NewsReel 07/08/09

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The Sweet Shop gets Rudy and Levene


We love a bit of Sweet Shop action, so the latest news from the tasty production company got us all excited. International hothouse production company The Sweet Shop has just expanded its London operation with the hiring of Rudy Taguri as Director's Representative and Andrew Levene as Producer.

Speaking on the move, Taguri commented, ‘I’ve admired The Sweet Shop’s talent pool and quality of work across the globe for some time now and the chance to amplify its already rapid success in London, is something I’m definitely looking forward too.

The move re-unites Taguri with former colleague Candice Chubb, now MD of the Sweet Shop. Chubb has taken time to pick who she thinks to be the perfect team to help drive the London office forward. She comments; ‘I am thrilled to be welcoming Rudy and Andrew to The Sweet Shop, having them on board cements and furthers the strength of structure in our London office. We are getting interest from some amazing new talent, who see an advantage to how we are doing things differently, the local support we provide along with our global model makes us unique. It’s not hard for directors to see how the opportunities of our strengths beyond the UK base of operations will further their careers. Having Rudy and Andrew with me is further testament to our progression, I am truly excited about the time ahead'.

Great stuff! Looks like Rudy can’t fail (to work for good production companies). Ha ha ha … oh.

http://thesweetshop.tv/

JWT gets PB to DCD


JWT London announced this week the appointment of Paul Banham as Digital Creative Director. Paul brings to JWT 16 years of outstanding marketing experience and is one of the elite few creative directors to have won awards across both the on and off-line worlds.

During his career Paul has worked at world-class agencies such as AIS, Agency.com and WCRS Arnold Worldwide, where he has held senior creative positions, working on a raft of multi-award winning campaigns.

Paul's extensive experience in branding, design, integrated and digital have given him a unique perspective and approach. He has won over 130 creative awards, these include the likes of D&AD, Cannes, Euro Best, The One Show, Clios, Creative Review - The Annual, New Media Age, Revolution, Eyeblaster, IAB Creative Showcase, The Viral Awards and the LIAs.

http://www.jwt.co.uk/

Maxim goes Partizan


Partizan has just signed (to much coo-ing and ahhhi-ing) 23 year old director Maxim Zhestkov. Born in Russia, at the age of six he was given his first computer, a ZX Spectrum, and devoted his time to drawing huge and very detailed illustrations. He was also a keen gamer, and believes his enthusiasm for design and CG effects can be traced back to those days. After high school Maxim undertook a degree in architecture, which he followed by studying graphic design, fine art, illustration and sculpture.

He says: “There are no limits in graphics - everything you can imagine is possible. But I have to say I still love architecture. It all started with 2d illustrations, that smoothly turned into 3d illustrations and spaces. Then I developed a passion for architecture and graphic design. Then I realized that the most important thing is video!”

To check out his latest (frankly awesome) MTV work head to his showreel or look forward to the imminently shipping July Reel DVDs.

And finally…

We’re sure you crazy, web-savvy Reelers are all over this already, but for the uninitiated here is the latest ‘Autotune The News’. Amazing!

Fans Get The Power...

Handing power to your fanbase is not the newest of ideas in the promo world.

Welsh rockers Feeder tapped into the power of their fans way back in 2004 with the promo for ‘Just A Day’.



The video for ‘Just a day’ was such a big hit, it became an inspiration to Jetplane Landing and Canadian rock band the Barenaked Ladies, for their videos to "Brave Gravity" and "Wind it Up" respectively.
A clutch of promos have returned to this concept and placed the all important fan in the driving seat this month. But now, with the rapid advancement of online and interactive technology, the fans are getting a bit more in the way of fun and games to fuel their devotion.

Indie wailers Bloc Party have gone the way of crowd-sourcing content for their latest video. Made up of mostly fan-submitted mobile phone footage, the video for the group’s song Ares (Villains Remix) delivers a brilliant naïve feel and pulls together a wonderful cross-section of different ideas.



FANtastic! (ha ha).


