 |
Two new humorous commercials from Rebolucion and director Armando Bo have taken to the airwaves. Conceived by agency Vegaolmosponce for client Unilever and their product Rexona Sportfan, the spot Exchange features corporate executives and blue collar workers exchanging clothes after a soccer match while the ad Hymn features factory workers pausing to sing before their football game. The tag: It Won't Let You Down. Rebolucion executive producer Patricio Alvarez Casado also weighed in.
|  |
 |
DigitalKitchen recently teamed with ad agency Draft FCB on a refreshing series of spots for popular brewery Molson Coors in promoting Coors Light. Designed to rejuvenate the look of the brewery’s patented cold brewing process, the spots Can, Draft and Bottle, were directed, produced, and post-produced by DigitalKitchen, who used imaginative and unusual camera angles to provide a signature look that is so cool, it’s really cold. Talents included director Eric Anderson, animators Jason Esser, Hung Le, Gene Park, editor Josh Bodnar, compositors Nick Campbell & Matt Crnich, and executive producer Kent Smith.
|
 |
Perfo Production Happenings: Recently the production services company finished two commercials for client Henkel and the Central and Eastern Europe territories. Entitled Color and Black, the spots were shot in the famous Mediterranean sea resort of Opatija in Croatia and also featured the talents of Tale Produktion DP Andreas Hutter. Perfo also just wrapped a unique commercial with well known European modern dance group “En knap” for Slovenian's largest Health Insurance company Vzajemna. The commercial Diagnoza+ was directed by well-known Slovenian film director, Janez Lapajne. T Mobile's ad Team, directed by Matt Ryan, aired in Macedonia and Montenegro territories and was picked up last month for the Croatian market. Lastly, Perfo is currently lensing a glamorous commercial for the famous underwear brand 'Lisca.' The shoot will take place in the Belgrad Opera House with former Slovenian Miss Universe, model, and actress Iris Mulej.
|
 |
@radical.media director Tarsem created the latest beertastic world for BBH and brewmasters at Miller Lite. The ever-elusive Beer Heaven is revealed to customer Mark as he spots the descending stairwell into the promised-land. What he finds is a bar where the taps and shelves are fully stocked with the perfect combination of taste and refreshment. Mark is the star of the bar - everyone knows his name and the Barstool reflects that notion (sigh). Additional talents included The Whitehouse editor Ben Stephens, The Mill colorist Fergus McCall and Sound Lounge mixer Philip Loeb.
|
 |
Wild Plum director Matt Goodman battled the sub-zero temperatures of the Arctic tundra around Anchorage, Alaska to shoot the Trail Mix Crunch Alaskan Adventure Challenge - a series of commercials that tied in with advertiser Trail Mix Crunch. The promotion consists of seven (TM1, TM2, TM3, TM4, TM5, TM6, TM7) 90-second commercials that follow two actual couples as they compete through several physically and mentally challenging events - mind you, not before starting their days with a different variety of Trail Mix Crunch. Additional talents included Wild Plum EP Shelby Sexton, HOP Sandy Haddad, line producer Ted Robbins, and editor Ben Ross.
|
 |
Wong Doody/Seattle recently turned to World Famous for client Washington State Department of Health and their fight against tobacco. Targeting a younger demographic, the spots Bird Chew, Phlegm Hamster, and Corn Cob Teeth show the ill effects of what smoking or chewing can cause. In conjunction with the commercial campaign, free tee-shirts are available at nostankyou.com.
