Korean ad agency HS Ad turned to Director Matthias Zentner and the production and visual effects team at Velvet in Germany for two new spots to introduce the LG Optimus 3D smartphone.  The new device is one of the slimmest and lightest Android phones worldwide, and it features a display able to reproduce real white tones. As a result, the spots, "Power in 3D" and "Big Meets Style," use a visual motif of silver and black to show off these qualities.  In the "Power" spot, we open on majestic black horses galloping towards the phone; they transform into a big black wave, giving the phone its characteristic color. Next, a woman emerges from the display's surface in a liquid dress, representing the phone's 3D capability based on the conversion of 2D material into stereoscopic images. In "Big," a woman in a flowing white dress dives into the phone's inky black screen and performs a series of acrobatic underwater moves. Both spots were shot with Alexa Plus and Phantom HD cameras in studios in Bangkok, including high speed motion images shot at a speed of 2000/fps. Production service was handled by Living Films in Bangkok.  Oliver Loessl was EP for Velvet.

Drive Thru, a full-service production and post production house in Minneapolis, recently partnered with agency Carmichael Lynch and production company Harvest to deliver four Subaru spots that conceptualize outdoor activities dogs might enjoy if they owned Subarus. All four spots, directed by the Hoffman Brothers, mark Drive Thru's third consecutive year contributing post production to Subaru's "Dog Tested. Dog Approved." campaign. "We've worked on the campaign every year since its inception and are proud to be a part of such a successful, exceptional, creative collaboration again," says Bob George, co-Owner of Drive Thru, who served as Flame Artist on the spots. The campaign includes "Jack Knife," "Camping Trip," Ski Trip" and "Beach," and they depict dogs doing these activities, but not acting like humans - they just act like dogs. Outdoorsy dogs, at that. Mick Uzendoski edited the campaign for Drive Thru, with Derek Johnson handling online finishing.

If you've ever dreamed of having a glittering white wedding, complete with flower petals floating and sunshine peeking through the trees, then Pelephone and Gravity has just the event for you.  It's depicted in a new TVC titled "Wedding," created by Adler Chomsky & Warshavsky / Grey Worldwide and directed by Eli Sverdlov via production company Mulla.  In the spot, a young woman awakens in a dream on her wedding day, but she's hardly ready. A variety of visual effects and design elements bring many of her dream-like visions to life. Shot at two locations in Iceland and Germany, the creative direction, matte paintings, CGI elements and compositing were all done in Tel Aviv by Gravity.  The brand's overall Dream campaign – this is the second spot of three planned – illustrates in a fantastical way "what happens when we dream." The third spot is due out later this year. Gravity credits on the project include Creative Director Ilan Bouni, VFX Supervisor Yoav Savaryego and Head of Art Israel Breslav. 

The multidisciplinary directing and production collective known as The Lifelong Friendship Society has crafted a new project for Workday, a business solution enterprise, via San Francisco-based agency MUH-TAY-ZIK | HOF-FER. The 90-second film, "Rising", illustrates the Workday cloud computing software product by showing a city at dawn. As the sun rises, various parts of the city, including whole skyscrapers, disassembled floors from existing buildings, phone poles, mailboxes, even street lights, rise into the sky. Once there the city reforms atop the puffy white "landscape" as a party-like banner appears, reading "Welcome fellow citizens of the cloud." Douglas Purver, one of the newest directors at The Lifelong Friendship Society, directed the spot. Says agency CD Diko Daghilan, "The team at TLFS rolled up their sleeves and hit the ground running, barely after our first meeting. We were blown away by the final work despite ridiculous restraints." Dan Sormani was Executive Producer on the project for TLFS.  Sound design was by Henryboy, while the music track was composed by Fall On Your Sword.

Ahoy, mateys.  A spirited sea chanty with lyrics about "working off your paunch" drives a comic new Miller 64 spot directed by Biscuit Filmworks Tim Godsall via Saatchi and Saatchi, New York.  Through catchy rhymes and laid back, sun-kissed imagery, Godsall shows how low-calorie Miller 64 is the perfect drink after a long day – without negating the beneficial effects of your workout. The first in a three-spot campaign, "Living the Dream" follows an all-American group of friends through their typical routine of exercising, eating right and enjoying each other's company, after a day on the job. The DP on the shoot was Hoyte van Hoytema; the spot was edited by Jeff Ferruzzo of Outside Edit + Design.  Tom Poole of Company 3 did the color grading.

