V12, a broadcast design and production company based in Hollywood, has formed a division, dubbed Project V12, to provide design, animation and production services for high-end Web sites and other interactive media. The company has hired Mindi Lipschultz, former executive producer of the Internet entertainment and commerce site Exxperia.com, to head Project V12 as senior producer. Richard Feldman, who had been president of the Web design and development firm Omnigate.com, comes aboard as chief technical officer.
Creative services for the new Hollywood venture will be performed by current V12 directors, designers and artists under the direction of V12 founders, executive creative director David Hwang and executive producer Steve Lavy.
For its first assignment, Project V12 has been hired to design and develop Blue Cow’s entertainment and commerce site for children. Project V12 is also producing two original cartoon pilots for the BlueCow site, employing the latest in Macromedia Flash technology. Ming Hsiung is Project V12’s resident Flash designer.
The formation of Project V12 gives a formal structure for the type of work that V12 has been pursuing on an informal basis for several months. The company was recently contracted by Creative Artists Agency, Beverly Hills, to design and execute an experimental enhanced CD-ROM for its client Coca-Cola. In addition, V12 recently teamed with Santa Monica-based music production company Ear to Ear to produce a Web site demo for Mitsubishi showcasing new interactive sound and 3-D animation features now available via Mitsubishi for Web applications.
The spread of high-speed Internet connections, coupled with the growing sophistication of video streaming and Web animation technology, has created a demand for high-level design skills, reasoned Lavy. V12 has produced motion graphics for numerous national TV commercials for advertisers such as Dodge, Wendy’s and Oldsmobile, and broadcast promos for MTV, Cartoon Network and PBS.
"We are getting closer to the day when it will be possible to deliver broadcast-quality video over the Internet," said V12 executive producer Steve Lavy. "This, then, is the right time for broadcast designers to become involved in the Web. We can provide the talent, the resources and the experience necessary to create rich and environmental Web experiences."
Lipschultz is well versed in the application of high-quality design to new media. She is a former co-founder, executive producer and co-director of Los Angeles-based L@it2’d, which is billed as being one of the first digital design and animation boutiques for broadcast and interactive media. Her credits there spanned a broad range of media, including feature films (DreamWorks’ The Peacemaker), music videos (for such artists as Janet Jackson and Rod Stewart) and commercials (AT&T). Additionally L@it2’d produced show opens for ABC, NBC, HBO, Fox and Disney, as well as media for Internet sites, and interactive television applications for Microsoft. Lipschultz’s most recent venture, Exxperia.com, was formed to provide entertainment-based content for the Web and broadband, utilizing cutting-edge 3-D and Web animation technology.
Prior to co-founding L@it2’d, Lipschultz was a television producer and editor in New York City for 15 years. She edited more than a dozen TV series for PBS, HBO and CBS. In 1989, she was nominated for an Emmy Award for editing the PBS Series The Eleventh Hour.
In discussing her reasons for joining Project V12, Lipschultz said she was enticed by the opportunity to build a new entity and to make an impact on a market that is just beginning to emerge. "Our goal is to utilize the interactive nature of the Internet to create a new realm of advertising content where users can access specific information presented in an entertaining fashion," she said. "V12 offers expertise and creative skills that are sorely needed on the Web. Most importantly, this company has the resources and the commitment necessary to make its vision a reality."
Feldman founded Omnigate.com in 1995 and through it has developed Web sites for a variety of corporate, entertainment, and fine arts entities. Concurrently, he has served as VP of Hollywood-based Internet service provider Fastlink Network. His background also includes credits in the motion picture and recording industries, as he has worked for director Harold Ramis’ Ocean Pictures on films (e.g.—Multiplicity and Stuart Saves His Family), and as a recording engineer with the band Fleetwood Mac.
Feldman also served as director of recording services at Soundstream Digital, a Salt Lake City, Utah-based digital tape recorder manufacturer founded by audio pioneer Dr. Thomas G. Stockham. While there, Feldman helped to implement some of the industry’s first digital audio recording and editing technology. During his Soundstream tenure, Feldman traveled worldwide, recording audiophile albums for Dave Grusin, Lee Rittenour, Tom Scott and Telarc Records. Feldman began his career with the Hollywood studio Wally Heider Recording.
Project V12 is the latest in a series of growth initiatives undertaken by V12 over the past several months. The company recently launched a broadcast television division that is currently producing a weekly series for Direct TV. Six months ago, the company underwent a move and a change of ownership as co-founders Lavy and Hwang purchased the interest held in V12 by Virgin Digital Studios, Los Angeles.
According to Hwang, V12’s venture into new media through Project V12 is a natural outgrowth of its core business in advertising and broadcast television. "Project V12 was created to bridge the gap between the current advertising model and the still largely unknown future model," Hwang said. "We will continue to aggressively pursue traditional advertising and broadcast work, as they have been the key to our success. But new opportunities are arising and so we are also moving along a parallel path, one that holds great promise for our future."
