4711 Nouveau is a new fragrance from 4711, the world-famous Cologne-based perfume manufacturer, and it got an alluring and sexy broadcast launch thanks to a new TVC produced by Palladium Commercial Productions in Cologne, Germany.  "It is time to make 4711 attractive to younger people once again", explains Jessica Boenisch, Brand Manager from Maurer & Wirtz, the company behind the fragrance brand. (They also produce such brands as Tabac Original, Nonchalance, Betty Barclay and Otto Kern). Palladium Producers Knut Losen and Jacqueline Pohnitzsch were responsible for the production of the new 4711 spot, working with Director Matthias Zentner, Director of Photography Stefan Borberly and underwater camera operator Didier Noirot. The team created a very modern look for the spot, with fluid and sexy sequences of lithe young models who appear to be floating in space but are actually swimming underwater. The Phantom FLEX camera was used to capture high-speed footage under water, shooting at 1,000 frames per second. The agency on the spot was Plantage Berlin, which developed the concept.  The spot is airing now on broadcast and in cinemas. It features music by Largoland Musicproduction, also of Berlin.

MassMessAge Director Wookie recently took to the sky, in a manner of speaking, for Korean Air's new A380 TV campaign, and the production of the four-spot effort left him impressed.  "I was one of the first few people fortunate enough to actually board one of these Airbus super jumbo jets before it entered commercial service," he says.  The effort started when Wookie and a team from agency Cheil Worldwide in Seoul and DP Jin Jin were invited to see the aircraft while it was being assembled in Hamburg. "With our lab coats and protective foot paddings - measures taken to prevent any exterior contaminants from getting on board - we were given a full section by section tour," the director says. It proved invaluable, given the brief window of time they had to shoot on the jet itself. The result is four 15-second spots that were shot in 2D and post-converted to 3D that showcase the plane's amenities, including its Prestige Class luxury section, featured in "Dream Prestige;" its spacious sleeper seats, seen in "Dream Space;" its on-board duty free shop, seen in "Dream Shopping"; and of course its bistro in the sky, the Celestial Bar, seen in "Dream Party."

Director Aoife McArdle, who's represented for commercials by Independent Films in London and BRW in the US, recently completed a new music video for Anna Calvi's song "Desire." This is the second single from the artist's acclaimed self-titled debut album. The track is backed with a reworking of Leonard Cohen's "Joan Of Arc." Says McArdle of his approach, " I really find Anna's music inspiring and atmospheric. You can really feel her cinematic influences, and I could see a lot of the imagery in my head the first time I heard the track. My approach was based around the idea of tension and release, which I think is very consciously present in her music. I wanted to create a striking contrast between the claustrophobia of the interior spaces in the build up and then the release of exterior spaces on the climaxes."  Adds the director, "The whole thing was also a nice excuse to play with dark symbolism and exercise the inner goth!" 

Continuing with their award-winning cross-platform campaign, SKY and agency WCRS are out with yet another of their fairy tale-inspired comedy spots, this one titled "The Emperor's New Clothes." Directed once again by 76 Ltd.'s Peter Lydon, it's a follow up to the previously-released "Morte D'Arthur" and "Round Table." "Emperor" introduces us to a very 'Dapper Emperor' who is being avoided by all his subjects for reasons beyond his understanding. When he attempts to track someone down to 'uncover' why he's being shunned, everyone in the palace gardens runs for cover, including the garden statue. The Emperor manages to trap an unsuspecting gardener, who explains the embarrassing situation: his lack of decent TV and broadband is the problem.  He needs better 'coverage' by signing up for SKY. Also, she points out, he's naked.  The script was written by Thom Glover and Eoin McLaughlin for the agency. Additional credits include 76 Ltd. Head of Production Nicola Jones, DOP Alex Melman, WCRS Producer Eliott Liss and Editor Spencer Ferszt at Marshall Street.

