SELECTED SHORTS FROM JOHN ST.Toronto ad agency john st has wrapped a three-spot campaign for Stanfield’s underwear, including “Meat Locker,” featuring a tour of a meat plant in which our guide directs us to an industrial deep freezer that bottoms out at minus 55 degrees. That temperature, says the guide, is enough to freeze a person’s skin in a matter of just a few minutes so no one wants to be stuck in there. He slides open the freezer’s heavy metal door and–to the guide and his guests’ surprise–revealed is a guy talking on a cell phone, seemingly cool (but not frozen) and comfortable. A bit peeved that his phone conversation has been interrupted, the gent closes the door on his uninvited company and keeps on chatting. An end tag carries the slogan, “You don’t have to see them to know who’s wearing them,” a reference to Stanfield’s “Polar-therm” line of underwear. The other two TV spots showcase the manhood of those who wear Stanfield’s regular underwear. In “Guy’s Night Out,” for example, a guy is asked by his office cohorts to join them for a beer after work. At first gung-ho in accepting the invitation, he then backs off, explaining that he has to take his wife to a book club meeting that night. Clearly this man’s masculinity comes up short as evidenced by the shorts he’s wearing that are clearly not Stanfield’s. The TV campaign was directed by Michael Downing of OPC, Toronto (he’s repped stateside by harvest, Santa Monica). The john st creative team included creative directors Stephen Jurisic and Angus Tucker, copywriter Chris Hirsch, art director Nellie Kim and producer Michelle Orlando. The DP was Tico Poulakakis. Editor was Brian Wells of School Editing, Toronto….
TAKING HD BY STORMGlobal ImageWorks (GIW), Haworth, N.J., has exclusive HD footage of Hurricane Dean’s fury and aftermath from Kingston as the category 4 storm battered the southern coast of Jamaica. Also in the HD disasters’ realm, GIW has video of the fire that gutted the 300 room Pegasus Hotel in Kingston, Jamaica, which is where Pakistan cricket coach Bob Woolmer was found dead back in March….
PEOPLE IN THE NEWSChristopher “Pink” Bonnstetter has joined Riot/New York as CG supervisor where he will be responsible for expanding the shop’s CG/visual effects operation. He assumes the staff position after having built a successful “permalance” career that included stints at such studios as Asylum, Believe, Hydraulx and Money Shots. His most recent credits include contributing to effects for such features as Alien vs. Predator 2, Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer and The Invasion. Pink began working on commercials and music videos at Asylum as well. Among his ad credits are spots for Ford, Nintendo, Boeing, Chevy and Coke. He has worked on music videos for such artists as Outkast, Metallica, The Offspring and Dave Matthews Band…Elizabeth Lascoutx, formerly director of the Children’s Advertising Review Unit (CARU) of the Council of Better Business Bureaus, has joined New York media/entertainment law firm Frankfurt Kurnit Klein & Selz as counsel. The hire is in response to increased regulatory concerns about marketing directed at children….
Director Dag Johan Haugerud’s “Dreams (Sex Love)” Wins Top Prize At The Berlin Film Festival
A Norwegian film about love, desire and self-discovery won top honors at the 75th Berlin International Film Festival on Saturday.
A jury headed by American director Todd Haynes awarded the Golden Bear trophy to "Dreams (Sex Love)" by director Dag Johan Haugerud.
Haynes called it a "meditation on love" that "cuts you to the quick with its keen intelligence."
The film focuses on a teenager played by Ella Øverbyer, infatuated with her female French teacher, and the reactions of her mother and grandmother when they discover her private writings. It's the third part of a trilogy Haugerud has completed in the past year. "Sex" premiered at Berlin in 2024, and "Love" was screened at the 2024 Venice Film Festival.
The runner-up Silver Bear prize went to Brazilian director Gabriel Mascaro's dystopian drama "The Blue Trail." Argentine director Ivan Fund's rural saga "The Message" won the third-place Jury Prize.
The best director prize went to Huo Meng for "Living the Land," set in fast-changing 1990s China.
Rose Byrne was named best performer for her role as an overwhelmed mother in the Mary Bronstein-directed "If I Had Legs, I'd Kick You." Andrew Scott won the supporting performer trophy for playing composer Richard Rodgers in Richard Linklater's "Blue Moon."
The climax of the festival known as the Berlinale came on the eve of Germany's parliamentary elections after a campaign dominated by migration and the economy.
The national election is being held seven months early, after Chancellor Olaf Scholz's governing coalition collapsed in a dispute about how to revitalize the country's economy.
Efforts to curb migration have emerged as a central issue in the campaign — along with the question of how to handle the... Read More