Orbiting the Moon. Next Stop Mars. AstroLab: One Year Post-Launch 🚀

February 2018

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!

Barbie – “You Can Be Anything” | BizMedia

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.

Part of Barbie's "You Can Be Anything" Campaign

VICE Media x Toyota Canada | “FLUX”

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.

SickKids "VS" | Asymmetric x Cossette

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!

Gatorade – DeMar DeRozan Plays Cool | Jesse Blight Inc.

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.

Joseph of Mercury – Angel (MV) | Mad Ruk Entertainment Inc.

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:

Saya – Cold Fire (MV) | Kid. Studio

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.

Astro Lab Recording

UR Enough – #loveURself | Blackout Media, in Association with AstroLab Studios Inc.

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.

Astro Lab Studios Recording Equipment

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

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