Located just six hours away, New York has always had a strong link with Quebec and with Montreal, its metropolis.
In recent months this relationship has been severed and The newspaper wanted to hear from Quebec entrepreneurs who operate in the Big Apple and find out how they managed to get through the pandemic.
NEW YORK | Despite the pandemic, Moment Factory (MF) is heading straight ahead and is already in recovery mode. After the Super Bowl and the Tokyo Olympics, the Quebec company is currently working on a large project at a New York airport.
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Moment Factory was awarded a contract to embellish, but also to radically change the experience of the many travelers who arrive every day at Newark Liberty, one of the Big Apple’s three major airports, located in New Jersey.
“We are working with them on a permanent multimedia project. We help them to completely rethink the way travelers get information about their flights, how to get to the boarding gate, it’s an interesting project, ”said Jamie Reilly, director of the New York office, in an interview with The newspaper.
Moment Factory had already collaborated on a similar project at LAX, the legendary Los Angeles airport.
“So we have experience in this type of project. And that will help us, because the management of an airport is very complex, especially in terms of security. It’s a great challenge ”, analyzes Mme Reilly.
Adapting to the pandemic
Beyond transport, MF is also increasingly present in infrastructure, buildings and public spaces. Over the past few months, the company has ingeniously illuminated the interior of Moynihan Train Hall, the extension to Penn Station in downtown New York.
“In the studio, we always ask ourselves the question: how to create magical moments, no matter where we are,” she says.
Despite the profusion of projects, the last few months have been difficult for Moment Factory which evolves a lot in entertainment, which found itself completely at a standstill for several months.
“Yes, it was tough. But we were quick to cut costs, rethink our strategies, be as proactive as possible and ensure with our clients that the projects would continue to move forward. And now, we are in recovery mode. We have four employees in New York, but we want to hire here, but also in our other offices, ”says Jamie Reilly.
Quebec in the spotlight
According to her, MF had to completely rethink the way of implementing projects, sometimes even on the other side of the planet.
“For example, for a project in China, we had a local team on site, but all the others were teleworking and thanks to platforms like Twitch, we could follow the work live and communicate with them”.
And like a balm on this difficult moment, MF relaunched Super Real, an interactive show inside a spectacular art deco building, the Cipriani 25 Broadway. Visitors are invited to come and relax for 45 minutes in the middle of the building where dreams parade, on a mirrored floor, all in Moment Factory style.
At the back, a small bar where Americans can discover cocktails from Quebec sommelier François Chartier.
“We care a lot about our origins, Moment Factory is Quebec,” says Reilly, a proud Montrealer living in New York for several years.
Takeover in 2022?
But the big question that remains on everyone’s lips: when will large-scale shows return?
“We are already working with artists. It may go less quickly than we thought at the beginning of the summer, but in 2022, we are very confident that it will start again. In any case, in New York, people come back with new ideas. The pandemic has brought a breath of fresh air ”.
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