Mothership, a creative studio focused on original transmedia content for advertising agencies and brands, has opened in Venice under a leadership team consisting of Ed Ulbrich, who also continues in his longstanding role as president of visual effects house Digital Domain‘s commercials division, executive creative director Alejandro Lopez, and executive producer Tanya Cohen. The new venture, which has assembled an international lineup of directors, is a sister shop to Digital Domain.
Ulbrich views Mothership as representing a new business model on several levels, perhaps best reflected in the “integrated” dynamic as it applies to the company’s anticipated work across different yet connected campaign platforms, the shop’s directorial roster, the diversity of its resources, and the hybrid nature of its services which span creative and varied production (live action, visual effects animation, CG, motion graphics, design) disciplines.
The Mothership roster includes directors Robert Hales, Dael Oates, David Rosenbaum, Sil Van Der Woerd, Brent Bonacorso, Pierre Michel, Matthew Santoro, as well as artisans from Stockholm-based animation studio Happycamper. Mothership additionally handles West Coast representation in the U.S. for New York studio Nathan Love whose lead director/co-founder is Joe Burrascano.
“These are all multimedia directors who are as comfortable in front of the computer workstation as they are behind the camera,” related Ulbrich. “This challenges the traditional compensation model in the advertising industry. In the movie business, directors are compensated to direct, not to shoot movies–and that’s a big difference. Directors have to be adept across all the disciplines. So how weird it is that directors in the advertising sector are paid only to shoot. From our company’s perspective, we do not see directors through the lens of just shoot days. We want to take directors and put all the tools at their disposal. This can mean they’re sitting at a workstation, shooting or both–or anything in between. Traditional compensation methodology doesn’t dictate the approach. What’s right for the project and concept defines what approach or approaches you take.”
This integrated approach in terms of multimedia or hybrid directors is in response to growing demand in the marketplace, according to Ulbrich. Not only are an increasing number of agencies and brands looking for integrated campaigns and cross-platform strategies, but due to a tight economy they are also seeking holistic integrated solutions in terms of creative and production talent and resources being at one shop, thus realizing cost savings over the historic model of going to multiple sources like separate live-action, animation, CG, motion graphics, design and post entities.
As part of this holistic approach, Ulbrich observed that he’s seen ad agencies more frequently bringing strategic briefs to production houses, seeking creative and conceptual input. In this climate with creative diversifying beyond traditional ad forms to also include campaigns that take into account hand held and other connected devices, entertainment properties and other means to break through clutter, Mothership offers the creative wherewithal of its directors as well as that of its exec creative director Lopez, who has an extensive agency and digital media pedigree. He and Ulbrich worked together years ago at Leo Burnett, Chicago, back when the former was a producer and Lopez a creative.
Lopez’s experience spans Burnett, then serving as executive creative director/president/co-founder of Publicis agency Beacon Communications in Tokyo, and moving on to found Tokyo boutique agency (Suit)men Entertainment where he led a team of strategists and creatives who developed transmedia campaigns for blue-chip clients across four continents. He has come to be recognized as a digital marketing pioneer in Asia.
Based on his (Suit)men experience–which included multi-platform global and regional fare for Nike, and Asia Pacific efforts for Diesel–Lopez said Asia was very much advanced in varied distribution platforms and transmedia, giving him a glimpse of what is “around the corner” for the American market. “I’m sold on and lived the experience which was to unbridle creativity and then finding clients receptive to that. The U.S. is primed and ready for the same.”
Lopez observed that transmedia “offers brands the opportunity to integrate directly with entertainment properties instead of standing alongside them. The key is these brand experiences must enhance entertainment value.” He believes that Mothership has assembled talent who can “create the kinds of digital properties that will capture and entertain new audiences–extending both the original entertainment property and the brand.” Lopez said that he sees “a shift from digital production to digital creation, which sounds like a nuance but is very important in terms of what we look to be doing at Mothership.”
Ulbrich related that agencies need “integrated cross-platform strategies and creative services, and they’re turning to companies that can execute a brand vision from concept to completion.” Towards this end, he said, Mothership has sought “digitally literate directors and designers” and will provide them access to a deep toolbox when needed, the prime example being the technology and resources at Digital Domain. “They’re not required to tap into Digital Domain but they can if they feel it’s the right fit.”
Multi-faceted filmmakers
As for those alluded to multimedia artisans who comprise Mothership’s directorial roster, here’s a rundown:
o Robert Hales who was formerly represented by HSI Productions. He is well known in the music video arena where he is accustomed to building narrative from a blank creative canvas. His credits include clips for such performers as Nine Inch Nails, Justin Timberlake, Janet Jackson, Oasis, Kings of Leon, and Gnarls Barkley. For the latter, Hales helmed “Crazy,” which garnered assorted honors, including a 2006 MTV Video Music Award for best direction.
o Dael Oates is a visual effects artisan who made his mark at Animal Logic, Sydney, as a compositor, designer and art director on feature films and commercials, eventually becoming an in-house director. He then joined Prodigy Films which handled him as a full-fledged director (Toyota, Sony, Nestle, Target, Mazda, Yahoo) before he jumped over to Mothership. The L.A.-based Oates, who won Kodak‘s Young Directors Award last year, recently co-founded The Yard, an artists collective focused on street photography and is a prolific contributor to its body of work.
