Author Archives: admin

How to Make a Living as a Creative Genius

How to Make a Living as a Creative Genius

A Q&A with The Gents’ Hersh Rephun

As “The Gents” launch a Kickstarter campaign in an effort to “stick it to the man” and raise 33K to fund two episodes of their self-titled show, RA sat down with Hersh Rephun, who co-writes the series (with Justo Diaz), and plays a renegade record label founder on the show.

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Raging Artists Snags Marjorie Diaz as COO/Executive Producer

Raging Artists Snags Marjorie Diaz as COO/Executive Producer

LOS ANGELES, CA, April 30, 2012 – Marjorie Diaz has come aboard content creation company Raging Artists, Inc. as COO/Executive Producer.  The move formalizes a relationship that began earlier this year with several projects overseen by Diaz. At Raging Artists, Diaz will be responsible for overall operations, with a focus on production and marketing.

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Dito Montiel’s Campaign Goes For The No-Kill with “Makaveli”

Dito Montiel’s Campaign Goes For The No-Kill with “Makaveli”

Our Featured Raging Artist this month is award-winning writer/director Dito Montiel (“A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints”), who has created a hard-hitting, poignant PSA for the Best Friends of Animals No-Kill Los Angeles (NKLA) campaign entitled “Makaveli”.

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Sonam Kapoor Stars in L’Oréal Paris Campaign, First Project from Proof of Concept

Sonam Kapoor Stars in L’Oréal Paris Campaign, First Project from Proof of Concept

LOS ANGELES, CA, April 3, 2012 – Proof of Concept (POC) recently completed work on an ambitious, effects-driven project for client L’Oréal Paris, agency McCann-Erickson, production company Gobsmack! and director Jim Sonzero.  “Tree” – for Fall Repair 3X – features popular Bollywood actress and L’Oréal Paris spokesperson Sonam Kapoor in the foreground of a spectacular glowing purple CGI tree, and uses VFX to simulate Fall Repair 3X’s effects on swirling computer-simulated “hair roots.”  Launched in February 2012 by Executive Producers Stuart Wilson and Raffi Kryszek, POC is a technology-driven content company servicing the interactive, commercial and music video industries, and “Fall Repair 3X” is among its maiden spot assignments.

POC Lead Artist Darren Fanton worked closely with director Sonzero to conceptualize and create multiple aesthetic CGI environments – within 48 hours. “Darren is an awesome artist and has great taste,” remarked Sonzero. “He created an elegant solution in a really compressed schedule with limited resources. When I saw his first pass I knew I was working with a genius.”

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Once the concepts were approved, the team at POC had a mere two weeks to turn around eight VFX-heavy spot versions in Hindi and English for a total of 160 seconds of CGI.  Each image had to be optimized due to the beauty-related nature of the product.  “With this project, shot management was key as each revision down the pipeline would need to be applied to over thirty shots across the eight spots and would need to be re-rendered in a timely fashion for further review,” Fanton explained.

“POC not only met the challenge but raised the bar for the whole category,” said Shyam Madiraju of Gobsmack!, which represents some of world’s top directors in India. “We were very impressed by the creativity of their artists, who took Jim’s vision and turned it into a spectacular reality.  I was really excited to have Jim join Gobsmack!, and having him do this work with POC right out of the gate is a fantastic start to our relationship.”  Madiraju added that the vision of Sonzero – arguably one of the top 5 beauty directors in the world – involved a very sophisticated and technically complex world of CGI.  Gobsmack! frequently produces VFX-driven commercials and works with CG houses around the globe. “POC has not only planted itself firmly atop our list, but we are now in talks with Stu and Raffi about expanding our relation with them for the India market in fields besides commercials.”

“Stuart and Raffi were enthusiastic and solution-oriented,” concluded Sonzero. “I am really impressed with them and I’m looking forward to working with POC again.”

About Proof of Concept
“Technology has no limits,” and Los Angeles-based Proof of Concept examines the validity of that hypothesis every day. This philosophy makes POC integral to the realization of the novel idea. You can’t break the rules until you master them, and the team at Proof of Concept has done both. A technological and artistic think tank, POC brings together seasoned veterans and ambitious young innovators. The team is armed with the knowledge and relationships to forgo fear in the name of producing relevant creative content for the digital era.

Official Credits

Title: Tree
Brand: Fall Repair
Cast: Sonam Kapoor
Client:  L’Oréal

Agency: McCann-Erickson
Creative team: Akshay Kapnadak, Rahul Mathew,
Trishay, Ram & Komal Ranjan
Agency Producers: Sandesh Shirke

Production Company: Gobsmack!
Director: Jim Sonzero
D.O.P: Michael Lloyd
Executive Producer: Hozefa Alibhai
Producer: Ramel George

Editor: Harshal Thakur

Online/Grade and VFX: ­ Proof of Concept/Los Angeles
Visual Effects Lead, Final Compositing: Darren Fanton
Visual Effects Compositing and Beauty Work: John Merrifield
3D Modeling and Texture Mapping: Sam Kryszek
Producer: Stuart Wilson

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Forget The Hate: Tom Mooney Seeks to Break the Cycle

Forget The Hate: Tom Mooney Seeks to Break the Cycle

“I’ve been writing this song for over 40 years,” says Tom Mooney of “Forget the Hate”, which launches on YouTube today. 

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Rachel Reilly Steps into Comedy…in BEARPAW Shoes

Rachel Reilly Steps into Comedy…in BEARPAW Shoes

Just days before Rachel Reilly made her standup comedy debut by producing the March 11 Raging Artists Comedy Show, she was at our offices for an informal chat about her favorite footwear – BEARPAW. 

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Action Studio Bandito Brothers Snags Suzanne Hargrove as Managing Director/Executive Producer of its Commercial Division

Action Studio Bandito Brothers Snags Suzanne Hargrove as Managing Director/Executive Producer of its Commercial Division

LOS ANGELES, March 12, 2012 – On the heels of its military actioner “Act of Valor,” which debuted at #1 at the box office, full-service action studio Bandito Brothers has announced that Emmy Award-winning spot biz veteran Suzanne Hargrove will join the company as Managing Director/Executive Producer of its commercial division.

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Rachel Reilly’s Raging Artists Comedy Show

Rachel Reilly’s Raging Artists Comedy Show

On Sunday, March 11, 2012, comedy will have a new name, as the reigning queen of reality competition presents a night of unbridled laughter and much-needed release.

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Bandito Brothers’ Act of Valor Debuts at #1

Bandito Brothers’ Act of Valor Debuts at #1

Our Featured Raging Artist for March 2012 is multimedia company Bandito Brothers and it’s easy to see why: on February 24, Relativity Media released “Act of Valor” – the feature directing debut of Scott Waugh and Mike “Mouse” McCoy, whose Bandito Brothers produced the film. It opened at #1 with $24.7 at the box office and earning an A Cinemascore from audiences. But “Act of Valor” isn’t just an action movie -

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Comedy Writing

Comedy Writing

Who needs comedy writers? Late Night talk show hosts? Check. TV Series and Feature Films? Check & Check. Brands, Public Speakers, and Politicians? No doubt. And what makes a great comedy writer?

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