Archive for May 2nd, 2012

Old Lyme, CT – May 2, 2012: Audio specialist Sennheiser announced that Alexander Schek has been promoted to vice president sales, Latin America, effective immediately. In his new position, Schek will be responsible for Sennheiser’s sales strategy across each of its business lines, as well as managing the company’s area sales managers within the Latin American region. He will report directly to Markus Warlitz, general manager, Latin America.

Schek began his career with Sennheiser in 2009 as area sales manager for Central America and the Caribbean, where he was responsible for managing Sennheiser’s business across each of its divisions. In this role, he was very successful in increasing the overall distribution of Sennheiser products across Central America. As Vice President Sales, Latin America, Schek replaces Oliver Baumann who left Sennheiser in March.

“As one of the fastest growing economies in the world, the Latin American region represents a very important part of Sennheiser’s international growth strategy,” commented Markus Warlitz. “During his tenure at Sennheiser, Alexander has achieved remarkable sales performance while also possessing drive to take our business to the next level in Latin America. I congratulate him on this well deserved promotion.”

A German citizen who grew up in Brazil and Chile, Schek has an acute understanding of the Latin American market and business culture in addition to over a decade of executive level sales experience in the Consumer Electronics and Audio Industry. He holds a degree in Marketing from the University de las Américas, Santiago de Chile. Alexander is located in Miami, FL and will travel to the Latin American region on a frequent basis.

Hollywood, CA, May 3, 2012 – City Films has added award winning director James Wahlberg to its directorial roster. Wahlberg, the director of Nickelodeon’s TV series “The Fresh Beat Band,” joins David Denneen, Derek McKane, Phil Meatchem, Kelly Hommon and Sandy Smolan. Sheila Tighe and Josie Leonard, co-founders of City Films, made the announcement.

Wahlberg has recently helmed projects in South Africa, South America, Vancouver, Toronto and Mexico City, as well as numerous productions in the Los Angeles area. He has just wrapped his first projects with City Films, shooting two, 30-second live action spots for Playskool in Vancouver, and also shooting two spots for Heritage Milk.

Said Tighe and Leonard, “An all-around talent, James is a great addition to our team. He is as comfortable shooting effects as he is with live action performance and dialogue. We are very excited to be working and collaborating with James, as we continue to expand the talent pool of our directorial roster.”

Adds Wahlberg, “It’s exciting to be part of the new generation of production companies designed to meet the challenges of an ever-changing advertising landscape. Sheila, Josie and City Films are uniquely equipped to take on a diverse range of projects from commercials to webisodes to long format. I look forward to many successful collaborations with them in the future.”

ABOUT JAMES WAHLBERG:

James Wahlberg is a multi-faceted director who brings a unique range of filmmaking experience to a variety of media platforms. Wahlberg first established himself as an animation director, then diversified successfully into live action, gaining a reputation for visual story telling; understated comedy; dialogue; as well as combo work featuring a blend of strong actor driven performances and effects.

Wahlberg has directed a wide variety of commercial projects for clients such as AT&T, Budweiser, Bud Light, California Tourism, Dish Network, Disney, EA Games, Expedia, Fox Network, H& R Block, Kellogg’s, Kraft, Orbitz, Proctor & Gamble, Mazda, Mattel, McDonalds, Microsoft, Miller Lite, Motorola, Nestles, Nintendo, Nissan, Samsonite, Seagate Technologies, Squirt, and Travelocity.

Wahlberg’s recent long format credits include directing Nickelodeon’s TV series “The Fresh Beat Band.” He served as executive producer on the viral video “Santa versus Jesus” that led to the creation of the Comedy Central series “South Park.” Wahlberg produced the show’s pilot, “Cartman Gets An Anal Probe.” He also produced Derek Cianfrance’s feature film, “Brother Tied.”

ABOUT CITY FILMS:

City Films is an award-winning production company based in Hollywood, specializing in producing commercials, branded content, corporate social responsibility projects and documentaries for various media platforms. The company’s diverse and talented group of filmmakers combine current broadcast-quality production styles and techniques with great storytelling to deliver the message of its clients, which range from advertising and creative agencies, to non-profits, organizations, and government agencies around the world.