The new video for The Cold War Kids ‘I’ve seen enough’ has been released with an interactive online version of the Promo. Fans can utilise a simple colour co-ordinated toolbar to change the actual audio as well as muting and un-muting drum sections, vocals, bass and keys. In this fashion fans can almost re-mix the song themselves on the fly, playing around with it until they settle on a version that they like.

Go play here.

More interactive-promo tomfoolery comes from Blac Ionica and Agency Devilfish who designed and directed an imaginative augmented reality music video for young new Columbia Records artist Julian Perretta.

Built around his track "Ride My Star", the video is a 3d trip through Julian’s imagination as he searches for his girl. Using a combination of Flash and Papervision to create the 3D scenarios. This was then developed in Augmented Reality, which uses Flash, your webcam and a special printed "icon" (tracker) to create a fully immersive, interactive video.
The pop-up book designs were created by London based directors Blac Ionica. Zerofractal Studios from Colombia programmed the video in Papervision and Flash, developed and created the accompanying interface.



This is the first time that Augmented Reality has been used on this scale in conjunction with a recording artist, and more than likely will spark the trend in Pop Promos. The icon/tracker will be handed out as part of a flyer at dates on Julian's tour supporting Girls Aloud. It will also be available to download Julian Perretta’s website.

BBH labs in NY have also turned invention up to eleven in the new promo for Japanese post rock band Sour in their new promo ‘Hibi No Neiro’. Managing to produce the video around their day jobs at BBH, the production team started by posting on fan forums asking for people to volunteer for the new music video. Incredibly interest sprung from all over the globe – and the fans took the project whilst the BBH team provided the working framework.

A few months of tight planning and a detailed animatic later – the volunteer fans were ready to pitch in on the promo via the wonder of the webcam. The result is some pretty inspiring stuff considering the budget was a massive $0 and the directing team were based in NY and the band live in Tokyo…

Complaining promo directors…

Be horribly afraid… fan power is here to stay…

http://sour-web.com/

For more znazzy techy world-conquering info like this be sure to check contagious magazine's wildfire section (which we occasionally write for as well...).

Its RAD!!

Rushes Soho Shorts '09 - The Winners!!

The Rushes Soho Shorts held it’s Awards Ceremony last night, and what a grand shindig it was!! Presented, as every, by Word legend Terry Christian, the snazzy show in the Curzon Soho announced the deserving winners in each of the eight catagories to a rapt audience. But enough of our guff, who won what?

RSSF LONG FORM
WINNER - Romans 12:20 Directed by The Shammasian Brothers (UK)
NOMINEE - Boy Directed by Joe Morris, Picture Palace North (UK)
NOMINEE - Danzak Directed by Gabriela Yepes , Kunay Films (Peru)

RSSF INTERNATIONAL
WINNER - Charlie Thistle Directed by Bragi Schut, Gallantyne Pictures (USA)
NOMINEE - Next Floor Directed by Denis Villeneuve, PHi Group Inc (Canada)
NOMINEE - 18 Segundos Directed by Zchariass & MacGregor (Spain)

RSSF MUSIC VIDEO
WINNER - Prodigy: Warrior Dance Directed by Corin Hardy, Academy Films (UK)
NOMINEE - Coldplay: Life in Technicolour II Directed by Dougal Wilson, Colonel Blimp (UK)
NOMINEE - No Corras Tanto (Take It Easy) Directed by Cesar Diaz (Independent) (Spain)

RSSF BROADCAST DESIGN
WINNER - BBC ‘Journey To The East’ Directed by Jamie Hewlett & Pete Candeland, Passion Pictures (UK)
NOMINEE - Audi 'Unboxed' Directed by Aaron Duffy & Russell Brooke, Passion Pictures (UK)
NOMINEE - BBC 'Medieval Mind Trip' Directed by James Price, Strange Beast (UK)

RSSF DOCUMENTARY
WINNER - Avatar Days Directed by Gavin Kelly, Piranha Bar (Ireland)
NOMINEE - The Madman and the Cathedral Directed by James Rogan, Mix UP Film/ Brit Doc (Spain/ UK)
NOMINEE - Irene Directed by Lindsay Goodall, Blindside Productions (UK)

