Mastercard to name a few. He has won multiple industry awards, among them a pair of Cannes Young Director Awards, multiple Creative Circle awards, and ADDY and APA accolades.
Terry Hall grew up in West Yorkshire, England, and now resides in Los Angeles. He studied Graphic Design at Falmouth College of Arts. After graduating in 2003, he won the BBC New Talent Music Video Director competition. He’s since tackled branded films, and has directed spots for VW, Virgin Media, Sony Playstation, and Ikea. His live action work is grounded in design.
Often solving vfx in camera, Terry always employs an artful hand, quirky playfulness and a fashionable eye. His work has won various awards at the Webbys, the One Show and a Bronze Cannes Lion. He is featured in numerous publications both in print and online. Terry has surfed, fished, and done some fantastic road trips.
Directors’ duo Julien Vallée and Eve Duhamel, or as they’re more widely known, Vallée Duhamel, create exciting and unexpected work that twists reality through visual storytelling. They continually surprise and delight the viewer with complex narratives that combine high end production techniques with their own poetic brand of design and art direction. This signature playful style can be seen throughout their work for some of the world’s most iconic, sought after brands, including Target, Apple, Google, Samsung, Hermès and Coca Cola.