o David Rosenbaum started his career as an art director for Digital Domain, moving into pre-visualization for commercials at the studio and then became a creative director there, working on campaigns for Honda, Epic Games’ Gears of War and Lincoln. He recently wrapped pre-vis work as a lead artist for the upcoming feature film Tron: Legacy, and directed a commercial for Lincoln titled “Cleaner. Faster. Smarter” out of Team Detroit. The spot helped earn him inclusion in the “Up-And-Coming Directors” feature in SHOOT‘s 2009 Fall Directors Issue (10/23/09).
o Sil Van Der Woerd, a Netherlands native whose work blends different disciplines to create atmospheric worlds. He made his first mark with the short films Duet in 2004 and Swim in ’05, which both had successful runs on the festival circuit and together garnered nearly two million views on YouTube. His first music video, “Worms” for Lolly Jane Blue, began a collaboration between him and the singer that resulted in the creation of visual worlds centered on her songs–photography, imagery and video clips–that were projected at live performances during her ’08 tour. He recently wrapped a second clip, “White Swan,” for Blue. Van Der Woerd was an artist in residence and instructor at Los Angeles’ Gnomon School of Visual Effects, and has created advertising pieces for such clients as New Line Cinema and motion design company OneSize. He is now based in L.A. and holds a Fine Arts degree from the Academy of Art and Design in the Netherlands.
o Matthew Santoro has generated considerable attention from major movie studios and ad agencies for his sci-fi horror online short Offline. Now repped by CAA for feature films, he is developing the property into a full-length motion picture. He earlier worked for a number of visual effects companies, most notably Hydraulx, as an animator, matte painter and concept artist. In such capacities, he contributed to films like X-Men: The Last Stand, 300 and The Incredible Hulk.
o Brent Bonacorso’s early digital experimentation combined photography and 3D translated into his festival short Looking, Dim. His work in web animation caught the attention of DDB, which recruited him for its interactive shop in Dallas. Bonacorso went on to work in interactive design and advertising at Rare Medium and The Richards Group‘s Pyro divison. At Capitol Records he directed music videos for The Comas, Pacifier, 311, Bullet Proof and Telepopmusik, and earned recognition at ResFest and the MVPA Awards. Then via production house Notorious 24/7 in N.Y. and L.A., Bonacorso helmed spots for Honda, Nike, Sony PlayStation and Guinness, among other clients. He now moves to Mothership while continuing his affiliation with Notorious 24/7 for representation in Asia. Bonacorso also has to his credit a long-form project for The Comas’ concept album “Conductor” that combined live action and CG to weave 12 individual music clips together into a short film. Another Bonacorso-directed short, Now and Nowhere, was accepted into the Malibu and Beverly Hills film festivals, and helped land him a slot on the feature film roster at William Morris Endeavor.
o The Paris-based Pierre Michel directs, shoots, animates, composites and edits. He started his career at French VFX house Mikros Image as a digital artist working on commercials for such clients as Heineken, L’Oreal and Peugeot, and more than 30 feature films including Oliver Stone’s Alexander and Jacques Perrin’s ecological drama Oceans. Michel later created the opening film Polar for the French film festival of the same name, which played in theaters across Paris and on TV, attracting the attention of production house Paranoid, which handled him stateside and in France. His most recent directorial credit are French jeweler Loris’ “Fire Flower” and a promo ID for New York’s Aesthetic Vision Productions. Michel is repped worldwide by Mothership, except for France where Paranoid remains his roost.
o Happycamper is a Stockholm-based motion design, animation and visual effects studio known for its character development. Mothership can tap into talent at the studio, which includes director Andres Rosas Hott, animator Robert Karlsson and producer Manne Sjogren.
o And New York studio Nathan Love is repped on the West Coast by Mothership. Talent there includes director Joe Burrascano whose recent endeavors include Pop Secret’s “Kernels/Dark Knight” spot for Goodby, Silverstein & Partners, San Francisco, which earned inclusion in last month’s quarterly SHOOT Visual Effects & Animation Top Ten Chart.
Mothership moniker
The Mothership name came to mind, said Ulbrich, for its meaning of being a hub that talent anywhere in the world can tap into, access resources and collaborate with others in the creation of original content.
As for the talent in place, Ulbrich credited Mothership exec producer Tanya Cohen with playing an integral role in assembling the company’s directorial roster. She earlier served as an exec producer at The Institute for the Development of Enhanced Perceptual Awareness, the commercial production house headed by director Michael Bay and CEO/exec producer Scott Gardenhour.
Previously Cohen was a literary agent at the William Morris Agency in London and Los Angeles, and a VP at Robert Lawrence Productions/20th Century Fox. She also has experience as a sales rep.
On the representation front, Mothership is handled by independents Patricia Claire Co. on the East Coast, David Wagner in the Midwest, and Andrew Hall on the West Coast.
Wagner reunited Ulbrich with Lopez, who moved about eight months ago from Tokyo to Los Angeles. The two found that their visions for a multimedia creative studio were simpatico, laying the groundwork for what turned out to be Mothership.
Lopez described their coming together as “en,” a Japanese word meaning fated destiny or linkage. “Everything seemed aligned for this to happen at this time,” said Lopez. “Here were Ed and I coming from two opposite sides of the planet, from incredibly different markets yet we very much shared the same vision and layout for Mothership.”
Ulbrich added that helping him to develop the company business model was his big-picture experience assessing and discussing the digital creative and business landscape as part of a contingent that brought about AICP Digital, the Association of Independent Commercial Producers ‘ digital production chapter, which was formed last summer. Ulbrich was named president of AICP Digital several months ago (SHOOT, 10/28/09).
