EXOPOLIS TAKES MOBITV MOBILE AND GLOBAL
December 6, 2006 – Exopolis, an integrated creative studio with broadcast and
interactive capabilities, has added the mobile platform to its repertoire. The studio recently completed a series of mobile channel packages for MobiTV, Inc. This client is the first mobile television and digital radio service provider for cellular, WiFi, and broadband-enabled devices worldwide.
For the project, Exopolis created four IDs, two bumpers and two lower thirds for six distinct music channels: V40 (top 40 hits), The Mic (hip-hop), Shift (alternative), Chaos (metal), Ritmo Caliente (latin, reggaeton), and Totally 80s/90s. Each of the channels required a unique design aesthetic that would speak to fans of that musical genre, while conveying a consistent message for the MobiTV brand. Exopolis licensed stock music to suit each channel.
“In designing for the ‘small screen’, we had to insure that images would pop, that type treatments would read effectively, and that animations would flow smoothly,” said Associate Creative Director Tosh Kodama. “In addition, the pieces had to function in larger sizes, so that the channels could accommodate various platforms and mobile devices.”
“Operating in the mobile space is significant for us on many levels,” said Exopolis founding partner/Head of Production Daniel Arcana, “and we were gratified to do this with a client that is breaking new ground.”
Creative Studio: Exopolis
Executive Producer: Jason O’Leary
Producer: Ashley Cook
Creative Lead/ACD: Tosh Kodama
Lead Animator: David Lewandowski
Senior Animator: Bill Sneed
Design/ Animation: Moe Dean, Martin Lyden
Animation: Aaron Frebowitz
VILLAINS HIRES NANCY OSBORNE AS NEW EP
BEVERLY HILLS, CA, November 30, 2006 – Nancy Osborne has joined Villains as Executive Producer. An industry veteran who worked her way up through ranks at companies such as Coppos Films, Osborne has garnered a reputation for launching the careers of spot helmers. She comes over from U.N.C.L.E., where she served as Executive Producer.
Prior to joining U.N.C.L.E., Osborne established and ran the commercial division of FM Rocks, propelling music video directors such as Jake Nava, Bryan Barber, Benny Boom, and Dave Meyers into the spot arena with high-profile nationals campaigns (Gatorade, Sunkist, Bacardi, etc). She also discovered and launched director Rawson Marshall Thurber, whose Reebok "Terry Tate, Office Linebacker" debuted on the Super Bowl to great acclaim. Thurber went on to direct campaigns for Toyota, Right Guard, and others, as well as the box office hit Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story.
Osborne joins Villains as it enters a new phase of its venerable and distinguished history. Following what company owner John Marshall described as an amicable parting of ways with former partner Robin Benson. While details have yet to be finalized, Villains remains busy producing and pursuing projects for directors Dewey Nicks, Terry Rietta, and Mona El Mansouri.
Marshall noted that the addition of Osborne will help define the new direction of Villains, and the pair are currently in talks with directors from both the spot and music video arenas.
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BEAST CROSSES ‘THE LINE OF SCRIMMAGE’ FOR TOYOTA, SAATCHI & SAATCHI LA
Norling, Garcia, and Bousquet Cut Carmaker's Episodic Series
SANTA MONICA, CA, November 21, 2006 – Kevin Garcia and Devin Bousquet of Beast hit the road
for several months to cut Toyota's "Jon & J.J. The Line of Scrimmage," an episodic series created by Saatchi & Saatchi LA. Shot by writer/directors Andrew Christou and Charlie Tercek, the series follows two guys in their early twenties who are passionate fans of high school football and aspiring TV broadcasters. They tour their country in their Toyota Tacoma, searching for the country's best high school football games. A new episode airs each Sunday night during the halftime show of NBC's "Sunday Night Football."
Paul Norling cut the first episode of the show at Beast LA and closely supervised the edit of the second. "Paul did a great deal toward setting the tone and feel of the series," said Tercek. "He's one of the best editors I've worked with." "I had worked on long form before, but never a weekly series," said Garcia. "The opportunity to be part of a project that would take the form of 14 episodes over three or four months was just too interesting to pass up." The schedule, however, proved daunting. "We needed to be releasing two 45-second episodes, plus eight to ten viral pieces, every week," explained Bousquet.
