News on the March: Highlights from our 2011 Headlines
It was a big year for Lance Acord (seen here). Find out why with this quick review of the top news stories found on SourceEcreative from the past year.
Movers, Shakers and Hitmakers Were
the Big Stories of 2011
What made news at SourceEcreative this year? Mostly cross-continent
company expansions, new brands in the visual effects and
design field and the rise of digital production.
By Anthony Vagnoni
It's been a big year for news here at SourceEcreative. So far this year we've published almost 250 news articles about ad agencies, production houses, directors, editors, awards shows and the like. And for some members of the advertising and production community – like Park Pictures Partner and Director Lance Acord – it's been a very good year.
Acord directed what's arguably been one of the most-lauded TV commercials of the year in the US, Volkswagen's "The Force" spot, which debuted on the Super Bowl and is still generating industry buzz. (Adweek magazine recently named it one of the Top Ten Spots of the year).
In addition, Acord this year announced the formation of a feature film division, Park Pictures Features, along with his Park Pictures partner Jackie Kelman Bisbee and two feature film veterans, Galt Niederhoffer and Sam Bisbee. The division, launched just this past spring, will be bringing its first feature, "Robot & Frank," to the Sundance Film Festival.
There was a lot to learn about on SourceEcreative this year. We posted a ton of new work from around the world - in total, our members uploaded over 16,000 TV commercials, web videos, music videos, feature and short film excerpts and other bits of video content this year. We featured 1,600 TV and web spots in our "Breaking Spots" feature, one of the industry's most-watched indicators of new work, new trends and new creative solutions. Literally millions of spots and showreels were screened by our users worldwide.
So what made news this year on our site? Here's a sampling of some of the major headlines from the past 12 months:
Underscoring the continued integration of advertising and entertainment, the US and UK-based production house Moxie Pictures launched a talent management division early this year.
BBDO and MJZ came out on top of the 2010 Gunn Report, thanks in large part to the work of Almap BBDO in Brazil. BETC Euro RSCG's "Closet" spot for Canal + was named the most-awarded TVC of 2010, while MJZ led the production company chart and earned the distinction of being the most successful production company in the 12-year run of the report of Gunn.
Gravity, the international visual effects studio with bases in Israel and New York, opened an office in Santa Monica. The move was made to better serve the shop's growing work in features and TV programming.
The AICP made news with two major announcements. First, it announced a category for Direction to its venerable Art & Technique of the American Commercial, and it unveiled its new Standard Production Agreement for digital production companies, developed by its newly formed Digital Chapter. The latter was discussed at a meeting at QuietMan in New York of various ad agency heads of production and members of the Digital Chapter, organized by SourceEcreative.
Super Bowl 45 hits the airwaves, introducing us to "The Force," via Deutsch, Los Angeles, along with a host of other major new TV spots. SourceEcreative provides a wrap up of who the major production, post production, visual effects and music and sound players were in our post-game report.
In London, the Advertising Producers Association (APA) held another of its "The Future of Advertising in One Afternoon" seminars, partnering with the UK's ad agency association, the IPA, and Contagious magazine. Later in the year, the group held one of its London Ad Forums in Mumbai. These traveling seminars are opportunities for the APA to show off the best work coming out of London's production community to advertising communities around the world.
ADFEST, the Asian advertising festival, returns to Phuket, Thailand, after a year of disruption due to the political protests that rocked the Thai capital of Bangkok. SourceEcreative was, as usual, on the scene, and brought back pictures and a wrap-up of the event.
Executive Producer Blair Stribley partners with production house Backyard and post production company Optimus to launch a new L.A.-based production company, Mighty, while in New York, Stairway 9, the parent of BlueRock, opens Scarlett, a design and visual effects boutique dedicated to the luxury and fashion and beauty markets.
SourceEcreative is next on the scene in India, first with a major event held at Juhu Beach in partnership with UK Trade & Investment, as a way to officially welcome our service to the burgeoning Indian ad community. Later, at the Indian ad conclave known as Goafest, we covered the top winners, which included the Mumbai production company Footcandles Films (profiled on SourceEcreative here). Top agencies at the show include Ogilvy and Mudra.