RSSF ANIMATION
WINNER - This Way Up Directed by Smith & Foulkes, Nexus (UK)
NOMINEE - Txt Island Directed by Chris Gavin, Tandem (UK)
NOMINEE - This Is Where We Live Directed by Ben Falk & Josiah Newbolt, Asylum Films & APT (UK)

RSSF SHORT FILM
WINNER - Washdays Directed by Simon Neal, Deeply Vale Productions (UK)
NOMINEE - Post It Love Directed by Si & Ad, Academy Films (UK)
NOMINEE - Hammerhead Directed by Sam Donovan (Independent) (UK)

RSSF NEWCOMER
WINNER - Tight Jeans Directed by Destiny Ekaragha, Pollibee Pictures (UK)
NOMINEE - Quietus Directed by George Taylor, Lucky Red Ball (UK)
NOMINEE - I Stood Up Directed by Lucy Tcherniak & James Willis, Partizan (UK)

Our congratulations to the champs, and to Joe and all at Rushes for another top-notch programme celebrating all things short. If you want to know more, check out the website - www.sohoshorts.com – or wait for our fabulous Feature issue next month with everything short you could ever want … and more!!

NewsReel 31/07/09

Moves…

Pereira & O’Dell gets Kaplan to write the script.

San Francisco’s Pereira & O'Dell, the big kahuna cross-disciplinary ad agency recently announced the addition of Joel Kaplan as senior writer. Kaplan will work across accounts and report directly to Chief Creative Officer and Co-Founder, PJ Pereira. Most recently a writer with Crispin Porter + Bogusky, Kaplan served on the team responsible for the breakthrough, award winning work on Burger King's "Whopper Sacrifice.”

Whopping!

www.pereiraodell.com

JWT appoints a Guy as CEO...

JWT is pleased to announce the appointment of Guy Hayward as Chief Executive Officer of JWT in the UK. Reporting to Toby Hoare, Chairman and CEO of JWT Europe, Hayward will be responsible for the JWT Group in the UK where he will oversee and help to develop the Group's integrated proposition. He intends to put long-term creative brand building at the top of his agenda and sees preparing the agency for the future as one of his challenges. "Our business has entered a totally new era and I'm delighted to have the opportunity to help lead JWT into this."

Awards Awards Awards!

Kinsale Sharks 09’

Call for entry dates for this year’s Kinsale Sharks have been announced…
…so people who fancy being (f)in with a chance of an award better get all their stuff in before the 7th of August… Either send it or not… The choice is jaws…

...groan…

Spikes announce Digital, Direct & Sales Promotion Jury.

That’s right – the spiky ones have started announcing their juries for this years awards ceremony. So far the Digital, Direct & Sales Promotion Jury looks like this…

Fred Koblinger, Chief Executive Officer, PKP Proximity, Austria - Jury President

Dirk Eschenbacher, Executive Creative Director, Managing Partner, Tribal DDB

Worldwide, China

Atul Nath, Managing Director, Candid Marketing, India

Alvin Lim, Creative Director, OgilvyOne worldwide, Hong Kong

Morihiko Hasebe, Senior Creative Director, Hakuhodo, Japan

Alex J Kwon, Interactive Creative Director, Cheil Worldwide, Korea

Ronald Ng, Chief Creative Officer, BBDO/Proximity, Malaysia

Victor Ng, Executive Creative Director, Euro RSCG Singapore, Singapore

Clinton Manson, Executive Creative Director Regional (Asia), Lowe Bangkok, ThailandHashem

Bajwa, Executive Director, Strategy & Innovation, TBWA\ Worldwide, USA

The winners will be announced and honoured at the Spikes Asia Awards Ceremony, the culmination of the newly relaunched three-day Spikes Asia Festival, taking place at Suntec, Singapore, between 16 and 18 September 2009.

To submit entries, register to attend or for more information on Spikes Asia 2009, visit www.spikes.asia.

Picasso Pictures sign motion graphic superstars, Laundry! for exclusive UK representation.

