BIRD, a full-service, strategic branding agency based in Hollywood, and Buster, the motion graphics and animation division of the LA-based production agency Stun Creative, have collaborated to produce the broadcast design package for the October 31st launch of FEARnet as a new, linear, HD cable channel. BIRD’s co-founders, Peter King Robbins and Tabitha De La Torre, made the announcement, in conjunction with Stun Creative Co-Presidents, Brad Roth and Mark Feldstein.
FEARnet, the world’s premier destination for horror, thriller and suspense, will be available as a linear, HD cable network beginning October 31st. The cutting-edge, multi-platform movie destination, currently available on demand, online and on mobile 24/7, will expand its reach, making its unrivaled modern horror library available in high-definition via multi-channel video programming distributors. To view selections from this new promotional campaign click here.
BIRD and Buster, united by Eric Shiu, FEARnet’s Head of Marketing, had previously collaborated on the Fearnet VOD rebrand in 2009, and were honored with a Silver BDA Design Award for network packaging. When FEARnet was officially green lit to become a linear network, Shiu again reunited the team.
Mr. Shiu said, “We were very excited to collaborate, once again, with the BIRD & Buster team for the launch of our linear HD network. Our vision was to reposition the brand as a movie network that owns FEAR-not only in horror, but also thriller and suspense – in a tone that’s twisted, genuine and theatrical. As in many of the best films that make up the genre, we played on the minds of viewers and hinted at the sinister things to come.”
For the new HD linear launch, BIRD designed the myriad of new deliverables – most importantly the on-air navigational elements and a selection of new network IDs. Buster then brought the package to life, utilizing proprietary animation techniques developed during the first run.
Peter King Robbins, Chief Creative Officer at BIRD, said, “We wanted to take our work on the VOD rebrand and up the ante even more. The creative elements for the new linear package feature a mix of artfully gloomy landscapes, bold theatrical type and the signature creeping ‘viscera’ that interact with type and other objects on screen – keeping everything on edge and bringing the horror genre to a new level in the FEARnet brand. Delivering on FEARnet’s key brand promise—’The Movie Network that Owns Fear’—the linear network needed to straddle these worlds by being true to both claims. FEARnet is about horror, thrills, suspense and the feeling of fear that this genre creates in viewers.”
In one ID, a horrified man awakens to find himself strapped to chair in the middle of a frozen lake bed – just as the spring sun enters the picture and the ice begins to crack. Three other IDs highlight key locations to the horror genre – a mysterious abandoned barnhouse, a desolate lighthouse, a rusted out windmill – slowly turning.
“After developing the creative thinking, strategy, and storyboarding for FEARnet’s linear network, we were excited to team up again with Buster for the animation work. By combining our natural strengths in strategy, art direction, motion graphics, print, and out-of-home media, we were really able to create an amazing look and feel for the network. We love collaborations on large-scale projects like this one, because they create a real synergy between the agencies involved," added Tabitha De La Torre, President of BIRD.
Adds Jonas Morganstein, Buster’s Chief Creative Director, “Our goal was to build upon the world we brought to life for the VOD graphics and then take this linear package to the next level of fear. We looked for every opportunity to ramp up the thrill and creep up the creepy. The animations are studies in tension-building and suspense using limited materials – Which camera moves portray an old barn house at it’s most threatening? Can the viscera tentacles be even more predatory and dangerous?”
To view selections from this new promotional campaign, please see:
http://www.busterdesign.tv/client/post/birdbusterfearnet.html
About FEARnet
FEARnet, the world’s premier destination for horror, thriller and suspense, is a cutting-edge, multi-platform movie network available on demand, online and on mobile 24/7. Its unrivaled modern horror library unites Comcast (NASDAQ: CMCSA) (NASDAQ: CMCSK), the nation’s leading provider of cable, entertainment and communications products and services with Sony Pictures Television (SPT: US) and Lionsgate (NYSE: LGF), the two top studios producing and distributing the genre.
FEARnet has generated over 500 MM views, is the #1 Free Movie VOD network, and is available on Comcast, Cox Communications, Verizon FiOS and AT&T U-Verse, Insight Communications, Bresnan and Guadalupe Valley Systems. FEARnet will launch its traditional cable channel in HD October 30, 2010. www.FEARnet.com is the web’s #1 site for genre fans, and PC Magazine recently named FEARnet.com among “The 15 Best Websites for Movie Fans.” Users can explore the world of the macabre on a visually arresting video-rich environment packed with movies, interactive community features and fresh original content.
About BIRD
Conceived in 1990 as a collaboration between Peter King Robbins and Tabitha De La Torre, BIRD is a full service strategic branding agency based in Hollywood, CA. Serving the entertainment and consumer products industries, BIRD delivers strategic thinking and potent creative necessary to build powerful brands and market leadership.
BIRD has a track record of delivering rebrands and strategic creative thinking for such high profile clients as Flip Video™, Cisco Systems, Inc., E! Entertainment Television, OLN (Outdoor Life Network), Versus, FEARnet, Oxygen, Wise Brother Media, G4, Focus Features, and many others. The winner of multiple awards in design and marketing, BIRD’s rebranding work for FEARnet contributed to that network’s win of a 2010 Silver BDA Design Award for network packaging, and a 2010 CableFAXIE Award for Best Advertising Campaign for a Network.
BIRD, Inc. is located at 7039 Sunset Blvd., Hollywood, CA, 90028. The phone is 323/962-4908 and the website is www.birdtheagency.com
About BUSTER
Buster is a division of the LA-based advertising agency Stun Creative, helmed by co-presidents Mark Feldstein and Brad Roth. Buster is a conceptual design studio, specializing in original animated content for the advertising and broadcast industries.
Led by Executive Creative Director Jonas Morganstein, Buster provides its clients with a one-stop solution, by developing and delivering dynamic ideas driven by innovative imagery that always tells a story. Buster specializes in design and animation for TV commercials, TV show opens, and network packages. For more info, please see www.busterdesign.tv.