Caviar's Jody Hill, Director of the HBO comedy series "Eastbound & Down" and the feature film "Observe & Report," just completed new work for K-Swiss which continues to feature "Eastbound & Down's" main character Kenny Powers, which is played by Danny McBride. The irreverent fictional Powers is at it again - this time as the CEO of K-Swiss in the latest installment of ad agency 72andSunny's Tubes campaign. The spot, titled "MFCEO," follows the R-rated Powers during his rise to power at the company as he seeks to revolutionize the brand, along with the sports world. The spot was edited by Matthew Murphy and Graham Turner at Final Cut/L.A. and features appearances by such athletic celebrities as Matt Cassel of the NFL's Kansas City Chiefs and Jillian Michaels, formerly of NBC's "The Biggest Loser."

Shilo Co-Founder and Director Jose Gomez, in collaboration with Film Deluxe, Germany, has directed a five-spot Mercedes Smart Car campaign via BBDO, Berlin.  Dubbed "A Big Idea,"  the campaign focuses on the new Smart fortwo vehicle that recently arrived at Smart Car dealerships worldwide. Each spot presents a quandary of some sort that many people face, ie; alone time  which uses copy to position the Smart fortwo as the ideal solution by offering an intimate  escape. To interest a wide range of viewers within the narratives, the spots feature engaging animated characters coming to life on live-action city walls. At the end of each one, the location-based stop-motion background cinematography finds a Smart fortwo.

Twist Director Matt Pittroff shared his comedic flair with Minnesota's Affinity Plus Credit Union in its new TV spot, "Underwear and Socks," which illustrates in a rather disrobing manner how hidden banking fees can literally take the shirt off your back.  The spot opens with a typical bank customer seen headed away from his big, gigantic bank in just boxer shorts, socks and shoes, toting his briefcase. We next follow another customer as he enters the branch, only to have his shirt and pants ripped off by bank fees. He ends up standing at the teller window next to a similarly undressed woman, clad only in bra and panties. The agency was Risdall Marketing Group.  EPs at Twist are Jim Geib and Amyliz Pera. It was cut by Editor Charley Schwartz at Schnitt Edit in Minneapolis.

Bully Pictures' latest project was a collaboration with "Black Swan" Director Darren Aronofsky on a new campaign for Revlon.  "Hypnotized" was conceived by New York agency DDCD Partners, introduces Revlon's Grow Luscious Plumping Mascara and features Jessica Biel and Pharrell Williams in stylized black & white. Biel, sitting in the dressing room of a posh hotel, applies the mascara while gazing into a cluster of mirrors, where she's approached by Williams, who looks smitten. Williams also contributed an original song featured in the spot. In other Bully news, recently-signed Director Benny Boom completed his first project for McDonald's via IW Group. The spot titled "Dance Battle," features a hip-hop soundtrack as a pair of young dancers executes a series of moves in a game of one-upmanship. Boom has directed videos for many hip hop and pop stars, including Lil Wayne, Fantasia and LL Cool J. His previous commercial work includes spots for Sears, Nintendo, Reebok, Foot Locker and Jolly Rancher.

Rich Rama has joined Passion Pictures New York as Executive Producer. He joins from Psyop, but he was also EP at MassMarket, with responsibility for new business, marketing, strategy and production. Previously he worked as producer for Psyop's sister company, Blacklist. He started his career at Method in Los Angeles. "It's wonderful to be a part of Passion Pictures, with its long established reputation for creative excellence, says Rama.  "To be instrumental in the company's growth and expansion in the States is extremely exciting.  With director Pete Candeland and producer Belinda Blacklock, we plan to establish a dynamic creative studio in New York, much like the company's London headquarters." Adds Passion's COO Penny Verbe, "We're delighted to have Rich join us. Both his enthusiasm and his knowledge of the local market will be invaluable to us in expanding the company's horizons in the US. We're looking forward to working with him and the entire team in New York in this exciting new venture." The studio's New York office recently produced its first spot out of Arnold Worldwide in Boston for Jack Daniels. Titled "King Bee," it was directed by Candeland.

Red Car has signed Keith Olwell, an editor who's also known for his content creation work for such clients as Google, to join the company's New York office.  Olwell's been in the news lately for a study he's undertaken with Laurie Santos, Director of the Comparative Cognition Laboratory, to probe how advertising works on our close primate relative, the capuchin monkey. The project, which was unveiled during a session at the Cannes Lions Festival, was reported on the web site New Scientist, and was subsequently picked up by Gawker, which led to a rush of coverage on such outlets as Fox News, Advertising Age, "The Colbert Report" and other media.  Since 2008 Olwell has operated Proton in New York as an editing house as well as a content creation shop. It will remain open for advertising assignments from new clients, as well as existing clients such as Google. His recent editorial clients have included Microsoft Zune, the UNICEF Tap Project, and Sirius Radio, along with Google.  "Keith understands advertising in ways few have ever considered before," explains Red Car Founder/Editor Larry Bridges.  "When you combine his conceptual abilities with his editorial and storytelling skills you have a truly impressive creative artist."

