NewsReel 10/10/08

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

The UK MVAs are approaching
It’s only seven days until the UK MVAs. If you want to view the best in UK music video action this year then get reserving your tickets. You can download a reservation form from www.ukmva.com (go to ‘tickets’ on the left hand navigation) and fill it out for the lovely MVA team. Tickets are £100 + VAT, but before you choke on your latte, that includes the Awards ceremony at the Odeon Leicester Square, hosted by Adam Buxton, the after-show party from 9:15pm-3am at Orchid in Piccadilly and complimentary drinks at both events – so no need to smuggle in your hip flasks.

Psyop get crunched
Psyop’s potential merger with specialist acquisitions firm Fortissimo has been scuppered by the credit crunch, as Fortissiomo shareholders voted ‘No’ to the move. Despite the disappointment at not getting the result they wanted and indeed expected, Psyop CEO Justin Booth-Clibborn was able to take some positives out of the situation, ‘We experienced first hand the 'discipline' of going public, really focusing on our business and further maturing into a company with fantastic talent and the continued ability and resources to produce some of the best creative content in the world.’

In addition to the collapse of the Pysop and Fortissimo deal, the proposed merger of Stink with Psyop and Fortissimo has also had the brakes put on.

Rhino stampedes into the Europe
The visual effects peeps at RhinoFX have set their sights on expanding into the UK and Europe with the help of London based repping firm The Roster. The New Yorkers are known for their award-winning effects, animation and design in commercials, TV, videogame cinematics and feature films and started up in 2000. The Roster is led by former Producer and current Executive Directors Agent, Georgina Poushkine. RhinoFX Managing Director Rick Wagonheim said of the move, ‘We were immediately drawn to Georgina and the entire company’s experience…and are looking forward to doing more work in the overseas markets.’

George is Academic
Former 2AM Directors Rep, and all round nice guy, George Floyd is joining Academy on the 20th October to rep their roster of directors that include Jonathan Glazer and Nick Gordon.

Gali takes a bite out of the Golden Drum Awards
We were delighted to see that pretty much our favourite ad from last year, ‘Gali the Alligator’ for 13 Eme Rue, from Big Productions and BETC Euro RSCG Paris, was shortlisted for the TV and Film Promo category at this year’s Golden Drum Awards in Slovenia. To view the full list of winners at one of the world’s friendliest awards festivals click here. And you lucky subscribers can see Gali do his thing by clicking here.

RE: RE:EDIT

Fans of more credible ad remixes (sorry Fallon) will be no strangers to London’s visual mixing elite Addictive TV.

Addictive, who have gained a slew of awards, metres of national press and also run their own very successful VJ meet Optronica every year, are no slouch when it comes to the ad remixing game.

In fact, Addictive are the world heavyweight champs of visual remixes, having reworked Hollywood blockbusters such as 'Iron Man', 'Snakes on a Plane', 'Shoot em’ Up' and the Japanese master-work 'Tekkon Kinkreet'.

We were lucky enough to pinch an hour of Graham @ Addictive’s time and get his thoughts on the new trend that is emerging.

When was the first ad / trailer remix project that you guys did, and how did it come about?

A really switched on marketing guy at New Line Cinema saw some of our bootleg film remixes and simply got in touch with us, saying they had this Antonio Banderas movie, 'Take the Lead', and would we like to make a viral trailer for the release, by remixing the movie. It was based on a true story that's partly about hip-hop culture and partly about ballroom dancing and how they mashed-up the genres - hence getting someone to mash-up and remix the movie. They said we'll send you all the film’s rushes and we obviously leapt at the chance to make the first official studio remix! It was a great opportunity.

How did the project turn out – and were the clients surprised?

It turned out brilliantly. It was a big experiment for them, as no studio had ever done this before - actually getting an outside creative team to remix and rework a whole movie into a piece of music. It won an Adland award for Best Remix of 2006, and the clients were delighted with the results, and in the wider industry it really seemed to turn heads. They put it on the DVD release as an extra and then came back to us with a couple of bigger movies; the Samuel L Jackson cult hit 'Snakes on a Plane', for which we did the US television ads, and the controversial Clive Owen movie 'Shoot 'Em Up', for which we did another web viral.

Is this something that you are doing more of?