The only way to meet the demands of the schedule was for the editors to travel with cast and crew as they worked their way through California, Georgia, Texas, Ohio, and Louisiana. "At first we figured that we'd pack all our equipment and set up an editing suite every time we checked into a new hotel," said Bousquet. "But the more we thought it through, that approach seemed impractical. I mean, we'd be spending all of our time lugging equipment in and out of hotel rooms when we could be editing."
In response, the editors got out their hammers, levels and skill saws and built a mobile editing bay in the back of the crew's tour bus (pictured, l-r: Andrew Christou, Devin Bousquet, Kevin Garcia, Charlie Tercek). 
"It took a few days to design and assemble, but it's been totally worth it," said Garcia. "We've got two Avids, two Macintosh duel processor G5's with Apple Cinema Display, and we're running Media Composer software with a Mojo box for media input – pretty much the same set-up we've got back at Beast. Our clients can even order out for lunch – as long they don't mind choosing between the Waffle House and the Cracker Barrel."
"We knew the spots would be edited on the fly," said Cindy Knight, marketing communications PR manager for Toyota. "Beast's tricked-out tour bus was an inventive way to deliver on that requirement."
Traveling with the crew to every location offers some unforeseen advantages, Bousquet noted. "The footage goes directly from the D.P.'s camera into the Avid," he said. "Charlie and Andrew can direct a scene and then get immediate feedback on it. We'll put it up on the monitor and check it out."
As part of the traveling band, Bousquet and Garcia have had the chance to wear hats other than editor. "We've both picked up a camera to shoot footage on occasion. The show's episodes are about the total experience of visiting a certain school – above and beyond the football game," said Bousquet. "It really helps to be there, in the thick of things, as the stories unfold." As the episodes are largely improvised and unrehearsed, the editors play a big role in building each story's arc. "I consider myself a storyteller more than just an editor," Bousquet continued. "The opportunity to sit down with Charlie and Andrew and piece each school's story together is my favorite part of the process."
"Not having a script forces us to keep our eyes and minds wide open for those wonderful moments you can't predict," said Christou. "We've been finding them everywhere we go, and there's something magic about them." "The cast, the crew, and the clients have spent so much time together at this point," explained Tercek, "that we've grown to trust in each other's ability to deliver the goods. There's something very reassuring in this."
Thus far in the season, the crew has traveled to Clovis, California, Valdosta, Georgia, Cincinnati, Ohio, Massillon, Ohio, and Austin, Texas. Are there any drawbacks to working in a mobile studio? "Beyond the occasional bout of motion sickness, not much," Bousquet explained. "Though our bus driver may disagree – we've burned through more than a few of his bus's generators."
Client: Toyota
Spots Title(s): "Line of Scrimmage"
First Air Date: Launched in October, 2006, ongoing
Production Company: Moxie Pictures
Director(s): Andrew Christou, Charlie Tercek
EP(s): Lizzie Schwartz, Robert Fernandez
Head of Production: Roger Zorovich
Producer: Michele Robb
Agency: Saatchi & Saatchi LA
ECD: Harvey Marco
CD(s): Erich Funke
Copywriters: Charlie Tercek, Andrew Christou
Dir. of Broadcast Production: Damian Stevens
Senior Producer: Jennifer Vogtmann
Assistant Producer: Brandon Boerner
Editorial: Beast/ bicoastal
Editor(s): Paul Norling, Kevin Garcia, Devin Bousquet
Titles: Brand New School
Music: Elias Arts
Shoot Location: Various across America
TERCEK AND CHRISTOU GO BACK TO SCHOOL FOR TOYOTA BRANDED SERIES
ACROSS THE UNITED STATES, November 20, 2006 - Writer/directors Andrew Christou and Charlie
Tercek have returned to their glory days of high school football for "Jon & J.J. The Line of Scrimmage," an episodic branded entertainment series. The show was created via Saatchi & Saatchi LA and airs Sunday nights during the halftime show of "Sunday Night Football" on NBC.
So far, the series has taken the filmmakers and their crew to towns in California, Georgia, Ohio, and Texas, following two twenty-something high school football fans traveling across the US in their Toyota Tacoma. Aspiring broadcasters, Jon Ray and J.J. Castillo are seeking out the absolute best high school football games.
