In all likelihood, you’ve seen Ryan Heffington’s work. Whether it was in a perfume ad for Kenzo World, Sia’s iconic music video for “Chandelier” (which generated 1.6 billion views on YouTube), or in a Christopher Guest movie, Heffington’s work has had an enormous impact on dance and popular culture. A choreographer, director and performance artist, Heffington’s work is thrilling, striking, accessible, and just plain fun to watch. He is well known for using movements based on real life, and for his intuitive method of describing those movements to dancers. He is honored here for inspiring viewers the world over, and redefining what dance can do.

WSJ. Magazine 2017 Innovator Awards

Crafting a better future from a world in flux. This is the hallmark of WSJ. Magazine's 2017 Innovators—a group of visionary, foundation-shaking luminaries working across seven fields. This year's talents were honored at the annual Innovator Awards on November 1 at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City. Selected by WSJ. Magazine editors, the honorees were: Reese Witherspoon (Entertainment); Raf Simons (Fashion); Diller Scofidio + Renfro (Architecture); Roman and Williams (Design); Musical.ly (Technology); Ryan Heffington (Performing Arts); Mark Bradford (Art).

For the third year in a row, MediaStorm has used its multidisciplinary approach to create films that shine a light on the legacies and innovations of each individual. These films showcase some of MediaStorm’s greatest strengths: an ability to develop a captivating story under tight constraints; combining beautiful cinematography and motion graphics to add unparalleled finesse; and working in close partnership with a client to get results.

These videos have been a critical part of WSJ’s strategy to drive it's audience to its site and to assert itself as the place of significance for the informed citizen.

In keeping with our mission to develop stories that matter, we are thrilled to play a role in recognizing the WSJ. Magazine 2017 Innovators.

The Wall St. Journal Magazine, for its seventh annual Innovator Awards, required short, fast paced, but personal, stories of innovation from each of its seven winners.

It was an exciting prospect to create a fast-paced video about Ryan Heffington’s work in high-profile commercial and artistic fields. But being that it is so high-profile, licensing footage for the film was especially difficult.

WSJ. Magazine identified several examples of Heffington’s work that they were eager to include. Editor and Producer Tim McLaughlin made a cut of the film with those videos included, and then immediately created a document which tracked all the clips that would need licensing. Director Samia Khan worked with WSJ Magazine to find and contact the owners of those videos to secure licensing. If specific clips could not be secured, McLaughlin continually updated the film to compensate for the loss of specific footage.

The film premiered at the WSJ. Magazine 2017 Innovator Awards, on November 1st, and then published on the Wall St. Journal’s and MediaStorm’s websites the next day. It is a key tool for driving awareness to the magazine and the prestigious awards themselves.

With five global editions spanning 62 countries, WSJ. Magazine—which publishes 12 issues a year—is The Wall Street Journal's luxury-lifestyle publication dedicated to the power and passions of the Journal's readership.