In a nationwide effort to combat the childhood obesity epidemic, McCann New York and the Ad Council are launching new public service advertisements (PSA) that promote physical activity and healthy eating among children, ages 6-12. The Greatest Action Movie Ever (G.A.M.E.) campaign was developed in collaboration with KIDZ BOP to encourage kids to “Bring Out The Action Hero in You” with cool moves and supercharged foods. All kids are now invited to become a part of the Action Hero Alliance by auditioning for a role in G.A.M.E., a new original short movie debuting in Spring 2012, by uploading a video to KIDZBOP.com, the leading safe social network for kids and tweens. nn”In the battle against childhood obesity, running a traditional TV campaign seems counterintuitive. After all, what good is a commercial if kids end up watching it on the sofa with a bag of chips on their lap?”ย said, Jesse Potack, McCann New York Creative Director/Writer.ย Added Benjamin Vendramin, Creative Director/Art Director, “Our challenge was how do you get 6-12-year olds up and moving? This idea takes something kids loveโaction moviesโto get them doing something they usually resistโbeing active and eating right.”nn
nnThe new television and digital PSAs drive to www.ActionHeroAlliance.com, where educational information and recommendations for healthy eating and physical activities are provided. The website will also contain information about how children can submit their audition videos for G.A.M.E through KIDZBOP.com. nn”Despite an increased awareness of the childhood obesity crisis in America, a large number of children and their families are still not making healthy eating and fitness a lifelong priority,” said Peggy Conlon, president and CEO of the Ad Council. “We are thrilled to collaborate with McCann New York and KIDZ BOP to engage children nationwide to become a part of a healthy movement through G.A.M.E.”nnLights! Camera! Action! KIDZ BOP is holding a nationwide casting call for G.A.M.E. at KIDZBOP.com, inviting kids to audition for an all-new short movie that puts real kids in the action! Physical activity and eating well are key to the plot and through awesome moves and super charged foods kids can use their ultimate potential to be just like their favorite superheroes. Kids can now audition for the first three scenes, “Join the Alliance,” “Supersonic Hearing” and “High-Speed” Chase” by uploading a short video to KIDZBOP.com. The audition videos will be voted on by kids and the winners will receive prizes that promote healthy habits, such as Wii game consoles, bikes and athletic equipment. The best videos will also be selected by a panel of judges and have a starring role in the G.A.M.E. movie. G.A.M.E auditions from now through November 30, 2011 and the short movie will premiere in 2012. nnKIDZBOP.com will also host special digital PSAs starring the KIDZ BOP Kids, which encourage kids get to moving and make healthier food choices. n n”KIDZ BOP is thrilled to partner with McCann New York and the Ad Council to support G.A.M.E. and First Lady Michelle Obama’s Let’s Move! initiative,” said Craig Balsam and Cliff Chenfeld, Co-Founders of KIDZ BOP. “By enabling kids to create an audition video and upload it to KIDZBOP.com, kids will not only get an opportunity to have fun and express themselves, they’ll continue learn about the importance of an active lifestyle.” nnAnother partner in the initiative is HUSH Studios, (www.heyhush.com) which created the TV PSAs and campaign website, will also build The Greatest Action Movie Ever short by adding special effects to the selected audition videos.nnA complementary series of teen targeted PSAs was developed in collaboration with Twentieth Century Fox. The new television and digital ads feature X-MEN: FIRST CLASS characters performing energetic action moves that encourage audiences to “get energized, get outside, and get moving.” These PSAs direct youth to visit www.ActionHeroAlliance.com where they can download X-Men themed activities and a monthly calendar to track their progress.n nThe PSAs will be distributed this week and per the Ad Council’s model they will run and air in advertising time and space that is donated by the media.nnCreditsnnMCCANN NYnnCreativenLinus Karlsson โ Chairman, Chief Creative Officer McCann NY & LondonnBenjamin Vendramin – Creative Director, ArtnJesse Potack – Creative Director, CopynBobby Davies – Graphic DesignernGrace Ng – Graphic DesignernBill Valentin – Graphic DesignernnProductionnJonathan Shipman – Head of Integrated Broadcast ProductionnCatherine Paterson – Executive ProducernSally Hotchkiss – Executive ProducernStuart Shapiro – Creative Content ProducernJill Ann Toloza – Creative Content ProducernKen Krausgil – Business ManagernnAccountnGrant Wagner – Group DirectornToniAnn Bonande – Group DirectornAllison Foley – Management RepnAnna Farrell – Account ExecutivenMike Bendjouya – Account Executiven nPlanningnErica Yhar – Group Director of Strategic PlanningnJuliana Bogdanski – Srategic Planning DirectornnPost-ProductionnMike Boris – Executive Music ProducernMichael Ladman – Music ProducernGerard McConville – Audio Editor/MixernPhilip Ohler – Manager of Post ProductionnnHUSH STUDIOS INC.nnKey PersonnelnDavid Schwarz – Partner/Creative DirectornErik Karasyk – Partner/Creative DirectornLaura Alejo – Art DirectornJenn Mann – Lead ProducernMichele Watkins – Producer, Post-Production and InteractivenJana Heiss – Production CoordinatornnCommercial ProductionnPeter Rhoads – DirectornGraham Hill – Co-DirectornDana Discordia – Line ProducernAndrea Marroquin – Production SupervisornZak Mulligan – Director of PhotographynTom Gaito – 1st Assistant DirectornMike Drucker – 1st Assistant