If you told me as a child that I’d one day be living in my dream city, I wouldn’t have believed you. If you told me in 2019 how big the office I set up in my dream city would grow to be, I would’ve been blown away. It’s been three years since we set up our office in New York, and looking at where we are today, I’m inspired by the huge progress we’ve made.
Back when we were setting up our office from scratch, my main focus was building a team of creatives that shared our vision. It was a daunting task, but what pushed us through was an ambition to further support our clients, and with a helping hand from our UK team, we found the creative force we were looking for. With this drive, we were ready to take on the bustling and vibrant city of New York.
Expansion: The Opening of the LA Office
As soon as we opened our New York office, we were met with a ton of exciting opportunities and an explosion of work. It’s thanks to this success that we were able to open up a new office in LA, scaling up our US operation into a bi-coastal network of creative talent. LA is situated right within the heart of the motion picture industry, so having the home of Hollywood be the home of our second US office really excited me, and this environment has brought so many fresh projects that keep us thinking outside the box. Of course, every expansion our US operation makes is informed by client demands, and having two offices across the US means we can give our clients more widespread support. I can’t wait to see how our LA team grows as the talented Daan Jansen, who has over 10 years of experience in production, heads up the office. As Daan himself puts it, his knowledge will absolutely “take the company to the next level.”
Our Team:
Our US team has grown to include an outstanding group of talented editors, producers, directors and animators over the last few years, and this pool of talent just keeps on growing as we welcome new creatives on board. New York is a fast-paced environment, and with the scale of work we now produce for our clients, I’m continually amazed at how flexible our team are. As the size of our operations grows, our team just adapts and takes it on headfirst. We’re set a goal, and our team exceeds it. Being able to deliver work that surpasses client expectations on such tight deadlines has been a huge success.
Our Clients:
Though living amongst the best coffee shops is wonderful, the main reason for our expansion into the US was our global clients. We wanted a local team that could service their video and animation needs with increased flexibility, consistency and speed, and with some of our campaigns requiring us to travel to almost every single continent, it’s crucial for our resources to be spread out across the globe. Another benefit of being local is the ability to hold regular face-to-face meetings, which has really strengthened the relationships with our clients, both long-term and new. The connections we’ve built have given us the privilege of venturing into new industries too, such as the commercial space, with our collaboration with Nate, commerce platforms, with the animation we created for Jaggaer, and the learning and development sector with our videos on recruitment. One partnership that I am exceptionally proud of is our collaboration with Flexport, where we created an inspiring film showcasing how the logistics company helped Bombas, a New-York based basics brand, donate 75 million items of clothing to people experiencing homelessness.
What’s Next:
Our US operation has come a long way these past three years, and as our projects, our client relationships, and our talented team continue to grow, I can’t wait to see what bigger things the next three years have in store for us. The future of Synima looks bright, and I’m excited to develop our US office further, focusing on ways to better support our clients in both the big apple and beyond.
As always, if you’re looking for bespoke content that connects with your audience, then we’re here to help. Feel free to contact us at hello@shootyou.com.
Matt Wright, Head of Production USA
