Radar Studios has radically expanded their directing and VFX capabilities with several exciting new hires and collaborative ventures. The expansion will allow clients to access some of the top talent in the world and continue RADAR’s goal of becoming the Midwest’s idea incubator for fresh and innovative commercial work. They’re hosting an event on March 8 to celebrate.
New Directors
On the heels of signing directorial talents AK and COPA, RADAR continues to expand with two additional directors;
Pix Talarico is a born storyteller. This Argentine photographer and director has been nominated for numerous Latin Grammies and has won MTV Music Awards for his videos and the prestigious London International Advertising Awards for his commercial work. Best known in the USA and across Latin America for music videos for Julio Iglesias and Julieta Venegas, his video for Juanes’s Fotografia (featuring Nelly Furtado), has received over 7.5 million views on YouTube. His clients include Sony Music, Warner Music, EMI Odeon, BMG, MTV, Unilever, Epson, Nestle, Motorola, McDonald’s, Shell, Coca-Cola, Dannon, and Kraft Foods.
Combining live action with visual effects, as in his sexy tango video for Bajofondo’s Pa ‘Bailar or this Kung-Fu Panda 2 spot for McDonald’s, Pix creates layered, kinetic work that draws audiences into urban environments and celebrates the athleticism and grace of the human body without ever losing sight of human emotion and connection.
RADAR Executive Producer & Managing Director Lisa Masseur says the company first worked with Pix when they completed the VFX and Post Production work on a couple of spots that he shot for McDonald’s. “We enjoyed collaborating with him so much that it led us to look at the breadth of his work,” says Masseur. “His live action work has an energy to it that is palpable, and much of his work is FX driven, which made him a natural choice for us. We are thrilled to be introducing him to the US market.”
Adam Pierce made his first Super-8 animated film in the fourth grade, setting into motion a lifelong craft of animation. His work is notable for its immediacy in capturing attention, playfulness and humor, as in this spot where he transformed UPS delivery notices into a dinosaur for their MyChoice service. He has worked in the film and television industry for over 15 years and directed spots for Nickelodeon, Nike, Subway, MoveOn.org, Howard Johnson, and the Ad Council.
“Adam’s character work in stop motion and Claymation is just amazing,” Masseur says. “His work truly embodies fun and is sure to attract many clients with its unique qualities. Describing him as “a versatile artist who is always experimenting and creating at his studio in NY,” Masseur says “We’re delighted to have Adam on our team to bring an exciting option for future character-driven work.”
Expanding Visual Effects Capabilities
Renowned VFX and directing team Vico Sharabani and Alex Frisch, signed by RADAR late last year, didn’t come alone. They brought their new venture, COPA (Co-op of Artists) along with them. COPA is a global collective of high- end VFX artists who have been personally invited by Vico and Alex to pool talent and resources in making work. Radar Studios will serve as the Chicago hub for COPA, allowing clients to have seamless, real time access to the best VFX artists from around the globe.
To get an idea of COPA’s jaw-dropping VFX capabilities, check out the new video for David Guetta’s “Turn Me On” (featuring Nicky Minaj), which is at 33 million views and counting after three weeks. The COPA team collaborated with director Sanji to animate a Steampunk-influenced world where Guetta brings a robotic Minaj to life starting with her lips.
“From a technical and logistical standpoint, this video is a huge accomplishment for COPA, and creatively it’s a great initial statement,” said Sharabani. “We’ve always been an artist-driven company,” says Masseur. “By bringing Vico and & Alex on board and forming this partnership with COPA, not only are we adding incredible depth to our already fantastic VFX team, but we are now able to take on projects that were previously undoable either due to their timelines or due to the scope of the work. Our VFX capabilities have just expanded tenfold. Vico and Alex are also available as Live Action directors as well as VFX supervisors through RADAR.”
Recent Projects
RADAR and COPA just completed their first project together, jointly handling VFX and post-production for a P&G spot for “Secret” starring Jenny Poulos from Bravo’s “Flipping Out.” VFX supervisor Alex Frisch worked with director Dave Meyers from Radical Media to design the complex CG environment for the spot. RADAR’s Greg Somerlot traveled to LA for the shoot and edited on set due to the quick turnaround. RADAR’s Design/Animation team led by Steven Gray created the demo and tag and the RADAR VFX team worked in collaboration with the COPA team.
Directing and animation duo Walter Robot just finished a dreamy black and white film noir homage for Death Cab for Cutie’s song Under the Sycamore, which premiered at Wired.com and has received attention from Boing Boing, The Huffington Post, Papermag, and USA Today. Walter Robot is the collaboration of comic book artist, painter, sculptor, and filmmaker Bill Barminski and Christopher Louie, who met at UCLA when Louie was Barminski’s student. In January, The L Magazine named their Grapevine Fires video for Death Cab for Cutie as one of the top ten animated music videos of all time. Barminski recently exhibited some of his artwork alongside Banksy at the POW (Paint on Walls) group show in London.
While director Sam Macon continues to be known globally for his stop motion work (He just returned from Kiev, where he shot a stop motion spot for Oleina vegetable oil, and has two more stop motion projects set to shoot), he’s also been busy with live action projects. Before heading out to Ukraine, Sam collaborated with Creative Director Steven Gray on a spot for mlive.com that blends live action with VFX. Built around the idea that “News Travels,” Sam Macon shot the live action spot and worked closely with Gray and the RADAR design team to show news traveling through the air and intersecting with people’s lives before finally landing on their preferred mobile devices.
Company founder and director Don Hoeg continues to shoot mixed media and live action spots targeted at the youth market. A creative innovator, Don is well known for his work for clients McDonald’s, Airheads, and Hasbro that has an honest, spontaneous presence on screen.
RADAR Revamped: March 8 in Chicago
To celebrate their expansion, RADAR is hosting an indoor street festival on Thursday, March 8th at Carmichael’s Warehouse, 1052 West Monroe Street, from 5:30 to 10:00 pm, with games, flowing beverages, and food from Chicago’s best food trucks. All of the RADAR directors, artists, and editors who aren’t in production will be attending, so come and meet the RADAR team. Click here to RSVP.
About RADAR
RADAR Studios represents a team of uniquely talented directors and artists. We believe every project comes in the door in a state of creative development. Our directors and artists view each project, as a living, growing idea. Our creative team includes VFX artists, animators, editors, writers, musicians and photographers who can contribute in a unique way, always in service to the core idea. When talent, creativity, and culture are focused on ideas, anything is possible. www.radarstudios.com
