Director Rich Wafer has signed with Washington Square Films.  Having already completed one campaign for Walgreens, he is currently in pre-production for a five-day shoot for Dow in Montana.  Wafer is best known as a visual storyteller. He works extensively with actors and with real people.  Notable spot clients include McDonalds, Nike and Honda, among many others. Wafer has also directed episodic work for Nickelodeon, ESPN, Comedy Central and Disney Channel. “Whatever Rich does,” says WSF Head of Sales Jonathan Schwartz, “there is always a wonderful sense of style, and the ability to really tell a story, in his work. He is also a great guy, clients love him, and you can see it in the amount of repeat work he gets.” “I’m thrilled to be at Washington Square,” says Wafer. “They are involved in a lot of great things and the support has been tremendous.”

Wild Plum announces the addition of Erika Sheldon to its team as their new in-house west coast sales rep/head of sales.  Sheldon began her career in the advertising industry with a three-year stint at Plum Productions, working with most of the Wild Plum staff during that time.  After her time at Plum, she began working as a junior rep under industry veteran Toni Saarinen, where she was promoted and represented over forty directors on the west coast.  Since 2008, Sheldon has been and remains the in-house rep for Moo Studios,  where she began repping just the west coast and eventually took over the east coast as well.  Sheldon has come full circle, rejoining Wild Plum’s Executive Producer Shelby Sexton and CFO Alisa Allen.  “We couldn’t be happier to have Erika back on our team,” states Sexton.  “She has grown into a tremendous rep and we are so excited to have her on board with us and promote her continued growth.”  Sheldon takes on a roster that boasts such diverse talent as Director Kieran Walsh and Director/DP Ericson Core.  The roster also includes Directors Jan De Bont, Shane Drake and Jason Sands.

Asylum VFX handled all post and VFX on a Bing spot that recreates the iconic closing scene from the 1991 hit “Thelma & Louise,” for JWT, New York. Asylum teaming with Company 3 for the final color grade and working with Speck/Gordon through Furlined, the spot proceeds exactly as the original film scene: the outlaw duo sits along the rim of the Grand Canyon in Louise's 1966 Thunderbird convertible, a swarm of squad cars, snipers, and police helicopters lined up behind them, compelling them to floor the gas and take a suicidal run off the cliff edge. This time, however, the stand-in actresses don't agree to a suicide pact, but discuss lunch options as Thelma browses through her smartphone.  "Though this was not originally planned as a post-heavy spot, every shot ultimately had work done," noted EP Mike Pardee. "We worked closely with the production company and agency at every stage, beginning with pre-production, carefully planning each shot for the optimal on-location execution that would help us accurately recreate the look and feel of the original movie.”

August is the time for Discovey Channel’s “Shark Week.”  Incredible as these great beasts are, their populations are declining throughout the world due to over-hunting and environmental degradation, among other factors. To help combat this unfortunate decline, Discovery invited Click 3X to participate in a fundraiser during Shark Week's sponsorship of ESPN's X Games 2010: Click custom-designed skateboard decks to be auctioned online, with all proceeds benefiting Oceana, the largest international organization focused solely on ocean conservation. 

Click 3X Creative Director, Ders Hallgren led the team of creative talent that designed and produced 11 of the auction's 24 boards. The decks are a visual spectacle spanning the genre of design motifs from surrealist to abstract, portraying sharks of all kinds set against distinct backdrops and a color palette that ranges from the subdued to the explosive. 

Discovery kept the design guidelines loose, so Click was able to unleash its full collective creative power, using stickers, paint, welding, and any number of other materials to create the distinct designs. "Much like the X Games themselves, all the rules were thrown out the window for this one," mused Hallgren. "This was an incredibly fun project and for obvious reasons: what beats the combination of charity, skateboards and Shark Week?" 

Hallgren's team included Steve Tozzi, Justin Wolfson, Dave Rogers, Grahm Sharts, I-Nu Yea, Liz Roberts, Eric Foster, and Matthew Reid from Click, along with Hoon Chong and Keng-Ming Liu of Suspect.

Nola Pictures, working via KCD Worldwide, created the visual introduction for the Womenswear Designer of the Year presentation at the 2010 CFDA (Council of Fashion Designers of America) Awards.  Led by Nola Director/Designer Juan Delcan, Director/DP/Photographer Kenny Morrison and EP Charlie Curran, the studio handled concept, design, photography, editorial and post for the sequence.  Delcan specially designed a 28-square-foot visual for Lincoln Center's Alice Tully Hall in New York. The piece opens with a slender woman's silhouette clip-clopping behind a white curtain. A light swings across the screen and dramatic music tunes up as the scene shifts to a stylized photographic panorama of the Brooklyn Bridge set against a backdrop of water and sky. Delcan shot these images and adapted them to the special parameters of the stage screen.

  As the nominees' names flash across the screen, an armada of female models parades across the bridge's top and bottom decks, wearing the designers' latest styles.  The intro is one of many Nola projects for the CFDA Fashion Awards.  "The CFDA is obviously attuned to the look of every aspect of its most high-profile event, and it is a testament to Juan, Kenny and the rest of the team that they have returned yet again," notes Curran.

