Featured Projects
Once Within A Time
ONCE WITHIN A TIME is a new film from legendary director Godfrey Reggio, composer Philip Glass, executive producer Steven Soderbergh, and filmmaker Jon Kane. This film is the third collaboration for this creative team, which is a handcrafted exploration of mankind’s resistance to destiny explored through the perils of technology and creeping reality of climate change.
National Museum of Qatar
Over a five year period starting in 2014, opticnerve™ created seven films and provided creative direction for all 17 of the large-scale immersive films inside the National Museum of Qatar. This short film we made provides an overview of the entire project.
Visitors
Jon Kane collaborated a second time with Godfrey Reggio and Philip Glass after Naqoyqatsi in 2001. Presented by Steven Soderbergh and photographed in stunning black and white, Visitors reveals humanity's trancelike relationship with technology.
Hearts & Science
When Omnicom Media Group launched their new agency Hearts and Science, they asked us to make a film explaining how the new marketing realities of the "Post Media World" inform their data-driven marketing approach.
Bringing Comfort
opticnerve™ teamed with McAllister Towing (New York Harbor's largest tugboat operation) to document the arrival of the U.S.N. Comfort Hospital ship to NYC.
Nafas
Mira Nair’s film Nafas was the first film created for The National Museum of Qatar in 2014. This film tells the story of the grueling and personal journey endured by Qatari pearl divers in the early part of the 20th century.
Technion
We were asked by the agency Phil & Co. to shoot and edit the film honoring former NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s efforts to build the new Cornell/Technion University on Roosevelt Island.
Arts Brookfield
Arts Brookfield presents free, world-class cultural experiences to the public. In this promotional spot, one in a series featuring noted artists, renowned choreographer Bill T. Jones speaks on how “art sets you free."
Beautiful
opticnerve™ partnered with ad agency Serino Coyne to produce and edit the TV spot for the Broadway musical Beautiful about Carol King's iconic life as a singer and songwriter.
Aquatique
When acclaimed photographer Brian Oglesbee was asked by the Hubei Jiahe Modern Arts Museum in China to make a gallery film to accompany a show of prints from his mesmerizing series Aquatique, he asked his former student Jon Kane if he might be interested. He was.
Carnegie
The Carnegie Medal of Philanthropy seeks to inspire a culture of giving by recognizing outstanding philanthropists who reflect the values of Andrew Carnegie and his philosophy of giving—that the surplus wealth of the few should be administered “for the good of the people.”
Selected works
Archive
About
opticnerve™ is an award-winning production company specializing in the art of motion pictures and sound design.
Over the last three decades our work has taken many forms, from feature films, tv commercials and promotional pieces, to experiential museum installations and music videos.
Director, editor, and sound designer Jon Kane founded the company in 1991. Since then opticnerve™ has created countless recognizable and award-winning film and video pieces: the opening sequence for the original MTV Real World show; the iconic VH1 Behind the Music campaign, featuring Mick Jagger and Keith Richards; and the groundbreaking wordless feature films Visitors and Naqoyqatsi, in collaboration with Godfrey Reggio and Philip Glass. More recently, we provided creative direction and editorial design work for the large scale immersive films in the National Museum of Qatar.
In addition to ongoing commercial work and film work, the studio just completed post-production on their third feature film with Godfrey Reggio, Philip Glass and Steven Soderbergh.
The studio is located on the historic waterfront in Red Hook, Brooklyn facing the statue of liberty.