Yes, absolutely - this started a whole trend for us, and this year we've done 'Iron Man' for Paramount, 'Max Payne' for 20th Century Fox and there's more in the pipeline. We're now also getting far more advertising approaches too, via All Films in London who rep us for commercials, which is good. It shows the style of work we've been developing is beginning to hit the mainstream.

Are there any big or famous ads that you would like to remix?

Well for starters, we’d love to remix the EDF Energy recycled clips adverts and do them properly as they should be! They’re so 20th Century the way they been stitched together. Some of the recent Honda adverts like the ‘car choir’ commercial would be great – perfect for audiovisual sampling and remixing. The recent ‘Life flows better’ Visa ad was great too - not sure though how easy it’d be to remix audiovisually, but it would be great to take that idea and approach it from a much more audiovisual and musical angle.

What did you think of the Cadbury's remix project? (Where “Gorilla” was remixed for general release by a member of the public)

They were terrible! The original was brilliant and a fantastic idea - I loved it. But the supposed ‘remixes’ weren’t remixes at all, they were the same ad with different soundtracks! A very odd use of the word remix in my opinion. It’s a shame they didn’t get actual remixers involved to remix those ads audiovisually, that would have been a fantastic idea. Actually seeing the gorilla cut-up and banging out a drum ‘n’ bass rhythm on the drum kit during a Coronation Street ad break would have been brilliant, or maybe another where the gorilla is cut-up doing a Led Zep’s John Bonham style drum solo! The Fallon’s boys missed an opportunity there I think!

Do you think DJing culture has affected or become the catalyst for what you do? Is moving image merely an extension of this?

It's certainly a big influence, sampling and remixing has been big in music for ages, and we're simply taking it to its next logical step. But I don’t really see DJ culture as affecting us, it’s more like the other way round, artists like ourselves are affecting DJ culture, we see DJs all the time now wanting to integrate a visual aspect to their shows. Audiovisual remixing is now evolving in its own right into a whole new form. With what we do, we see moving images as an actual extension of the music, something completely new, not merely an added extension to existing DJ culture.

With the advent of platforms such as Youtube and cheaper digital technology – people are beginning to play with this technology a lot more, is this merely a current trend, or do you think that something bigger is growing out of this?

Definitely something bigger is growing out of this. As people become more media literate, and technology gets cheaper, then inevitably it's going to carry on. It's certainly a popular trend, but it now has strong roots embedded and will continue to grow and evolve. In the UK, since the early 90s and rave culture, there’s been a real lack of any major youth movement, it’s all become very fragmented and is now completely influenced by major brands, but generally not in a very radical, imaginative or meaningful way at all. I think ultimately, technology is what’s going to change this, I’m not sure how exactly but the whole adoption of download culture and user generated content is clearly only the start of things. Technology is definitely going to play a central role in a wider and immanent cultural revolution, I just hope it’s as socially transforming as rock ‘n’ roll, the hippies, punk and rave.

Can you name other people / VJ’s / Artists who are also pushing the boundaries? (apart from yourselves?)

Bauhouse from Germany are great, working with live orchestras and AV samples, blending them audiovisually in real-time to produce beautiful shows. They've always been a cutting edge outfit.

(Thanks to Graham and Addictive for the short notice interview!)

With ads becoming the building blocks for new creative it appears that nothing is sacred or safe from the busy little fingers of the remix brigade.

Not even Cillit Bang and the mighty Barry Scott.

Record Label Nukleuz and their legions of hard house fans across the country have been spreading the Barry Scott message and trying to get the loud mentalist to number one for a number of months now (good luck).

Agency ruse or just plain coincidence? We couldn’t be sure, but the time effort and interest proves one thing:

That the Ad Remix is here to stay.

And it's spreading.

NewsReel 03/10/08

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

A short break

We are sad to report that Short and Sweet, London’s only weekly short film evening, is taking a break after 2 years and 5 months of showcasing some of the best short films, animation and music videos twice a week. Julia Stephenson, the event's tireless organiser, assures us that Short and Sweet will be back in some form in the not too distant future, but to enjoy a unique London event for the last time in a while head to Café 1001 on Monday 6th October or AKA on the 7th October for 7.30pm and give Julia and her team a round of applause for promoting short film so successfully over the past couple of years.

de Thame joins Therapy
Therapy Films have revealed the big name signing of Gerard de Thame for worldwide representation (excluding USA where he is represented by HSI). Among de Thame’s high-profile work is the iconic ‘Carl in New York’ ad for Pirelli Tyres. It seems negotiations to capture the signing of the experienced director were protracted, but Therapy MD Barry Hughes is pleased to have finally got his man, ‘Gerard is such a big name…we are very pleased he has chosen us to re-launch his career in the UK’.