Peepshow Post's New York-based EP Deborah Sullivan has added Editor John Resner (seen with the pooch on the right) to the company roster.  The University of Minnesota and Vancouver Film School grad began his career in New York working on the 2007 indie feature "Great World of Sound" under the mentorship of Editor Tim Streeto. This led to a staff job at Mad River Post, where he was promoted to assistant editor. He then moved to Nomad to work under Editor Joel Miller. Resner worked on the Cannes Lions-winning Domino's Pizza campaign directed by Neil Tardio via Crispin Porter + Bogusky. In other Peepshow news, J.K. Rowling's online venture, Pottermore, was unveiled via a live-action and animated short film by Pottermore PR firm Adam & Eve, directed by Line and Martin Andersen of Andersen M Studio and edited by Peepshow's Amanda Perry. Perry has been with Peepshow since its opening, joining as an assistant, and within a year of her arrival had risen to editor. She is now a Peepshow co-owner and partner.

Icelandic Director Thorhallur Saevarsson, simply known as Thor, has joined Madheart, Los Angeles, for exclusive representation in the US. It's the first affiliation with a stateside company for Thor. His credits include work for Philips, McDonald's, Vodafone, Fuji, T-Mobile, Peugeot, GE, Coca-Cola, Deichmann and Skoda. He got his start as a teenager working on American commercial shoots in Iceland and made his debut as a director in 2002 when his short film "Autograph" took Silver and Audience awards at the Nike Young Directors Awards. A year later, he was included in the Saatchi New Directors Showcase at Cannes. Since then, he has directed scores of spots in affiliation with such production companies as London's Stink, Denmark's Moland Film, Germany's Tempo Media and Slovenia's Super 16. "I was immediately impressed with Thor's talent as a storyteller, and in getting to know him, I've been even more impressed with the energy and enthusiasm he brings to his work," notes Madheart Executive Producer Lisa Phillips. Thor has directed a number of car spots, including a recent effects-driven campaign for Czech automaker Skoda. 

ONE at Optimus, the production arm of post-production house Optimus, has named Kipp Christiansen as Executive Producer. With more than 20 years of global production experience, Christiansen has worked alongside some of the most respected talents in the industry, on projects ranging from Gatorade and Hanes to Chevrolet, Nike, Nokia and Ford. Christiansen has extensive line production and assistant director experience with companies that include Anonymous Content, Moxie Pictures, nonfiction unlimited, The Joneses, Smuggler, @radical.media, Park Pictures and DigitalKitchen. Additionally, One at Optimus served once again as the official production partner of the Pitchfork Music Festival, a three-day event showcasing over 40 of independent music's best bands and artists on three stages in Chicago. This marks the fifth year running that Optimus has collaborated with the festival to provide original content and handle live video feeds of the performances and crowds during the show. The Pitchfork Music Festival took place at Union Park from July 15 to 17.

New York music house Yessian celebrates an AICP win as well the addition of composer Hugh Wilson. Earlier this year, Yessian partnered with Wieden + Kennedy, New York for Nokia "Fences." The spot was directed by Malcom Venville and the track, titled "Don't Fence Me In," was a winner in the category for Best Musical Arrangement at the 2011 AICP Show in New York. Recently Yessian expanded its New York offices by adding a studio, and signing composer Hugh Wilson. Wilson, a respected professional vocalist and multi-instrumentalist in Australia, Singapore and New York has collaborated with a number of well-known artists including Lenny Kravitz and Savage Garden. His voice can also be heard on hundreds of commercials for brands as diverse as Geico, Kohls, M&Ms, Smirnoff, L'Oreal, Home Depot, McDonalds, Hyundai, Toyota and Coca-Cola. "We're thrilled to have Hugh join our team," says Partner and CCO Brian Yessian. Wilson grew up learning the trumpet and singing in a choir. At the age of 19 he won the nationally televised viewer-voted talent competition's male vocal category of "Star Search."

