Society
Secret History is a secret society composed of two currently based out of Los Angeles, California. The founding fathers of Secret History are Cory Shaw and Ryan Flanery. Having both been successful filmmakers and artists in their own right, Cory and Ryan initially collaborated to make a video for Bay Area rapper, The Grouch. The result was “Artsy,” the only independently produced music video to be recognized at the 2008 MPVA’s. Which garnered a nomination for “Best Hip Hop Video” where it was up against Snoop Dogg, Common, and Aesop Rock. The video featured on the front page of Youtube and Myspace within 3 weeks of it’s release. It was discovered by MTV staff that had seen the video online. “Artsy” was a huge viral success opening the doors for music video rep Tommy Labuda to take them on as well as Streetlight Films in the UK .
What sets Secret History apart from other directors is their unique ability to achieve an extremely high production value in their work without outside help. Secret History has the ability to complete everything from storyboards to final delivery by themselves. Cory and Ryan share directing duties during pre-production through the shoot; in post Ryan edits and Cory does all graphics / animation / visual effects / coloring / finishing. This gives Secret History a lethal advantage over the competition, as this workflow allows them to successfully work with budgets of all size, allowing the focus to remain on the quality of the content. Cory is highly versed in the commercial realm. He comes from a background of branding and marketing as a print designer for 10 years prior to animating. He also has done extensive work on Network TV promos and Network identities which helps with their transition to Commercial Directing.
Ryans visionary storytelling and editorial skills perfectly compliment Cory’s fine art vision and graphic abilities making their combination in Secret History very potent. Creating an alchemic blend of ancient and future hermetic knowledges distilled into binary and cellulose. They enjoy creating content that can be described as “edutainment” and using VisFX, graphics, comedy and satire to punctuate deeper cultural concepts. They want to make you laugh, react, think and wonder “how the hell did they do that?” Like the wise owl that sees in the dark they illuminate screens in the most mysterious of ways.
