GIVING AND GETTING BACK FOR CHARITYThis PSA campaign takes an offbeat comedic path in order to drum up support for the YAI Brighter Futures Society, a group of young professionals committed to the mission of the YAI/National Institute for People with Disabilities Network to help people with developmental and learning disabilities achieve independent and fulfilling lives in their communities. Directed by Alec Brownstein who also co-wrote the spots with Justin Racz, the campaign features “testimonials” from people who get involved for anything but altruistic reasons.
    In one spot titled “Evan” for example, a young man looks into the camera and asks, “Why am I going to the YAI Brighter Future Society Event?” He then starts to talk about all the good the organization does as the May 1 event will provide critical fund raising. But then Evan takes a sharp detour, admitting that his involvement “looks good on a grad school application…I show up, eat hors deovres…and get to put it on my transcript.”
    He adds that it’s especially helpful in making him seem charitable and caring since he works for a tobacco company.
    A supered message reads, “Any reason is a good reason to come” to the fundraiser as we see Evan puffing away on a cigarette.
    All the spots in the campaign–which hopes to attract younger people to YAI charity events–are tagged with the website address, yai.org/bfs.
Director/co-writer Brownstein did the campaign independent of his full-time gig as a writer at Publicis, New York. The DP on the campaign was Ludovic Littee. The editor was Craig Holzer of Crew Cuts, New York….

DDA’S TRIBECA TRIO OF LENSERS
    Three films from cinematographers repped by Dattner Dispoto and Associates (DDA), Los Angeles, have films that will be screened at the upcoming Tribeca Film Festival this month and next. The DPs are Geoffrey Hall, ACS, Robert Gantz and Alexander Buono.
    Hall lensed the Australian horror thriller Dying Breed while Gantz shot the Sissy Spacek-starring drama Lake City and Buono co-wrote, co-produced and shot the documentary Bigger, Stronger, Faster, an expose of the steroid subculture….

PEOPLE IN THE NEWS    John Kieselhorst has been hired as design director at Los Angeles-based indie ad agency davidandgoliath. He will be responsible for leading and growing the design capabilities of the agency. Until recently, Kieselhorst was VP, creative director of the Volvo and Timberland accounts at Arnold, Boston, where he managed an interdisciplinary team of writers, art directors, web gurus and graphic designers to develop advertising, collateral, packaging and online tools for clients. At davidandgoliath Kieselhorst will primarily work on the Kia Motors business and oversee design direction on a variety of other accounts. Kieselhorst will report to Colin Jeffery, executive creative director of davidandgoliath…..Ron Cosentino has joined visual effects studio a52, Santa Monica, as executive producer. The move marks his return to the shop where he earlier served as VFX producer. In recent years Cosentino had been freelance producing and had been exec producer for L.A.-based effects company Mac Guff….New York creative services agency Blue Room has added exec producer Mark Mutschler, a seasoned broadcast design, spot and animation producer. Mutschler had been a producer at Stardust Motion Graphics, New York….

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