CameranRodrigo Lopresti – HD TechnBryan Hodge – Art DirectornMaria Luisa Ramirez – GaffernJeremy Rodriguez – Key GripnRabiah Troncelliti – StylistnJordan Long – Hair/Make-upnDonny Tam – Sound MixernJeff Reeves – VTRnPete Burke – LocationsnAlexis Del Prete – Office Production AssistantnJonathan Goldman – Production AssistantnAlex Martinez – Production AssistantnShannon Olivaria – Production AssistantnBrian Wilcox – Storyboard ArtistnnCommercial Post-ProductionnDaniel Renda – DesignernNathan Caswell – EditornJames O’Brien – AnimatornSalih Abdul Karim – AnimatornBen Gabelman – Animation InternnApple Suye Yang – Animation InternnJordan Blit – 3D Modeler/Character AnimatornnInteractivenMatt Knight – Technical LeadnRina Miele – Interactive DesignernnREMOTE DIGITAL MEDIA (RDM)nnSandy BondorowskynnAbout McCann EricksonnMcCann Erickson New York is the flagship and largest office of McCann Erickson Worldwide, the world’s largest advertising agency network, with operations in more than 120 countries and a client roster that includes preeminent global marketers and many of the world’s most famous brands.ย The agency is a unit of McCann Worldgroup, a leading global marketing solutions network, comprised of a collaborative roster of best-in-class agencies that emphasize creativity, innovation and performance. nnAbout The Advertising CouncilnThe Ad Council (www.adcouncil.org) is a private, non-profit organization that marshals talent from the advertising and communications industries, the facilities of the media, and the resources of the business and non-profit communities to produce, distribute and promote public service campaigns on behalf of non-profit organizations and government agencies. The Ad Council addresses issue areas such as improving the quality of life for children, preventive health, education, community well-being, environmental preservation and strengthening families.nnAbout KIDZ BOPnKIDZ BOP is the #1 music brand for kids ages 5-12 in the U.S., featuring today’s most popular songs, sung by kids for kids. KIDZ BOP celebrates the authentic voice of kids across the entire brandโthrough music, videos, live appearances, consumer products and its popular website, KIDZBOP.com, the leading safe social network and video sharing site for kids and tweens with one million registered members. The website provides a completely safe and moderated environment where kids can express themselvesโas themselvesโthrough unique online applications and proprietary functionality. The site’s popular “My Channel” feature lets members safely communicate with friends via our Safe Text Messaging System, which averages more than one million status updates per month. Kids can also safely produce their own Web shows, create and run their own “Super Contests,” upload videos and photos, and make music. To date, KIDZ BOP’s team of expert moderators have screened more than 23,000 hours of video content and nearly half a million photos before they were uploaded to KIDZBOP.com. n nAbout Twentieth Century FoxnTwentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment, LLC (TCFHE) is a recognized global industry leader and a subsidiary of Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation, a News Corporation company. Representing 75 years of innovative and award-winning filmmaking from Twentieth Century Fox, TCFHE is the worldwide marketing, sales and distribution company for all Fox film and television programming, acquisitions and original productions on DVD, Blu-ray Disc Digital Copy, Video On Demand and Digital Download. The company also releases all products globally for MGM Home Entertainment. Each year TCFHE introduces hundreds of new and newly enhanced products, which it services to retail outlets from mass merchants and warehouse clubs to specialty stores and e-commerce throughout the world.McCann Erickson Susan Irwin McCann New York 646-865-3004 Contact Susan via email
Contact:Lisa Cullen The Ad Council 202-331-5052 Contact Lisa via email
Liz Charky Directs a Playful and Reflective Video For Henry Hallโs “Tiny Door”
Directed by Liz Charky, the music video for Henry Hallโs โTiny Doorโ is a playful and profound exploration of the songโs intriguing perspective on love. Silly moments and serious heartbreak are skillfully weaved together in a series of cheeky, dreamy, profound, and sometimesย psychedelicย scenes. โI am a huge fan of love songs that have an unusual, hyper-specific perspective on love,โ says Hall. โThatโs what I wanted to do with โTiny Door.โ Itโs about loving someone unconditionally while recognizing that love is something that isnโt always straightforward โ I think thatโs something we all attempt to come to terms with in our lives. I thought it was a unique yet universal detail about love and therefore an intriguing subject matter for a song. Even though the song is a ballad at its core, it still has a lighthearted sense of humor to it โ thatโs really portrayed well by Liz, and Ellin Aldana, our cinematographer.โ Charky explains, โWhen I first listened to the song, I felt it was a love song full of longing with a kind of wishful melancholy. As I spoke with Henry about his intention behind the lyrics and sound, I was assured that I'd need to explore heartbreak in a nuanced way โ with a degree of levity and playfulness. For me, falling in and out of love runs the full course of human expression. Love and heartbreak can be so emotionally intense and sometimes lonely, other times quite goofy or liberating.ย In developing the concept, I focused on both the literal and figurative ways that falling in and out of love might look like. So, you see Henry and co-star Franny Arnautou falling, flying, dancing, raging, winking, smiling, and... Read More