For more information, please call 310/567-8518 or visit
www.cityfilmsonline.com

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Prestigious 2012 Award Recognizes Dalet Galaxy Media Asset Management Platform for Outstanding Technological Innovations
 
Levallois-Perret, France – May 2, 2012 – Dalet Digital Media Systems has been awarded a TV Technology 2012 STAR (Superior Technology Award Recipient) Award by the editors of TV Technology magazine at the 2012 NAB convention in Las Vegas. Unveiled at this year’s broadcast show, Dalet Galaxy is the new version of the company’s enterprise Media Asset Management (MAM) platform. It includes a high-value, BPMN 2.0-compliant workflow engine, specially tailored for broadcast workflows, which dramatically boosts productivity while providing operational and business visibility across the media enterprise. Dalet Galaxy also features the new Dalet One Cut video editor and a totally revamped graphical user interface.
 
Now celebrating its 12th anniversary, TV Technology’s STAR Award is designed to honor and showcase the outstanding technological innovations available to the broadcast industry. A panel of judges consisting of TV Technology editors, columnists and industry experts reviewed a variety of products, examined the technical applications and their overall contribution to the industry and submitted their award nominees.
 
“The NAB Show serves as the launching pad for thousands of new products and services for audio and video professionals,” said Tom Butts, TV Technology Editor-in-Chief. “Our panel of judges walks the show floor in search of the most innovative technologies. The products and services that we select for the STAR Award make the cut—they demonstrate their ability to help advance the acquisition and distribution of entertainment and information across the media spectrum.”
 
Dalet Galaxy is the first open and fully integrated solution for managing any type of digital media, as well as multiple workflows, on a converged platform that addresses all aspects of television, radio and digital media production.
 
“We’re very pleased to be recognized with a TV Technology Star Award for a second straight year,” said Raoul Cospen, Director of Marketing for Dalet. “Dalet Galaxy, with the new BPMN workflow engine, will enable broadcasters to transition from channel-centric workflows to a more efficient, industrialized model, in which content is produced, seamlessly made available and transformed for delivery to multiple outlets. Our customers can nimbly produce more content for more channels and devices to improve their bottom lines. The Dalet MAM core leverages open IT standards in a MAM framework, making it far easier and less costly to add new channels, services and viewing platforms.”
 
The new BPM workflow engine in Dalet Galaxy includes tools for designing and modeling workflows, and for orchestrating human tasks as well as automated processes (transcoding, file transfers, etc.). All operational and business processes are now fully visible and monitored across the enterprise, in real-time, with advanced reporting capabilities based on actual metrics coming from the system. Dalet Galaxy will be available for general release later this year.
 
The Dalet MAM core unifies diverse systems to provide an end-to-end, cross-system, metadata, content and workflow management solution. Dalet Galaxy will become the foundation for the company’s enterprise MAM solutions, which include the purpose-built workgroup packages Dalet Media Life for program prep, promo production and multimedia archiving, Dalet News Suite for news production and distribution, Dalet Sports Factory for live event and sports production and Dalet Radio Suite for multiplatform news and music programming.
 
About TV Technology
TV Technology (www.tvtechnology.com) is the industry’s leading magazine for technology news and reviews, and is celebrating its 29th year covering the television industry. The magazine is published by NewBay Media LLC, the world’s largest publisher of audio and video publications.
 
About Dalet
Dalet solutions enable broadcasters and media professionals to create, manage and distribute content to traditional and new media channels, including interactive TV, the Web and mobile networks. Dalet combines into a single system a robust and proven Asset Management platform with advanced metadata capabilities, a configurable workflow engine and a comprehensive set of purpose-built creative and production tools. This integrated and open environment enables end-to-end management of the entire News and Sport and Program content chain, and allows users to significantly improve efficiency, and to maximize the use and value of their assets. Dalet’s solutions are delivered through a dedicated Professional and Integration Services Department to ensure the highest possible standards.
 