|
|
For those cyclists in the ad biz that have dreamed about riding in the French Alps with the FireFlies, but could not manage to get away, here's your chance to be part of a great cause. This year, a group is heading along the California Coast. Planned by veteran FireFlies Jake Scott and Bryan Farhy, the event will take place June 8-14, riding the 550 miles from San Francisco to LA. As with its annual event in France, the 2008 FireFlies West ride is in aid of Leuka, providing continued support for the research and treatment unit for leukemia at the Hammersmith Hospital in London. Those interested in riding the whole way - or even joining them for a stage - are asked to please contact bryan@restlessfilms.tv. Those who cannot make the ride are encouraged to join the group for the welcoming party at the Kings Head Tavern in Santa Monica, as the FireFlies arrive on Saturday, June 14. This year's ride from Evian to Cannes will take place June 10-18, culminating with the arrival of the FireFlies at the Cannes International Advertising Festival.
|
 |
Last year Crush created nine clips for Douglas Coupland's novel The Gum Thief. Michael Stipe, from R.E.M. saw those spots and contacted Crush to discuss having them make their next music video. A month and a half later, Hollow Man was created. The latest music video plays on the song's lyrics and builds on the idea of isolation and the moment of realization when one comprehends life's changes. Co-directed by Gary Thomas & Stefan Woronko, other Crush talents included executive producer Jo-ann Cook and producer Stephanie Pennington.
|
 |
Dudes. Bud Light. Vegas. What else is there to say? Co-directed by Clay Weiner of Biscuit Filmworks and Kenny Herzog, the latest installment for the beer giant features two guys and numerous 'what happens in Vegas' scenarios. Rounding it out were Skouras Agency DP Ross Richardson, The Whitehouse editor Carlos Lowenstein, The Filmworkers Club online editor Rob Churchill, and music company Elias Arts.
|
 |
For anyone who has ever dreamed of magical creatures and distant lands, admired Arthurian literature, or even found themselves oddly inspired by the Terry Gilliam animations of Monty Python's Flying Circus, Transistor Studios has brought you the BBC Medieval Mind Trip. While you may not see a traditional king and queen, there is no shortage of conversing woodland animals, dancing skeletons or courtiers. Conceived by Rainey Kelly Campbell Roalfe/Y&R, the completely unique and eye-catching promo ends with the tagline, "Take a trip into the medieval mind," encouraging viewers to check out the Middle Ages-themed programming that BBC4 has in store for the coming months. Produced by Transistor Studios through London-based multimedia production company Strange Beast, and directed by Transistor's James Price, other talents included executive producer Damon Meena and line producer Gabriel Marquez. A must see!
|
 |
Director Kohl Norville of Z Group Films recently wrapped a Reddi Wip package for Element 79. The humorous commercial - Breakfast - introduces a fun new spokesperson named “Eddie,” a superhero for the Reddi Wip brand. Starring an adorable girl and her mother, Eddie suddenly appears out of thin air, armed with Reddi Wip to make her meal delicious. Also lending his skills was EP Dan Zigulich.
|
 |
Santa Monica-based design and VFX boutique Moving Pixels was brought on to anchor a collaborative effort between director Nick Piper of Backyard and Draft FCB and the latest 'geared up' ad from Coors Light, the official sponsor of NASCAR. The spot, Mountain Race, features dedicated snowbound fans and the Nascar lineup racing through the Rockies. Others lending their expertise were Backyard EP Eriks Krumins, Moving Pixel creative director Tony Smoller, 3D artist Michael Wynd and flame artist Andrew McKenna, Cutters editor Nadav Kurtz, Company 3 colorist Dave Hussey, and Hum Music sound designer Dan Hart.