Chris Miller has teamed up with Executive Producer Chester Mayer and his production company Harpoon Pictures. Miller will serve as Director of New Business Development for the New York-based production company.  "We've had ten good years and it was time to raise the bar at Harpoon," says Mayer. "We needed to bring our sales efforts in-house and have someone dedicated to us. We also felt the time had come to raise the level of directorial talent so that it was better suited to the competitive nature of this market." Since joining Harpoon, Miller and Mayer have added directors Joel Peissig, John Alper, Kohl Norville, Tricia Caruso and Hernan Kesselman. Miller spent the greater part of the last decade running sales and marketing for such production companies as Highway 61 and Bridge Street Films. Prior to that, Miller worked as Managing Partner at Kendall Tarrant Worldwide, an international recruiting firm for advertising executives.

San Francisco agency Pereira & O'Dell, Intel and Toshiba have launched a social media-infused short film titled "Inside." The film was produced by RSA and directed by D.J. Caruso, the director of the features "Distubia," "I Am Number Four" and "Eagle Eye", and was shot by cinematographer Mauro Fiore ("Avatar"). In the short, actress Emmy Rossum plays the role of Christina, a 20-something woman trapped in a room with only a Toshiba laptop running an Intel Corei7 processor and an untraceable Internet connection. Unable to determine where she is or what her fate might be, she uses the laptop to mobilize her social network for help. Online viewers will be encouraged to connect with Christina, tweet clues and post advice to her Facebook wall. The film will air in short episodes starting on July 25. The editing team, led by Emmy-winning Editor Josh Bodnar of The Whitehouse, will incorporate posts that best fit the storyline into the episodes.  To follow the action online, click here.

Roopak Saluja, Co-Founder & Managing Director of Bang Bang Films and Jack in the Box Worldwide, has been appointed to the Technique (TV/Cinema/Online Film) jury for the London International Awards. The Technique jury is headed by Jake Scott, Director at RSA Films, and includes such notable talents as Fredrik Bond from Sonny London, Noam Murro of Biscuit Filmworks and Andy Morahan, who's with Believe Media. Saluja comes from an agency background, having spent seven years between Y&R Budapest and Ogilvy Paris, where he last ran the Motorola account for EMEA. He co-founded Bang Bang Films in 2006 with his partner, EP Kirk Dias.  Since then the company has produced award-winners for such advertisers as Unilever, Nokia, Pepsi, L'Oreal, P&G, Sony, Volkswagen, Honda and Tata, working with such agencies as Ogilvy, JWT, Saatchi, McCann Erickson, BBDO, BBH, Wieden & Kennedy, Lowe, Publicis and Y&R. For more on the company, check out their SourceEcreative profile here.

Creative studio Trollback + Company has partnered with TEDGlobal to create the opening titles for the 2011 conference that was recently held in Edinburgh, Scotland. TEDGlobal's 2011 theme focuses on "The Stuff of Life," where speakers and attendees of the four-day conference analyze the resources, technologies and skills that make life possible and keep it going. Trollback + Company has a long history of creating opening sequences for the prestigious TED brand. For this year's titles, the design team explored the relationship between nature and science. "Science and exploration help humans understand their lives by dissecting everything they can touch and feel," says Jakob Trollback, the company's founder and Executive Creative Director. This dissection can be seen in the show open as a variety of objects - both man-made and organic - are sliced to reveal their complex beauty. A longtime creative collaborator of TED, Trollback is a contributor to the conference, giving his own TED talk, titled "Rethinking the Music Video," in 2008.

Our next Special Feature will take a look at the enduring use of animals and kids in commercials. Think these techniques are passe? Just check out how many YouTube views goofy animal videos get (like this one), and the global popularity of Evian's "Roller Babies."  The creative technique is still a crowd-pleaser, and it often requires specialized skills in casting, direction, visual effects and other areas of production and post. We currently have a limited number of sponsorship availabilities left. For more information on pricing and deadlines, contact Halyce Naparstek in our Boca Raton office at hnaparstek@sourceecreative.com, or call us at +1-561-392-9701.