Fabbo production company Picasso Pictures are delighted to announce the addition of new directing collective Laundry! to their UK roster. Laundry! come to Picasso having already established themselves as one of the most talented and prolific motion graphic directors in the US and apparently they also do a mean dry-clean.Creative Directors Tony Liu and PJ Richardson co-founded Laundry! 3 years ago and have established a unique multimedia studio committed to integrating art and innovation.

They are dedicated to bringing their unique illustrative flavour, narrative point of view and distinct sense of humour to each brief they undertake.

Stonking.

A Mainframe gets in the Duck…

From August 2009 independent UK motion shop, Mainframe, will be taking their unique brand of cutting edge animation to the US market via a tie-up with LA-based Duck Studios.

Duck Studios specializes in 2D/3D computer animation, cel animation, character and illustrative design, compositing, digital ink and paint, live action integration, stop motion and live action. Mainframe’s 20 London and Manchester producers, designers, 2D and 3D animators will be represented as a directing collective across the US from Duck’s LA home as well as its east coast and mid-west sales reps.

After the brilliant TOMAS campaign from Mainframe – this should be a neat little partnership!
Great stuff!

Today IS a good day… For Nike SB…

Simplicity is often the father of genius.

The new Nike SB television commercial (SB being an acronym for Skateboarding for those of you who don’t get time to shred) ‘Today was a good day’ is a brilliant example of simple genius.



The spot has began to pick up an awful amount of industry heat and a couple of hundred thousand views on YouTube in under just two days, no mean feat for a campaign that doesn’t really cover the most common-or-garden of pursuits.

In fact this is made more impressive by the fact that Nike SB’s history has been anything but a smooth ride

In 1997 Nike launched a skate line, accompanied by a glitzy ad campaign from Goodby Silverstien and Partners which was lauded by the ad community but was wholesale laughed at by skaters worldwide.

The anti-establishment, DIY nature that embodied the skate scene was the first hurdle. Skaters were abhorred by a big multi-national muscling in on their patch, not only that but the cheesy nature of the executions just weren’t going to cut it with the street savvy riders.

After alienating the skate community, Nike had to go back to the drawing board.

Nike's reeducation began in 2000, when Sandy Bodecker, (now the head of Nike Skateboarding) became interested in relaunching the brand as part Nike’s push into action sports. Bodecker determined not to make the same mistakes as before, conceded his lack of knowledge and reached out to the skate community for help.

A knowledgeable hand came in the form of Robbie Jeffers, the hugely well connected manager of the Stussy skate team in California. At first skeptical, Jeffers was eventaully convinced that Nike was in it for the long-haul and he and Nike began to lay down the foundation of the new SB business model.

Nike and Jeffers agreed on three essential points: Nike needed to commit for 5 years, include skaters in the design processes and reissue the mythical Dunk shoe (now a classic iconic shoe for Nike).

In 2006 Nike SB launched a simpler low key execution, this time talking directly to the skate community and featured a world class skater they respected (P-Rod) as the focus. The spot was released to a much more positive response… It looked like the research was beginning to pay off.



Fast forward 11 or so years, three websites and 420 models of skate shoe later and a hugely succesful image for Nike SB has been built on the hard lessons learned by their initial faliure.

Harvest Films Santa Monica and directorial team The Hoffman Brothers, have delivered the newest instalment of the SB saga and can be happy with the fact that they have created a bit of a classic.

Skaters will love the purist street riding as well as a cameo from Lance Mountain, Hip Hop fans will whoop at the inclusion of westcoast superstar Ice Cube and for all others who havent got a clue who any of those cult stars actually are, the narrative played out is interesting enough for even your great Auntie Mabel to like.

So it covers all bases and tickles a multitude of different peoples tastes - which, for what is ostensibly a hardcore skate brand, is pretty impressive.

What lessons can the ad industry peeps take from this tale you ask?

If you want to get your message just right…

…keep it simple.

NewsReel 24/07/09

Hey gang! Don’t forget, if you want your news to feature in our not-at-all-copy-and-paste-with-a-few-bits-we-sly-in NewsReel just fling it at editor@thereel.net.

B&J get Indie


Amsterdam-based Indie has announced the news that delicious global ice-cream brand Ben & Jerry’s have appointed them, without a pitch, as their lead agency for the Netherlands market. The announcement follows the recent re-launch of Indie as a collaborative and independent hub.