Dalet systems are used around the world by many thousands of individual users at hundreds of TV and Radio content producers, including public broadcasters (ABS-CBN, BBC, CBC, DR, France TV, RTBF, RFI, Russia Today, RSR & TSR, RT Malaysia, VOA, WDR), commercial networks and operators (Antena 3, Canal+, FOX, eTV, Mediaset, Orange, Time Warner Cable, Warner Bros., Sirius XM Radio) and government organizations (Queensland JAG, Canadian House of Commons, The European Commission). Dalet is traded on the NYSE-EURONEXT stock exchange (Eurolist C): ISIN: FR0011026749, Bloomberg DLT:FP and Reuters: DALE.PA.Dalet is a registered trademark of Dalet Digital Media Systems. All other trademarks and products mentioned herein belong to their respective owners.
For more information on Dalet, visit www.dalet.com
 
Press contact:
Janice Dolan
Zazil Media Group
(p) +1 617-817-6595
e) janice(at)zazilmediagroup(dot)com

The Parlamentarium, the new visitors’ center at the European Parliament in Brussels, uses a variety of interactive multimedia exhibits to take visitors on a unique and personal journey into the heart of European Politics. Electrosonic engineered and installed the main exhibition audio-visual hardware for Stuttgart-based designer Atelier Bruckner. The Parlamentarium is the first visitors’ center fully accessible in 23 languages, and to-date has attracted over 110,000 visitors from across the globe.

Guided through state-of-the-art exhibitions by a personal electronic multimedia guide, visitors see how policy decisions are made and how they influence Europeans’ daily lives. All signage and media is presented in 23 languages, which had an enormous influence on how AV techniques were used throughout the center.

Electrosonic won the bid for the project in an open Europe-wide competitive tender; the
scope of work consisted of the detailed design, supply, installation, set up and commissioning of the media hardware for different themed exhibition areas. These areas include a pair of 360º theatres, nearly 100 LCD panels, an innovative voxel display featuring 13,000 LED globes, 140 computers, multichannel audio, 40 km of signal cables and 18 racks of equipment. Electrosonic also integrated RFID hardware for customized, language specific handheld Multimedia Guides supplied by NOUS of Austria; they consist of repackaged Apple iPod Touch units augmented by RFID technology to provide customized interactivity, including exhibit activation in the visitors’ preferred language.

The first series of exhibits orients visitors to the European Parliament and outlines the European Union’s history. Among them are “Prologue,” featuring a 33-foot long table with models of the principal European Parliament buildings backed by a five-bar LED ticker tape-style display from the UK’s Message Maker Displays, and “Treaty Tables,” showcasing a number of 40-inch table-format LCD touchscreens, which outline the documents that have produced the current EU.

“Today and Tomorrow” features an interactive “Calendar” with a sliding LCD panel that reveals information about each week’s principal events, plus an LCD touchscreen panel to access bios of the 754 Members of the European Parliament (MEPs). Three “Polling Booths” allow visitors to ‘vote’ on current issues, and then compare their opinions with those of other visitors and MEPs on the LED “Results Ceiling” display.

The big show at the Parlamentarium is the 12-minute 360º presentation, “A Parliament for Europe,” where visitors can listen to debates, watch votes and learn the legislative process. Fourteen Panasonic PT D6000ELK projectors produce an edge-blended image across a total screen area of approximately 1,600 square feet. Information on the MEPs is available via 36 19-inch touchscreens set into visitors’ desks. Another 360º show, “Europe in Daily Life,” is shown in a second theatre with a similar projection configuration, plus 22 touchscreens in custom housings with 15.4-inch widescreen portrait orientations.

Electrosonic supplied a Dataton WATCHOUT system to provide the synchronized playout, edge-blending and warping required for the shows; the system also delivers timecode to the NOUS media guides to synchronize the multi-language commentaries.

“United in Diversity” features the “Ground of Stories” exhibit where a 2,260-square foot floor map of Europe is embedded with 600 RFID tags. Visitors run 12 trolley-like mobile displays over the map to learn more about certain places. Each mobile display uses a webcam in its base to show an image of what’s on the floor; when it detects a tag, the monitor displays detailed information about the location in the visitor’s own language. The long-lasting, battery-operated mobile displays were built by exhibit fabricator Bruns and fitted out by Electrosonic.

A 131×1-foot ticker tape-style display from Message Maker Displays in the UK surrounds the exhibit, showing continuous European statistics and opinion poll results. Overhead a “Sky of Opinions” voxel display, developed by Latvia-based Atlantic Star under sub-contract to Electrosonic, uses 13,000 spherical LED-based elements arranged in a three-dimensional array that mirrors the map on the floor. The LEDs interpret the data presented on the ticker in color and graphical form.