Happy Ending Writer/Director Richard Yelland has teamed up with Nike Action Sports to create "12 Miles North," a documentary about Nick Gabaldon, the first known African American surfer in the US. In the 1940s, Gabaldon frequented the Inkwell in Santa Monica, a stretch of beach predominantly enjoyed by African-Americans. An avid bodysurfer, he eventually caught the eye of lifeguard Buzzy Trent, who would go on to pioneer surfing at the north shore of Oahu. Trent started lending Gabaldon his board and, like so many surfers before and after, he was hooked. "My approach in making the film was not so much to tell Nick's story as to let others tell it for me," says Yelland.  "In the minds of many, Nick bravely crossed racial lines and even crossed open ocean to reach the waves at Malibu – paddling 12 miles from the Inkwell." This isn't the director's first foray into the subject – his previous documentary, "Floating: the Nathan Gocke Story," won Best Documentary at the 2011 Cannes Film Festival's American Pavilion Emerging Filmmaker Showcase.  It tells the story of Nathan Gocke, a surfer paralyzed in an accident whose goal is to surf again.

jumP Editorial in New York and its visual effects and design division Manic teamed up with Merkley+Partners and RSA Films Director Henrik Hansen in a new Mercedes Benz campaign titled "How Cool." The spot pays homage to Mercedes Benz's mbrace2 technology, which is a satellite system that can do anything and everything from tracking traffic to tracking your kids. The video features a palette of floating 2D and 3D graphics, choreographed in-sync with live action footage of people talking about the digital capabilities of the mbrace2 technology. jumP's Richard Mettler cut the piece that debuted in front of an eager Consumer Electronics Show audience, anxious to hear the keynote speech by Dr. Dieter Zetsche, Chairman of the Board of Daimler AG and Head of Mercedes Benz Cars. It features CGI work from Manic's John Clausing and design work from Jun Lee.

New York-based visual effects and design studio Light of Day recently added Natalie Wollman as the studio's new colorist. She brings more than 10 years of experience in the European and Asian TV and film markets to the Light of Day team. "Colorists are a critical member of any VFX studio's A-team," says Light of Day Managing Partner Amy Taylor. "We're thrilled to have Natalie join Light of Day. Her drive and artistic sensibility will be a great asset to us as we continue to push the creative and technical boundaries of commercial effects." Wollman has worked on campaigns for Pantene, Nokia, Toyota, VW, Chevrolet and Pepsi, among others. Earlier in her career she was a colorist for Bavarian Film Studios before freelancing for major production companies, including Chimney Pot (Warsaw), Condor (Dubai), The Gate (Athens and Beirut), Okra (Warsaw) and Cinemedia (Berlin and Munich). Her award-winning projects include two best music clips for MTV, Commercial of the Year in India and the Chimney Award.

He's going to be able to buy a lot of chips with all that cash. Known for directing the Super Bowl Doritos commercial "Sling Baby," Los Angeles native Kevin Willson has joined the directorial roster at HELLO!. Willson, whose Super Bowl spot won the million dollar prize for topping the Facebook USA Today Ad Meter contest, graduated from Biola University in Southern California, initially pursued a career in special education, then got into filmmaking by directing documentaries. During this time he shot documentaries in 14 countries including Peru, Cambodia, and Afghanistan, and has also directed numerous projects for humanitarian organizations. Now considered a comedy director, Willson has the ability to direct story telling and comedic material while engaging in every aspect of his work. As part of his Doritos win, he also gets to collaborate on a project with the team at Lonely Island, the comedy troupe of "SNL" star Andy Samberg.

Chelsea has signed director Gregor Nicholas for exclusive representation in the United States. Originally from New Zealand, Nicholas is now based in New York. In his native New Zealand, he studied art history and architecture before venturing into more experimental film collaborations with musicians, performance artists and choreographers. His anti-nuclear protest work "Pacific 3-2-1-Zero" earned him the Croisette d'Or Grand Prix at the Cannes Music Film Awards and has been incorporated into the permanent film collection of the Museum of Modern Art in New York. Nicholas' short film, "Avondale Dogs," is second on The Guardian's list of the ten best short films of all time. His commercial work includes spots for Toyota, NZ Lotto, Grey Goose and LG, among others.

