This web short introduces us to Karen Washington who informs us that her “BLANK” is urban farming, and feeding the body and mind. The means toward those ends is volunteerism through which she and others helped to convert an empty dirt lot in the Bronx into “a garden oasis,” growing produce to feed those in need.
She notes, “The best thing New Yorkers could do is share their ‘BLANK.'” Washington affirms that “if we could give back our ‘BLANK’ to others, it will definitely benefit New York City.”
Running along the bottom of the picture is a call to “Volunteer your ‘BLANK’ at NYC.Gov/Service.
Titled Karen, this web short is part of a multi-pronged campaign created by BBH New York for its client NYC & Company to showcase the newly enhanced service and volunteerism program called NYC Service.
BBH and NYC & Company have joined forces with NYC Mayor Bloomberg’s office to promote the program through a campaign called BLANK. BLANK was conceived of by BBH New York and will help New York City enhance the existing NYC Volunteer program and remind New Yorkers that everybody has BLANK to offer the city.
The campaign drives home a simple message: Everybody can volunteer their BLANK to help address New York City’s most pressing needs. The campaign tells New Yorkers that their BLANK could be a passion for gardening or music or finance, but everybody has a passion that could easily be matched with the perfect New York City volunteer opportunity.
BLANK will re-frame and re-establish volunteerism from the volunteers point of view and harness the passion of New Yorkers and their desire to volunteer. BLANK drives potential volunteers to the NYC Service website, www.nycservice.org, where they will find the resources to help them match their BLANK with the perfect volunteer opportunity. The website will provide a single on-line spot where New Yorkers can easily search and schedule volunteer opportunities that best suit their lives and also track their volunteer footprint.
The BBH team on the campaign included chief creative officer Kevin Roddy, creative directors Calle Sjoenell and Pelle Sjonelle, copywriter Jared Elms, art director Steve Peck and producer Jamie Grady.
Elms and Peck directed Karen. Videographer was Arianna La Penne.
Editor was Michael Dart Wadsworth of Final Cut, New York.
Does “Hundreds of Beavers” Reflect A New Path Forward In Cinema?
Hard as it may be to believe, changing the future of cinema was not on Mike Cheslik's mind when he was making "Hundreds of Beavers." Cheslik was in the Northwoods of Wisconsin with a crew of four, sometimes six, standing in snow and making his friend, Ryland Tews, fall down funny.
"When we were shooting, I kept thinking: It would be so stupid if this got mythologized," says Cheslik.
And yet, "Hundreds of Beavers" has accrued the stuff of, if not quite myth, then certainly lo-fi legend. Cheslik's film, made for just $150,000 and self-distributed in theaters, has managed to gnaw its way into a movie culture largely dominated by big-budget sequels.
"Hundreds of Beavers" is a wordless black-and-white bonanza of slapstick antics about a stranded 19th century applejack salesman (Tews) at war with a bevy of beavers, all of whom are played by actors in mascot costumes.
No one would call "Hundreds of Beavers" expensive looking, but it's far more inventive than much of what Hollywood produces. With some 1,500 effects shots Cheslik slaved over on his home computer, he crafted something like the human version of Donald Duck's snowball fight, and a low-budget heir to the waning tradition of Buster Keaton and "Naked Gun."
At a time when independent filmmaking is more challenged than ever, "Hundreds of Beavers" has, maybe, suggested a new path forward, albeit a particularly beaver-festooned path.
After no major distributor stepped forward, the filmmakers opted to launch the movie themselves, beginning with carnivalesque roadshow screenings. Since opening in January, "Hundreds of Beavers" has played in at least one theater every week of the year, though never more than 33 at once. (Blockbusters typically play in around 4,000 locations.)... Read More