Bang composer Derek Menzies scored BBDO’s steroscopic 3D introduction of the new Gillette Fusion ProGlide razor commercial, which was broadcast on ESPN’s new 3D channel during the FIFA World Cup.  “3D World Cup,” directed and edited by Marjolaine Tremblay and DP'd by Sean Coles, with animation by Spy Post, San Francisco, shows the razor twisting into view through space, accompanied by a futuristic soundtrack.  The razor starts spinning, eventually morphing into a soccer ball, which is kicked seemingly through screen.  The spot was created by BBDO, New York’s creative team;  David Lubars, Toygar Bazarkaya, Tim Wettstein, Jon Krevolin, Misha Louy and Loren Parkins.

Creative agency, design studio and production company Leroy + Clarkson has completed an image campaign for the introduction of the new Cooking Channel.  The documentary-style promos define the brand while celebrating its focus on gathering, preparing, eating and sharing food.  L+C searched out true food lovers: chefs, teachers, travelers, experimenters and everyday people. Several weeks of casting went into discovering authentic talent with distinct points of view. In order to create a real connection to the brand personality of the network, the people were matched with relevant locations such as outdoor farmers markets, a 50’s diner, a classic burger joint, home kitchens, professional kitchens, a grocery store, etc.  ''It was really important that we find the right kind of people with compelling enough stories to create a strong connection between Cooking Channel and food people everywhere,'' said Daniel Fries, L+C owner and Creative Director.  The promo spots include “Launch Anthem,” “Chef Andre,” "Chef Sandy” and “Candy Maker Jen.”

Fallon and A Glass and a Half Full Productions (Cadbury's in-house creative team), have created Cadbury’s latest commercial, “Spots V Stripes,” an underwater adventure anticipating the ‘big game’ of 2012.  Nick Gordon directed the spot through Academy Films and Augusto Sola was the Creative Director. Visual effects studio MPC created a full cast of over 60 photorealistic CG creatures and provided extensive environment work.  As an official sponsor of the Olympics 2012, Cadbury is already building up for the event and has created  its own ‘big game' sub-aquatic style.  MPC’s Jake Mengers led the team as VFX Creative Director, with Stefan Gerstheimer as 3D Supervisor and Michael Gregory as 2D Supervisor.

   The live action plates for the environments were captured in the Red Sea during a 5-day shoot.  “To composite the creatures into the live action plates we looked at a lot of real reference we had shot and also lots of underwater stock footage,” explains Gregory. “With the help of some wonderfully lit CG and some iridescence passes, we were able to seamlessly composite them back into the plate.  Paying particular attention to the depth cueing of the shot and adding light rays, subtle flares and detritus helped us bring all the shots to life.”  Jean-Clement Soret added the all-important master grade.

  The campaign is currently airing in both the UK and Ireland.

Yukfoo Animation recently completed an animated campaign for Canon Singapore as part of their support for the 2010 Youth Olympic Games (YOG) team. The campaign, called “Destroy Your Limits,” is aimed at connecting with Singapore’s youth by featuring dynamic examples of how two of the YOG athletes push themselves to be the best.  "Swimmer" features a caricature of swimmer Rainer Ng and "Sailor" features a caricature of sailor Natasha Yokoyama.  The spots pit the athletes against giant machines constructed to help them train against the odds. Wind turbines and underwater fans create a harsh and unforgiving environment that Rainer and Natasha overcome as they train for the YOG in Singapore.  Yukfoo put together the campaign through Dentsu Singapore. Says Director Alan Dickson,  “This campaign allowed us to combine both cinematic cutting techniques to build tension and anticipation as well as a steampunk aesthetic for the machines that act as metaphors for the mental and physical barriers all athletes must overcome if they're to succeed at their chosen sport. Its message for all youth -- that you can achieve against whatever limits -- is certainly a positive and motivational one.”  The “Destroy Your Limits” campaign will run on TV, print, outdoor and online throughout the duration of the YOG.

A trilogy of videos for Russ Chimes’ “Midnight Club”  EP were just released online. Russ Chimes is known for remixing the likes of Sam Sparro, Ellie Goulding, Chromeo and The Nightcrawlers. The 15 minute film, divided into three installments, was set to a soundtrack of original material and tells the tale of love, loss and retribution. Directed by 2010 Saatchi & Saatchi New Directors’ 23-year old shortlister Saman Keshavarz through Beverly Hills-based production company Mighty8, the first of the three releases is called "Never Look Back," the second is titled “Tertre Rouge,” and the third “Targa.”