Passion Pictures has signed Mirari & Co for European and American representation. The Sydney-based motion graphics and design company was founded by Creative Director Jimmy Yuan and Producer Michelle Xie (that's them on the right) in 2010. Mirari has brought together a team of directors, designers and animators offering fresh creative approaches and distinct identities for brands. The company name Mirari is derived from the Latin word mirus, meaning wonderful, strange and remarkable. Trained at Monash University Melbourne, Yuan's work has been featured at festivals around the world. Xie says, "As a new studio we want to maximize our opportunities for new projects and we feel that joining with Passion will open doors for us. We're really looking forward to working with them and creating something remarkable together." Passion's Head of New Business Michael Adamo says, "Within 30 seconds of seeing Mirari & Co.'s work we wanted to meet them. Their vision is captivating and distinctive. We believe they will attract attention beyond traditional television advertising, including areas such as installations and live events. We're very excited to be teaming up with such talented artists."

In its continued expansion into the advertising space, New York-based creative studio Decon has hired former BBDO and Droga5 veteran Misha Louy as its new Partner and EP. Already established as a record label, ideation shop and production company that has worked with artists such as Kid Cudi, Roger Federer, Justin Bieber, Usain Bolt and Kanye West, and brands such as Nike, HBO, Netflix, 2K Sports, P&G and Red Bull, Decon will aggressively seek to build its roster of multipurpose directors under Louy's leadership. "As we continue to organically grow Decon, we felt it was important to bring on someone who understands all sides of advertising and production," says Decon Co-Founder and CEO Peter Bittenbender. The company worked with Louy on the digital portion of the recent Gillette London 2012 Olympics campaign, which has been one of P&G's largest global initiatives. BBDO then chose Decon as the full integrated production partner to complete the entire Olympics campaign.

Director Brennan Stasiewicz has signed with Interrogate for commercial representation in the US. He joins Interrogate from MTV, where he was an on-air writer and director. Stasiewicz has directed actors such as Will Ferrell, Paul Rudd, Jason Segel, Emma Stone, and Jason Sudeikis, as well as musical artists like Weezer, Kid Rock, Ne-Yo and Aesop Rock. He has also created commercial work for brands such as Starbucks, Johnson & Johnson, Pepsi, Sony, Toyota, Rhapsody, and Paramount Pictures. Outside of advertising, Brennan wrote and directed a number of stylized non-fiction shorts. In these films he built stories around real-life characters, ranging from model and heiress Daphne Guinness to the Mast Brothers chocolatiers to the architectural design of Roman & Williams.

On the heels of its military action film "Act of Valor," which recently debuted at number one in the US box office, full-service production studio Bandito Brothers has announced that commercial production veteran Suzanne Hargrove has joined the company as Managing Director and EP of its commercial division. "Bandito has grown into the action studio of the future, always aspiring to an 'A' for authenticity," says CEO and Creative Director Mouse McCoy.  "As we evolve, it's critical that we build our commercial division from that core principle."  Adds Bandito COO Max Leitman, "Suzanne has earned a stellar reputation spanning 15 years as a creative producer. She's loved by clients, agencies and directors alike. We couldn't be more excited that she's signed on to take Bandito's commercial division to the next level."  "By combining top notch directors, full service post and VFX, Bandito Brothers is at the forefront of crafting efficient solutions for brands," Hargrove says of her decision to join Bandito after years working as a top producer for directors such as Brian Beletic, Fredrik Bond, Andrew Douglas, Paul Hunter, Chris Smith, Phil Morrison, Steve Rogers and Peggy Sirota.

Recently launched design-driven production company WoodShop has signed Director Marcelo Petrella for commercial representation. Born in Brazil and based in Los Angeles, Petrella is known as a director, designer and animator, who's built himself a portfolio with brands such as Honda, Nike, Gatorade, Fox Sports Network, Miller Genuine Draft, ESPN and EA Sports. Recent projects include collaborations with Troika Design Group, as well as King and Country for the Ford F-150 and Taylormade. Petrella is already up and running with WoodShop, designing and directing spots for Sonic. Petrella began his career as a marketing executive in Brazil, then relocated to Los Angeles twelve years ago to study design at UCLA. Design led to VFX, and he soon began working as a freelance Designer/Animator, ultimately landing as a Sr. Designer/Animator at Belief Design.