Electrosonic delivered, installed and fine-tuned the hardware in collaboration with no less than nine other companies, on a working site that brought together 700 workers. The contribution of Electrosonic’s engineers was decisive to overcoming the many conceptual and technical difficulties inherent to a project at the cutting edge of pedagogy and technology.

In most cases, Electrosonic mounted all source equipment in racks in a dedicated control room. To meet the need for continuous updating, a dual media server system with RAID storage is networked to all machines.

Among the equipment furnished by Electrosonic were media servers, video source and interactive computers from DVS in the UK; NEC 40- and 46-inch displays; Fohn and KEF loudspeakers; and Cisco network switches.

Electrosonic continues to support the European Parliament Visitors’ Center with a five- year service contract, including preventative maintenance visits, telephone support and a two-day call out response time.

About Electrosonic
Electrosonic is an international audio-visual company that creates tailored, state-of-the-art solutions for a wide range of markets including theme parks, museums, video conferencing and control rooms. Since its founding in 1964, Electrosonic has built a strong reputation for working on complex projects, both large and small, and has developed lasting partnerships with customers and suppliers. Beyond complete integrated systems, Electrosonic provides a comprehensive scope of services including technical design, projector lamp sales, maintenance and operational support.

Learn more about Electrosonic. Visit http://www.electrosonic.com

LA-based editor Jonathan Del Gatto has signed with NYC creative editorial shop Hooligan for East Coast representation. Del Gatto, an award-winning editor of commercials, films, music videos, and television, will continue to be exclusively represented by Original for West Coast work. He is currently wrapping up a highly anticipated commercial campaign for Street King energy drink, featuring an eclectic celebrity cast including 50 Cent, Joan Rivers and Chris Kattan via ad agency Pure Growth. Other recent editing credits include a music video for “Block After Block” by Matt and Kim, a series of web videos for Jamba Juice and The Neighbor Agency, Los Angeles.

“We are thrilled to represent Jonathan for editorial work on the East Coast,” states Sue Wladar, executive producer, Hooligan. “I’ve watched Jonathan develop into such a strong all-around creative. He is clearly a fabulous editor, but he’s also become an adroit director. Since Hooligan fosters well-rounded talent, he was a natural fit for us.”

“Hooligan has the best creative editorial team in New York City and I’m excited to be a part of it,” remarks Del Gatto. “I’ve known Sue professionally for a long time, and Rosemary, whom I’ve wanted to work with since she was at Dennis Hayes, has an impressive track record.”

A born-and-raised New Yorker, Del Gatto is eager to reconnect with the city where his career first took off pioneering Red Car New York before relocating to LA in the nineties.

“With the ever changing market, I find it very important to have a real home in New York to best connect with the local work,” says Del Gatto. “With Hooligan I can now take on projects which need to stay in New York from beginning to end.

Del Gatto has paved his success with a strong suit in storytelling. In addition to his advertising work for brands such as Budweiser, Sony, Nike, Chevy, Coca-Cola, Coors and Lexus, he has extensive experience in feature films, documentaries, music videos and shorts. His editing talents have also played a major role in the birth of branded content and digital entertainment, where he garnered the first AICP Next Award in the experiential category for the Chambers Hotel film directed by Peter Nydrle. Del Gatto has earned a slew of coveted honors throughout his career including a Cannes Gold Lion, a Sundance Short Filmmaking Award, seven London International Advertising Awards, and eight inclusions into the permanent Film/TV collection at MoMA New York.

Christie®, a leader in simulation projection display and visualization solutions, is offering a free educational forum dedicated to the world of visual display requirements for simulation on May 9 at the Institute for Simulation and Training at the University of Central Florida.
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Whether you’re a visual systems software or product development engineer, a program manager or technical specialist in the simulation industry, you will benefit from this one-day, chock-full session that includes technical presentations designed to increase one’s knowledge of various visual display requirements: image metrics and quality, system considerations, synchronization, maintenance, specifications, and system integration.*
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Learn from special presentations provided by:
• NASA’s Dr. Barbara Sweet, aerospace engineer /Human Machine Systems: image quality requirements and impact of system update rates
• Dr. Charles J. Lloyd, President, Visual Performance LLC, on stereoscopic/collimated display integration
• Christie’s own simulation and product experts: Static and dynamic image quality metrics, including 3D cues; system and multi-channel considerations, including warping and blending; product specifications and what they mean; system synchronization and latency; system maintenance
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Specialists in simulation and training interested in attending are requested to register online by May 4, at Christie SIM University. Limited seating. Questions can be directed to the SIM University team.
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*Agenda and program subject to change without notice.

jumP LA is delighted to announce the hiring of veteran editor Richard Cooperman. His recent work for L’Oreal, Lincoln and T-mobile, in collaboration with Jonas Akerlund and Emnet Mulugeta via top tier agencies, offers prime examples of the creative and technical spark he brings to jumP.