Cut+Run NY cut ties
Cut+Run NY is no more. One of two transatlantic siblings of London’s Cut+Run editing house has gone it alone and will now be known as Cutting Room Films. The ownership of the award-winning shop is now in the hands of editors Chuck Willis and Mike Douglas, and EP Susan Willis. Apart from the name and ownership change, all remains the same at the company’s Avenue of the Americas HQ and Cut+Run’s LA shop is unaffected by the changes.

Another director
Another Film Company have added director Katie Bell to their burgeoning roster. Katie, who has previously directed campaigns for Persil, B & Q, Muller and Eurostar, will be produced by Jeff Stark’s long standing producer Cathy Green, who said of the signing, ‘Katie’s work is effortlessly stylish with a solid core of genuine confident performance and I’m really looking forward to working alongside her.’

A Very Small Office just got bigger
New York-based production house A Very Small Office have opened design and animation house Offspring. Co-founders Saffron Case and Mikon van Gastel have appointed newly minted creative director Adam Levite to lead the new venture. Case commented, ‘Offspring is a logical next step for Mikon and myself. We've developed such long-standing, deep relationships over the years it just seemed natural to offer those clients another creative opportunity.’ He continued, ‘AVSO was built on the passion to create highly original, game-changing work and we're taking that same approach and applying it to design and motion graphics.’

YGAward extension
The deadline for the 2008 YGAward has been extended to Friday 31st October at 5pm. The extension applies to both the Professional and Student Awards. Click here to submit your work.

Rushes' new Resolve
Rushes have got themselves a da Vinci, but it won’t be hanging in the Old Compton St offices of the post production and special effects masters, it’s a da Vinci Resolve R250 and it’s an impressive piece of telecine kit - apparently. To go with their shiny new machinery in the telecine department, they’ve got a shiny new producer, Alex Panton, who will assist clients to integrate Resolve into their working practices whilst promoting the existing C-Reality and Spirit suites and Rushes award-winning team of colourists.

BootB-licious
Disaronno have opened up the pitching process for their new TV campaign to all-comers on the innovative website BootB - the site that brings brand builders and creative brains around the globe together. All the information needed to pitch for the business is available here and the deadline is on the 12th October, so get your thinking caps on if you want to have a bash at it.

RE: EDIT

The creative world has been treated to a number of ‘ad remixes’ in recent months, and the trend doesn’t seem to be slowing down. Are we witnessing a new thread being woven into the marketing tapestry, or is this just a fad?

Re-edits have always been commonplace in the ad world, as campaigns from other climes and different tongues were introduced with a simple (but horribly obvious) audio dub. This involved the original native audio track being replaced with another, resulting in a Hong Kong-cinema- style English dub where the lip synch was murdered and the voices were horribly overacted.

This cheap and quick method allowed agencies to stretch their budgets that little bit further, and could quickly localize ads for another market further afield. These crude cut 'n’ paste audio edits of ads resulted in playground emulation and sparked cult following of the overdub ads themselves.

However, the Re-edit has, like many things in the neo-digital ad world, mutated again into something completely different. No longer are the agencies themselves forking out the time, money and effort to re-interpret their content. Indeed, this time its Joe Public who has grabbed the bull by the horns.

Machinated by the practice of modern DJ culture and catalysed by the advent of cheaper and freer digital technology, like a funky drum break to a music producer, the modern TV ad has become the base component for video artists and creatives all over the world.

This growing trend has been quickly jumped upon by agency Fallon, who were keen to send the mighty ‘Gorilla’ (and not so mighty ‘Trucks’) out to the wild and fertile land of the internet, where producers and video artists could ‘remix’ the ad to their hearts content. The resultant victors were then to be broadcast on national TV as ‘re-launches’ of the original ads.





This was interesting in a number of ways for our humble TV ad; The agency had let the public ‘remix’ an ad and then released the content officially, inadvertently giving birth to another rare breed of ad broadcasting: a piece of user generated content (usually the exclusive domain of 'takeover TV' or a cheap Channel 4 countdown show hosted by talentless hairdressers). But more importantly, Fallon showcased the notion of remixing TV ads on a national scale and gave it a prime time slot. This wasn’t during the ad break of ‘obscure Japanese Plant Hour’ oh no, Fallon dropped the Gorilla remix during The Big Brother Final.

