Nike x Insa via ProtienOs

IAM1 x INSA from Protein® TV on Vimeo.

Our pals over at ProteinOs have sent us the new viral for heel king, clothing lothario and graff legend INSA's new project for Nike. More info as the IAM1 project unfolds

NewsReel 10/07/09

More news for the Reel faithful. If you’ve got anything you want us to shout about here, throw an email in our direction – editor@thereel.net.

…if you’re one of the Sixteens


OK, if you weren’t put off by the Sweet referencing headline (it’s on brand – honest!), you’ll be excited to hear about an excellent new 16MM initiative from the lovely folk at Kodak, Soho Film Lab and Rushes. sweet16 (see the reference now!) is a new offering of packaged services, consisting of stock, lab processing and grading aimed at stimulating the use of 16mm film for commercials, virals and music promos.

The unique package is tailored two ways to suit the differing workflows for commercials and music videos. The sweet16 commercials package comes with 2000ft of stock, processing and one light SD transfers, plus three hours of telecine, whilst the sweet16 promos package has 3200ft’ of stock, processing and five hours of telecine. Both include SD or HD machine time but exclude tape stock. The package is available through Kodak re-sellers Arri Media and Take 2 in conjunction with their camera equipment rental, and is a snip at £1600.

More information about sweet16 can be found at: www.sweet-16mm.com

Don’t all Rush at once


More from Rushes!! The Rushes Soho Shorts Festival, celebrating its 11th year, has now announced the Official Festival Program for 2009. As regular readers will know, we bloody love the Soho Shorts fest, so this announcement has us filling our diaries faster than a whippet.

Films include Sadie Frost’s Directorial Debut, Danny Boyles End Credit Sequence for Slumdog Millionaire, actors such as Michael Bryne (Gangs of New York), Juliet Stevenson (Bend It Like Beckham), Nick Nolte (Hotel Rwanda, 48 Hours), Connie Fischer (Sound Of Music), Russel Tovey (Being Human), Chris Hehir (Green Street), Danny Cunningham (24 Hour Party People), Jack O’Connell (This is England), and comedians such as Adam Buxton Lulu McClatchy and Alexei Sayle. That’s right, Dr Buckles and Nick Nolte on the same bill. Immense.

For all the info on the festivities, check out the official site – www.sohoshorts.com – and for more info on the shortlisted films, fly to our previous feature here.

Block my spam, fire my wall



This week The Reel were invited along to a special screening Seth Gordon’s (he of King of Kong) new McAfee funded doc H*COMMERCE – and subsequently wrapped their PCsa in cotton wool and waited for the E-mageddon. The film (a collection of 6 docu-shorts hosted on the bespoke www.stophcommerce.com site) basically tells us that there are clever, malicious people out there who know more about computers than you, and there fore know more about you than you. However, the frankly dry, techie subject is smartly injected with Gordon’s uncanny ability to find a human tale to tell – this time focussing on a kindly former-vicar’s staggering loss of $400,000. Tense, humourous and compelling this smart piece of, dare we say it, branded content oozes credibility. Cheers to Moxie Pictures for the invite.

Grey-t new appointment in Amsterdam


Grey has completed the reorganisation of its Amsterdam agency with the appointment of Hazelle Klønhammer to the role of Managing Director. Formerly at 180, Wieden+Kennedy and Modernista! Amsterdam, Australian-born Klønhammer has an established track-record in successfully managing international business for creatively-led clients.

Working closely with Executive Creative Directors Colin Lamberton and Seyoan Vela (with whom The Reel spent several pleasurable moments in Cannes), Klønhammer will be responsible for building Dutch business as well as extending the strengthened Grey offering to international clients.