Radar Studios Director Sam Macon recently teamed up with TBWA/Paris to create a playful spot for McDonalds. A co-production with Cosa Productions, Paris, Macon delivered a spot that combines the beauty of high-end food photography with the playful energy of stop-motion.  The spot, “Salades,” moves through each step of assembling a McDonaldʼs Farmer salad.  The TBWA/Paris team ventured to Chicago for the 3-day shoot, which Radar Editor Greg Somerlot cut. Macon comments, “The goal was to shoot tabletop food photography in a new and creative way, so it could stand out from typical salad spots.”  In other Radar news, the studio completed a pre-release campaign for Samsungʼs new phone, the Galaxy S.   In the spot, titled "Brightest Screen,” the phone rotates to reveal a battle scene in space.  Steven Gray, Design Director, utilized an image of the Galaxy S by projecting it onto 3D geometry. He worked collectively with the team at Leo Burnett to present Samsung with a visually appealing representation of the phone.

Brad Wetmore of Wetmore Digital edited The Telly award winning Maroon 5 music video, “The Story.”  The video was directed and photographed by award winning commercial director and a Nikon-featured music photographer Bob Carmichael.  Five top honors at the 31st Annual Telly Awards recognized the work in the categories of: Campaign – Not-for-Profit, Music Video, Editing, Graphics and Music Video/Concert.  The piece also captured the Bronze award as part of the competition’s new People’s Telly category, co-sponsored by YouTube, in which the public picked the winners. The Telly Awards honor local, regional and cable television commercials and programs, as well as video and film productions and work created for the Web.  The Maroon 5 video consists of hundreds of still photographs taken by Carmichael during the band’s 2008-2009 World Tour.  The animation and graphics were applied by a team of artists lead by Creative Director Danny Delpurgatorio from Vitamin, Chicago. Wetmore, Carmichael, DelPurgatorio and Executive Producer Fran Gaconnier -- who had collaborated on an earlier Maroon 5 video -- reprised their roles to create the second generation of a unique video format they call “photoGRAPHICvideo.” Vitamin’s team of designers and artists enhanced the photographs by applying bright, poppy graphics and color treatments.

Bully Pictures' director Fredrik Callinggard captured images of foundry workers pouring  hot, molten metal into giant castings for a spot promoting Smirnoff and its People’s Choice event in Las Vegas. Conceived by JWT, New York, the spot shows workers melting trophies awarded to Smirnoff by vodka “experts,” and recasting them into the words that spell out  “The People’s Challenge.” The Las Vegas event pitted Smirnoff in a taste test against the world’s most expensive vodkas.  Callinggard shot the spot in a working, 100-year-old foundry in Eastern Europe, recording real workers operating large crucible furnaces used to make industrial castings. After tossing trophies into the fiery crucibles (and shielding their eyes from the leaping flames), the men use an enormous ladle to pour the molten liquid into a scripted mold.

Curious Pictures Director Tom Barham has just won a Creative Arts Emmy in the category of Outstanding Main Title Design for his innovative animated opening to the HBO comedy series “Bored to Death.”  The series, about the exploits of a somewhat hapless writer who accidentally finds himself working as a private investigator, features an opening in which the key cast members and the show title appear in type as if on the pages of a novel.  The project was produced by Curious for the series’ producer, Dakota Films.  Barham’s creative team included producer Paul Schneider, CG/Technical Director Anthony Santoro, Animator Mark Pecoraro, Animators/Compositors Marci Ichimura and Mark Rubbo and Illustrator Dean Haspiel.

Santa Monica-based Milkt Films has announced that Director Grant James has accepted the VH-1 “Do Something Award” in the 'Docu Style' category as Associate Producer for "I Am Because We Are," a piece that was produced, written and narrated by Madonna.  Grant also participated in the film project as one of the main cameramen.  It was produced for the Raising Malawi Foundation, and was shot on location in Malawi, Africa over the course of a two year period, during which time the filmmakers explored the lives of children who’ve been orphaned by the AIDS epidemic.  The film was directed by Nathan Rissman. "Shooting in Malawi was an amazing experience, and I would like to thank all who continue to do good work in the efforts for Raising Malawi," says Grant. 

Motion design and production studio Royale is celebrating its third anniversary. The company was founded in Los Angeles in 2007 by Partners Brien Holman, Jayson Whitmore and Jen Lucero.  “As we welcome year three, we’re honored that clients, new and existing, see us as a trusted creative partner,” says Whitmore. “We’re increasingly being asked to direct shoots or to spearhead complete production and design -- which is a great way to demonstrate the kind of thinking clients get from us. Our vision for the company has never wavered: be passionate about what you do, find inspiration anywhere, and create a fun, relaxed environment for our clients and talent."  “We wouldn’t have been able to come this far or accomplish so much without our clients and artists, who continue to champion and challenge us,” adds Holman.  Royale’s third year saw the cultivation of new creative relationships and the strengthening of existing ones, with major networks including Disney, FUEL TV, and Discovery Channel, as well as top agencies such as Saatchi & Saatchi, TBWA\Chiat\Day, Droga5 and McGarryBowen. In addition to a heavy shoot schedule, the team also experienced an increase in photoreal work for products and cars, such as Nike and Toyota. Another collaborative highlight was a re-brand exploration with longtime client Comedy Central.  The finishing touch on Royale’s third year was its recent Gold Awards at Promax|BDA for its work on McDonald’s via Leo Burnett UK, Comedy Central and FUEL TV.