There's no place like foam

Yes, it's here, the next big Sony ad from Fallon has arrived. Causing a sense of anticipation not seen in adland since Anthony Head and Sharon Maughan gulped down the dregs from their last Nescafe together, Fallon have moved on from Bravia and turned their hand to Sony's digital imaging range. The result, 'Foam City', is an epic spot with a rare combination of originality, scope and fun. Directed by Simon Ratigan, the spot features 200 genuine Miami residents, who were invited to the foam-filled downtown area of Miami. If the chance to play in 460-million litres of foam pumped from the especially built world's largest foam machine wasn't enough, the Miami-ites were given Sony's range of Cyber-shot digital cameras, Handycams and DSLR cameras to record every minute and capture every foam-filled crevice (of the Miami streets that is).


The impressively moustachioed Ratigan, who's previous work includes Vodafone 'Raining Time', and 'Inflatable Animals' for Orange - a spot that must have gone a long way in bagging him this one - said, 'A lot of my work to date has focused on people’s honest experiences and emotions. Having the citizens of Miami involved, with their free spirited nature and willingness to interact with this new and exciting environment, without any guidance other than to go and explore, has been a wonderful experience. The final ad will show natural, real life emotions and reactions to a city full of foam.'

Mikah Martin-Cruz, General Manager, Marketing Communications, Sony Uk, said of the ad, 'We wanted this to be a magical event where people would be able to have a truly unique photographic experience, where they could actually take images like no other.'

From the images on the website it looks like their aim was achieved and a great time was had by all; the end result isn't too shoddy either!

NewsReel 17/04/08

Nava joins Therapy
Jake Nava is to be represented in the UK by Therapy Films. The honey magnet director, who has had the pleasure of working with the likes of Kylie, Beyonce, Britney, Kate Moss, Naomi Campbell, Jessica Alba and Halle Berry, is excited to be joining Therapy as they start in a new direction after recent re-structuring. He said, 'It seems like a perfect time to join. I'm absolutely committed to the UK market and looking forward to getting my teeth into strong creative boards.' Although based in London Nava is also represented by Annoymous Content in Los Angeles and UTA and Brillstein Entertainment Partners for features.

All Films complete double signing
Masters of the movie trailer remix, Addictive TV, have been signed to All Films who hope to apply their talents to commercials. All Films' Managing Director Ron Redel said, 'We are delighted to be working with Addictive TV, I'm always on the lookout for different ways to approach commercials, we are thrilled to have discovered their exceptional and original work.' He continued, 'They've developed a unique and highly finessed style of audio/video mixing and remixing which could be applied to a whole new wave of commercial projects.' Addictive have recently completed a Paramount commissioned dance remix viral for 'Iron Man' but they first came to our attention with their bullet ridden remix for 'Shoot 'Em Up'.



All have also re-signed Brian Baderman after a two-year split. The maverick director of the darkly comic Phones4U ads achieved great success in that series with his brave casting of members of the public in key roles, and MD Ron Redel is glad to have him back, 'We got over the split - when you work together for ten years it's like a marriage. There wasn't any bad feeling but it was a big change. I like doing the sort of work he does...I've always argued it's not mad, it's not crazy, it's such cleverly put together stuff that it's just funny. Underneath it all there's something human, there's charm.' Reel subscribers can click here to view the excellent Baderman directed Phones 4 U ads.

Absolutely fabulous motion graphics
After seven years at MPC, Ric Comline has joined Absolute to head up their new dedicated motion graphics department. Having worked on Ridley Scott's 'Kingdom of Heaven' and Tim Burton's 'Corpse Bride' Comline has certainly got the pedigree, and Absolute's MD David Smith thinks they've got the right man,'We’re growing so much that it made sense to start a dedicated motion graphics department. We’ve just been waiting to find someone with the right skills and personality. Ric is extremely talented so we feel very lucky that he’s joining the team.' His first major project is to design the motion graphics for George Michael's forthcoming tour.

The Guild of Commercial Filmmakers
The Melbourne based production company have signed Derek Richards to their burgeoning roster and one of their young directors, Matt Kamen, received a bronze award for Best New Director at Adfest in Thailand.


As always, send any news and press releases to sam@thereel.net.