Klønhammer’s strong track record for winning new business and re-positioning global brands is evidenced in her work as group account director at
Wieden+Kennedy. Over a 10 year period she worked on numerous brands such as Electronic Arts, Nike, Heineken, Microsoft, Carlsberg, and the global launch of Vodafone. She was instrumental in setting up the agency’s digital offering and was responsible for securing and running their first digital client, Electronic Arts. Since leaving W+K 18 months ago, her senior management skills have been in play at Modernista! and 180. Prior to this, Klønhammer has also worked at Amirati Puris Lintas, Sydney, and TBWA Campaign Company.

http://www.grey.com/netherlands/

New fingers on the Pulse

Top production company Pulse Films have added further directing talent to their books, as well as an appointment to their advertising team. Acclaimed commercials director and photographer Jack Cole has joined Pulse, along with award-winning writer-director Ben Woolf. They have also appointed Verity Casey as the company’s Directors’ Representative.


Jack Cole has been a freelance director and photographer since he ended his time as one half of director’s duo LIFF. His commercial work has won major awards, including a Cannes Lions Festival award nomination and he has worked in the UK, Belgium and Germany on campaigns for Panasonic, Tesco, and the Coca Cola group among others. Jack started his career on the international film festival circuit, receiving acclaim for films like Practice Makes Perfect which won the TCM Classic Shorts Award at the London Film Festival. Jack has had a number of big photography commissions and work published; his freelance work has been featured at the London Design Festival and in publications such as Damn and Plastique.


Jack is joined at Pulse by writer-director Ben Woolf, whose work spans theatre, film, TV and online production. Ben’s television credits include Children of the Tsunami (BBC), and a viral musical commercial (Unexpected Performance) for Lastminute.com which won a Young Directors Award at the 2009 Cannes Lion Festival. Ben is highly successful within the theatrical world, and his plays have been produced in the UK, USA, Australia and the Czech Republic. His comedy about immigration, Angry Young Men - which he wrote and directed - has won numerous plaudits including a TimeOut Critics Choice Award. Ben was Associate Director of plays including the Olivier Award-nominated Sunset Boulevard and Ivanov with Kenneth Branagh. He is also the Artistic Director of the MahWaff Theatre Company, which looks to produce innovative new writing work internationally.


Verity Casey, who will be responsible for securing commercial commissions for Pulse’s roster of directors, was previously Director’s Representative at Rogue Films. Verity has a background of working for a range of media and advertising agencies such as Fallon, AIS and M&C Saatchi.

http://www.pulsefilms.co.uk/

Walter Campbell gets Serious

In another new signing, multi - award winning Walter Campbell has joined Serious Pictures. Walter has written and art directed some of the most iconic and influential advertising in the world, and has now started Directing through Serious Pictures. Check out his showreel here - http://www.seriouspictures.com/directors/walter-campbell.go.

Square snares Steph


Not one to be outdone by their production brothers, Golden Square has announced the signing of an extremely experienced producer – Steph Thompson – who brings 16 years of agency, production company and post experience to Golden Square’s production department. Thompson’s extensive experience boasts some of the most respected agencies and brands in the commercials industry: BBH, Fallon, Stella Artois and Coca Cola.

Thompson started her career at The Moving Picture Company in 1993 and left in 1995 to become a Production Assistant for Lowe Howard Spink where she worked for two years on brands ranging from Stella Artois to Tesco. In 1997 she decided to travel and worked for JWT Sydney as a TV producer. Upon returning to the UK in 1998, she went to Rainey Kelly Cambell Roalfe until 2001 when she began freelancing for agencies such as BBH, Fallon and VCCP, working on major campaigns including the launch TV campaign for Coca Cola Zero. Thompson’s most recent position was as head of sales for Feel Films.

http://www.goldensq.com/news

WE WANTS YOUR WORKS!!!

Right, let’s cut to the chase. The July Issue of The Reel is being complied now and it’s got a *insert your company’s name* sized gap in it!! So send us your latest and greatest or we’ll sulk. Any questions on how to do so can be answered through pre-written words here – www.thereel.net/Common/Submit.aspx - through bespoke words here – editor@thereel.net – or through your ears here - +44 (0) 20 7575 1985.

