By Darren Jaffe, Flavor; Michael Bartoli, Hybrid Edit + Content (Sponsored Content)
Studios with expertise in multiple disciplines (including live action, VFX, motion graphics, editorial and postproduction) spanning multiple platforms (TV, features, shorts, commercials, web fare, branded content) are having a profoundly positive impact on the entertainment and advertising landscape. A growing number of vanguard companies are diversifying in terms of talent and resources to meet the creative, technical and filmmaking needs of clients and agencies, integrating different disciplines to tell stories and impart information.
SHOOT regularly chronicles changing business models and looks at how content creation companies are evolving along with the advertising and entertainment communities they serve. We thought it would be interesting to offer companies involved in visual effects, animation, editorial and post production the opportunity to participate in a special sponsored content feature in which a company executive or artisan could discuss their company, recent work and future plans. We’re pleased to have several companies participating in this feature and you’ll find their feedback on the following pages.
Flavor
Darren Jaffe,
Executive Producer
www.flavor.tv
1) What recent project—or projects—has been most gratifying and why? Feel free to include anything noteworthy that arose such as a lesson learned, a creative challenge that was met or an unexpected discovery.
Jaffe: Beginning last year, we had the opportunity to work with the Denver-based agency Karsh Hagan and on behalf of Arrow Electronics to produce eight innovative spots artfully conveying Arrow’s “Five Years Out” brand messaging. We now have a showcase of the work on our website at http://flavor.tv/arrow. The spots have been very sensational for the brand, which has been using them in an international internal campaign reaching its 16,500 employees worldwide on a weekly basis since February, and also using them widely in internal and external presentations and on their social media channels. They also are exploring TV placements for the spots, which they now have running in-stadium ahead of all the Colorado Rockies home games.
For ECD Brad Tucker and myself, this project is our biggest assignment since joining Flavor last September, and we wanted to use it to showcase our unlimited production capabilities and our passions for spectacular creative projects. We used this as a chance to reintroduce the community to fun and purposeful design/animation.
Essentially, we got very creative with the work as well as the pipeline and workflow by matching the most talented artists with assignments that maximized their expertise. From there, Brad and our production staff kept the work consistent and the key ideas in focus. Our cross-country collaborative effort epitomizes Flavor’s core values: Great work, collaboration, artistic problem solving, and creating amazing visuals that elevate the messaging.
2) What are your objectives for 2014 in terms of business model changes, new projects, markets, disciplines, workflow etc.?
Jaffe: Again, in many ways, Brad and I are still getting up-to-speed with this group, and with the launch of Flavor still also relatively new, we are seizing every opportunity to re-introduce ourselves to the industry-at-large. Clearly, this project for Arrow was a great way to do that, for many reasons. First, we had the chance to bring in a lot of supremely talented artists to help us create something new that is also very far-reaching and useful for a massive global brand; also, this was the perfect way for us to get up-to-speed with the many facets of Cutters Studios, including our Flavor colleagues in Chicago. While we were participating in creating this campaign for Karsh Hagan and Arrow, we were busy outlining our plans to get back to our design motion graphic roots, develop solid collaborative relationships with our clients, and build a solid foundation that will also us to keep our focus on being creative problem solvers!
Now, information is flowing and we are seeing a lot of new project possibilities, while knowledge of Flavor is expanding rapidly and more and more creative industry leaders are connecting with us and our team-mates among Cutters Studios. Again, there is a very strong sense of excitement for good things to come and for that, we thank Tim McGuire, Craig Duncan and all the wise leaders of this amazing group of people.
Hybrid Edit + Content
Michael Bartoli, Editor/Partner
www.hybridedit.com
1) What recent project—or projects—has been most gratifying and why? Feel free to include anything noteworthy that arose such as a lesson learned, a creative challenge that was met or an unexpected discovery.
