One part film production company, one post house, one part sound studio, and always a half a step away from a DJ session on it’s massive, in-house disco sound system; optic nerve has a distinct think-tank style.
Located directly on New York Harbor with an intense, face to face, waterfront view of The Statue of Liberty in Red Hook; it’s an area that inspires creativity through it’s grit, beauty and off-the-beaten path style. It’s here that the nerve provides sanctuary from the city’s never-ending noise and distraction to a unique community of creative people.
While optic nerve is known for providing top shelf production service, seasoned editing resources and refined music and sound design artistry; it also boasts a tribe of film mavericks, motion and graphic designers, producers, digital zealots and fine artists at its disposal for any given job, on any given day.
Director, Editor, Sound Designer, Jon Kane is the owner and principal creative force behind opticnerve.
Jon discovered the craft of editing while experimenting with remixes as a club DJ in college and was immediately drawn to the power of juxtaposing images to music tracks. The ‘cut-and-paste’ editing style he developed in school led him to direct and edit ads and promos for MTV, VH1, ESPN, TLC and Nickelodeon among others cable networks.
Several of Jon’s cable campaigns are considered classics including the ground breaking ‘Behind The Music” campaign for VH1 which aired during the Super Bowl the year it was created and spawned a long series of memorable “Saturday Night Live” parodies.
Jon has a directed spots for virtually every major ad agency. His very first commercial assignment, a spot for the Marriot Corporation’s Allie’s restaurants, was nominated for a Clio award for editing and his global spot for TimeWarner has been honored for its sound design by being selected for inclusion in the Museum of Modern Art’s Department of Cinema collection.
Jon’s interest in documentary filmmaking led him to make his film Fellow Americans, a series of portraits of average Americans with extraordinary stories, during a tour of the southern United States with cinematographer Russell Lee Fine. Fellow Americans was a model for Jon’s stylized documentary brand of film making which has become a signature of his work.
After building a successful advertising career Jon spent eighteen months in 2001 collaborating with director Godfrey Reggio, composer Philp Glass and producer Steven Soderbergh as the editor and visual designer for “Naqoyqatsi,” the third film in the acclaimed ‘Qatsi’ Trilogy, that began with the seminal film “Koyaanisqatsi.” The New York Times called Naqoyqatsi “beautiful and prophetic” and it continues to tour globally to sold out audiences with live accompaniment by the Philip Glass orchestra.
In addition to his film and commercial work Jon came full circle back to his DJ roots and for the past three years traveled the world as the DJ for the art pop group Fischerspooner. The shows in Barcelona, Berlin, Ibiza, London, Los Angeles, Paris and Sao Paulo, and many other far flung locales drew massive crowds and garnered critical acclaim in the world of electronic music.