Michael Fink, Hollywood visual effects veteran and Academy Award winner, has directed his first Indian TV commercial for Lotte Coffy Bite candy. Fink is president, VFX Worldwide at Prime Focus, India’s leading visual entertainment services company. The Mumbai-based company was appointed by Rediffusion-Y&R and MAD Entertainment for the toffee brand’s latest TV commercial.
The commercial shows that the Coffee-Toffee argument propagated by the Coffy Bite brand has moved beyond humankind and into the realm of the animal kingdom. The ad shows two frogs – Leo and Dino – vying for a Coffy Bite. Because the frogs needed to emote and converse, they had to be completely created using CGI and visual effects, with each frog having its own unique and distinct characteristics. To view on YouTube click here.
Commenting on his first time experience directing a commercial in India, Michael Fink, president VFX Worldwide, Prime Focus said, “It was a delightful experience to be working on an Indian TV commercial. This is a tipping point for Indian advertising with increased exposure and involvement of global specialists in Indian advertising projects. I hope to be associated with many more challenging projects like the Coffy Bite commercial in the future.”
Fink’s direction of the Coffy Bite commercial follows his involvement on the recent McDonald’s “No Fry Left Behind” campaign for DDB Chicago, which was shortlisted at the Cannes Lions International Advertising Festival in June. Fink consulted on the McDonald’s spot, which was posted by Prime Focus in London. The global cascading of skills and talent from feature films to commercials is a key part of the Prime Focus “Worldsourcing” business model.
Merzin Tavaria, lead visual effects supervisor, Prime Focus commented, “The success of this commercial is attributed to the brilliant teamwork between Rediffusion-Y&R and Prime Focus. The creative idea developed by Rediffusion was well structured, which allowed us to execute it so realistically. In the process, we are happy to be playing a role in catapulting India into the global VFX arena.”
“The Coffy Bite commercial marks the globalization of Indian advertising,” said Namit Malhotra, founder and global CEO, Prime Focus. “We’re proud to be at the leading edge of this trend and hope to see more of this confluence of the West with Indian advertising. This process was made possible due to our Global Digital Pipeline business model, which allows us to leverage our resources and technology from across our global locations with spectacular results that were delivered on time and on budget.”
Minakshi Achan, EVP and executive creative director, Rediffusion-Y&R, South said, “It’s a pleasure to work with a team that supports and executes an idea this effectively. The idea of taking the Coffee-Toffee argument beyond our own world was interesting to begin with, and we’re pleased with the level of detailing and realization put in by the Prime Focus team.”
“Everyone loves the coffee-toffee argument but we wanted to take the story to a magical argument. This commercial captures the story most charmingly. The animation is truly world-class and brings the concept alive through a level of execution unseen so far,” says Kishore Karumbiah, creative head, Rediffusion-Y&R, Chennai.
Michael Fink received an Academy Award in 2008 for Best Visual Effects for “The Golden Compass.” His volume of work includes prestigious Hollywood projects such as “Tropic Thunder,” “X-Men,” “X2,” “Lethal Weapon 4,” “Constantine” and “Mars Attacks!”
Production Credits
Brand – Coffy Bite
Creative agency – Rediffusion-Y & R, Chennai
Production House – MAD Entertainment
Producer – Sunil Manchanda
Director – Michael Fink, President Visual Effects Worldwide, Prime Focus
Post production House – Prime Focus
VFX supervisor – Merzin Tavaria, Chief Creative Director, Prime Focus
About Prime Focus Limited (PFL)
Prime Focus Limited is India’s leading integrated end-to-end post production and visual effects services house. It offers a comprehensive spectrum of services ranging from visual effects, digital film lab (digital intermediate, high-resolution film scanning and film recording), telecine, editing, motion control and High Definition production.
Currently PFL employs nearly 1800 people and operates out of facilities in Mumbai, Chennai, Hyderabad, Goa, London, New York, Winnipeg, Vancouver and Los Angeles. PFL’s full service capabilities empower filmmakers, ad filmmakers and television producers with the latest tools and techniques to refine their work in the post production & production environment.
For more information on Prime Focus Limited please visit: www.primefocus.co.in
