Contend expands offerings, introduces Contend Immersive and opens Moscow office
LA-based content agency Contend is opening a new office in Moscow and is also expanding its offerings with the announcement of an experiential multimedia division called Contend Immersive.
The content agency, whose clients include Bud Light, Chrysler, Microsoft, Verizon and Netflix, will co-run the Immersive offering out of Contend’s Los Angeles headquarters and its new international office in Moscow. Contend Immersive specializes in Inverted Reality that blurs the lines between human, digital, physical and analog space to create multisensory experiences. They have put together a video explaining the offering.
Contend Immersive’s client tools include 3D projection mapping, motion graphics, real time data visualization, and multiplatform creative projects, combining high-end projection and display technologies with robotics, virtual reality, holograms and theatrical performance. Projects can range in size from booth displays, pop-up environments and keynote presentations to automotive shows, large events, conferences and festivals.
“The inspiration behind Contend has always been to disrupt the traditional, and tell stories in innovative, engaging and cutting-edge ways,” said Steven Amato, CEO and chief content officer, Contend. “More and more, content is changing from something you passively watch to something you experience. Our new Immersive team takes that one step further, first tapping proven AI insights to drive creative and then using VR, projection, holograms, light, video and sound to engage multiple senses and transport people to a different world."
The Contend Immersive team is a group of technologists and creatives led by Denis Astakhov, vice president of creative and operations, and Amy Blackman, vice president.
Astakhov, 29, comes from Sila Sveta Global, a top Russian live visual production company, where he previously served as CEO. He is based at Contend’s Moscow office.
“Denis and his Moscow team have an entrepreneurial passion and unbridled work ethic is inspired by coming of age as millennials in post-Soviet Russia,” said Blackman. “Their traditional emphasis on math, engineering, fine art and literature combined with an emerging economy and appetite for creation has motivated them to enthusiastically tackle the impossible. They often conceptualize or code never-before-seen ideas to provide clients – and their audiences - with awe-inspiring, immersive, reality-bending tech experiences. Plus, we use artificial intelligence to drive on-message brand creative and accurately measure ROI on production spend, quantifying impact from production to shareable afterlife. It’s unstoppable.”
Prior to joining Contend, Blackman most recently served as CEO/CRO of Sila Sveta USA and led Sila Sveta’s international expansion. Previously, she founded AmyBMGMT and served as its CEO from 1996-2013. She is based at Contend’s LA headquarters.
“Denis and Amy’s creativity combined with artistic and technical skills means endless immersive possibilities for our clients. Pair that with Contend’s world-class content team, existing aerial division, proprietary AI story mapping technology, and experiential expertise via our parent company Mosaic, for a powerhouse one-stop destination for marketers. This is the future of storytelling,” said Amato.
Astakhov and Blackman respond to each brand’s challenges with customized solutions driven by Contend’s proprietary Artificial Intelligence research tool, ContenderTM. The duo’s problem-solving approach has previously contributed to the creation of multiple technology experiences – such as synchronized real-time group VR, simultaneous live and holographic choreography, and the projection of moving images on moving objects – and several world records, including largest projection experience.