Indie will begin working on the first campaign with immediate effect, the results of which will be launched early 2010. In line with its collaborative nature, Indie has already begun building the best team for the job, drawing from their pool of internal and external talent.

Mark Aink, Managing Partner for Indie, says: “We’re really looking forward to working with Ben & Jerry’s. It’s one of the world’s truly maverick brands with a unique DNA. Added to that, they are extraordinary people to work with. It’s one of the most special assignments we have ever been awarded so we’re raring to get to work.”

Sounds tasty.

Turn It Loose


On Wednesday night The Reel were fortunate enough to attend a special friends and family screening of Partizan’s new b-boy documentary ‘Turn It Loose’. Directed by promo helmer Alastair Siddons, the film follows (in super press release-o-vision) ‘the pulsating world of breakdancing and some of the best B-boys in the world throwing their entire bodies into battling to be number one on the planet’. OK, it’s not strictly ad related (although Red Bull gave the filmmakers full access, loved the darn thing and sponsored the launch in Edinburgh), but the we thought we’d shout about it as the stylish and involving movie should be on each of your ‘Must Watch’ lists.

More info here - http://www.edfilmfest.org.uk/whats-on/2009/turn-it-loose

Annex is the Woerd

Annex Films has signed the incredibly talented (and amazingly named) Sil van der Woerd. After studying Fine Arts at the Academy of Art and Design in Arnhem, the Netherlands, Sil made two short films “Duet” and Swim”. “Swim” went global and won several awards. From there he moved to Hollywood to study visual effects at Gnomon to perfect his technique. Sil uses film and mixed new media, live action and dominant soundtracks to express his fictitious, atmospheric worlds … which sounds right up The Reel’s cup of tea street.

Check out the prettiness here and here.

Albion bring two on


Albion London, the UK’s fast-growing independent agency, is gearing up to expand globally and is bringing in two star names to join its board as non-executive directors. John Farrell, who was responsible for all of Publicis Groupe’s specialised agencies and marketing services worldwide will become Albion’s non-executive chairman, working with agency CEO Jason Goodman and the board. Steve Henry, the award-winning joint-founder of HHCL, is joining as non-executive director to mentor Albion’s creative director Nick Darken and his team and help take the agency’s creative output to a new level. They will join a high-powered non-executive board that already includes serial internet entrepreneur, founder of Lovefilm and Index Ventures Partner Saul Klein and former Mindshare CEO Mandy Pooler, who is part of the senior management team at WPP’s Kantar division.

Frood for thought


Integrated marketing network iris has appointed John Frood to the newly created role of planning director for Europe, as the independent agency strengthens its regional management team.

Frood joins this month from Leo Burnett Group, where he was planning director for EMEA, responsible for driving integration across the group, which includes marketing services arm Arc. He will report into global executive planning director Sam Noble and will be responsible for driving new and existing business among iris’ European clients – which include Sony Ericsson, Shell, Heineken and adidas – as well as managing 360 integrated campaigns and building a network of best-in-class planning talent at iris’ offices across Europe.

Disqo goes to the Chappell


Adam Chappell is joining post-centric digital production company, Disqo, from 3rd August 2009. Chappell, a Mipcom-winning digital specialist with ten years experience in digital and TV entertainment, heralds a new era of growth and independence for Disqo, an offshoot of Golden Square Post Production, as it becomes more of a standalone company.

Chappell’s experience combines broadcast production with multiplatform content development. In 2006, he won the Mipcom award for ‘best content on a mobile platform’ with his development and production of On This Day in History for ITN On – ITN’s successful digital department. His Disqo mandate focuses on expanding its current commercials client base to include digital projects for brands and broadcasters. Chappell joins Disqo from Shine UK, where he worked hit TV properties, like MasterChef and The Biggest Loser, into digital. His final project was turning MasterChef into a superbrand with plans for an online community and real world food events with BBC Worldwide. Gregg Wallace describes him as ‘a good pud’ and a ‘big flavour’ … apparently.

