Lexus CT Hybrid-sponsored web series debuts on MSN.com
Microsoft Advertising’s Branded Entertainment and Experiences Team (BEET) has dovetailed with ad agencies Walton Isaacson, bicoastal and Chicago (creative), and Team One, El Segundo, Calif. (media), to shepherd Fresh Perspectives, a new web series directed by The Sniper Twins of BRW USA for client the Lexus CT Hybrid. The series debuted on MSN.com last week.
The webisodes focus on six young artists in different mediums, tasked to create original pieces of art within 24 hours around the themes of “escape,” “challenge” and “empower.” The artisans are chef Craig Thornton, painter/collagist Augustine Kofie, fashion designer Robert James, paper sculptor Jeff Nishinaka, singer-songwriter V and photographer Tod Seelie.
Fashion designer James, for example, sets out to create a jacket in 24 hours to meet the “challenge” theme. Chef Thornton embodies “escape” with the welcomed distraction of creating “forest flavors on a plate.” Painter Kofie translates “empower” into an orange colored creation. Seelie “escapes” by lensing on location in “the far end” of Brooklyn and Queens. Songwriter/vocalist V pens and performs a song designed to “empower” young girls.
The Sniper Twins collaborated with Team One, Walton Isaacson and Lexus. UTAOnline packaged the show and brought the opportunity to the Sniper Twins to direct and BRW to produce. They also brought on Yosi Sergent’s Taskforce to help cast the artists who would best tie in with the Lexus brand and the CT Hybrid. The series was shot over eight days–five in Los Angeles and three days in New York–on the Canon 7D. The DP was Aaron Platt The webisodes follow the artists as they complete their works of art and examine how art is defined in a different “fresh” perspective.
The original series, BRW USA’s first venture into branded entertainment, is an example of the growing trend toward programs with more subtle branding. Director Barry Flanagan–who along with Dax Martinez-Vargas comprise the Sniper Twins–observed, “There are exciting opportunities now for branded content where companies and agencies can get behind the projects as sponsorship and come up with really creative content.” The Fresh Perspectives campaign focuses less on the Lexus name and more on what the Lexus brand, and more specifically, the new Lexus CT Hybrid, represents. As all brands are becoming more social, this method is an ideal way for Lexus to take a more content-driven approach to connecting with consumers.
Altogether, 45 different videos were produced for the project, including artist bios and time-lapsed imagery of each art project in process. The Fresh Perspectives hub page will also feature written profiles on the artists and features of 30 additional artists.
Fresh Perspectives is part of a multifaceted marketing campaign for the CT Hybrid, “Darker Side of Green,” which launched on March 1 and features unconventional creative and media executions.
The Microsoft BEET contingent included brand strategists Sara Clark and Eric Day, brand solutions manager Jessica Lowe, managing editor Steven Wiens, editor Monica Fischer, creative director Jeremy Grubaugh, sr. user experience lead Kris Bergen and user experience designer Richard Worsfold.
The BRW USA ensemble included managing director/sr. executive producer Andy Traines, exec producer Gianfilippo Pedrotti, production supervisor Robert Gustafson and line producer Ari Weiner.
Click 3X also figured in the mix, with VFX creative director Ders Hallgren, VFX managing director David Edelstein, exec producer Rob Meyers, producer Maddy Yasner, animator Dave Rogers, and editors Rob James, Emily Sheskin, Sam Goetz and Nicole Turney.
The audio post team from YouTooCanWoo consisted of David Perlick-Molani, Deidre Muro and Paul Hammer.
Here’s a taste of Fresh Perspectives:
“Overnight Success” Has Been More Than A Decade In The Making For Meghann Fahy and Eve Hewson
Meghann Fahy and Eve Hewson, two of the stars of Netflix's whodunit "The Perfect Couple," have news for you if you want to call them breakouts: They've been working in this business for more than a decade.
Fahy made her TV debut in 2009 in an episode of "Gossip Girl." Hewson's first big film role was in 2011's "This Must Be the Place." They do concede, however, that it's recent TV roles — "The White Lotus" for Fahy and "Bad Sisters" for Hewson — that have led to new frontiers of opportunity.
Susanne Bier, who directed "The Perfect Couple," says both Fahy and Hewson are "going to be big stars."
"They certainly have proper, profound star quality, Both of them in very different ways," Bier says. "Both are incredibly creative, incredibly smart, and also have a impressive insight as to who they are. You can be a great actor or actress and not necessarily really know who you are yourself. And they do."
Hewson, 33, whose dad is U2 front man Bono, may have grown up in a famous family but she's now in demand in her own right. She will next be seen in a second season of "Bad Sisters, " out in November. She's in Noah Baumbach's next film, alongside Adam Sandler, George Clooney and Riley Keough. She's also been cast in Steven Spielberg's next production and is set to star opposite Murray Bartlett in a racing series for Hulu.
Fahy, 34, is in production on a limited series with Julianne Moore and Milly Alcock called "Sirens," written by Molly Smith Metzler ("Maid") for Netflix. She also has two films in the can with Josh O'Connor ("The Crown," "Challengers") and Brandon Sklenar ("It Ends With Us").
The two actors spoke candidly about this phase of their careers. This interview has been condensed for clarity and... Read More