This was the wedding DJ equivalent of playing Bill Medley and Jennifer Waymes' ‘Time of my life’, This was daft punk at the O2 festival, Marty McFly playing guitar at the Fish Under the Sea Dance. It was pretty big and pretty brave. Fallon gave the people the green light to go have fun, and fun they had.

The new versions will pay homage to the internet mash-up artists who remixed the original with Tyler's Total Eclipse of the Heart. Other bangers used in the remixes included EastEnders theme tune, 50 Cent's In Da Club and Europe's The Final Countdown.

In addition to these cheeky aural tweaks, Fallon has also tinkered with the 'Gorilla' ad in the visual department. During the Rugby World Cup last autumn (which saw the England team defy all expectation, ruin a cocky Ozzie side and reach the final against South Africa) Fallon edited an English ‘remix’ with a St George's cross mapped onto the drum kit as well as boasting the line 'Come on Lads'.

Laurence Green, chairman of Fallon tells how the remix aesthetic is now almost essential in modern advertising, 'We always had half an eye on doing something with it around the anniversary. We have taken inspiration from the way people have played with it online.' Green continues, 'We were always going to run the ads again. We could have been lazy and run the same versions, as a lot of old-fashioned advertisers would have, or we could live in the modern world.'

Other ads that had an intelligent remix tweak recently included the classic Apple spot 1984, which featured the subtle insertion of an I-pod on the protagonist’s waist.



Hopefully, these playful reworks will become the norm and we can all avoid monotonous replaying of old content. If the great unwashed are doing it for fun, they will most certainly switch off when they witness ad campaigns that can't be bothered to do something new…

…Lazier agencies take note…

NewsReel 26.09.08

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

UK VMAs shortlist

The nominations for the inaugural UK Video Music Awards have been announced, judged by a host of industry types, including our very own Chris Wall (who voted for Girls Aloud whenever he could, of course), the crème of British music are all in there. If you intend to go to the awards we hope you like 'The Hoosiers' because those novelty pop-rockers have bagged an astounding seven nominations in five categories. See below for the full list.

The awards ceremony takes place in just under 3 weeks time on Tuesday October 14th at the Odeon West End in Leicester Square. The evening will be hosted by the zany Adam Buxton - one half of 'Adam & Joe' and will be followed by a party at Orchid in Piccadilly Circus. Tickets are on sale now priced at £100 + VAT - more expensive than football; cheaper than an evening with a high class prostitute.

Best Pop Video
Duffy – Mercy
Goldfrapp – Happiness
Kate Nash – Foundations
The Hoosiers – Cops & Robbers
The Hoosiers – Worried About Ray
The Ting Tings – Shut Up And Let Me Go

Best Rock Video
Arctic Monkeys – Fluorescent Adolescent
Kaiser Chiefs – Love’s Not A Competition
Radiohead – House of Cards
Sigur Ros – Gobbledigook
Supergrass –Bad Blood
The Horrors – She Is The New Thing
Best Indie/Alternative Video
Bat For Lashes – What’s A Girl To Do
Bjork – Wanderlust
Emily Haines – Our Hell
Flight of the Conchords – Ladies of the World
Hot Chip – Ready For The Floor
The Liars – Plaster Casts of Everything

Best Dance Video
Chemical Brothers – Salmon Dance
Chemical Brothers – Midnight Madness
Groove Armada – Get Down
RJD2 – Work It Out
The BPA feat. David Byrne & Dizzy Rascal – Toe Jam
Utah Saints – Something Good

Best Urban Video
Dizzee Rascal – Sirens
Estelle – American Boy
Example – Me And Mandy
Flobots – Handlebars
Kano – Hustler
Wiley – Wearing My Rolex

Best Budget Video
Autamata – Need You Sunshine
Example – Me And Mandy
Jape – Floating
Lise Westzynthius – Childlike Curves
The Teenagers – Make It Happen
These New Puritans – Elvis

Best Art Direction in a Video
Badly Drawn Boy – Promises
Bjork – Wanderlust
Hot Chip – Ready For The Floor
The Hoosiers – Goodbye Mr A
The Hoosiers – Worried About Ray
Sonny J – Handsfree