While Tercek and Christou have been traveling non-stop for months, the road trip began in July of 2006, when Saatchi asked the pair to develop branded entertainment concepts for its client, Toyota, which was preparing to market new editions of its pickup trucks, the Tundra and the Tacoma.
The directors' extensive backgrounds had made them an obvious choice: Christou was as an art director at Wieden and Kennedy, where he was responsible for "Lil Penny," "The Iceman Cooketh," and other seminal Nike campaigns; for the past five years, he's directed commercials for Moxie Pictures. Tercek was the creator of IBM's "Solutions for a Small Planet" campaign via O&M - at its time the largest campaign in advertising history; on the entertainment front, he has written half-hour comedy for network TV ("Sabrina the Teenage Witch") and written feature films for the Disney Channel. Also an accomplished spot director, Tercek helms ads for LA-based Millennium Pictures.
"The client needed to do more than traditional advertising – TV spots, prints ads, and so on – to promote these trucks," said Tercek. "Toyota knows a lot about the typical pickup truck buyer and this person is heavily in sports – as a coach, a fan, a former player, or the parent of a current player. So early on, a decision was made: no matter what form this project took, it should focus on high school football."
Of the dozens of ideas Christou and Tercek generated for Toyota, one immediately struck a chord with the agency and client, getting a swift green light: an episodic TV series called "The Line of Scrimmage." As directors, the challenge for Christou and Tercek was to make sure the show looked and felt like it was produced by a couple of guys with nothing more than a decent video camera and some editing software on their laptops. "The show had to look good, but not too slick," said Cindy Knight, marketing communications PR manager for Toyota. "It needed to feel loose and not at all rehearsed, in keeping with our whole marketing approach which is very grassroots, very much about building that emotional connection with our customers."
Finding the right cast was critical, and after auditioning hundreds of actors
across the country, the directors found their stars at an open call in Austin, Texas. Jon and J.J. (pictured above, l. to r., flanked by Christou and Tercek), both 22, had never studied acting or worked as an actor before. "Everyone we auditioned in L.A. was so sophisticated and polished," said Christou. "Jon and J.J. on other hand, are completely raw and unvarnished. They gave the show an immediate jolt of authenticity."
The production process presented some challenges. After all, the high school football season is only 10 or 12 weeks long, so the directors and their crew would need to be editing and posting one episode while writing and filming the next. A big touring bus provided the perfect answer, and now the entire production crew – including agency representatives, producers, editors and talent – travels to each location on this bus, which includes not just a kitchen and screening room, but state-of-the-art editing bay, designed and installed by editors Kevin Garcia and Devin Bousquet (of bicoastal Beast). At the end of each shoot day, Christou and Tercek sit with the editors as they sift through the day's footage and get immediate feedback on what scenes work and which ones don't. "As it turns out, it's at the editing bay that the writing of each episode takes place," said Tercek.
By "writing," Tercek is referring to the bullet-point outlines he and Christou draft before each shoot day. These are based on time spent hanging around a given school, getting to know the coaches and players. "Early on in the series, it became clear that Jon and JJ are great on their feet, improvising, reacting in real-time to a given situation," said Christou, who added that the series is approached more like "Curb Your Enthusiasm" than a fully scripted show. "We'll decide what we need each scene to communicate, and discuss this in depth with our performers," he explained, "then we shoot the hell out of it and construct the actual piece in post."
For directors accustomed to shooting an approved, etched-in-stone script, this method is at once both liberating and intimidating. "There's always the risk that a school just won't offer us up enough interesting material," said Christou. "So as you can imagine, we choose our games and schools very carefully."
Another advantage to working on a 14-episode project? "Each week we get a new opportunity to raise our game," Christou concluded. "When we roll into a new town on Monday morning, we have only a vague idea of what we'll shoot. All we know for sure is, it'll be even better than the stuff we shot the week before."
