Director Doug Liman (Mr. and Mrs. Smith, The Bourne Identity) via Independent Media, and Lost Planet editor Hank Corwin teamed up with VFX/post house Method and Sonic Union mixer Paul Weiss to make a lost phone search a death-defying adventure in the new :60 “Catch Me If You Can” for Verizon Wireless out of mcgarrybowen. The spot features a man losing his Google Now-enabled Droid in the back of a nightmarishly erratic taxicab, and having to chase it down in action-film-star fashion. Stephen Dewey of Machine Head provided the dynamic sound design, creating a realistic urban environment.
“Catch Me If You Can” opens on a man riding in a taxicab piloted by a distracted and impatient driver. “Three blocks up,” requests the man as the driver yaks on his phone, narrowly avoids accidents and almost misses the destination completely. A title card appears, “Episode I: Rough Ride.” The man gets out of the cab and quickly realizes he left his phone inside, but it’s too late. The cab and phone speed away, sending the man sprinting after. He races through parks and down sidewalks until he’s lost sight of the cab. The ride in the racing cab bounces the phone off the ceiling and slams it against its car doors as a voiceover begins, “Reinforced with scratch-resistant glass and a uni-body made Kevlar strong.” Standing in the street, the man calls out, “OK, Google Now, call my Droid.” Voice activated, the phone rings, allowing him to retrieve it as the voiceover concludes, “The new Droid Ultra by Motorola. When strength matters, Droid does.”
Hunter Williams Named PMI’s Exec Director The Production Music Association, which promotes and protects the rights and interests of publishers and composers of production music for use in film, TV, radio and new media, has appointed Hunter Williams as its executive director. Williams, who will be based in Nashville, replaces Debra Young Krizman who continues with the PMA in her new role as VP, operations.
Prior to joining the PMA, Williams spent 20 years at SESAC, most recently as sr. VP, strategic development/distribution and research operations. During this time, Williams made great strides within the organization overseeing all royalty distribution operations, including the development of distribution and survey methodologies, performance tracking across all applicable media, and the maintenance of the company’s repertory and performance databases. He also oversaw the company’s research and analysis division, which helped drive strategic development by identifying new business opportunities. Under Williams’ leadership, SESAC pioneered the use of digital fingerprint and watermark technologies to track and pay royalties for performances on radio, TV and new media.
People In The News… Paul Abatemarco has joined Brand New School as exec producer of its L.A. office. He hails from past EP positions at MPC Creative and Stardust, and has worked with agencies including TBWA/Chiat/Day, Deutsch, Goodby Silverstein & Partners and Leo Burnett on campaigns for brands such as Nissan, Google, Adidas, American Airlines, and the Grammys….Bicoastal music/sound house Amber has brought Joey Reyes on board as sr. producer. Formerly at music shops Nylon and stimung, Reyes has produced music on spots for Gap, Puma, Levi’s and DirecTV, among others…
