Jack Wedge and Will Freudenheim have been collaborating artistically since they were preteens. Now, they're business partners, living the elusive "working artist" lifestyle as the co-founders of Laser Days Studio, an experimental media company that uses 3D animation, motion capture, and other tools (including, yes, AI) to create digital art that feels remarkably imbued with life. "We're interested in experimental storytelling and like using digital realms and worlds to tell stories about strange characters from the future," Wedge told Hell Gate, from a desk at the Ridgewood studio where the duo currently works.
According to Wedge, they met in middle school band class in Westchester. "We were both playing the French horn, and I was the worst player, and Will was the best player," he said. Growing up, Wedge experimented with "primitive, crude" animations, and Freudenheim would concoct scores using Ableton Live. They parted ways for college, but came back together during the COVID-19 pandemic, when Laser Days was born. The duo, both 28, remain the studio's only two full time employees, but work with a regular roster of collaborators, who Freudenheim described as a mix of real-life friends and likeminded artists the pair reached out to online. "Our tagline is, it's 'a real-time rendering, world-building studio,'" Wedge said.
Subscribe to read the full story
Become a paid subscriber to Hell Gate to access all of our posts.
Subscribe