|
 |
Andrew Douglas of Anonymous Content introduces the artistic abilities of Tiger Woods for automaker Buick via Leo Burnett/Chicago. As the famed golf pro stands 10 yards in front of a blank canvas, he swings, followed by a slow-motion shot featuring the sphere splattering into an arch of colorful paint. The canvas comes alive as golf balls saturate the canvases with a rainbow of hues in Tiger Art Family and Tiger Art Rivera. The skill and craft it takes for an athlete to perfect his swing is the same dedication that Buick puts into each of its premium vehicles. Additional credits included Anonymous executive producers Andy Traines & Dave Morrison and Mad River Post editor Michael Elliot. Also in - this time from Guy Ritchie is the challenge leveled in the new global football initiative created by 72andSunny and Nike to inspire, motivate and help footballers become better athletes. The cornerstone of the launch is a two-minute film entitled The Next Level, which takes viewers literally inside the head of a rising football star competing against the world's top athletes and clubs. The campaign is supported by print, online content, television, cinema and outdoor components that dimensionalize the idea across a range of players and scenarios. The two-minute film premiered internationally coinciding with the Champions League semi-final between Manchester United and FC Barcelona. Additional talents included EP Dave Morrison and producer Aris McGarry, Spot Welders editor Robert Duffy, and VFX house The Mill.
|
 |
Chris Knox's song "It's Love" drives the latest commercial from beer giant Heineken via Wieden + Kennedy/Portland. Directed by Todd Haynes of Moxie Pictures, the spot, Share, shows what happens when individuals, outside of their normal environments, share a Heineken with another. Also lending their skills were Moxie Pictures EP Lizzie Schwartz and producer Salli Zilles and Lost Planet editor Hank Corwin.
|
 |
Nonfiction Update: Director Jessica Yu continues her successful collaboration with Ford on the motor company's latest ad campaign, Drive One, a follow up to last year's massive Swap Your Ride campaign. The ongoing multi-city campaign out of JWT Team/Detroit once again focuses on real people and authentic moments in an attempt to get people to re-connect with Ford and their new line of vehicles. Also making news are Nonfiction's Ondi Timoner and Barbara Kopple. Timoner's latest timely documentary Join Us, about a religious cult in South Carolina, just premiered as part of IFC's "Stranger Than Fiction" series. Upcoming in the IFC series is Barbara Kopple's My Generation, her seminal 2001 documentary on Woodstock then and now. The film will screen on May 13th followed by a Q&A with the director.
|
 |
Subaru has earned a reputation for its vehicles' ruggedness and ability to perform in all kinds of weather, altitude and conditions. Conceived by Miles Calcraft Bringinshaw Duffy, Jorn Threlfall of Outsider manages to direct the automobile to the one place it has never gone before - the diesel fuel pumps - with the introduction of Subaru's new Boxer Diesel Engine. As the spot title explains, It's Here. Also lending their skills were Outside producer Benji Howell and Final Cut editor Adam Rudd.
|
|
Client Pontiac Vibe recently teamed up Smuggler director Stylewar via Leo Burnett/Detroit. The latest music video-like spot features rap/pop star Schwayze as he enters and exits numerous doors on the Vibe. With voiceover by Matt Dillon, other talents included Smuggler producer Jeff Miller and Company 3 colorist Stefan Sonnenfeld. Also in, but from director Jon Watts via Wieden + Kennedy/New York are a series of innovative :30 spots for ESPN to promote the channel's broadcasts of the NASCAR Nationwide Series. The ads, Green Flag and The Duel feature live-action slot cars in the midst of action-packed NASCAR races, complete with grandstands, toy spectators, pit crews, and announcers amidst a variety of strikingly authentic speedways. Additional talents were provided by Smuggler EPs Brian Carmody, Allison Kunzman, Patrick Milling Smith & Lisa Rich, Cut + Run editor Adam Jenkins, Amber Music sound designer Bill Chesley, Sound Lounge mixer Keith Reynaud, The Mill colorist Damien Van Cruyssen, and VFX house rhinofx.
|
 |
Bicoastal Epoch Films director Jeff Preiss launched the Ford 'Drive One' campaign, with a personal new :30 Quality, out of Team Detroit/JWT. The spot, bolstering Ford's claim that their quality equals Toyota's, features Ford advance visualization specialist Elizabeth Baron guiding viewers through the virtual design phase of a Ford Fusion, demonstrating how the automaker's virtual capabilities improve quality. The :30 is part of a 5-spot campaign, which also highlights Ford's commitment to environmental concerns. Talents included Epoch EP Doug Halbert, Spot Welders editor Brad Waskewich & Haines Hall, Riot online artist Jason Frank, Company 3 colorist Stefan Sonnenfeld, music company Duotone, and graphic design house Stardust.