Client: Toyota
Series: "Jon & J.J. The Line of Scrimmage"
Series Launch: October 8, 2006 (most recent installment aired November 12)
Production Company: Moxie Pictures
Director(s): Andrew Christou, Charlie Tercek
EP(s): Lizzie Schwartz, Robert Fernandez
Head of Production: Roger Zorovich
Producer: Michele Robb
Agency: Saatchi & Saatchi LA
ECD: Harvey Marco
CD(s): Erich Funke
Copywriters: Charlie Tercek, Andrew Christou
Dir. of Broadcast Production: Damian Stevens
Senior Producer: Jennifer Vogtmann
Assistant Producer: Brandon Boerne
r
Editorial: Beast, bicoastal
Editor(s): Paul Norling, Kevin Garcia, Devin Bousquet
Titles: Brand New School, bicoastal
Music: Elias Arts, bicoastal
Shoot Location: Various, across America
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A ‘SLAM’ DUNK FOR SPORTIE LA
Retailer Opens Media Division, Lends Marketing Expertise to Select Brands
LOS ANGELES, CA, November 15, 2006 – Currently celebrating its 20th anniversary, sneaker shoe and sports apparel retailer Sportie LA has launched SLAM (Sportie LA Media), a division dedicated to spearheading nontraditional marketing projects for select sneaker brands. Prior to its official launch, the division engaged in a Web campaign designed to boost the presence and extend the profile of PF Flyers. The hugely successful effort included a PF Flyers Sneaker Boutique, a viral film, and other Web marketing elements.
With four stores in the
"Our initial goal in establishing SLAM was to connect brands with a consumer base they might not reach otherwise," said Sportie LA partner Isack Fadlon, who founded the company with sister Orna Amzaleg. "We're not just making products available – we're embracing the message and history of the brands we feature." What started with the boutiques has now extended to Web marketing and video, Fadlon explained, "and of course this original media is designed to venture outside a brand's usual demographic."
The PF Flyers Sneaker Boutique at Sportie LA offers the world's largest selection of PF brand shoes, including styles available only through Sportie LA, such as the in-demand Center Lo Sandlot Edition. In the few short months since its creation, the PF Flyers Sneaker Boutique has topped search engines and established itself as a powerful retail presence across the web. The site is uniquely designed to capture the PF Flyers culture and ensure ease of execution for shoppers.
For the campaign's viral component, SLAM created a two-minute video purporting to be a "lost casting tape" from Martin Scorsese's 1990 mob classic Goodfellas. Showcased on the web as Goodfellas Cast (below), it features an actor auditioning for the Joe Pesci role, delivering the same lines as they might be performed by famous actors of the day, including Al Pacino, Dudley Moore, Sean Connery, and Pesci himself. "The idea was never to convince people that the tape was real," said Justo Diaz of Diangy Systems, the Web marketing firm partnered with SLAM. "Goodfellas was perfectly suited to the target demographic, and the concept of this nutty guy auditioning as all these actors distracts you from the sell." Namely, the fact that the actor is wearing different PF Flyers as each character – and those styles are showcased on the Boutique.
While other projects are under way, including a number of live events, Fadlon declined to name the brands at press time.
REPHUN GOES PUBLIC WITH RAGING ARTISTS
Juice Media Co-founder/Partner Launches New PR Firm
NOVEMBER 9, 2006 – Advertising industry veteran Hesh Rephun has opened Raging Artists, Inc., a full service public relations firm. The company is dedicated to the promotion of branded creative content, spanning traditional and alternative media, from broadcast and print advertising, to viral marketing, and client-sponsored film & tv projects. Prior to opening Raging Artists, Rephun served as co-founder/partner of PR firm Juice Media, Inc.
Since his early days as a directors' rep for production companies such as Villains and Headquarters, Rephun has connected with the struggle to reconcile art and commerce. As his career evolved, he moved into the public relations arena, first with This Is Hesh and subsequently with Juice. The industry moved as well, its topography constantly changing, the worlds of advertising and entertainment coming together like never before. Rephun worked with innovators such as anonymous content, The Viral Factory, and others, disseminating their work, and most importantly, crafting their messages. "I saw in Raging Artists the opportunity to create a new entity that not only provided public relations services, but utilized Web technology, marketing tools, and talent to champion the artist above all else," Rephun explained. "We promote the work of our clients with the same tenacity and innovation with which they create it."
To Raging Artists, Rephun brings a career dedicated to building the profiles of fledgling talents and supporting industry leaders through progressive and bold evolutions. "Good work deserves good press – which requires a team that knows how to get it," Rephun said. "That team can be found at Raging Artists."
