The rise of the ADvent.

Ad-vents

The TV world has gone a bit bonkers of late, as agencies are looking for newer and seemingly bigger ways to catch Joe Public’s attention. In the current ad landscape where content is king, brands are looking to adopt a more fanfare approach to their TV creative, making the ads themselves the stars of Saturday night television.

Ad breaks themselves are beginning to be assigned big ‘ad-vent’ ads, designed to drum up column inches and publicity through their innovative content, and paradoxically, these ads are being…er… well… advertised and their air dates and media slots revealed to the public. Is this the beginning of people turning on the box to see the latest Cadbury ads?

Strangely, this trend is nothing new in Japan, where Airside’s follow up to their first Sagawa ad caused such a stir, that the public were calling the TV stations to find out where and when the next execution was going to air. In the UK (and majority of the rest of the world) this is not something that the general public get too excited over, yet the current trend of new ‘ad-vent’ ads suggests otherwise.

The British Heart foundation has been hawking the somber message that your heart attack is on its way (along with channel, air dates and times) on the box, in pub toilets and other DM spots for sometime now. Finally this week we were treated to Berkoff smacking us in the chest and telling us to phone an ambulance in a bout of overdone thespian zeal.




Honda have also joined in the ad-vent jamboree, and treated the nation to one of the first ever ‘live TV ads’ as a bunch of adrenaline junkies hopped into the great blue expanse and linked together to form the brand’s name during their hasty plummet.




So does this current spurt of ad-vents mark the blurring of content / idea / ad and entertainment? Where does the advert start and the idea finish? Like the recent branded film from Eurostar ‘Sommerstown’ by super-director Shaun Meadows has left many people refreshed and invigorated as well as leaving a slew of many scratching their heads, and asking themselves was that a feature? Or was it an advert? feature? advert? Fortunately, in this case, regardless of what it was, it doesn’t really matter, as the ‘Sommerstown’ fadvert (whatever we call the finished hybrid article) really was very, very good.

Which leads us nicely on to ITV’s latest ruse during the up and coming Brit awards 2009 as seven agencies are being pitted against one another (almost like a bizarre agency x-factor) as they attempt to pitch for one of four ‘live ad breaks’ that are to be littered throughout the ceremony.

Which means that for this year and next year at least, the Ad-vent is here to stay. At least until the Brits are over that is.

...and we can only pray that none of them involve Sharon bloody Osbourne.

NewsReel 15.08.08

As always, please send any news and press releases to sam@thereel.net and we'll do our best to include it here.

Nylund gets Hooked

Hook Films, the new production company, located in the heart of Covent Garden, founded by established industry figure Michael MacMillan, has recently made its second important directorial signing. Robert Nylund joins the start up’s directorial roster from Weiland’s for UK representation. He is accompanied on Hook’s roster by writer and director Keith McCarthy.

MacMillan, who has ten years of industry experience behind him, most recently as Head of TV at Krow Communications, aims to market his duo carefully and intelligently, remaining a small but successful company. An excited MacMillan had this to say of his new venture, ‘I am proud to be launching in an industry for which I have always had a tremendous passion. Even during a time of ever decreasing margins and increasing competition Hook strives to make each production memorable. Having gained great experience in both production and advertising it felt completely natural to combine this unique work experience and knowledge and set up on my own. Both of the directors that I have signed are as equally as passionate as I am about Hook and that has given me the desire and the energy to do it.’

Three more people go to Work
Relatively new agency Work Club has settled into its groove and begun a period of expansion, interviewing over 80 hopeful candidates for three roles which went to Jim Martin, Louise Williamson and Alice Forward.

Jim Martin joins from MTV as an expert in social media; Louise Williamson joins with a media and communication planning background from Naked; and Alice Forward, from Tribal Sydney, has extensive know-how in user experience and information architecture. All three have been recruited to work in Work Club’s burgeoning strategy department headed by Lisa De Bonis, who said of the appointments, ‘“Today’s strategist needs to have a solid grasp of so many different and complex communications channels and strategies – it’s almost impossible to find one person who ticks all boxes. So we’ve concentrated on finding great talent in the specific skill sets we’re after…we finally found a solid threesome whose skills and specialisms compliment each other perfectly.’

Short and SweetRob Hughes and Jordan Crute will be presenting Short & Sweet for the second and final week whilst Julia takes a well earned break. Short and Sweet will be at the usual time and place, however, and expect to see the usual mind blowing shorts, music videos and animation from the likes of:

Keith Schofield
Theo Izzard
Marco Puig
Pat Holden
Smith & Foulkes
Jacqueline Rice
And many others….

MONDAY: 18 August 9, 2008
Venue: Café 1001, 91 Brick Lane
Time: Films start at 19h30

TUESDAY: 19 August
Venue: AKA Bar, 18 west central street
Time: Films start at 19h30

ENTRY: FREE BOTH NIGHTS

YoungGuns

This month’s YoungGuns have been announced:

Professional YoungGun of the Month is Kate Catalinac from Saatchi & Saatchi NZ for her NZ Army 'Toy Soldiers Campaign'.

Student YoungGun of the Month - Todd Grinham & Zac Sax from Miami Adschool for their SmokingLung.com idea

Click here to see their work.

Leo Premutico from Johannes Leonardo is handing over the reins after providing feedback for the YoungGuns over the past three months. He departed with encouraging words for all the students out there, ‘In 2 out of the 3 months the student winner was, in my mind, better than the professional winner. A reminder for any young creative that the only thing stopping you creating something great is the belief that you don't have the experience to.’

Josh Lancaster from Colenso BBDO has taken up the gauntlet from Leo for the next 3 months.

In the Ascent
Ascent Media has announced that two key executives within its UK group of companies are to be promoted in line with the post-production behemoth’s commitment to maintaining a consistent global presence. Adrian Bull has been moved up to Chief Technology Officer for Ascent Media Group Europe from his current role as CTO for the creative group – a role which he will retain.

Damien Carroll is to take up the role of Vice President Finance and Commercial Affairs, Ascent Media Group Europe. Having previously served in the Networks division, Carroll will now work with each of Ascent’s UK businesses to offer commercial expertise and aid strategic decision making as the group continues its plans for worldwide domination, following the stock market flotation of their US parent company.

Cinema Extreme
Cinema Extreme, Britain's Oscar winning short film scheme, is now open for applications. Co-financed by the UK Film Council’s New Cinema Fund and Film4, Cinema Extreme seeks out and develops filmmakers with a distinctive directorial voice and cinematic flair. This unique director-led short film scheme, managed by independent production company The Bureau is now in its sixth year.

Twenty-three films have been commissioned to date. They have been shown at festivals around the world and won numerous awards including the Edinburgh International Film Festival's Best Short Award for Duane Hopkins' 'Love Me or Leave Me Alone' and the Oscar® for Best Short Film for Andrea Arnold's 'Wasp'.

In 2008/09 Film4 and the UK Film Council will select and fully finance up to 4 short films. The maximum budget per short film will be £50,000. This year they will be considering scripts and one page ideas.

In addition the UK Film Council's Development Fund and Film4 will offer one of the filmmakers commissioned by Cinema Extreme 2008/09 the opportunity to develop their feature to first draft.

For further details, FAQ’s or to download the guidelines and application forms please visit:

http://www.ukfilmcouncil.org.uk/extreme

http://www.thebureau.co.uk/schevents/index.html

Deadline for applications: 12th September 2008