With the New Year and next year’s presidential election upon us, iSPOT is interested in political advertising and this week we find out that political Internet advertising is the fastest growing category, although spending remains low, in part because online political advertising opportunities are limited and in part because old school political media buyers remain stuck on TV.
The participation of famous directors in online video advertising has perhaps reached new heights with the direction of a short film by Martin Scorsese to promote Freixenet’s Carta Nevada Reserva cava. Scorsese also stars in the film, which is our iSPOT of the Week.
Kudos to Creature for more off-the-wall video comedy. This time the agency has created America’s Talking, a TV style news program, to promote Microsoft’s Windows Home Server, a new product category that needed a news-oriented theme to promote debate about the product. Of course, with Creature it’s not exactly straight ahead news and viewers will appreciate the ribald humor.
We know the holidays are approaching, but before they do please contact us with important news from your companies, including details on the latest videos you’re making.
Ken Liebeskind, iSPOT Senior Editor, kliebeskind@shootonline.com, 203-227-1699, ext.17 www.shootonline.com/go/ispot
First-Time Feature Directors Make Major Splash At AFI Fest, Generate Oscar Buzz
Two first-time feature directors who are generating Oscar buzz this awards season were front and center this past weekend at AFI Fest in Hollywood. Rachel Morrison, who made history as the first woman nominated for a Best Cinematography Oscar---on the strength of Mudbound in 2018--brought her feature directorial debut, The Fire Inside (Amazon MGM Studios), to the festival on Sunday (10/27), and shared insights into the film during a conversation session immediately following the screening. This came a day after William Goldenberg, an Oscar-winning editor for Argo in 2013, had his initial foray into feature directing, Unstoppable (Amazon MGM Studios), showcased at the AFI proceedings. He too spoke after the screening during a panel discussion. The Fire Inside--which made its world premiere at this year’s Toronto International Film Festival--tells the story of Claressa “T-Rex” Shields (portrayed by Ryan Destiny), a Black boxer from Flint, Mich., who trained to become the first woman in U.S. history to win an Olympic Gold Medal in the sport. She achieved this feat--with the help of coach Jason Crutchfield (Brian Tyree Henry)--only to find that her victory at the Summer Games came with relatively little fanfare and no endorsement deals. So much for the hope that the historic accomplishment would be a ticket out of socioeconomic purgatory for Shields and her family. It seemed like yet another setback in a cycle of adversity throughout Shields’ life but she persevered, going on to win her second Gold Medal at the next Olympics and becoming a champion for gender equality and equitable pay for women in sports. Shields has served as a source of inspiration for woman athletes worldwide--as well as to the community of... Read More