RETURN ENGAGEMENT FOR GOODBY SPOTSWhile Major League Baseball’s release last month of the Mitchell Report on the illegal use of steroids and other performance-enhancing drugs dredged up some unseemly accusations–and questions about the ethics and competence of those who are the supposed guardians of the game–on the flip side it also served as a catalyst for the resurrection of an amusing ad campaign spoofing the controversy. The California Milk Processor Board’s “got milk?”-tagged spots, “Caught” and “Never Poured,” first debuted on TV in 2005. Conceived by Goodby, Silverstein & Partners, San Francisco, the :30s allude to a powerful substance with extensive performance-building powers–of course, the substance turns out to be milk. For instance, in “Caught,” a sports anchor tells us of a baseball hitter being pulled from a game after testing positive for a performance-enhancing substance. The spot cuts to a chaotic team clubhouse where a search reveals a half-gallon of milk hidden in the player’s locker. Both “Caught” and “Never Poured” were directed by Mike Maguire (now of The Directors Bureau, Hollywood). Now in their return engagement, the spots began airing on Dec. 31 and will run through the week of Jan. 28.

WHITE PAPER TRAIL
The Visual Effects Society (VES) is launching a new white paper program beginning this year. To better service and educate the entertainment industry on the practice and business of VFX, the VES is planning to publish several white papers in ’08 that cover relevant topics.  The first paper, titled “The State of VFX,” is due out in March and will cover how the evolution of the visual effects field has affected the industry as a whole. The first VES paper will cover the industry transition to a digital-dominated production paradigm and how it is being driven by rapid changes in technology.  Other issues to be addressed are economic and creative and how they all affect each other. “The State of VFX,” will explore three key issues: The eroding lines of production phases; the demands of new roles in the production process and industry misperceptions that VFX is fast, cheap and easy to do. It will include information and opinions from the 2007 VES Think Tank, comprised of leaders from the visual effects and software industries, as well as many in-depth one-on-one interviews. “This will be the beginning of an important industry-wide dialogue led by the practitioners who experience these changes on a daily basis,” said Jeff Okun, chair of the VES.  “Key issues need to be addressed now, not only within the visual effects industry, but as part of an industry-wide initiative to move the art and business of filmmaking forward.”

PEOPLE IN THE NEWSNew York-based design/VFX house Manic has brought Melissa Warhaftig on board as executive producer/director of operations. She will work with exec producer/head of sales James Braddock to develop and implement a growth strategy for the company. She comes to Manic by way of jumP Editorial where she was a supervising producer handling that shop’s Maybelline work. Prior to that, Warhaftig was a broadcast producer with JWT, New York….Peter Erazmus, formerly of Chicago Recording Company, has joined Audio Producers Group, Chicago, as its head sound designer….

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