Syneos Health - Akebia Therapeutics

Overview

We were thrilled to visualize the science behind some impressive anemia research. Matching the tenacity and detail found in the Akebia and Syneos teams inspired a creative treatment that involved an elegant tone of music and movement. We paired this dance movement with a dynamic color palette and lighting changes to humanize the choreography of cell pods.To further infuse the piece with humanity and texture, we fully embraced the performing arts motif by filming in the historic Detroit Music Hall Theater. This location paired with camera movement and choreography helped express the science behind the new medication.
Elegant. Dynamic. Easy to understand. We created a film that is both informative and interesting.

Project Name

Akebia Therapeutics

Project Year

2020

Disciplines

Story Development

Creative Development

Choreography

Video Production

Post Production

Custom Music

Talent Management

Partnering with the Serif team was an extremely positive experience. Their energy and enthusiasm for our request was apparent from the first meeting. I appreciated that they’re strategically focused, but never lost sight of telling an engaging story. They more than delivered on the goal to make an emotional connection with our audience — through the story and the stunning cinematic footage.

Harvey Austin

Senior Producer

Movement shot on 35mm Film

We created visual intrigue with complex dance and camera movement. This helped us build dynamic character pods that represented different cell groupings. We also manipulated lighting and color through wireless syncing with the soundtrack to showcase transitions and inflection points in the story. To pair the texture of the theater with a truly unique look, we leveraged 35mm film to capture key transition scenes throughout the edit.

The result of all these visual cues helped us craft a sub-narrative and visual intrigue that fascinate and inform through visual beauty.

This project reminded me of why I got into creative services – it combined all forms of art. Cinema, performance, color theory, sculptural art and music! It touched on all the senses, while working to fascinate health professionals on the science of this new medication.

Doug Joseph

CEO & Founder of Serif

Director’s Treatment

Having a fleshed out treatment allowed us to previsualize the concepts and execution so everyone from the client to the dancers could understand the end goal. Having drawn on a wide body of works, we were able to draw inspiration from film, dance, and contemporary industrial and fashion design. This treatment gave every person who contributed to the project a benchmark to base their work on.

Safety and Greatness

Having such a dynamic creative vision was made infinitely more complex with the dangers of Covid-19. A true testament to tenacity was our dancers commitment to their art and their patience working through new protocols, Covid testing, and understudy contingencies.

The dancers and the crew truly made this creative film great. Our producers and client partners were equally graceful as we navigated new terrain to keep everyone safe. In addition to the creative results, the way we met these new challenges head on to move heaven and earth for the client is something we will always be proud of.

Full-Stack Production in a Historic Detroit Theater

Produced in the Midwest with an international cast, and crew from NYC and LA. We had a composer from Italy, a voiceover artist from New Zealand, and dancers from all over the world. This synthesis of cultures and viewpoints helped create a multidimensional production that rivals the quality of coastal media hubs. From pre-production through post, Serif showed that agencies in the heart of America are a force to be reckoned with.

Organizing and executing such a complex and visually beautiful film, while keeping everyone safe amidst a global pandemic, makes this project a truly remarkable endeavor.

Christina El-Haddad

Producer

Syneos Health – Akebia Therapeutics

Proven Empowerment (Myoplex)