I want my MTV

Global entertainment megabrand MTV has recently undertaken a massive rebrand of its 64 ex-US channels rejuvenating everything from colour palette to typography, program guide to on screen editorial – its all had a lick of digital paint. Aiming to cross borders, cultures and the huge hurdle of language – the new MTV international identity ‘reboot’ is chock full of beautiful.

Tackling a re-brand of a channel that has over two decades of cutting edge cool under its belt not to mention a mainline into youth culture the world over is no mean feat. MTV have historically set the trend of quirky and controversial idents.

On August 1, 1981, at 12:01 a.m., MTV launched with the words "Ladies and gentlemen, rock and roll," followed by the original MTV theme song playing over a montage of the Apollo 11 moon landing and showed an fluoro MTV logo replacing the stars and stripes of the American flag.

MTV producers Alan Goodman and Fred Seibert used this public domain footage as a conceit, associating MTV with the most famous moment in world television history. Ironically at the moment of its launch, only a few thousand people on a single cable system in northern New Jersey could see it. Not bad for a kick off.

20 years on, MTV define themselves as ‘so much more than a music (channel)’ and they still remain the number one entertainment destination for young people around the world.

The new look launched on the 1st of July over a whopping 160 territories and tongue tying 31 languages and was a collaboration between MTVNI’s recently established World Design Studio based in Milan and UK-based multidisciplinary studio Universal Everything.

The snazzy new identity was designed to embody MTV’s signature world class design and production values and further solidify the channel’s position as a meeting point for music, creativity, youth culture and the premier place to get annoyed at rich bratty kids (Paris we are looking at you).

The team worked on three keywords; Love, Joy and Desire in the hope that the themes would resonate across borders, cultures and languages around the world – and became the project’s common threads and inspiration.

The new swathe of idents reflect the international status of MTV, and feature a clutch of top tier directors from all over the globe:

The new 6 idents came from:

‘Choc Gold’ – Tronic - USA

‘Mr Furry’ – Realise – UK

‘Oil’ - Maxim Zhestkov – Russia

‘Candy’ – Zeitguised – UK / Germany

‘Wind Kiss’ - Universal Everything – UK







‘Mad Drummer’ - Universal Everything – UK



Here is the dirty half-dozen for your veiwing pleasure:

Long may they innovate!

Cannes It Be?

So there it was – Cannes Lions 2009.

Fewer people than usual – certainly. More straight-laced than normal – probably. Less top work on show – hell no!

The Film Lion winners of Cannes ’09 had the usual share of wildcard surprises, saw-that-coming expectations, what-were-they-thinking expulsions and grin-widening shockers. Rather than running through all of the winners – a job done manfully by the official site here – we thought we’d present the Second Annual Reel-Deal Cannes Awards to a choice handful:

The ‘We Told You So’ Award

Philips ‘Carousel’ - TRIBAL DDB Amsterdam / STINK DIGITAL London (Grand Prix)

Not wishing to get all Mystic Meg on this but WE BLOODY SAID THIS WOULD RULE THE AWARDS. Any non-believers out there need only check our pre-Cannes post, our interview with uber-producer Mark Pytlik and the Editor’s Comments in both UK and International April Edition’s DVD booklets. Then again, anyone with eyes, any understanding of advertising or with a penchant for clowns would say the same – and we’ve got all three.

The ‘Don’t Mention Flashmob To Our Pals At Contagious’ Award



T-Mobile ‘Dance’ – SAATCHI & SAATCHI London / PARTIZAN London (Gold)

Clever idea, perfect timing and it actually WORKED (i.e. people texted, SMSed, videoed the event with their mobiles).

The ‘Finally Putting My Film Degree To Good Use’ Award



Stella Artois ‘Dial Hard’ – MOTHER London / LANDIA Buenos Aires (Gold Campaign)

Funny enough for the casual viewer, but the sniper-sharp touches make this a stand-out campaign for lovers of the nouvelle vague.

The ‘Made Our Mums Happy’ Award



Washington Lottery ‘Birds’ – PUBLICIS IN THE WEST Seattle / STICKS+STONES STUDIOS Hollywood (Silver)

Heartwarming and emotive without a dollar sign in sight (surely a first for an American lottery ad!). Plus, we’re sure you see a penguin smile!

