RETURN ENGAGEMENT FOR GOODBY'S PERFORMANCE-ENHANCING SPOTS
RETURN ENGAGEMENT FOR GOODBY SPOTSWhile Major League Baseball’s release last month of the Mitchell Report on the illegal use of steroids and other performance-enhancing drugs dredged up some unseemly accusations–and questions about the ethics and competence of those who are the supposed guardians of the game–on the flip side it also served as a catalyst for the resurrection of an amusing ad campaign spoofing the controversy. The California Milk Processor Board’s “got milk?”-tagged spots, “Caught” and “Never Poured,” first debuted on TV in 2005. Conceived by Goodby, Silverstein & Partners, San Francisco, the :30s allude to a powerful substance with extensive performance-building powers–of course, the substance turns out to be milk. For instance, in “Caught,” a sports anchor tells us of a baseball hitter being pulled from a game after testing positive for a performance-enhancing substance. The spot cuts to a chaotic team clubhouse where a search reveals a half-gallon of milk hidden in the player’s locker. Both “Caught” and “Never Poured” were directed by Mike Maguire (now of The Directors Bureau, Hollywood). Now in their return engagement, the spots began airing on Dec. 31 and will run through the week of Jan. 28.
WHITE PAPER TRAIL
The Visual Effects Society (VES) is launching a new white paper program beginning this year. To better service and educate the entertainment industry on the practice and business of VFX, the VES is planning to publish several white papers in ’08 that cover relevant topics. The first paper, titled “The State of VFX,” is due out in March and will cover how the evolution of the visual effects field has affected the industry as a whole. The first VES paper will cover the industry transition to a digital-dominated production paradigm and how it is being driven by rapid changes in technology. Other issues to be addressed are economic and creative and how they all affect each other. “The State of VFX,” will explore three key issues: The eroding lines of production phases; the demands of new roles in the production process and industry misperceptions that VFX is fast, cheap and easy to do. It will include information and opinions from the 2007 VES Think Tank, comprised of leaders from the visual effects and software industries, as well as many in-depth one-on-one interviews. “This will be the beginning of an important industry-wide dialogue led by the practitioners who experience these changes on a daily basis,” said Jeff Okun, chair of the VES. “Key issues need to be addressed now, not only within the visual effects industry, but as part of an industry-wide initiative to move the art and business of filmmaking forward.”
PEOPLE IN THE NEWSNew York-based design/VFX house Manic has brought Melissa Warhaftig on board as executive producer/director of operations. She will work with exec producer/head of sales James Braddock to develop and implement a growth strategy for the company. She comes to Manic by way of jumP Editorial where she was a supervising producer handling that shop’s Maybelline work. Prior to that, Warhaftig was a broadcast producer with JWT, New York….Peter Erazmus, formerly of Chicago Recording Company, has joined Audio Producers Group, Chicago, as its head sound designer….
First-Time Feature Directors Make Major Splash At AFI Fest, Generate Oscar Buzz
Two first-time feature directors who are generating Oscar buzz this awards season were front and center this past weekend at AFI Fest in Hollywood. Rachel Morrison, who made history as the first woman nominated for a Best Cinematography Oscar---on the strength of Mudbound in 2018--brought her feature directorial debut, The Fire Inside (Amazon MGM Studios), to the festival on Sunday (10/27), and shared insights into the film during a conversation session immediately following the screening. This came a day after William Goldenberg, an Oscar-winning editor for Argo in 2013, had his initial foray into feature directing, Unstoppable (Amazon MGM Studios), showcased at the AFI proceedings. He too spoke after the screening during a panel discussion. The Fire Inside--which made its world premiere at this year’s Toronto International Film Festival--tells the story of Claressa “T-Rex” Shields (portrayed by Ryan Destiny), a Black boxer from Flint, Mich., who trained to become the first woman in U.S. history to win an Olympic Gold Medal in the sport. She achieved this feat--with the help of coach Jason Crutchfield (Brian Tyree Henry)--only to find that her victory at the Summer Games came with relatively little fanfare and no endorsement deals. So much for the hope that the historic accomplishment would be a ticket out of socioeconomic purgatory for Shields and her family. It seemed like yet another setback in a cycle of adversity throughout Shields’ life but she persevered, going on to win her second Gold Medal at the next Olympics and becoming a champion for gender equality and equitable pay for women in sports. Shields has served as a source of inspiration for woman athletes worldwide--as well as to the community of... Read More