Best Styling in a Video
Gnarls Barkley – Going On
Klaxons – Not Over Yet
Late of the Pier – The Bears Are Coming
Roisin Murphy – You Know Me Better
Sonny J – Handsfree
The Hoosiers – Cops & Robbers

Best Cinematography in a Video
Emily Haines – Our Hell
Foals – Olympic Airways
Interpol – No 1 in Threesome
Take That – I’d Wait For Life
The Cinematic Orchestra – To Build A Home
The Last Shadow Puppets – The Age of the Understatement

Best Telecine in a Video
Cage The Elephant – Ain’t No Rest For The Wicked
CSS – Rat Is Dead
Girls Aloud – Sexy No No No
KT Tunstall – If Only
Nine Black Alps – Bitter End
The Hoosiers – Worried About Ray

Best Editing in a Video
Gnarls Barkley – Going On
Hot Chip – Ready For The Floor
Johnny Foreigner – Salt, Pepper & Spinderella
Supergrass – Bad Blood
The Ting Tings – Shut Up And Let Me Go
These New Puritans – Elvis

Best Visual Effects in a Video IN ASSOCIATION WITH BEAM.TV
Bjork – Wanderlust
Chemical Brothers – Midnight Madness
Klaxons – Not Over Yet
Late of the Pier – Heartbeat
Mark Ronson feat Lily Allen – Oh My God
The Horrors – She Is The New Thing

Best International Video
Animal Collective – Peacebone
Gnarls Barkley – Who’s Gonna Save My Soul
Justice – Stress
MGMT – Time To Pretend
Weezer – Pork & Beans
zZz – Grip

The People’s Choice Award
Adele – Chasing Pavements
Duffy – Mercy
Estelle – American Boy
The Hoosiers – Goodbye Mr A
Leona Lewis – Bleeding Love
Mark Ronson – Valerie
Sam Sparro – Black and Gold
Sonny J – Handsfree
The Ting Tings – Shut Up and Let Me Go
Will Young – Changes

Best Producer IN ASSOCIATION WITH RUSHES
Gail Davey
Georgina Fillmore
Grace Bodie
Juliette Larthe
Malachy McAnenny
Tamsin Glasson

Best New Director IN ASSOCIATION WITH LOCOMOTION
Chris Sweeney
D.A.D.D.Y.
Dan Sully
James Copeman
OneInThree
Price James

Best Director
Alex & Liane
Diamond Dogs
Dougal Wilson
Jaron Albertin
Nima Nourizadeh
Richard Ayaode

Best Commissioner
Carole Burton-Fairbrother
James Hackett
John Moule
Mike O’Keefe
Ross Anderson
Tim Nash

He's Transparent and he's got a Lion
Cannes Lions Gold winner, Joachim Nielsen, has signed to Transparent for exclusive representation in the UK. His unique approach to humour has made Joachim one of Denmark's most sought after directors.

'We can't wait to introduce him to London agencies', says Transparent EP Eilon Kennet. See below for the Great Dane's showreel.

Harry Dwyer
In last month’s issues of The Reel we had the brilliant and toy obsessed Harry Dwyer in the pages of our Ones to Watch. Great. The only problem is that we repeatedly referred to him as ‘Harry Dwer’, which we think is actually a much better surname, but to avoid confusion...and show we 'fess up to our mistakes, we thought we'd better mention it. Take a look at a couple of great pieces from Harry here.

MTV Switch

Last year the June issue of The Reel was green – both in the environmental and colour sense – and the inspiration behind this ‘greenness’ was the inaugural MTV Switch campaign. The first six slots in the issue were filled with some top-notch creative urging ‘the kids’ to make lifestyle choices which help reduce the carbon emissions that contribute to climate change. Amongst the agencies and production companies involved were 180 Amsterdam, Cake and Element, and, along with Selmore and ecopop and collaborating parties, they’ve created another batch of multi-platform public service announcements and shorts for the return of the leading eco-initiative.

MTV Switch is special because the agencies, production companies and collaborators involved produce a high standard of work for no financial reward whatsoever. The unique coming together of creative talent to make a positive impact is something much appreciated by John Jackson, Director of Social Responsibility, MTV International, who said, ‘We are incredibly thrilled and honoured to work with such forward-thinking international creative agencies in producing compelling work to continue to engage youth on this extremely important global issue.’

