BEN KELLER
Sound Designer/Mixer,
Another Country
A versatile and gifted musician and a major computer enthusiast, Ben Keller is ideally suited for his career in sound engineering. That he would find happiness in the world of advertising is equally unsurprising; as a child, Keller was more transfixed by television commercials than programming, and his mother had no doubt he would pursue a career in the business.
Keller graduated from Columbia College Chicago with a BA in Sound (his concentration was "Sound for Visual Media") and a minor in Film. In 2000, just prior to his Junior year at Columbia, Keller signed on as an intern at Another Country, and has been here ever since. At the conclusion of his internship, he was hired as a freelance assistant engineer and, soon after, made a full-time member of the team. As an assistant engineer to John Binder, Keller honed his craft, and in April 2003, he was promoted to Sound Designer/Mixer.
Keller's notable work includes Nintendo "Hot Dog" (Leo Burnett/Chicago), Sea World "Journey to Atlantis" (DDB/Chicago), and Budweiser "Journey" (DDB/Chicago), which ran during the 2005 Super Bowl. Recently, he completed the sound design and mixing for Discovery Cove "You're This Close" (DDB/Chicago), which demanded a tropical soundscape and various water sounds, as well as underwater action. Keller has also finished work on the sound design and mix for Budweiser's Beer Institute web movies, a satirical series about having beer with certain historical figures.
On the film front, Keller has done 5.1 surround work for Brian Bellow's Bodega, and sound design and mixing for the avant-garde Korean animation movie Whan. "It's the combination of a need to be creative and a fascination with sound that fuels my passion for this industry," says Keller. "Another Country has given me the opportunity to prove myself while working alongside the most talented people in this industry."
January 2007
Read More »NICOLE DIONNE
Creative Director/Executive Producer,
PrimalScream Music
"Picasso said, ‘It took me my whole life to learn how to paint like a child.’ He was talking about creating from the gut, rather than the head. This is the instinct of Nicole Dionne. The result is music that enhances an idea rather than merely decorating it." Tom Peck, Group Creative Director, Y&RSF
Nicole Dionne founded PrimalScream Music nearly a dozen years ago. She was in her early twenties at the time, and by all accounts it was a successful venture. A little too successful, perhaps. "We became extremely well-known for great sound design, but I hadn’t found my true calling," Dionne recalls. "I realized after a bit that my real strength was in producing original music for top national advertising campaigns."
As artists often do, Dionne switched gears, rebranding PrimalScream to better suit her creative bent. Highly regarded in both the ad and music worlds, Dionne is now known for producing high end, cutting-edge tracks for advertising campaigns and theatrical trailers that sound like tracks you’d hear on your iPod or satellite radio. She accomplishes this by tapping into a vast A-list talent pool, hand- picking world-renown film composers, recording artists, bands, television series composers, record producers, radio programmers, DJs, feature film music supervisors and more. The artists’ music is then transitioned into advertising.
Constantly keeping tabs on popular and up-and-coming artists in the States and Europe, Dionne has her thumb on the pulse of what’s hot now, as well as what’s hot in the months to come. As Executive Producer and Creative Director of the highly-skilled, experienced PrimalScream team, Dionne has brought her expertise to multiple award-winning projects. She produced four original tracks for the BMW’s tranformative, award-winning Web series "The Hire", and has produced original scores for advertising campaigns such as: Home Depot Olympics, NCAA, Universal, SBC Yahoo!, Wachovia Securities, American Airlines, General Motors, Ford, XM Radio, Hyundai, Comcast, The California Lottery, Nike, EA Sports, AT&T, Sprite, Kodak, Archipelago, FEMA, Seagrams, YWCA, and PBS, to name a few.
The prolific and sought-after producer kicked off 2008 by overseeing the music for a complete rebranding of the Starz network.
Dionne has worked with leading advertising agencies and has collaborated with some of the most highly regarded directors of our time, including Ang Lee, Robert Altman, Wong Kar Wai, and Samuel Bayer. She has served as a judge for the Clios, AICP/MoMA, First ‘Boards Awards, and Ear Awards, and as a panelist at music and entertainment conferences, including the influential CMJ Music Marathon & Film Festival and Europe’s premier music festival, the innovative Popkomm.
"Nicole Dionne is someone who keeps her ear close to the ground. On any given night, you can count on running into her in an L.A. club, checking out what’s new, exciting, and up-to-the-minute in music. She brings the same curiosity and keen intelligence to her work in other areas of the creative arts. So it’s no wonder that PrimalScream has excelled at bringing together the best talent in music, production, video, advertising, and filmmaking." Chris Morris, Senior Writer, Billboard Magazine
Read More »LISA PHILLIPS
Executive Producer/Principal, Madheart
A singular drive, dedication and determination distinguish Madheart Executive Producer and co-Founder Lisa Phillips among her peers in the advertising and production industry. "I am a business woman specializing in service and management," explains Phillips. "I love the challenges of our business, especially now, and fully comprehend the necessity of evolving creatively in order to survive."
Educated at Franklin College, Switzerland, with a major in International Business, and having completed USC’s Entrepreneurial Program, Phillips started out in the spot biz as a Production Assistant, quickly working her way up to Line Producer. She produced numerous Nico Beyer-directed car spots for Lexus, Pontiac and Infinity, and served as Executive Producer for several director owned shops. She also produced an award-winning spot for David Ramser, one of the first specs entered into the AICP/MoMA show.
However, it was the launch of Madheart that provided Phillips with the perfect vehicle to deliver production and talent management. "I met the great filmmaker and still photographer Jan Gleie and we’ve been collaborating ever since," says Phillips, who formed the company with Gleie in 1999. "Most recently, we did the ‘One Star’ campaign for Target which afforded us the opportunity to produce all the work for broadcast and the web, as well as shooting all the print."
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