Leading production and post house Optimus today announced that Santa Monica-based Editor Hovig Menakian cut the Microsoft spot, “Celebrating the Women of 2013.” Airing nationally now, the spot features the bravery and courage of women around the globe who spoke out, broke barriers, overcame tragedy and changed the world in 2013.
Set to Sara Bareilles’s song, “Brave,” “Celebrating the Women of 2013” was created with found material highlighting the many courageous acts of these female heroes, who include: Malala Yousafzi, Margaret Thatcher, Adrianne Haslet-Davis, Gabrielle Giffords, Diana Nyad, Janet Yellen, Antoinette Tuff, Angela Merkel, Edith Windsor, Deb Cohan and women on the front lines.
“Keith and I worked closely with Microsoft’s creative team to determine who we would feature in the spot,” commented Menakian. “Once we had a solid list, we scoured the internet for materials to try to determine what sources to pull from and give it form. Along the way, we discovered more people, and the concept evolved into what it is now. Microsoft had a solid message from the start that allowed us to search for a broad range of women in an extremely fast turnaround time. They made our jobs easy and it was a lot of fun to work with their creative team.”
The spot, which notably aired during the Golden Globe Awards® and GRAMMY® Awards, aims not only to thank remarkable women of 2013, but also to show us what the human spirit can achieve. As the GRAMMY®-nominated Bareilles puts forward in her song, it encourages viewers to “say what you want to say.”
“I have worked with Optimus for years, and I immediately thought of them to edit this spot,” said Rivers. “Given Hovig’s aesthetic, how he tells stories and how he cuts, I knew he would be the perfect fit for the job. We seamlessly teamed with Microsoft’s impressive creative team to complete the project in two weeks. What was amazing was how everyone came together – even third-parties who were licensing footage and images – to showcase the heroic, powerful, risk-taking women of 2013.”
To view Menakian’s full reel, please visit http://www.optimus.com/reels/hovig-menakian/.
About Optimus
Optimus is a leading production and post-production house with offices in Chicago and Santa Monica. A true one-stop shop, Optimus offers a full suite of creative services, including production, editing, color correction, visual effects and design, audio mixing and finishing. With ONE, the company’s live-action production arm, Optimus offers all production services, from shoot through post, under one roof – a singular, streamlined creative-driven machine. For more information, please visit www.optimus.com and http://optimus.com/one. Connect with us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/Optimus161 and www.facebook.com/OneAtOptimus.