|
 |
Two new spots, two different clients, both from The Ebeling Group. The first for Dodge Journey via BBDO/New York, and entitled Animates, features stellar B&W pencil-like animation in and around the vehicle as a family and their dog pile in for a drive. Animation/VFX was provided by Charlex while Sue Lee weighed in for TEG and creative director Tim Kentley for XYZ Studios. The second spot, Transformations, for Saturn Vue via Deutsch/Los Angeles, is a visual masterpiece. Co-directed by Lobo/TEG and Blue Source/MJZ, the spot incorporates visual alterations to the landscape as the vehicle drives down the street. Talents included EPs Marcia Deliberto, Lisa Margulis (MJZ), Dex Deboree & Mick Ebeling (TEG), creative director Mateus De Paula Santo of Lobo and editor Russell Icke of The Whitehouse.
|
 |
The team from Shilo recently contributed its artistry to a new commercial from Attik and client Scion xD. The spot entitled Freeze Frame features the ghostly return of many of the Little Deviant characters Shilo brought to life for last year's renowned "Fable of the Deviants" cinema spot. Weighing in for Shilo were creative directors Jose Gomez & Andre Stringer, lead designer Tom Green, animators Eugene Gauran, Blake Guest, & Eugene Kim, and character animator Kiel Figgins. Colorist Clark Muller of Riot and composer/sound designer Tony Shimkin of Face the Music also lent their talents. Also in: The filmmakers from creative production company Shilo recently collaborated with an extraordinary group of individuals and organizations to create a provocative new fully animated :90 public service announcement. The piece, entitled Burma Viral, united Shilo's talents with those of Carl Le Blond, ECD at Ogilvy & Mather/Amsterdam, John Jackson, Director of Social Responsibility, MTV Networks, and Suki Dusanj, Founder of The Burma Arts Board. Conceived by Le Blond and directed and produced by Shilo, the artful film uses footage of warplanes bombing Burma with flowers as a dramatic call-to-action, inviting viewers to visit a new Burma Arts Board website, noneofusarefree.org. Site visitors can send messages (virtual flowers) to the people of Burma (also known as the Union of Myanmar) in honor of their ongoing peaceful protests against their military government's notorious human rights violations. A definite 'must see.'
|
 |
The Image Campaign, produced by Stone Core’s Elaine Sibert and co-directed by Norry Niven of Stone Core and Brendan Gibbons of Station Film, consisted of footage contributed from other sources through Showtime Networks. Sibert worked closely with Showtime to cohesively blend the footage from the various contributors and bring it all together into one campaign.
|
 |
During a college psychology class on multiple personalities, a student pops open a can of Dr Pepper only to be greeted by the singing of Flavor Flav. Directed by Rob Pritts of Backyard via Young & Rubicam/New York, the spot Singing Can, points to the discoveries in every sip of the unique soda. The tag: More to Explore. Additional talents were provided by Music Orange.
|
|
New York-based Design + VFX company, Headlight was approached by Chellomedia, a world class innovative media company primarily based out of Amsterdam, to create animations based on their newly re-designed logo for the company's seven divisions, website overhaul, and collateral materials. Additionally, Headlight completed a Chellocreative show reel using the new logo animation elements which integrated footage of Chello's work. The reel was debuted at Promax Europe and included promos Chellomedia, Multicanal, and OnDemand which highlight a portfolio of thematic television channels in the key areas of movies, sport, entertainment, lifestyle, kids and documentaries.