“We are so excited to continue building our LA office with a talent like Richard,” noted jumP LA EP Betsy Beale. “He brings the exact combination of talent and experience that we were looking for to expand our roster.”

Cooperman, who has also cut spots for Hugo Boss, Jeep, Doritos, Calvin Klein, and Victoria’s Secret, is pleased to have found a home at jumP. “I have been a fan of jumP for years, so it is great to be joining them,” he stated. “I enjoy working with clients and directors on both coasts so being a part of a company with a strong bicoastal presence is very important to me. jumP continues to expand and work in a variety of genres and I am excited to be a part of that”.

Outside of the commercial domain, Cooperman has worked on hundreds of music videos, including Aerosmith, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Green Day, Lauryn Hill and Tricky. Prior to joining jumP LA, Cooperman spent time at Brass Knuckles, Solid, Mission Editorial, Avenue and Jigsaw.

Visit jumP

About jumP
Bicoastal jumP is an award-winning creative editorial boutique focusing on commercials, features, short films, music videos, and emerging media content. The firm works with a wide-range of top-tier brands, directors, and agencies continually delivering powerful and efficient results for each of its clients. The company roster includes Partner/Editors: Luis Moreno and Michael Saia, Editors: Lin Polito, Troy Mercury, Terence Ziegler, Richard Mettler, Patrick Griffin, David Trachtenberg, Mark Imgrund, Richard Cooperman, Wendy Rosen, Jonathan Edwards, EPs Betsy Beale and Alexandra Leal, and Partner/Managing Director Dee Tagert.

More info: TRUST 646 452 3388 (NY) 310 451 5153 (LA) trustcollective.com

Who says you can’t teach an old dog new tricks? Click 3X does just that in a high-energy spot for the Maryland Lottery’s MONOPOLY scratch-off ticket, bringing the board game’s iconic dog to startling CGI life. Click 3X CGI Director/Creative Director Anthony Filipakis led the effort on the spot, which came to the studio via REJ & Associates, Inc., GKV.

The spot opens on the well-known Scottish terrier game piece standing placidly on a broad tabletop. As a funky beat opens up, the staid little pup springs suddenly to life, pouncing toward a pair of lottery tickets and digging up the scratchcard as though he was going after a particularly delectable buried bone. The animated animal bops across the landscape, dancing, spinning and moonwalking his way through the spot.

Click 3X created an entirely CG world for the dog, which includes virtual foreground objects such as the table, chairs and fruit bowl. The studio then combined those elements with HDRI backplates, which allowed them to seamlessly light and render the CGI environment.Â

“The virtual set helped make the camera moves much more dynamic and allowed us to create angles that would have been much more difficult to achieve practically,” stated Filipakis. “It also made the spot a lot more fluid and entertaining. This flexible virtual approach – which avoided getting into the rigid mindset that we had to go all CGI or all practical – yielded an awesome final product.”

Click 3X’s attention to detail was crucial to creating, in macro detail, the typically miniscule-to-the-naked-eye dust and debris that builds up from the doggy’s digging into the scratch-off lottery ticket. The studio created these beautifully lit photorealistic close-ups by shooting loads of reference shots.Â

Click 3X worked closely with the agency to bring their vision of a fun, entertaining reprise of the beloved Monopoly dog to life. “We set out to create a fully animated CGI spot that could be both amusing and entertaining as well as visually impressive in a photoreal way,” noted Managing Director/Partner Jason Mayo. “We had a lot of fun with this one, especially in working with the agency, whose creatives had a very clear idea as to what they were looking to achieve and were extremely collaborative technically as well as creatively.”Â

“We had the bar set pretty high as far as how we wanted the dog to look and move, and Click 3X nailed it,” noted GKV creative Dave Broscious. “The dog not only looks real, he has real personality, which makes the character much more likable and the spot that much more fun to watch.”

