Motion Theory is steadily deconstructing and remaking the old adage - it's jack, master and mixer of all trades. Back in 2000, producer Javier Jimenez and director Mathew Cullen had a dream to create a new type of production company: a flexible micro-studio that would pool the skills of live-action directors, animators, motion graphic artists, writers, programmers, editors and designers, all working together to lend their expertise to projects as and where required. What might have been a gimmick came good, and in the intervening years they've carved a niche for themselves with a unique style that deftly meshes seamless and elegant state-of-the-art CG and motion graphics with top drawer live-action direction for clients including Nike, RESfest, Reebok and EA Games. Last year, Cullen and fellow Theorizer Grady Hall fixed their place in the directing firmament with spots including the HP "Hands" campaign, which neatly mixed live action and motion graphics to capture the digital lives of celebrities Mark Cuban, Pharrell and Paulo Coelho as choreographed through their hands. A holographic football video game between Jay-Z and coach Don Shula for Budweiser gave us a taste of what PlayStation 5 might look like, and promo "Dashboard" for Modest Mouse brought bang up to date the grizzled sea dog's story of the one that got away.

The name Motion Theory makes it sound like you're dabbling in both science and design. Isn't that a little unusual?

MC: It sounds unusual but when you think about the principles of science and design there's so much overlap - they're one and the same. I once took an IQ test and the results told you what type of person you were. I found it really funny that it classified me as a 'visual mathematician'.

What are the advantages of the studio model?

MC: With so much in the industry changing, we really see the direction that Motion Theory is moving in as something that's redefining the production industry. We find the studio model, being able to have directors like Grady and myself oversee the whole vision of a project and have a group of people who are highly skilled in a variety of disciplines, and doing it under one roof... it's a pretty compelling idea.

What does the mix of talents you have bring to your work?

GH: Mat's father was a mathematician, my father was a guy who had an LP on A&M Records and went to jail for bank robbery. You couldn't get further away than that. I can't even use Photoshop. I came from more of a screenwriting background - the last thing I did was staff writing for the last season of The Outer Limits. Just coming from those widely different perspectives really adds something to the room. We don't think, 'Right, what technique are we going to push into?' We just imagine things and throw ideas at each other really hard and see what splatters against the wall.

How does the partnership work in practice? Do you disagree a lot?

GH: You know, there's surprisingly less disagreement than you'd think. It basically gets to be more of a philosophy where the best idea wins and the best-realized idea wins. Everyone pushing a huge stone uphill and whoever can push it further and better, wins.

Technology figures heavily in your work - are you ever limited or frustrated by its shortcomings?

MC: For the Super Bowl ad we did with Jay-Z and Don Shula ("Jay vs. Shula") we wanted to create this idea of a PlayStation 5, a game of the future and part of visualizing that was actually creating a game ourselves...

GH: ...Before we shot it we showed Jay-Z a version of the game so he could understand how his fingers were going to manipulate curves, control players, access information, all these types of things. It was something he played with and got a kick out of. I think it really helped his performance.

What are you proudest of from the last year?

GH: We were really excited about Modest Mouse. Why? Is it because of the visual effects? Because of the live action? No, it's because we love the story - it's a self-contained fairytale where we basically thought, "Let's just tell the ultimate big fish tale". We love the effects, it's almost like the Wizard Of Oz with the flying monkeys at the end and it's got a great big Moby Dick fish in it. But we love the live action too because we got the alpha-beards of Los Angeles to come out and be in a fisherman's tavern.

MC: And I would say that it's personally the Super Bowl Budweiser work we did because I'm a big fan of being able to do work on an artistic level and have it seen by millions of people, hoping that something about the work we do might affect somebody or make people see things in a different way.

Are you conscious of trying to push things with your work?

GH: An art director here quotes a photographer who says: "If you look through your lens and see something you've already seen, you shouldn't take that picture." I don't know who said it and I'm paraphrasing, but that definitely stuck with me.

INFORMATION

Education: Cullen studied science and design at Loyola Marymount, while Hall took communications at UCLA.

Motion Theory www.motiontheory.com