Copywriter Andrei Chahine and art director Ryan Stotts of Cramer-Krasselt, Chicago, have won Optimus’ second annual One Shot contest. The up-and-coming agency team garners two major prizes. For starters, their winning concept designed to promote disaster relief nonprofit foundation ShelterBox will be produced from beginning to end by Optimus, Chicago, and its in-house production arm ONE. Furthermore, Optimus will then buy local airtime for the finished commercial, giving meaningful marketplace exposure to the work.
Though only in year two, One Shot already has a tradition to live up to based on the inaugural competition’s winning spot–an Optimus promo entitled “Done”–which went on to not only gain inclusion in SHOOT’s “The Best Work You May Never See” gallery but also a slot for its helmer, ONE’s Alex Anderson, in SHOOT’s 2009 New Directors Showcase.
Production/post house Optimus and its marketing agency Scott & Victor, Chicago, devised and developed “One Shot” which recognizes promising Chicago advertising creative talent with five years or less experience. A One Shot call went out again this year to up-and-coming, Chicago-based creatives to elicit their concepts based on a creative brief.
This time around the client is ShelterBox, an organization which since its inception in 2001 has provided aid to more than 800,000 people worldwide in response to earthquakes, floods, hurricanes, tsunamis, wars, volcano eruptions and other critical emergency situations. That aid comes in the form of a sturdy, green plastic box containing a 10-person tent and ancillary equipment enabling a family to survive for at least six months.
Chahine and Stotts submitted a concept based on various other uses for the box after its initial deployment is wrapped and its purpose fulfilled.
“The concept for our script was based on the idea that most charity organizations wish that they didn’t have to exist,” related Chahine. “We thought that, for the people at ShelterBox, what’s really rewarding is when they are no longer needed. Also, we knew we wanted to use the actual ShelterBox in the script, as it is an icon for this organization.”
Stotts explained, “Once we started discussing the concept of ‘getting back to normal,’ we knew we were onto something. The ShelterBox becomes just another box in our script, as places affected by disasters have returned to normalcy.”
Chahine and Stotts’ entry was selected by judges from Optimus, Scott & Victor, and ShelterBox. The Cramer-Krasselt duo’s win is all the more impressive in light of One Shot receiving twice as many submissions in ’09 as compared to the prior year.
Tom Duff, president of Optimus, noted that the increase in entries was due to several factors, including momentum carrying over from year one, and a push to encourage ad agencies to seek out not just their own artisans, including junior staffers, but also freelancers they collaborate with. Duff noted that a conscious decision was made to reach out to freelance creatives in the Windy City.
“The quality of the submitted concepts was excellent,” said Duff, “and they came from a wide range of talent.” Ultimately, though, continued Duff, Chahine and Stotts’ well-crafted message won out. “The copy was excellent, describing the reach and volume of ShelterBox in so few words,” assessed Duff. “And the visuals to accompany it were ingenious, showcasing the resilience of people who are victims of disasters.”
ONE’s Mehdi Zollo is slated to direct the ShelterBox spot. Shooting should get underway sometime in October, with editorial and post the following month, and hopefully an on-air debut by the end of ’09.
L.A. Location Lensing Declines In 2024 Despite Uptick In 4th Quarter
FilmLA, partner film office for the City and County of Los Angeles and other local jurisdictions, has issued an update regarding regional filming activity. Overall production in Greater Los Angeles increased 6.2 percent from October through December 2024 to 5,860 Shoot Days (SD) according to FilmLA’s latest report. Most production types tracked by FilmLA achieved gains in the fourth quarter, except for reality TV, which instead logged its ninth consecutive quarter of year-over-year decline.
The lift across all remaining categories came too late to rescue 2024 from the combined effects of runaway production, industry contraction and slower-than-hoped-for post- strike recovery. With just 23,480 SD filmed on-location in L.A. in 2024, overall annual production finished the year 5.6 percent below the prior year. That made 2024 the second least productive year observed by FilmLA; only 2020, disrupted by the global COVID-19 pandemic, saw lower levels of filming in area communities.
The continuing decline of reality TV production in Los Angeles was among the most disappointing developments of 2024. Down 45.7 percent for the fourth quarter (to 774 SD), the category also finished the year down 45.9 percent (to 3,905 SD), which placed
it 43.1 percent below its five-year category average.
The two brightest spots in FilmLA’s latest report appeared in the feature film and television drama categories. Feature film production increased 82.4 percent in the fourth quarter to 589 SD, a gain analysts attribute to independent film activity. The
California Film & Television Tax Credit Program also played a part, driving 19.2 percent of quarterly category activity. Overall, annual Feature production was up 18.8 percent in 2024, though the... Read More