Visit Click 3X

Credits
Client: Maryland Lotto
Spot Title: Maryland Lotto Monopoly

Agency: REJ & Associates, Inc.
Agency Producer: Trey Fales (REJ & Associates, Inc.)
SVP/Associate CD: Dave Broscious (GKV)
SVP/Associate CD/AD: Brian Burkhart (GKV)

VFX: Click 3X
Managing Director/Partner: Jason Mayo
Executive Producer: Chris Kiser
CGI Director/Creative Director: Anthony Filipakis
CG Animation Lead: Jasmine Bobe
CG Artist: Mark Rubbo
CG Artist: Jongmoon Woo
CG Lighting Lead: Sung Kim
Senior Flame Artist: Mario Caserta
Producer: Jody Peters

Sound Design/Mix: Heard City
Sound Design/Mixer: Brian Scibinico
About Click 3X
Click 3X, its interactive division ClickFire Media, and the recently launched C3X Live create engaging film, TV, web, and branded content. Positioned at the intersection of entertainment, advertising, and technology, the studios work in tandem or autonomously. Click 3X shoots, edits, designs, animates and creates VFX; ClickFire brings those disciplines into the interactive space; and C3X Live delivers branded content in-house from conception to full-service production to distribution. Click operates a full service, 11,000 square foot state of the art studio in Manhattan outfitted with 60 fulltime staffers.

More info: TRUST 646 452 3388 (NY) 310 451 5153 (LA) trustcollective.com

DUCK, long known for its robust and versatile directorial roster, brought the full force of 10 of its best to bear on a monster 12-spot campaign for the United States Olympic Committee via Y&R. Each of the animated spots, which tell the story of one US Olympic athlete and the special relationships that helped them rise to the pinnacle of their sport, features a unique aesthetic and animated style.

“Y&R came to DUCK because they knew we were one of the few studios out there that could fulfill their request to make 12 thematically similar spots that each had a very different look and feel,” noted DUCK EP Mark Medernach. “This is a massively important project that really shows off the incredible depth of talent that we’ve amassed at DUCK. The variety and quality of the work is breathtaking.”

The basket of spots, drum up awareness for the USOC’s “The Team Behind the Team” campaign, which encourages people to support US athletes with donations. Brief previews of four of these compelling spots, which range in length, and a word with each of their directors, is below:

Henry Cejudo by Hsinping Pan:

Inspired by US freestyle wrestler Henry Cejudo’s recollections of his fearless mother, Hsinping Pan creates a warm and colorful animated world to showcase the athlete’s mom’s devotion. Grounded in a warm palette of oranges and pink, Pan creates a detail-packed landscape that weaves from Cejudo’s mother’s entrance into the US 30 years ago to her 20-hour journey through a snowstorm to watch her son compete in the state tournament.

Pan packs the story with symbolic details, such as the family matriarch’s arms transforming into tree branches and rising skyward to protect her seven children from a thunderstorm. “The first image that came to my mind when I heard this story is of Henry’s mom standing like a big tree to protect and support her family,” said Pan. “It’s really touching that she overcame so many difficulties and gave her family the best she could. The bond between Henry and his mom is very strong and inspiring.”

Queen Underwood by Chris Harding:

When Queen Underwood was working her way up through the women’s boxing world, she could always count on her sister’s encouraging voice bellowing to her at ringside, inspiring one knockout after another. Chris Harding delivers Underwood’s story in an engaging stick-figure animated sequence replete with typography and enlivened with a textured, paint-like color scheme.

“For someone involved in a fighting sport, Queen’s story had a surprisingly gentle tone,” noted Harding. “Queen is an extremely powerful athlete, but the way she talked about her sister struck me as loving, grateful and familiar. I chose the colors and simple line drawings to enhance the overall tone of her story. I also tried to choose something that fit the clarity and innocence of this aspect of their relationship.”

Bershawn Jackson by Roger Chouinard:

Bershawn Jackson took bronze in the 400-meter hurdles in the 2008 Beijing Olympics, but his real dream is for his hardworking grandmother to see him compete. Roger Chouinard tells Jackson’s heartwarming story in a delightfully animated spot. With a series of vibrantly lit panels, the director takes us on a journey of Jackson’s epic comeback in the race and the importance of his grandmother’s support along the way.