Bartolli: It’s safe to say, on behalf of everyone at Hybrid, that our collective source of gratification comes from the many stages of the creative process. And in collaborating with our client partners to bring ideas and stories to screens.
Recently, I had the pleasure of editing a national campaign directed by Bob Giraldi for Great Call out of Davis Elen. Hybrid was involved in the early stages, advised on execution, and worked closely with the agency and the director, providing everything from visual effects supervision, editorial, sound design, color correction, flame online, compositing and 3D graphics.
And editors Susan Munro and Christopher Willoughby handled post duties for a multi-spot Toyota campaign in which our CG and compositing teams worked 1st and 2nd shifts to maximize creativity and productivity. Our clients appreciate our seamless work flows and Hybrid offering creative solutions and multi discipline expertise under one roof. So that is a lot of fun to be involved with.
2) What are your objectives for 2014 in terms of business model changes, new projects, markets, disciplines, workflow etc.?
Bartolli: We’ve formed our content production arm, Hybrid Content, for our advertising and entertainment clientele. Since Hybrid launched in 2009, many of our clients asked us to produce several production-through-post projects, so our foray into content development has been a very natural evolution. Hybrid Content is comprised of diverse talent from various disciplines, including commercial directors, copywriters, art directors, designers, screenwriters, and content producers specializing in content, episodic, and features. Connecting clients with creative resources that are new to them, and nurturing those relationships, is an exciting process to facilitate and one we enjoy.
For instance, featured on our Hybrid Content roster is Emmy-nominated Christopher Kubasik who is the creator of the original hit Hulu series “A Booth At The End,” viewable at http://idbs.us/0tx, for which he won a Best Dramatic Writing Award from the International Academy of Web Television [IAWTV] in 2013, and earned him a Streamy nomination. Christopher is currently directing a nationwide real people docu-style campaign set to launch in Spring 2014.
Hybrid Content’s roster also features director/writer Adam Kurland, who’s in pre-production on his 2nd installment of ESPN’s Peabody award-winning series “30 for 30”. And director/editor Eric Gross, whose original online series “Pioneers” has been optioned by Comedy Central, is an excellent addition to our team.
So all this contributes to a unique, collaborative synergy that makes Hybrid a special place to be. It’s definitely an exciting time within our company and the industry.
Rom-Com Mainstay Hugh Grant Shifts To The Dark Side and He’s Never Been Happier
After some difficulties connecting to a Zoom, Hugh Grant eventually opts to just phone instead.
"Sorry about that," he apologizes. "Tech hell." Grant is no lover of technology. Smart phones, for example, he calls the "devil's tinderbox."
"I think they're killing us. I hate them," he says. "I go on long holidays from them, three or four days at at time. Marvelous."
Hell, and our proximity to it, is a not unrelated topic to Grant's new film, "Heretic." In it, two young Mormon missionaries (Chloe East, Sophie Thatcher) come knocking on a door they'll soon regret visiting. They're welcomed in by Mr. Reed (Grant), an initially charming man who tests their faith in theological debate, and then, in much worse things.
After decades in romantic comedies, Grant has spent the last few years playing narcissists, weirdos and murders, often to the greatest acclaim of his career. But in "Heretic," a horror thriller from A24, Grant's turn to the dark side reaches a new extreme. The actor who once charmingly stammered in "Four Weddings and a Funeral" and who danced to the Pointer Sisters in "Love Actually" is now doing heinous things to young people in a basement.
"It was a challenge," Grant says. "I think human beings need challenges. It makes your beer taste better in the evening if you've climbed a mountain. He was just so wonderfully (expletive)-up."
"Heretic," which opens in theaters Friday, is directed by Scott Beck and Bryan Woods, co-writers of "A Quiet Place." In Grant's hands, Mr. Reed is a divinely good baddie — a scholarly creep whose wry monologues pull from a wide range of references, including, fittingly, Radiohead's "Creep."
In an interview, Grant spoke about these and other facets of his character, his journey... Read More