Samsung is promoting its new sh100 wi-fi enabled camera by taking it on a road trip across the country, handing it from person to person from the West Coast until it reaches New York City. Hybrid agency/production house Mekanism has a crew following along in an airstream trailer filming mini-documentaries about the journey and so far they have visited San Francisco, Los Angeles, Palm Springs, Tempe (AZ), Austin, Houston, New Orleans and Miami. The Mekanism folks are currently heading up the Mississippi River to Chicago, Ann Arbor, Cleveland and then onto New Jersey and New York.
Along the way, Mekanism will be creating three documentary films outlining the journey and the pictures captured as four friends hand the camera to people they run across. The first mini-documentary–Don’t Be Afraid to Get Lost–has just been wrapped, chronicling the first leg of the sojourn.
Tommy Means is creative director for Mekanism on the project. Mekanism’s Tony Benna serves as director, part of the creative team and shares editing duties with Ethan Indorf who is also the DP. Benna additionally handled 2nd camera duties. Katie Matson and Beth Shulman served as exec producer and line producer, respectively, for Mekanism. Design director was Mekanism’s Dieter Wiechmann.
The overall campaign–dubbed “The Samsung Coast-to-Coast Photo Post”–is already yielding a significant amount of content, including photo galleries on Picasa and Flickr, Twitter feeds, a YouTube channel and a tumblr blog–all Samsung branded. Prior to Mekanism starting this campaign, Samsung Camera USA had no digital presence. At press time the client has more than 50,000 Facebook fans and counting. The Facebook page and the road trip experience thus far can be seen here.
Here’s the first mini-documentary, Don’t Be Afraid to Get Lost:
Directors Amy+Pilar and Jose Antonio Prat Join Reform School
Boutique content production company Reform has added comedy directing duo Amy+Pilar (Amy York Rubin and Pilar Boehm) and award-winning multicultural director Jose Antonio Prat to its roster for U.S. representation spanning commercials and branded entertainment.
Partners in both life and art, Amy+Pilar are know for their sharp wit and comedic timing. Their synchronicity is evident in a body of work across TV, film and commercials. Prior to joining Reform School, Amy+Pilar had been repped in the ad market by production company Knucklehead.
Amy has directed high-profile comedy sketches featuring stars like Amy Schumer, Kate McKinnon, and Sarah Silverman. On the episodic front, Amy has helmed for series such as Fresh Off the Boat, Casual, Superstore and Angie Tribeca--as well as the pilot for the hit Netflix comedy Dead to Me.
Before joining forces with Amy behind the camera, Pilar was a psychotherapist, a background that informs her ability to create fascinating characters and stage irresistible, nuanced performances. Amy and Pilar’s shared passion for comedy brought them together. Their collaboration began with a Synchrony Bank campaign, starring cult-comedy favorite Maribeth Monroe (Workaholics), and they went on to direct the pilot of the Hulu series Love, Victor. Amy+Pilar’s ad fare also includes spots for Uber’s “Go-Get” campaign and “Shift,” starring Martin Starr.
“We have been fans of Amy and Pilar for a long time,” said Ryan Ennis, executive director at Reform School. “They excel at capturing comedic performances and dialogue. Coming from the TV and L.A. comedy scenes, they’ve built a strong following and collaborated with some of our favorite funny people.... Read More