Read More »STARS ALIGN FOR SNUDGE BROS. AND MILLENNIUM PICTURES
Directors Debut, Promising "Art with Menace"
SANTA MONICA, CA, November 6, 2006 – The Snudge Bros. – a directing team comprised of a Toronto-based Scot and a Canadian just returned from Scotland – has joined the roster of Millennium Pictures for exclusive North American representation. While they wear the Snudge name as proudly as their Kilt-pattern beach towels, Liam Greenlaw (pictured, r.) and Paul Alexander (pictured, l.) have well-established careers under their given names – Greenlaw as a designer/director, Alexander as a still photographer.
Greenlaw transitioned to directing in 2004 after a successful run in broadcast design and branding for HBO, CBS, ABC, Movie Network (Astro Communications), BMW, and others. He recently wrapped a four-spot campaign for MLB, and, via agency Dwynters, and also directed a spot for the stage production of Lord of the Rings. The international ad serves as a teaser for the show, produced by Saul Zaentz and Kevin Wallace. So pleased were the producers with his spot, that Greenlaw t was invited back to film the entire production. The show opened in Toronto this year and is set to debut in London in May 2007. As Editorial Director for FASHION magazine, Greenlaw's redesign of the mag wowed the design community and turned the publication into THE glossy fashion magazine of Canada. He has also made his mark with feature film posters; six of his pieces were featured in the Toronto Int'l Film Festival held a retrospective of the best film posters in last 25 years (his work includes Hanging Garden and Better than Chocolate, among other art house faves). Greenlaw's first feature film screenplay, ROCK AND A HARD PLACE, is being produced by Jay Firestone's new company, Prodigy and will shoot next summer in Scotland. He is in pre production with Millennium Pictures on a documentary about Will Alsop, the controversial and legendary "Mr. Blobby" who is bidding on the redesign of the City of London. Shooting begins mid-September in London.
New to live action, Alexander is a noted celebrity photographer, whose print ads for Miller Beer Int'l, Bacardi Int'l, and others have been seen the world over. When he photographed Destiny's Child for a magazine cover, they used the snapshot for the cover of their World Tour DVD. Coldplay did the same. Recently, Alexander shot One Night Stand for the opening of Fashion Week in Toronto. The project, which Alexander describes as "porn without the porn," conveys a sense of fun and mischief evident in much of his work. It is, however, miles away from Loveletters to the South, Alexander's new book of photography, created to benefit the Red Cross and Habitat for Humanity. The book features stunning head shots of celebrities such as Johnny Depp, Kristin Chenowith, and Forest Whitaker, all of whom signed their photo with a note to victims of Hurricane Katrina. Loveletters to the South debuted at 82 on Amazon.com, before its official launch and with no advance press. Following the August launch in LA, sales continue to soar.
"As the advertising and entertainment marketplace shifts, we are looking to collaborate with directors who have talents in a variety of the arts," said Millennium President/Managing Director Caroline von Weyher. "These two think outside the box and lets face it, just being able to direct a :30 doesn't cut it anymore. Liam and Paul do it all, they are totally original and so in sync they finish each others sentences, the excitement around them is contagious." Greenlaw added that von Weyher "is the last piece of our puzzle. We have someone who understands us and wants what we want."
Greenlaw and Alexander first met in Toronto ten years ago, the former a native of Scotland, the latter a transplant returning home. "We were like two pair of eyes with one outlook," Greenlaw recalled. "And we became known as the Snudge Bros. among close friends and cruel enemies." The moniker even extended to first names – Juan Baptista for Greenlaw and Django for Alexander. The two worked together on several projects, forming a huge network of like-minded friends and colleagues and a mutual admiration society. "The continuity in Paul's work is amazing, and his shots always convey the sense of a narrative," Greenlaw asserts. "I'm excited to be directing with him." Of Greenlaw, Alexander said, "He's excelled at everything, from creative direction to music and so on… everything that's fun now is integrated – pod casts, virals, spots – we love playing with a variety of platforms and we share the knowledge that once people roll the dice on us, we'll pull it off – the rest is conversation."
The duo kicks off their new show reel with a campaign for The Snudge Bros. Shot in the style of Guy Ritchie's dark urban comedies, the spots showcase the team as rough-hewn artists seeking ambitious, daring work – and no excuses. "The client loved it," Greenlaw grinned, "so we're off to a mighty good start."
