universal positive » Television

Super Bowls past and present

Roger Darnell — Sun, 29 Jan 2012 21:00:06 +0000

Last week, Hulu introduced its Hulu AdZone, which is presented by Toyota and offers easy access to historic Super Bowl ads extending all the way back to 1973. For the project, Hulu invited Advertising Age to highlight celebrity cameos and present expert picks for the most iconic Super Bowl ads of all time. On Sunday, February 5, tune in to www.hulu.com/adzone to watch all of this year’s ads in real-time, share them with friends and vote for your favorites. The best ad of 2012 will be announced early the next day.

On a personal note, I’m hoping for a well-matched battle between New England and New York, and I’ll also be watching for the first-ever Super Bowl spot for Lexus, which is one part of a multifaceted campaign effort produced by my clients at ATTIK. ATTIK’s work has made high-profile Super Bowl splashes in the past, to include their bold logo for Super Bowl XLIV itself just two years ago. Here’s wishing much success to everyone involved in what is sure to be one of the top media events of 2012!

Killer reels: echolab and Kultnation

Roger Darnell — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 19:21:12 +0000

By now I’m sure you’re well aware of my deep respect for high-end visual and sound design. Among the inspirational friends I consider to be emerging masters in these complementary storytelling fields are sound designer Gavin Little of echolab and director Marco Vinicio, aka Kultnation. In the recent past, these gentlemen (heralding respectively from Dublin, Ireland, and Mexico City, Mexico) have collaborated often, and I hope you’ll agree that the results are quite spectacular. To experience their latest works, please visit www.vimeo.com/echolab and www.vimeo.com/kultnation.

To Gavin and Vinny — thank you for the inspirations, and please keep up the great work.

Leviathan’s magical holidays

Roger Darnell — Wed, 21 Dec 2011 22:49:45 +0000

This spot for the Illinois State Lottery was produced by Energy BBDO in Chicago, directed by Dom Bridges of Bob Industries, and features visual effects from design-focused production studio Leviathan. As Leviathan’s Jason White recently explained to SCREEN Magazine:

“We appreciate this engaging story. Something we can all relate to. Effective and emotive. We really got behind the aspiration of the spot concept – capturing these amazing gift revealing holiday moments.”

Today, White and his colleagues reported on their very successful 2011 in SHOOT Magazine. Here’s wishing you many magical moments and dreams come true over the days ahead.

Needham Rising

Roger Darnell — Mon, 12 Dec 2011 19:49:22 +0000

This has been an eventful year for everyone at global creative agency ATTIK, including its co-founder and executive creative director Simon Needham. The San Francisco Egotist is currently featuring a brief article Simon contributed entitled, “What I learned this year.” He also shared some career advice with the publishers of Creativepool.co.uk back in November in this ‘5 minutes with Simon Needham‘ article. I thought you might also enjoy the in-depth video interview embedded above. From ATTIK’s humble origins in northern England, Simon’s obviously come a long way, and he has many exciting developments shaping up for 2012 and beyond. For more information, please visit www.attik.com.

Killer reels: B-Reel

Roger Darnell — Thu, 08 Dec 2011 11:00:56 +0000

Founded in 1999 with full service offices in New York, Los Angeles, London and Stockholm, B-Reel specializes in the field of advanced digital productions on multiple platforms including web, mobile and out-of-home media. They collaborate with sister company, B-Reel Films on integrated campaigns. B-Reel Films is a traditional film production company.

B-Reel swept the 2011 Cannes Lions’ Awards with a Cyber Grand Prix, a Golden Lion and three more awards from its 15 nominations, and in July, it was named the most awarded digital company in the history of the prestigious FWA Awards. Since November of 2005, B-Reel has earned 57 Site of the Day honors.

For more information, visit www.b-reel.com and @B__REEL

King and Country’s got game

Roger Darnell — Mon, 21 Nov 2011 19:32:06 +0000

This Vimeo album from King and Country presents some of the Santa Monica-based design-driven production company’s best projects in the Sports category. Enjoy these spots, promos and documentary projects for Chevrolet (via Goodby, Silverstein & Partners), Fox Sports Net, The History Channel, NBC, Sirius Satellite Radio (via The Martin Agency), U.S. Cellular (via Publicis and Hal Riney) and Versus, and for all the latest from K&C, check out www.kingandcountry.tv.

