Aside from driving spell checkers (and editors) crazy, the new wave production company m ss ng p eces has positioned itself as an important player in the evolution of creative entertainment using technology.

The company started out developing original video programming for major clients, such as Wired Magazine and TED in the mid-2000s, but its focus soon shifted. Thanks to the double-barreled impact of social media and exploding mobile usage, the firm found itself catering to a new transformation in the entertainment industry that required it to not merely tell new stories, but to actively embrace new technologies as well.

“A new thing comes out, and I want to figure out how to make something really great, but meaningful and powerful, with that,” said Ari Kuschnir (pictured), founder and managing partner of m ss ng p eces. “Virtual reality and augmented reality are parts of it but not the whole. I feel like I’ve ridden the wave of the thing as it’s happened, and the company has too.”

Kuschnir stopped by the set of theCUBE, SiliconANGLE Media’s mobile livestreaming studio, during the Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah, and spoke with host John Furrier. They discussed the evolution of technology tools for media production, projects for professional sports and Google that leveraged new media, and the firm’s potential involvement in the upcoming Winter Olympic Games. (* Disclosure below.)

This week theCUBE features Ari Kuschnir as its Guest of the Week.

Tech opened content to wider audience

As a film school student in the late 1990s, Kuschnir was entering the movie business at a highly significant point. Technology was beginning to catch up with film production, starting with the introduction of Final Cut Pro editing software in 1999. The iPod line of portable media players came out two years later, and by 2005, nascent websites like YouTube offered platforms where film students could showcase their work before a rapidly expanding audience.

“Not only could we make it and edit it on our laptops, we would put it out and millions of people could watch it,” Kuschnir recalled. “That was the first time that was possible, and it was revolutionary.”

Technology has also changed the way that content is marketed for specific audiences. In today’s data-driven world, Kuschnir must deal with some clients who expect content to be driven through television and others who expect a strong push via social media. There are also multiple platform choices to be made, such as whether to promote or distribute on Facebook versus Instagram.

“I never ignore how to optimize the content based on data and what the landscape is looking like,” Kuschnir said. “You get into this really interesting place where the data is driving the story and the feedback is driving the story in real time.”

Project for Google Translate

Founding his own media company gave Kuschnir the opportunity to pursue storytelling projects that flowed from the technology wellspring. When Google LLC approached m ss ng p eces for promotional help with its Translate service in 2016, the firm conceived the idea of an unusual pop-up restaurant in New York City. Handed menus written in different languages, restaurant patrons used Google Translate to bridge the cultural divide (and order what they wanted).

A roving doughnut cart distributed more than 30,000 pastries to passing New Yorkers, generating plenty of social media photos and dialogue, while an acclaimed set of 18 chefs created meals using recipes from all over the globe. The entire experience was documented in a film.

“The future is about having a passionate audience, making things for that audience … and being able to communicate on a daily or weekly basis in a powerful way,” Kuschnir said.

VR can also be a powerful way to tell a story, and m ss ng p ces was granted unlimited access by the National Basketball Association to create a half-hour VR video from the sport’s signature event — The Finals — in June 2016. With courtside seats to the marquee contest between the Golden State Warriors and the Cleveland Cavaliers selling for $122,000, the use of VR’s immersive technology to put viewers in the action via free download from the Oculus VR headset store seemed like a reasonable idea.

The use of VR to give audiences a different, 360-degree visual opportunity to experience one of the signature sporting events of the year shows that technology is beginning to move closer to the mainstream as more people adapt to the unique view.

“VR is a really great consciousness-expanding way to get into other worlds,” Kuschnir said.

New release geared for smartphone users

The company is moving into other VR-related projects for 2018. At the Sundance Film Festival, a new 360-degree interactive music video — “On My Way” — was showcased. The project featured the rap artist Yung Jake riding in a car containing four separate images of himself. As the viewer moved a smartphone around the car, it activated a different “Jake” personality.

“He actually designed it for the phone’s vertical because that’s the way that most people are going to experience it,” Kuschnir said.

The upcoming Winter Olympic Games in South Korea may also include VR content connected to Kuschnir’s firm. The founder was reluctant to provide details other than to offer a hint concerning a recent promotion during the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas at the start of the year.

At CES in early January, Intel Corp. announced that it was opening a new studio designed to create VR content that would be experienced by walking through space versus sitting stationary wearing a headset. News reports during CES indicated that Intel intends to stream VR content at the Olympic Games in February for 19 sports across 30 events in conjunction with partner NBC. Stay tuned.

Watch the complete video interview below, and be sure to check out more of SiliconANGLE’s and theCUBE’s independent editorial coverage of the Sundance Film Festival. (* Disclosure: TheCUBE is a paid media partner for the Sundance Film Festival event. Neither Intel, the event sponsor, nor other sponsors have editorial control over content on theCUBE or SiliconANGLE.)

Photo: SiliconANGLE