But what do the companies get out of having their creative juices squeezed into a tall refreshing glass of pure freeness?! Peter Albores, Copywriter on 180 Amsterdam’s ‘Real Life’ spots tried to explain, ‘It's hard work... advertising. Sometimes you write things you don't like writing. Make images you don't like making. Talk to people who you don't like talking to. Sometimes all it takes for you to compromise every moral, ethical and intellectual fibre in your body is moderately priced designer furnishings. But then sometimes you get to do work for MTV. This makes it all better.’

Albores may have enjoyed working on the ‘Real Life’ spots but from the pieces to come out of 180 Amsterdam, and all the outstanding work that has been created this year, the ‘Green Song’ video particularly stands out. Lyrics like, ‘It doesn’t really matter what it is, or what it does, or why it stinks or what it means as long as it is green’ target the recent explosion in false or exaggerated green claims in the practice commonly known as green-washing. Hal Kirkland, creative on ‘Green Song’, learnt a lot about the shady ‘green’ claims that are bandied about by corporations and governments and was astounded by what he and his team unearthed in the course of researching for the project, ‘We did quite a bit of research and it was pretty eye-opening what we uncovered. Once we were introduced to the concept of green-washing, it didn't take long to see pages and pages of fairly damning information about what's really happening out there. The fact that some companies are putting more money into pretending they are green than into projects that legitimately help the environment was pretty astounding. Especially when you saw exactly how much they were spending.’

If you’re going to preach about helping the environment then you had better make sure you know what you’re talking about. The team at 180 Amsterdam were aware of the pitfalls of being so closely associated with MTV Switch and did their research accordingly – narrowly avoiding an awkward faux pas, Kirkland continues, ‘Prior to writing the Green Song we had just finished a campaign that involved the use of candles. We really liked it and we thought we had a pretty interesting perspective until a little research revealed that most candles aren't actually green at all. The way they're made, what they're made from and how they're distributed made light bulbs seem comparatively organic.’ Despite the near miss, the research and work that has gone into the film has paid off, with the film being lauded on uber green website treehugger.com and on the web pages of the Media Guardian…and now here.



A round of applause to those involved for providing their services free of charge and still producing such high quality work - sentiments echoed by 180's Producer on the project Sandy Durham, who must have worked harder than anyone, 'We are thrilled to participate once again in the MTV Switch initiative. It's a great cause and we had a lot of fun working on all three films. Whether it's reminding kids that sometimes life outside is better than life inside or making green washing an issue worth talking about. However, the real credit goes to all our production partners who offered endless hours of labour on this pro-bono project: Yellow House, Rokkit, Deli Pictures, Peppermelon, Sizzer, Kaiser Sound, Massive Music and Glassworks.'

All of the executions for this year’s Switch are available to view at mtvswitch.org. We’re going to turn our lights off now.

NewsReel 19.09.08

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

Hungry Man in sweary double
Hungry Man produced ‘Swear Jar’ picked up an Emmy for Outstanding Commercial last weekend. Additionally, continuing the pott y mouthed theme, Wayne McClammy, recently signed to Hungry Man’s roster brought home a couple Emmys of his own.

His hilarious ‘I'm F*cking Matt Damon’, which was co-written and directed by McClammy, picked up two Emmys, for Outstanding Original Music/Lyrics and Picture-Editing. The friend-to-the-stars director was joined on stage by Tony Barbieri, Sal Iacono, Dan Warner, and star Sarah Silverman. Accepting the award, Silverman singled out the director for his invaluable contributions to the short film. You want to see it again? Ok, here you go.



McClammy is currently in pre-production on a Nike project for Wieden + Kennedy, Portland.

Kinsale Shark attack
The 46th Kinsale Sharks took place last weekend on the Irish coast. Considering the vast amounts of the black stuff consumed over the festival it only seems apt that Guinness’ agency in London AMV BBDO picked up the Agency of the Year Award. Shock of the weekend must go to Fallon’s ‘Gorilla’ which went home empty handed…yeah, right! Predictably, the drumming simian got himself another Grand Prix. For a full list of awards click here.

Mailaender gets under the roof of Yellow House
Thomas Mailaender, director of the two ‘Real Life’ spots for MTV Switch (see this week’s feature for more info) has been announced as officially being signed to Yellow House Paris’ roster.