Holy ship! It’s already been a year since our official launch on Feb 16th, 2017. And what a year it’s been.
When we started the AstroLab journey, it honestly felt like we had to build a rocket without any parts. We’d spend our first year digging through scrap, start piecing it all together, and then maybe by the end of year two we’d have a completed rocket. Ok, that’s enough puns. For now.
Thanks to all of our amazing clients and an insane amount of word-of-mouth from fans and clients alike, this process was sped up exponentially, and within a week of launch we were booking up and taking on some incredible productions.
Read on to see some of the brands, campaigns, artists and other work that have been created here!
This inspirational campaign from Barbie looks at what happens when girls are free to imagine they can be anything. Developed by our friends at BizMedia, this was a two-day shoot in Studio 2, with set build on day 1 and the shoot on day 2. We especially love how they featured our kitchen and (no longer existent) boardroom.
The words VICE and cool are pretty much synonymous. So, it’s no surprise that when they took over our space we were blown away. Through a six-part series, they explore tech and concepts like autonomous cities and the future of prosthetics. Their set was comprised of a custom-built stage and lighting grid with MOSS LED strips installed, Quasar Science LLP’s LED tubes, and the entire cyc painted black.
When Asymmetric reached out to see if we’d be down to support the development of some follow-up content to SickKids‘ wildly popular VS campaign, our answer was a resounding YES! What an honour. This one-day shoot saw our studios filled with real doctors, hospital beds (and the like), and most importantly, an owl. A real, live owl!
What do you do when there is a star in your midst? Play Cool, obvi. That’s what we tried to do when director Jesse Blight and his team rolled through with none other than DeMar DeRozan for Gatorade. Their set featured our entire Studio 1 painted blue, a basketball net, and an awesome production team. Below is the result.
Toronto-based crooner Joseph of Mercury and the team at Mad Ruk created a truly angelic piece when they took over Studio 1. Their set took advantage of our clean white cyc, which was lit using our Chroma-Q Space Force LEDs and a 20x silk, with added elements like a white platform/staircase, and use of crash mats to capture the his angels falling in slow-mo. The result is beautiful:
Kid. has very quickly made a name for themselves as a force for producing music videos in Toronto’s hip hop and R&B scenes. Their style is very distinct, yet every video they produce has its own identity (clearly Kid., yet always fresh). And they’re not stopping at music videos – most recently they’ve been making big moves in all things culturally relevant, being tapped by major brands to produce commercials (think brands like Converse, Moose Knuckles, VICE). We’ve been lucky enough to host them in our studios on several occasions. The first time they graced our studios was for artist Saya. Their set was lit with Arri SkyPanels and their prop list included a live bird and dance pole. Read more about Kid. here.
While we’ve been busy with commercials and music videos, we are always eager to jump on board to support important causes. That’s why we were all over it when our friends at Blackout Media asked us to help them out with the UR Enough campaign. UR Enough founders Kelsey and Mandi believe that by revealing our vulnerabilities and removing the filters, we shine light onto topics of anxiety, addiction, and pain — highlighting the qualities that make us most real and human. We couldn’t agree more, and are so proud to have been part of this campaign. Warning, you may want to have tissues handy.
Get more behind-the-scenes action on our Instagram and Facebook channels].
And that truly doesn’t even scratch the surface! Some other brands, artists, agencies and production companies that we’ve been fortunate enough to host at The Lab, in no particular order, include:
Pizza Hut
Ford Canada
Nike
Rogers
Corus Media
Toys R Us
Tylenol
Roots Canada
Warner Bros.
Nabob Coffee
Converse
CFL
Air Miles
Cineplex
Dreamworks Kids
Ubisoft
Disney
SiR
Majid Jordan
The Beaverton
Herb.co
TedX Toronto
Marks Work Warehouse
Grease (Stage Production)
Kid. Studio
Iota Creative
Asymmetric
Sequoia Content
BBDO
5’7 Films
Tribal DDB
CBC Canada
Alibi Content
Circle Vue
Common Good
Colourblind Productions
FoundMissing
Grip LMT.
Arc & Crown Media
Black Fawn Films
The Field Inc.
Ogilvy Canada
Penda Productions
Q Media Solutions
The Cross Agency
West & Social
And the list goes on! We want to send a HUGE thank you to all of our friends, family and clients for helping make year one truly f****** awesome. We’re still taking off, and are so excited about what’s next.
Stay tuned for updates throughout the year, and we hope to see you soon at The Lab.
🚀🚀🚀
The AstroFam
THE WORLD IS YOURS. ASTROLAB STUDIOS 2025.