“I could personally relate to his story because I had a grandmother who was very influential in my life when I was growing up,” Chouinard stated. “I’ve developed this film style for editorial and book illustration, and I thought it would convey the warmth, humor and human heart of Bershawn’s story.”

John Orozco by SMOG:

John Orozco couldn’t stop as a kid, erupting across park playgrounds and household furniture in an endless sequence of flips and bounces and jumps. So when his sanitation worker father found a flier seeking aspiring gymnasts while on his rounds in Manhattan, he took his young prodigy to a strict coach who guided him all the way to the Olympics. SMOG conveys this story in a primarily red, white and blue animation heavy on geometric angles and typography that reinforces key inspirational words and messages.

“John’s story really sounds like a fable, so we wanted to tell it in a simple way,” stated SMOG. “We also wanted a slightly different feel for his father’s story and his coach’s, as they each have different roles – the father is a big protector and believes in him, while the coach is his partner and fights beside him. Each character has a different angle for John, so they had to look different in the animation while still being connected to get the whole picture.”

Visit DUCK
View Media

Credits
Client: United States Olympic Committee
Campaign Title: The Team Behind The Team
Air Date: April 2012

Agency: Y&R
Chief Creative Officer: Jim Elliot
Global CDs: Andrew McKechinie, Marc Sobier
Creative Director: Cliff Skeete
Art Director: Jon Leachman
Copywriter: Andrew McMurchie
Executive Director of Content Production: Nathy Aviram
Executive Producer of Music: Jessica Dierauer
Senior Content Producer: Robert Beck
Producer: Jona Goodman

Live Action Production Company: B House Films
Live Action Director: Adam Ballachey

Animation Company: DUCK Studios
Executive Producer: Mark Medernach
Production Coordinator: Sophia Richard
Editor(s): Amanda Pettibone, Katie York

Music: Elias Arts
Executive Producer: Kala Sherman
Creative Director: Greg Griffith
Producer: Jeff Fiorello

Audio: Heard City
Executive Producer: Gloria Pitagorsky
Mixer: Jodie Levine

Henry Cejudo (featured)
Production Co: DUCK Studios
Director: Hsinping Pan
DUCK Studios Executive Producer: Mark Medernach
DUCK Studios Production Coordinator: Sophia Richard
DUCK Studios Editor(s): Amanda Pettibone, Katie York

Queen Underwood (featured)
Production Co: DUCK Studios
Director: Chris Harding
DUCK Studios Executive Producer: Mark Medernach
DUCK Studios Production Coordinator: Sophia Richard
DUCK Studios Editor: Amanda Pettibone

Bershawn Jackson
Production Co: DUCK Studios
Director: Roger Chouinard
DUCK Studios Executive Producer: Mark Medernach
DUCK Studios Production Coordinator: Sophia Richard
DUCK Studios Editor: Amanda Pettibone
DUCK Studios Compositing: David Cole

Christie Rampone
Production Co: DUCK Studios
Director: Sharon Colman Graham
DUCK Studios Executive Producer: Mark Medernach
DUCK Studios Production Coordinator: Sophia Richard
DUCK Studios Editor(s): Amanda Pettibone, Katie York

Elena Pirozhkova
Production Co: DUCK Studios
Director: Daniel Peacock
DUCK Studios Executive Producer: Mark Medernach
DUCK Studios Production Coordinator: Sophia Richard
DUCK Studios Editor: Amanda Pettibone
Compositing: David Cole

John Orozco
Production Co: DUCK Studios
SMOG Director: Moisés Arancibia

SMOG Producer: Ricardo González

SMOG Animation: Patricio Molina, Felipe Vargas

SMOG Designs: Moisés Arancibia, Raúl Burgos
DUCK Studios Executive Producer: Mark Medernach
DUCK Studios Production Coordinator: Sophia Richard
DUCK Studios Editor(s): Amanda Pettibone, Katie York

Lex Gillette
Production Co: DUCK Studios
Director: Sharon Colman Graham
DUCK Studios Executive Producer: Mark Medernach
DUCK Studios Production Coordinator: Sophia Richard
DUCK Studios Editor: Amanda Pettibone