The Snudge Bros. round out a Millennium Pictures roster comprised of Tim Damon, Murphy & Stitt, Alexander Paul, Russell Prior, Doug Taub, Charlie Tercek, Marshall Vernet, Charlie Watson, and Jamie Way.
Read More »JORN THRELFALL OF OUTSIDER USA RETHINKS EVERYTHING FOR HYUNDAI
SANTA MONICA, CA, October 1, 2006 – Director Jörn Threlfall of Outsider USA has helmed a new three-spot Hyundai campaign via The Richards Group/Huntington Beach. Threlfall deftly navigated three very different styles and locales for the project. In one spot, he sets the new Hyundai Santa Fe atop a mountain, laying out a “Water Slide” down which it zooms at top speed, splashing water all over the terrain. In a second spot, Threlfall has a woman stride through the figurative – then literal – “Maze” that is her day, until in passing she notices the Hyundai Santa Fe, which offers the perfect respite. In the third spot, lithe dancers – shown only in silhouette – come together to form “Life Shapes.” Here, Threlfall artfully conveys the poetry of design, and, as the spot’s tagline asserts, encourages us to “Rethink Everything.”
Threlfall admitted that his personal favorite spot of the campaign is “Life Shapes.” On paper, the spot’s concept of human shape construction might seem risky, but after bringing in New York dance group Pilobolus, Threlfall knew he was involved with something special. “This was a very exciting and organic process, with nothing storyboarded,” said Threlfall, who noted that he wanted the action to speak for itself. “Of great significance to me was the idea that this was an ‘event,’ and throughout the spot the viewer is constantly reminded that these are human shapes creating this,” he said. The spot was created entirely in camera, including Pilobolus forming the shape of the Hyundai at the spot’s end. “My background in physical theatre helped, I think, and we did lots of experimentation with shapes,” Threlfall explained. “In terms of its originality as a car spot, I find this very enticing and captivating, hypnotic and unique. The whole campaign was an invigorating experience.”
Client: Hyundai
Spots Title(s): “Life Shapes”
First Air Date: October 1, 2006
Production Company: Outsider USA
Director: Jörn Threlfall
DP: Tobias Schliessler
EP: Jonathan Ker
Producer(s): Rocky Bice, Benjamin Howell
Agency: The Richards Group/ Huntington Beach
Creative Director(s): Steve Levit
Art Director(s): Tim Tone, Terence Reynolds
Copywriter(s): Mike Duckworth, Mike Bales
Producer(s): Phillip Lopez, Allison Collinsworth
Editorial: Chrome/Santa Monica
Editor(s): Hal Honigsberg
Telecine: Rushes/LA
Colorist: Gino Panaro
Post/Effects: Moving Pixels/Santa Monica
Music: Primal Scream
Shoot Locations: NV, CA
Read More »THE VIRAL FACTORY USA AND JAMES ROUSE SPLIT HAIRS FOR REMINGTON
So spot-on and genuine is this film in its regard for its subject, the term "mockumentary" just doesn’t
seem to fit. Nevertheless, as this 3-minute "Fashion Show" unfolds, it becomes clear, sort of, that someone has orchestrated the proceedings. Commissioned by Grey Worldwide and directed by James Rouse with The Viral Factory, "Fashion Show" purports to chronicle the latest work of fictional designer Stefane Monzon, whose canvas is hair – specifically pubic hair. Staged in LA, the piece has a grounded, realistic tone, despite the outrageous styling choices (including Ostrich-like plumes as well as flame-streaked hair, because, as Monzon exclaims, "fire burns everywhere, it doesn’t just burn it the tips."). Edited by Justin Trovato at Jigsaw Editorial, the film jumps from backstage to center stage, and the crowd was wowed by the show, which they perceived to be real – only the models, actors, and production staff knew it was a setup.
Client: Remington
Spots Title: "Fashion Show"
First Air Date: September 18, 2006
Production Company: The Viral Factory USA
Director: James Rouse with The Viral Factory USA
Agency: Grey London/The Viral Factory USA
Creatives: Sam Hibbard, Grey London/The Viral Factory USA
Editorial: Jigsaw/ Santa Monica
Editor: Justin Trovato
Sound Design: Eleven Sound/Santa Monica
Music: NAPT (Sub Frequency Funk Records)
Song: Rock Your Style
Shoot Location: Los Angeles
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