...and finally


It's simple, it's amazing, it's KempFolds - http://kempfolds.blogspot.com/

Nike gets some INSA Protein

Uber-cool agency / shop / content specialists and mega curators Protein recently collaborated with London graff legend and heel specialist INSA on the new NIKE project IAM1. Culminating with an art show at the Nike 1948 space in Batemans Row Shoreditch.

In 7 days INSA ran the city of east London, painting 35 pieces on route of Charlie Dark's map for The IAM1 Journey Nike Sportswear project.

“It started with Charlie Dark and the Run Dem Crew and got me thinking of how I see Londonand running. And I'm not really much of a runner, but I thought maybe my artwork would travel around the city. My art would do the running for me,” smiles INSA.

Documented in its entirety by INSA’s long time collaborator and mega photographer Ethel, each of the 35 hand painted pieces were used to create an exclusive high definition stop frame animation (which we blogged at the beginning of the week) and one of the centre pieces of INSA’s major London solo show for 2009.

This IAM1 Journey animation will be deconstructed within the show, showcasing behind-the-scenes processes alongside the painted found objects that make up the individual frames.

The second half of the exhibition features an all encompassing installation which can only be described as a representation of INSA’s Holy Golden Cow of worship. The epic showpiece addresses the themes of success, aspiration, reality, self-reflection, love and commodity
usually apparent in INSA’s art…

We caught up with the camera-shy legend to get an inside scoop on the animation that is generating all the hype.


This is your second animation project… Is this the beginning of INSA the director?

“ha ha… No not INSA the director. I definitely want to do more in animation. Whenever you do a project halfway through it you thinking of the next one, or halfway through it you realize – oh I could have done this better, I could have done that better – so, I don’t know about directing or making any bigger films because I quite prefer still images to moving images personally, but I’m definitely going to do some more animation. I’ve got a couple more ideas, that when I get the time, I’m going to have a play around!

What was the reception like to your last piece of animation?

“Yeah it seemed good! I got mad youtube hits… and I guess that’s the only way I can rate it. I got a load of e-mails saying ‘I loved it!’ so people seemed to like it! So I guess it was good?”

The new one got seeded only a couple of days ago… What was the reception like to this one?

“Yeah… I checked this morning… not that I should care about these things… ha ha… and its had over twelve thousand views in around three days. Its crazy! So yeah, its exciting – it’s the magic of the internet!”

Artists like yourself, illustrators and painters are a massive influence on ad agencies, production companies and brands. Do you think that brands, agencies etc working directly with you is better than simply pinching an idea?

“Yeah… Definitely… Definitely…You have sort of answered the question for me there. There has been too many times where an artist has a good idea, or an illustrator does something and then an ad will just rip it off - just use the same idea.
So in any case where they can work directly it’s always best. It will get the best results and it will be more true to the original idea. So always working direct with the artist is best.

Are there any other directors out there that you would be keen to work with given the chance?

“Ohhh – that’s a difficult one… I’m not that up on all the new directors… but Chris Cunningham has always been a favourite of mine, I think his stuff is amazing. I can imagine doing something pretty sick with him!! It would be good!


Last question – the IAM 1 project is ultimately focussed on running… Are you big on running?

“errrrrrrr……..no…”

We were also lucky enough to persuade Protein head honcho, CEO, big kahuna and all round top bloke William Rowe to shed some light on the campaign, and give us a teaser about what to expect from IAM1 in the near future…

How did the IAM1 project come about?

Are you hoping that people will see the viral and follow the trail? Whats the story behind it?

We haven’t seen the whole project yet – what’s next in the IAM1 journey?

What is the meaning of IAM1?

You guys are really artists and idea focused, creating a situation where brands and artists feel comfortable. Do you think that this is something that you do well?



If you are interested in checking out the show (and you would be stupid not to) it will be running at 1948, Arches 477 - 478, Batemans Row, Shoreditch, London, EC2 3HH until the 26th of July.

For more info on Protein check http://proteinos.com/

For more info on INSA check http://www.insaland.com/ and www.insaland.com/blog

Thanks to both INSA and Will for the last minute interviews!