Missy Franklin
Production Co: DUCK Studios
Director/Designer: Peter Rida Michail
Producer: Peggy Regan
Editor/Compositor: Michael D’Ambrosio
Animator: Jason Bierut
DUCK Studios Executive Producer: Mark Medernach
DUCK Studios Production Coordinator: Sophia Richard
DUCK Studios Editor(s): Amanda Pettibone, Katie York

Brady Ellison
Production Co: DUCK Studios
SMOG Director(s): Luis Suarez, Moisés Arancibia
SMOG Producer: Ricardo González
SMOG Animation: Luis Suarez
SMOG Designs: Adriana Campos
DUCK Studios Executive Producer: Mark Medernach
DUCK Studios Production Coordinator: Sophia Richard
DUCK Studios Editor(s): Amanda Pettibone, Katie York

Evelyn Stevens
Production Co: DUCK Studios
Delicatessen Production Design: Cristiana Valentini
Delicatessen Editing: Gabriele Fantuzzi
Delicatessen Compositing: Lucia Catellani
Delicatessen Animation: Luciano Acampora
DUCK Studios Executive Producer: Mark Medernach
DUCK Studios Production Coordinator: Sophia Richard
DUCK Studios Editor(s): Amanda Pettibone, Katie York

Lolo Jones
Production Co: DUCK Studios
Director: Jeong-A Seong
DUCK Studios Executive Producer: Mark Medernach
DUCK Studios Production Coordinator: Sophia Richard
DUCK Studios Editor(s): Amanda Pettibone, Katie York

Corben Sharrah
Production Co: DUCK Studios
Direction/Production by Mainframe
Animation: Joe Pelling
DUCK Studios Executive Producer: Mark Medernach
DUCK Studios Production Coordinator: Sophia Richard
DUCK Studios Editor(s): Amanda Pettibone, Katie York
About DUCK
Los Angeles-based DUCK is a continually evolving creative studio producing commercials, music videos, short films and web content. DUCK offers a wide range of services, including live action and integration, character design, film title design, 2D and 3D animation, digital compositing, digital/traditional ink & paint. In recent years, the studio has expanded, adding an original content division that works with writers and animators on unique ideas for film and TV.

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After snagging a pair of key advertising talents in EP Misha Louy and CD Wyatt Neumann, Decon is keeping the momentum going with the addition of publishing, music and TV veteran Sacha Jenkins. He will play a major role in the studio’s burgeoning ad business, in addition to bolstering its well-established music division.

Jenkins is known for a variety of projects, including the recent re-launch of Mass Appeal magazine, executive producing and creating ego trip’s The White Rapper Show television series (vh1), co-authoring Eminem’s The Way I Am biography with Marshall Mathers, and producing a highly-acclaimed series of fine art books under his own SHR Airlines imprint with Prestel. With these projects and more, it is clear to see that Jenkins’ influence casts a wide cultural net.

“Sacha is the rare talent,” stated Decon Co-Founder Peter Bittenbender. “He’s a thinker, a visionary and a leader, and obviously knows that the pen is mightier than the sword. Everyone’s excited to see him combine all of those talents to help propel Decon.”

Jenkins is already hard at work on several projects, details of which will be released in soon. “I feel at home with the Decon crew,” noted Jenkins. “Peter has assembled a diverse group of hungry talents who don’t sleep, and I think this truth will make us a go-to content creation studio.”

Prior to joining Decon, Jenkins spent a decade as an independent TV producer, creating original programs for networks such as MTV, VH1 and Cartoon Network. He co-founded infamous hip hop creative team ego trip, worked as a writer for Spin and Rolling Stone magazines, and served as music editor for Vibe. Jenkins has given talks at numerous universities, including New York University and Columbia University (where Jenkins received a fellowship to the Graduate School of Journalism via the National Arts Journalism Program in 2000), and has made numerous TV and documentary appearances as a music and culture expert.

Visit Decon

About Decon
Idea shop, production company, and record label; we are a new creative force generating culturally relevant solutions in content, music and experience.

Formed out of necessity and fueled by passion, we have developed an ethos that ensures all work is aesthetically and intellectually progressive. We have grown three distinct businesses under one brand, which operate autonomously, but when combined, create unparalleled brand solutions for our clients and partners. Our work not only starts chatter, it brings about change. We are a group of creatives from all walks of life; ideas and their execution are our medium.

More info: TRUST 646 452 3388 (NY) 310 451 5153 (LA) trustcollective.com