The ‘So Pretty It Made Our Eyes Hurt’ Award



Tiji ‘Balloon’ – DDB Paris / WANDA PRODUCTIONS Paris (Silver)

Anyone who’s stumbled across a copy (digital or otherwise) of The Reel before will know we love animation, but this is one piece we actually want to marry and have babies with.

The ‘Most Likely To Fire Up Geldof And Kofi’ Award



Environmental Defense Fund ‘Polar Bears’ – OGILVY New York / BISCUIT FILMWORKS Los Angeles (Silver)

A smart, simple idea executed perfectly.

The ‘Took Us A While To Get It On The DVD But Was Worth It’ Award



Shelter ‘House Of Cards’ – LEO BURNETT London / Outsider London (Silver)

Beautiful the second we saw it ... and managing to retain its beauty though endless can we/can’t we calls to agency and production company.

The ‘Milk Came Out My Nose’ Funny Award



Pizza Pops ‘Robot Friend’ – COSSETTE Toronto / HOLIDAY FILMS Toronto (Silver Campaign)

Simple, hilarious, heartwrenching. We wish we had a robot friend.

So there we go, Cannes in a can. Keep an eye on our blog/newsletter in the upcoming weeks, as we’ll be posting the fruits of our labours sporadically (including an interview with the E-Street’s and Soprano’s ‘Little’ Steve Van Zandt). On a parting note, enjoy one of our picks from the Saatchi & Saatchi New Director’s Showcase:

Reel Newsletter 03/07/09

Tim O’Kennedy gets pencilled in...


D&AD has pulled out the stops and appointed grand fromage Tim O’Kennedy, brand and communications consultant and former MD of Wieden + Kennedy Amsterdam, as it’s Chief Executive.

Having experience on both the client and agency side, O’Kennedy’s overarching objective is to provide focused, strategic leadership to ensure that D&AD continues to flourish in the UK and on the world stage as an influential creative awards body and as a leading and inspirational learning centre for creatives.

O’Kennedy had this to say about his recent appointment:

“I feel honoured to take the reins at this amazing organisation, which has always lived in my mind as the absolute reference for creativity in the communication arts. D&AD’s multi-disciplinary purview is a big part of the appeal for me: I grew up in the worlds of advertising and design, and have a deep-seated appreciation for both, as I do for the possibilities afforded by interactive media.The world of communications is changing, and at an exponential rate - but it’s doing so in ways which can make D&AD more relevant than ever. While I believe that the role of CEO is by definition multi-faceted, my most important job will be to reinforce this relevance, to further secure D&AD’s position as the standard-setter for creativity worldwide.”

Pulse Films Signs Andrew Douglas

Pulse Films recently announced the signing of world-class multi award-winning commercials, features and documentary director Andrew Douglas upon his return to the UK.

Andrew, who has worked for the advertising industry on both sides of the Atlantic, joins Pulse for UK Representation. He is represented in the US respected LA-based Anonymous Content where he earned a reputation as one of the finest commercial directors in the world. Nominated as Best Commercials Director by the Directors Guild of America, he has directed commercial work for an array of clients such as Nike, Adidas, Citroën, Coca-Cola, and Microsoft.

In addition to his commercial work, he made his feature film directorial debut with international box office hit, The Amityville Horror, grossing $130m dollars worldwide. Andrew’s credentials in documentary film-making include the RTS award-winning Searching for the Wrong-Eyed Jesus for BBC Two’s Arena strand. The film was subsequently released theatrically in the US and won the Seattle Film Festival’s Jury award for Best Documentary.

Andrew Douglas adds: “I am excited to be joining Pulse on my return to the UK. I wanted to work with the high calibre of creativity that London - and the rest of the UK - has to offer and this is precisely what Pulse can offer.”

http://www.pulsefilms.co.uk/

Anonymous Content signs academy award-nominated Cuaron

Adding to its already sprawling network of talent, Anonymous has signed Mexican filmmaker, screenwriter and film producer Alfonso Cuarón to its Commercial division. The internationally acclaimed Cuarón's most recent work, Children of Men, starring Clive Owen, Julianne Moore and Michael Caine, was nominated for three Academy Awards.