Greg Barker: Thanks for the Documentary

Roger Darnell — Wed, 02 Nov 2011 15:22:52 +0000

Based on Pulitzer Prize-winning author Samantha Power’s biography “Chasing the Flame,” the feature documentary film SERGIO presents the story of Sergio Vieira de Mello – a key diplomatic ambassador who may have witnessed more human suffering than any man of his generation. Described as a cross between James Bond and Bobby Kennedy, Sergio earned a reputation for descending into the most dangerous places, charming the worst war criminals, and protecting the lives of ordinary people to whom he’d devoted his life.

As shown in this captivating film directed by Greg Barker, produced by John Battsek and Julie Goldman, and edited by Karen Schmeer, from his birth in Rio de Janeiro in 1948 to his untimely and tragic death in Baghdad in 2003, Sergio Vieira de Mello led an extraordinary life, and he remains a shining example of how one person can impact the world.

I also highly recommend this MakingOf.com interview with Greg Barker.

For more information, please visit www.sergiothemovie.com

AICP Conference 2011

Roger Darnell — Wed, 19 Oct 2011 23:38:59 +0000

This week, The AICP Conference will unite prominent leaders from the advertising industry in New York City to collectively explore ideation, creative execution and the best practices reshaping the ever-evolving creative industry. Set for October 26 and 27, the must-attend event will directly address every major issue affecting the business of creativity.

Topics include a keynote address by Joe Pytka: A Look At The Past, Present and Future, and these:
. The New Broadcasters: Facebook
. The New Broadcasters: Microsoft
. Lawyers On The Clock
. Meet the Procurers
. The Client POV: Where Production for Agencies and Brands is Heading
. The AICP Green Initiative
. A Look At Industry Etiquette

To learn more about the full program and register to attend, check out this story from SHOOT Magazine: Agenda Announced For 2011 AICP Conference

Thoughts for food

Roger Darnell — Sun, 16 Oct 2011 17:44:18 +0000

Blog Action Day occurs every October, uniting the world’s bloggers in posting about the same issue on the same day to spark global discussions and drive collective actions. For 2011 it coincides with World Food Day to focus on FOOD.

If you’re interested in ideas about eating locally, I’m with you. Courtesy of my friends at HighCountryLocalFirst.org, check out the top ten reasons to buy local food listed below.

I also invite you to join me in sending a “click” to www.hungersite.com, where simple mouseclicks benefit vital causes each and every day… and provide real food to the hungry.

The above video introduces a new TV show entitled Food Forward. You can visit Food Forward on Kickstarter.com to learn more about this bold initiative exploring alternatives to current industrial food systems. Those behind it include “food rebels who are fundamentally changing the way we eat…” a vanguard of innovators including educators, scientists, farmers and chefs across America.

Finally, if you haven’t already done so, strongly consider joining Jamie Oliver’s food revolution!

Why buy local food? Easy! Because it…
. tastes better.
. is better for you.
. preserves genetic diversity.
. is genetically modified food (GMO)-free if it’s local certified organic food
. supports local farm families.
. builds community.
. preserves open space.
. keeps your taxes in check.
. supports a clean environment and benefits wildlife.
. is about the future.

Adapted from Growing For Market, the national monthly journal for direct market farmers. Growing for Market is America’s most respected source of information about growing and selling vegetables, fruits, herbs, flowers, and plants.

Killer reels: King and Country

Roger Darnell — Mon, 10 Oct 2011 19:47:13 +0000

Since its launch in 2006, Santa Monica-based design-driven production company King and Country (K&C) has earned international recognition for breakthrough projects spanning commercials, original promos for major networks, and much more. The innovative production foundry established by directors Rick Gledhill and Efrain Montanez and executive producer Jerry Torgerson elegantly unites A-list talents representing every facet of production and post, delivering impactful films that blend original live-action content, 2D and 3D animation and seamless visual effects into new artforms. Drawing upon its principals’ extraordinary creative capabilities, K&C takes deep pride in directing and producing spectacular projects from concept through completion, collaborating with others to add brilliant end-tags, visual effects and flawless finishing for any and all media platforms, and everything in-between. K&C is featured in the recent SourceEcreative Special Feature entitled “Going Hand-to-Hand with King and Country” and its extensive portfolio of work is viewable online at www.kingandcountry.tv. For further information call Jerry Torgerson at 310.586.0100.