Skycar Recent News

Check out Adobe’s new homepage, we did a liquid simulation to fill the banner background – we call it a rainbow (or gradient) sploosh!

It’s April 2020, deep in the COVID Shelter-In-Place order. Kids are trapped in their homes and parents are stuck in little virtual meeting boxes all day. Skycar Creative Director Aaron Barry had a fun and challenging idea for a short film. So, he worked out the details with his wife, bribed the kids to act in it (nine scenes over two and a half days), and his oldest son composed and performed the music. Hope you enjoy!

During this COVID19 lockdown, a little bit of good news goes a long way. We have been inspired by a few people in our neighborhoods and social circles who are doing good in interesting and creative ways. Or just hard things, but handled with grace. Please share any stories you know that would make for a good installment of WTWNN!

Rebecca Grace is a filmmaker, an activist, and a close friend of Skycar. About a year ago, she started “Complete Picture,” a foundation with a crucial mission: to help people reduce prison time and keep their families together. Complete Picture makes films to help overburdened (and underfunded) public defenders tell the full story of people who have committed a crime but still await sentencing. Her films provide judges with valuable context: they can see the defendants as a valuable part of a family and the broader community. Over the past year, Grace’s five films have achieved a collective prison time reduction of 184 months.

When we saw Rebecca pouring her heart, soul, and thousands of hours into this work, we decided to make a film about her films (meta!) to help bring the foundation to the attention of potential funders. Visit the Complete Picture website: https://www.completepicture.org/

On Earth Day 2020 we helped Trust for Public Land with a video that helps underscore the urgent importance of outdoor spaces – all the time, especially during a pandemic. This video was made for their campaign #everyonedeservesapark. Across the country, more than 100 million people — a third of us, including 28 million kids — don’t have a park within a 10-minute walk of home. Emergencies like this just go to show that in too many communities, parks and accessible natural areas are still considered a privilege, when they should be available to all. The Trust for Public Land is working hard every day to bring parks and green spaces to where they’re needed most.

We were surprised and delighted when we saw this week’s email from Create magazine. All of the videos featured in it happened to be films we made for Adobe. It was a Skycar sweep!

We made our first film for Create Magazine. It’s an Oakland story featuring kids of Oakland Kids First and the legendary comic book artist Jimmie Robinson. Read the full article on the Create website: https://create.adobe.com/2020/02/24/jimmie-robinson-teenage-heroes-east-oakland.html

After spending a year making it, we’re super excited to get to see our film Little Point Richmond on the big screen at the Albany Film Festival 2020. Screening dates coming soon – the festival runs March 21-29th.

Watch the trailer below!

2019 was a big year for us! In our 5th year of business, we got to stop time, help the Clorox Electro team win an agency award, hang out with surgical robots, and even disappear a sound guy from a big ‘hollywood’ movie. We started production on a documentary about a woman working to help balance the scales of the justice system, and followed a mad talented comic book artist for Create Magazine (coming soon!). It was a fantastic year and we’re really looking forward to seeing what 2020 holds for the team. Thank you to our collaborators, friends and clients who keep the car flying year after year!

Meet our team: Andy Miller – Senior Producer

Andy is an award winning filmmaker who has been making beautiful documentary content with major brands and social impact clients for years. He’s a California native with limitless energy and optimism – with a ‘can do’ for any situation. Oh, but please don’t ask him to wear white socks.

We teamed up with the Adobe Creative team to take a lighthearted look at how helpful AI can be for creative teams. Adobe Sensei helps with inane tasks, like cropping and tagging 1000’s of photos, giving creatives more time to be, you know, creative. Don’t miss the marketing one, too!

We had the privilege of making this sizzle reel about Adobe Substance for the opening keynote at Adobe MAX 2019.  See how Adobe Substance creates beautifully rendered 3D for games and movies!

In the sleepy neighborhood of Point Richmond, CA, dozens of tiny fairy houses emerge from tree trunks, flower boxes, and front yards. The artist behind these miniature homes makes them as surprise gifts for his neighbors. In turn, the art helps heal his depression and bring the community together.

Coming April 2020. Check out the trailer in the meantime!

We had a blast creating a sizzle reel for Clorox’s in-house creative studio, Electro, to show at the IHAF Awards. We went to their Oakland headquarters to film their creatives in action as they developed packaging, print ads, and digital campaigns for their 40-plus brands. The sizzle reflects both the wide variety of Clorox products and the joy and creativity of the people who work there. Plus, a bonus: we now have LOTS of recipes for cooking with Ranch dressing!

For Skycar’s 5th anniversary, our dear friend Emi Takahara brought in local artist Andy Vogt to create a piece of his signature artwork for our expanded space. Hand crafted from dozens of pieces of reclaimed wall lathe, it creates an unexpected 3D illusion. Wood is also supposed to be the 5th anniversary gift, representing strength and durability. Here’s to our first five years – and many more!