His Spanish-language feature film Y Tu Mamá También, earned a Best Original Screenplay Academy Award nomination and enjoyed major international success. Commercial credits include spots for Nike, Pac Bell, and Miller, with an Emmy win for PBS Fish out of Fallon Minneapolis.

Meribel Festival becomes The Cristal Awards

The Ad industries favourite winter meet has recently had a slight name (or nom) change. The Meribel Ad Festival has morphed into the namesake of its coveted trophies – and become The Cristal Awards.

Since the creation of the first Festival in Méribel 2001, the crystal expansion has been fairly rapid – and saw the event sprawl out to China at the China Cristal Awards and the MENA Cristal Awards for the Middle East and North Africa.

Not only has the festival changed its name, it has also moved geographically. The Festival will now take place at the Swiss station of Crans Montana. Locates at the heart of the Swiss Alps, Crans Montana is one of the most prestigious ski resorts in Europe, and benefits from enormous grandiose surroundings as well as offering a whole new accessible quality to the Cristal Festival that Meribel sadly could never offer.

For more info go to www.centraleuropecristal.com/

In The Cannes

Off to Cannes? Barely prepped?

Fear not, as The Reel provide their handy Top 3’s (in no particular order) of the festival. Follow these to the letter and you’re trip will be a smooth as titanium. You might even bump in to us too! Hooray!!

TOP 3 TROPHY TIPS

Comcast - Rabbit

Smart idea, clever execution and flash visuals. This one’s going home with something.

Philips - Carousel

Brilliantly made filmic spot that speaks directly to its intended audience.

Diesel XXX - SFW

Call us juvenile if you want, but we have never been forwarded a viral by so many people.

TOP 3 EVENTS

The Saatchi&Saatchi New Directors Showcase
Thursday 25 June
12:00 - 13:30
Grand Audi

Want to know who'll be directing the big ads in 2010? Want to check out the new Cunningham/Gondry/Ledwidge before the rest of the pack? Check out The Reel’s Ones To Watch … or go to this marvellous showcase constructed by the in-the-know folk of Saatchis.

Straight8 Screening
Friday 26th June
11:00 – 12:45
Star Cinema, 98 Rue D’Antibes
www.straight8.net

You all know the format (and if you don’t – get involved). One super 8mm cartridge. No editing. This screening contains the pieces chosen for the Cannes Film Festival debut and The Best Of An Ad Bunch, a collection of entries from adland folk. See them watch it for the first time! Magic.

Leo Burnett & Contagious
Wildfire Stories: Pass It On
Wednesday 24 June
16:00 - 16:45
Debussy

Yeah yeah, we know they’re our pals, but the Wildfire seminars ALWAYS pack out the Debussy and this year’s topic examining ‘storytelling’ in advertising and the creation of ever more immersive narratives is set to be a belter!

TOP 3 MANBAG/HANDBAG ITEMS

Sun Cream – The Reel consists of a Geordie and a Ginger. The sun is our mortal enemy.

Business Cards – Plenty of em! Useful for those situations where you’ve forgotten the person you’re talking to’s name. A simple card swap and you’ve got a hand-held reminding device.

Bottle of Rose – Have you seen the queues at the Gutter Bar?

TOP 3 PLACES TO SEE THE REEL TEAM

Adelphoi Pool Party
Thursday – 15:00-19:00
RSVP – FULL!!

We’ll be the guys dipping their toes in the pool whilst munching down on delicious BBQed seafood.

Wanda BBQ
Friday – 12:00-18:00
RSVP – clementine@wanda.fr

We’ll be the guys looking slightly seasick and swooning whenever the lovely Wanda ladies talk to us in their lovely French accents.