San Francisco-based production company Kaboom has added Director Kent Harvey to its roster. For almost twenty years Harvey has circled the globe filming in extreme conditions for commercials, documentaries, TV shows and feature films. With Kaboom, Harvey will delve into brand-based and advertising projects including spots, online campaigns and long-format branded content. Kaboom EP/Owner Lauren Schwartz has known Harvey for over a decade, and recently tapped his expertise to shoot segments of Kaboom's upcoming TV series with Fox Sports. Harvey is a long-time climber, mountaineer, skier, kayaker, mountain biker and fly fisherman, and is able to capitalize on these skill sets when behind the camera. His work can be seen in feature films as "Limitless," "Iron Man," "Hancock," "Iron Man 2," " Mr. and Mrs. Smith," "Spiderman 3," "Cowboys and Aliens," "Captain America" and the just-released comedy hit "21 Jump Street."

The Sweet Shop, with offices in Los Angeles, Auckland, Sydney, Bangkok and London, continues its global growth with the announcement of a creative partnership with Paris-based Premiere Heure. The move will make The Sweet Shop's roster of directorial talent available to the French market. The announcement comes shortly after The Sweet Shop launched its new operation in South East Asia and announced the signing of creative studio/directing collective Special Problems. George Mackenzie, Managing Director of The Sweet Shop (seen here) in Australia, made the announcement. Adds US Managing Director Andy Traines, "It's been our experience that clients feel more comfortable when someone is there on the ground. When there's a local point of contact that speaks the language, it builds a sense of security about the project."
 

Director Ariel Martin, who's under the mentorship of legendary filmmaker and owner of Australia's Filmgraphics Entertainment David Denneen, was selected as one of the four young directors to take part in the "Fabulous Four" competition at this year's ADFEST.  The entrants were required to write a four-minute script with the topic of "Fast Forward," which was the theme for this year's "Made In Asia" festival.  Once selected, the script had to be turned into a film. Filmgraphics, visual effects house Method, Director of Photography Richard Michalak and Art Director Katie Newton all contributed to Martin's entry, which was titled "The Future Shooter." Filmgraphics' Executive Producer Anna Fawcett said, "David is always looking for talented directors, and he knows that Ariel has what it takes both in writing and directing skills to make his mark in the advertising industry."  Martin traveled to Pattaya, Thailand, to attend the Festival, along with Fawcett and Katie O'Neill, FGE's head of marketing and P.R., who were there to lend him moral support.

Dattner Dispoto cinematographers Adam Beckman and Arlene Nelson had films at this year's SXSW Festival in Austin, Texas. For "Sleepwalk With Me," (frame on the right) comic/writer Mike Birbiglia adapted his semi-autobiographical show into a biting tragicomedy.  Beckman made a name for himself in commercial cinematography before shooting the Showtime series "This American Life," based on Ira Glass's popular radio show of the same name. He earned three Emmy nominations for his work on the show. Nelson's duo of music documentaries follow her work on last year's Sundance premiere, "Troubadours." Her first SXSW film, "Sunset Strip," traces the history of the famous mile-and-a-half of Sunset Boulevard, which has played host to countless celebrated musical acts over the past century. Nelson provided additional photography for "Re:Generation Music Project," showcasing the work of DJs Mark Ronson, Premier, The Crystal Method, Pretty Lights and Skrillex. The DJs collaborate with artists from various genres, re-imagining the history of each musical style.
 

Pop superstar Jennifer Lopez recently took a break from "American Idol" to star in a commercial for Kohl's created by McCann, New York. The spot, titled "Classic Remixed", was directed by Darren Aronofsky. and Wild Plum.  In the big stage production, J Lo debuts some of the looks of her Kohl's spring collection while performing a dance number and changing outfits mid-dance to a cover of the 1974 Kiki Dee Band single "I Got the Music in Me". The McCann creative and production team included Linus Karlsson, Sharon Ehrlich, Danny Rodriguez, Debbie Dunlap, Celeste Holt-Walters, Brad Blondes and Mike Boris. Andrew Weisblum edited the spot, while Matthew Libatique was the DP.

BBH New York has named Justin Booth-Clibborn as its new Head of Integrated Production. He comes over from the visual effects, design and production studio Psyop, where he was CMO and Managing Partner.  He joined the company shortly after it opened in New York over a decade ago. Booth-Clibborn's hire was announced by BBH Chief Creative Officer John Patroulis, who had worked with Psyop on various assignments at his previous agency post at agencytwofifteen in San Francisco.  The move brings Booth-Clibborn back to the agency side where his career began in London, working as an account executive and planner.  He later moved over to the production side, working as a freelance producer at Method Studios and Propaganda Films, before joining Psyop. At BBH he replaces Lora Schulson, who had joined the agency in the Head of Integrated Production role earlier this year from Y&R New York, but left shortly afterwards to join Wieden + Kennedy's New York office.

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