|
 |
Director Tim Saccenti of Zooma Zooma recently put the finishing touches on the music video Another Day, the first single off British soul singer Jamie Lidell's new album Jim. In the highly-conceptual, visually-rich, and performance-based video, Jamie and his mime-like henchmen deliver light with illuminated cubes, helping characters "regain their senses" by literally handing out mouths, eyes, and ears. The video has rapidly made its way across online platforms and was already put into heavy rotation in Europe with 100 plays-a-week per MTV Channel. Also lending their skills were Zooma Zooma EP Joseph Mantegna and producer Dorothy Williams, Click 3X VFX supervisor Mark Szumski and Flame artist John Budion, and The Mill colorist Damien Van Der Cruyseen.
|
 |
Tom Schiller of Washington Square Films just finished a spot for Save Mart out of Glass McClure/Sacramento. The spot follows a troubadour ala Jonathan Richman who enters scenes with different instruments playing the song "People In My Neighborhood" from Sesame Street. As he enters each scene, he meets a different hard-working employee who jumps right in with a different refrain from the song. The spot introduces the supermarket to new locations and new customers.
|
 |
If it tastes good, it can't be good for you, can it? That's the comedic premise behind a Fiber One yogurt spot created via Saatchi & Saatchi and directed by Mike Bigelow of GARTNER. A Whole Days Worth, set at a free sample tasting of Fiber One yogurt, finds shoppers eating multiple samples of the product because they can't taste the fiber in the yogurt. Fortunately, the store manager intervenes and educates the customers about the 20% daily value of fiber per serving. Also lending their skills were Gartner EPs Rich Carter & Don Block, Skouras Agency DP Scott Buttfield, and Crew Cuts editor Bill Cramer.
|
 |
Rob DiFondi of New York-based Sound Lounge mixes the killer sounds of crashing cars and scraping metal for NASCAR and Nationwide Insurance via Wieden + Kennedy/New York. As the speeding vehicles race around the track, every bang and bump is documented by a popup that displays what will need to be replaced in order to fix the damage. Additional credits were provided by The Mill colorist Damien Van Der Cruyssen and Perception graphic artist John LePore.
|
 |
Nadav Kurtz of Cutters edited the latest spot for Blue Cross Blue Shield of Florida via Draft FCB/Chicago, in which numerous people step up to the microphone to speak their minds. Directed by Tony Kaye of Supply & Demand, the ad conveys the Power of the Human Voice and inspires its audience to 'speak and be heard' regarding their preferences for health care. Also lending their skills were Another Country mixer John Binder, The Filmworkers Club colorist Michael Mazur, and music company Finger.
|
 |
Okay now. Here's the latest from Ogilvy/Toronto and Tim Piper -- that guy who won a few awards for that Dove Evolution spot (Evolution was directed by Piper and Yael Staav). This time Piper takes on client Post and product Honeycomb Cereal. Featuring a Bee Boy, the best way to entice him to devour a plate of broccoli is to season it with a bit of Honeycomb Cereal (you already knew that, right?). Production company on the spot was Sons and Daughters with S&D producer Dan Ford lending his talents.
|
 |
The latest from Psyop for Absolut via TBWA Chiat Day/New York, is based on the vodka giant's print campaign which features a cocktail glass exploding out to reveal the liquid contained within it. Dissection expands on that concept by disassembling a full Absolut Vodka bottle, lingering on the vodka within, and then reassembling it by the end of the spot. About 80% of the liquid featured in the spot is real, photographed slow-motion vodka, with a couple of shots that are completely CG vodka. Directed by Marco Spier & Mate Steinforth, addtional talents included executive producer Lucia Grillo and producer Nathan Jew. Also from Psyop is the new spot for Häagen-Daz via Goodby, Silverstein & Partners. Opera was created to bring awareness to the plight of the honeybee. Bees pollinate one-third of the food we eat, but recently they’ve been disappearing, leaving behind empty hives. Additional credits were provided by Psyop EPs Lucia Grillo & Neysa Horsburgh and Lost Planet editor Patrick Griffin.
|
|
|