CANNES Credit Crunch Party
Plage Maema, Friday – 16:00-21:30
Sign up on Facebook - http://www.facebook.com/home.php?ref=logo#/event.php?eid=92169742085

We’ll be the guys pestering our sales team for their dosh.

So there we go. Cannes in the can! If you fancy meeting up and saying hello at any point in the festival (we’ll be there Wednesday-Saturday) just drop us a line on editor@thereel.net.

No newsletter proper next week, but you can look forward to daily updates on the blog direct from the festival.

Bon!

NewsReel 19/06/09

GELDOF JOINS IN AT CANNES

Live aid founder, TV swearer and Monday hater Bob Geldof has joined the distinguished panel tackling climate change at this years Cannes. Led by Kofi Annan, former Secretary General of the United Nations, the panel have been brought together to launch a major international campaign on climate change.

The campaign is aimed at world leaders achieving a just deal at the UN Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen, December 2009. The Panel also includes David Jones, Global CEO of Euro RSCG Worldwide - Havas Worldwide, who will talk about the urgent action required from the advertising and marketing communities to ensure success at the Copenhagen Conference.

David Jones said: "Our industry excels at changing people's behaviour. I believe that we have not only an opportunity, but an obligation to use our creativity to address some of the biggest issues facing the world.

"It’s tremendously exciting that Bob Geldof has agreed to join us at Cannes to launch the global campaign on climate justice. Kofi and Bob are two of the most powerful advocates for the world’s poor.

"To get a meaningful deal at Copenhagen requires everyone to put pressure on their leaders to agree a fair post-Kyoto deal. This is precisely the aim of the campaign we will be launching at Cannes, and the advertising and marketing communities have a crucial role to play."

Mr Annan, Mr Geldof and Mr Jones will be making a presentation on the campaign on Friday 26 June 2009 at 11am in the Debussy Auditorium at the Palais des Festivals, Cannes.

TREVOR ROBINSON AWARED OBE

Trevor Robinson Creative Director and founder of Quiet Storm has been awarded the OBE. Robinson is responsible for unleashing the 90’s ear-slap mania of the Tango man upon the UK as well as a plethora of other famous and award winning campaigns.

In June 2009 HRH Queen Elizabeth II awarded Trevor an OBE for his services to Advertising. Upon receiving the honour Trevor said “I feel incredibly blessed, lucky and humbled by this honour and would like to thank everyone who has contributed towards me getting to this stage. There are genuinely too many to mention here but I truly thank everyone who has helped me along the way. Also a special thank you to all my friends and family particularly my parents, wife and children.”

Last year Trevor also presented ‘A Mother’s Tear’ written by two 15 year old school children after winning a competition ran under his Create Not Hate initiative. This was a project to help tackle gun and knife crime creatively, which has received extensive global PR (from news channels in Japan to Germany) with the film being shown nationwide in cinemas and on TV. Already planned is a competition to build a Peace Garden for 2012; Design a range of T Shirts and much more. For more information about the project, please visit the Create Not Hate website www.createnothate.org

Well done Trevor!

SKINNER GETS TOOLED UP

The wonderfully named Tool of North America is excited to announce the signing of Grant Skinner, an internationally recognized leader in the field of rich interactive experiences. He joins Tool's Digital practice as a creative technologist developing concepts and providing creative technical solutions for brands. Skinner will also collaborate with Tool's directors as their technologist by blending live-action content with cutting-edge technology.

Skinner's signing gives Tool enhanced capability to push out more innovative work of the sort such as the recent Cold War Kids ‘I've Seen Enough’ video helmed by Tool director Sam Jones.

AND FINALLY…


OK, this is one to get a sit back to and relax with a nice cup of tea. Using the newly released 'life simulator' EA title Sims 3 as a base, clever games student Robin Burkinshaw conducted an experiment in creating a homeless family in the game's suburban settings. The real joy, however, is not in the results (which are pretty remarkable) but in the expert way the blogger writes his entries to make you care about the characters. Docu-Machinima? We don't know, but it's bloody lovely.

http://aliceandkev.wordpress.com/