1) In 2015 we felt the importance, more than ever, of the director’s treatment—highly designed, produced packages often partially outsourced to visualists and writers, who comprise a newly created industry to support the demand. There is the mindset for a very detailed commitment and director’s approach to be presented upfront before jobs award. This seems to coincide with the abbreviated pre-production period—a critical phase of the filmmaking process where important collaboration with our partners and the exploration of ideas traditionally occur.
This past year we looked to our international directors and foreign markets to fill the gap of diminished US work, putting much greater importance on the UK and Prague offices. Most new director signings are from overseas to help feed the request to shoot off-shore in low cost, non-union centers.
It has been a priority to diversify our energies – content, music videos, doc and long form, experiential and artistic formats – to expand our offerings. Traditional commercials, content and still photography are still most important, but the ability to capture and strategize with the brands themselves is paramount now. Client direct allows for some interesting efficiencies to discover what brands are really looking for in their advertising.
3) St-Germain directed by Floria Sigismondi. I loved the Floria Sigismondi-directed project “Peep Show,” for liquor brand St-Germain. This was an interactive series about the fleeting nature of time, broadcast on Periscope, Twitter’s new live video streaming platform, where it lived for 24 hours only, before disappearing. Floria created a boudoir environment inspired by sensual postcards of Parisian women from the 20’s and 30’s for actress Hannah Simone’s character to tease viewers to check back to “see more” in six, one-minute broadcasts. Viewers could tweet their suggestions for what would happen in the next film. The films were shot on an iPhone, so we had to figure out ways to control the exposure and focus of the image and get a period look. We broke Twitter retention records and it’s a great example of bringing interactive technology and experimenting in the fashion and luxury space.
We’re really proud to have produced the Adele “Hello” video, directed by Xavier Dolan. It broke Vevo Records by achieving over 27.7 million views within a 24-hour span, and for shortest time to attain 100 million Vevo views.
