Giving season: Heroes

Together with my family, I am sending my warmest thoughts to many friends and colleagues worldwide, and feeling a lot of gratitude. I truly appreciate your help in sending daily clicks to www.hungersite.com, where our simple mouseclicks can benefit a number of vital causes each and every day.

Tribute to NYC and its amazing artists

Home to many of our planet’s most talented artists, The City That Never Sleeps is a perpetual inspiration to people all around the world. Director Graham Elliott recently produced a fascinating documentary: His film entitled “New York in Motion” spotlights a unique form of art, and features my friends Jonathan Notaro of Brand New School, Tracy Chandler and Noah Conopask of Shilo, and many other extremely talented individuals and companies. Achievements like these spanning all forms of art are recognized worldwide for their magnificence — and they connect us deeply with countless wonderfully unique New Yorkers. To you all, along with your families, friends and neighbors, we are very grateful for your contributions to our lives, and we are wishing you all the best.

Fired up for FIFA World Cup

Team USA is getting a lot of attention so far in the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2011. We’re sincerely rooting for a great tournament for all… especially our national players, many of whom we have gotten to know much better through the brand films created and released by Under Armour. The playlist embedded above is a Vimeo Album from U.S. creative production company Shilo and creative think tank WMIG, showcasing their ongoing collaborations with Under Armour and an expanding list of world-class athletes. The newest among more than 20 stunning films currently in the Album feature Lauren Cheney and Heather Mitts of Team USA, which were directed by Nathan Caswell. I find them all to be very inspiring, and I hope you will, too.

Shilo: Stronger, smarter, better

In April, creative production company Shilo delivered its patent commercial production brilliance far and wide. Enjoy the newest additions to the video slideshow above, which include the following.

. Saucony “What is Strong?” :60, director Andre Stringer’s first-ever TV spot for leading global performance athletic footwear and apparel supplier Saucony(R), via brand development firm Mechanica. More info: bit.ly/SauconyStrong

. Four of five smart fortwo “A Big Idea” campaign spots from director Jose Gomez, and produced for BBDO Berlin through the first co-production between Shilo and Film Deluxe GmbH. A We Make It Good Q&A with Jose is here: bit.ly/JGsmart

. “Julio Jones: UA E39″ :60 from Under Armour, director Andre Stringer, Shilo and creative think tank WMIG. More info: www.underarmour.com/e39

Happy F5 everyone!

This Friday and Saturday, April 15 and 16, the F5 Festival (a Motionographer.com initiative) will take over New York City’s Roseland Ballroom (239 West 52nd Street, between Broadway and 8th Avenue), where the presenters — and attendees — will be among the world’s finest filmmakers, artists and creative industry executives. I regret that I won’t be able to attend, but here are just a few highlights of the affair I’d be front-and-center for if I could (full schedule is here). Read more

Please help save our supplies!

Spread this SOS. Save Our Supplies. www.facebook.com/DOC2DOCK

More information on the SOS short film from agency Modernista, production company Shilo and is available here, and a Q&A with director Cassidy Gearhart just went live on WeMakeItGood.com. Thank you very much for your interest and support!

Visual poetry 1-2-3 punch from Shilo

Every day, the official Vimeo account for creative production company Shilo at www.vimeo.com/shilo averages over 450 plays from fans, respected artists and leading creative people worldwide. Some of the work you’ll find there is extremely well known, while I’m sure you’ll be surprised by other featured projects. Today it’s my pleasure to share three videos that have factored largely into Shilo’s success to-date. First, above, behold Guinness “Spoken Word,” the quintessential Shilo commercial achievement created in 2008 in conjunction with Saatchi & Saatchi in London and Mark Hanrahan. This film directed by Andre Stringer has inspired new legions of fans for Shilo worldwide. Can you believe it was passed over by virtually every major awards show in 2009? Read more

Shilo shines on…

Inspiring new book on the upside of resistance

Today marks the worldwide release of an amazing new book from Union Square Press, written by Steve Crawshaw and John Jackson, with a foreward from the internationally renowned human rights champion Vaclav Havel. The book is entitled Small Acts of Resistance: How Courage, Tenacity, and Ingenuity Can Change the World, and its official website is online at www.smallactsofresistance.com

I met John Jackson through the spectacular MTV Burma Viral project from Carl Le Blond, Ogilvy Amsterdam, and Shilo. Earlier today, he reported that BBC’s world affairs editor John Simpson had highlighted the new book in his story today on Liu Xiaobo winning the 2010 Nobel Prize, writing,

“John Simpson has highlighted beautifully how Nobel Peace laureate Liu Xiaobo is linked to so many others in history and today, who live in truth and resist injustice… the very people whose stories our book aims to celebrate.”

Read more

Under Armour, Shilo and WMIG rock on…

The latest Under Armour ad campaign recently debuted in the U.S., featuring a new :60 TV/web spot and three individual brand films for famous female athletes. Each new film was directed by Shilo’s Andre Stringer, with ideation handled through Shilo’s creative think tank WMIG, in collaboration with Under Armour’s creative team. Each film is appearing at www.youtube.com/underarmour and elsewhere. Shilo’s news release is available here, and more information on the new campaign is also available at WeMakeItGood.com. Please also check out www.facebook.com/underarmourwomen, and www.underarmour.com.