With festivals on the mind, we next head to South America where FIAP is on tap. We visit with Daniel Marcet, Director General of one of the major competitions in Latin America, to talk about creative trends and what the show means for the region.
The Moving Picture Company, better known as MPC, announces the first of several major US expansions in 2011, the first being the launch of a studio in New York, to complement its offices in Los Angeles and London. Later in the year, the studio announces the launch of MPC Creative in the US. The service is designed to handle projects from start to finish.
Still in the Big Apple, the Association of Independent Creative Editors holds its 10th Annual Awards ceremony. The editorial houses Beast and Big Sky are among the top winners of AICE Awards. And of course we're on hand at the awards bash to grab a few snaps of the legends of post.
In Germany, BBDO Proximity Head of Production Steffen Gentis mounts an effort to get production houses to begin estimating the carbon output of various means of producing jobs, as a way of comparing how 'green' a job will be. Later in the year, he convenes a meeting of German production executives who've been testing the Carbon Film Quote process to see how they've been making out.
The US and Indian-based Gobsmack! announces a co-representation deal with Anonymous Content for India, while production veterans Steve Dickstein and Philip Detchmendy launch a new production company with the cheeky name Alive & Well.
More moves: two new production houses open in L.A. Big Block, comprised of former partners of SWAY, is a digital production studio with an emphasis on visual effects, while Aviate specializes in digital workflows by handling tapeless tagging for retail and other clients.
In New York, the Directors Guild of America hosts a panel of directing legends to talk about the TV commercials business. Bob Giraldi, Joe Pytka, George Gomes, Bryan Buckley and Jim Gartner take part in a lively panel moderated by Jeff Goodby of Goodby, Silverstein & Partners.
At the 20th AICP Show, MJZ once again comes out on top with the most spots in the collection, while Nike and Target dominate the show's NEXT Awards. Later, we take to the sculpture garden of the Museum of Modern Art to capture the celebration.
Members of the post production community meet with executives from SourceEcreative parent company DG to talk about issues pertaining to tapeless workflow for spot distribution. Later that same day, the DG team meets with a group of agency production heads to talk about the impending implementation of the CALM Act, which regulates commercial loudness.
Nike's "Write the Future," produced by Independent in London and Anonymous Content, takes the Film Grand Prix in Cannes.
The European production house Savage, headed up by Pavla Burgetova Callegari, opens in the US.
More new production brands take a bow: the production house DNA opens a satellite company named Artists & Derelicts (AND) that specializes in the trend toward transmedia content (i.e., cross-platform work). It also announces a slate of new signings.
Biscuit Filmworks becomes the latest US-based production company to open an office in London, naming Orlando Wood as its London-based EP.
Back in the States, the AICP Production Survey is released, a detailed look inside trends in production among AICP member companies. The findings track positive developments for US-based production companies, with spending on the rise and more work being shot in the US.
Director Richard D'Alessio and EP Adam Bloom launch a new production house called Kontagious; with offices in L.A. and Toronto, it's catching both north and south of the border.
SourceEcreative parent DG completes the acquisition of rich media company MediaMind, creators of the Eyeblaster rich media ad unit. A top global player in digital media distribution, the company extends DG into the interactive space and gives it a strong international footprint. It also gives SourceEcreative users access to its extensive Creative Zone archive of rich media ads.
The Chicago office of Euro RSCG names Elena Robinson as its new Director of Integrated Production.
The L.A.-based visual effects and design studio Ntropic opens in New York, while the Chicago-based post production boutique Utopic joins in the 'concept to completion' trend by adding a full-up production division.
In London, the APA Show marks its tenth anniversary by returning to where it all started, at the Victoria & Albert Museum. SourceEcreative is on hand as Partizan and Rattling Stick emerge as the top UK production companies at the show.
Woodshop, a new design and animation studio, opens in L.A., while Fresh Editorial, a new creative editorial house, opens with offices on both US coasts.
Brian DiLorenzo departs BBDO New York and moves to McCann, where he takes the new title of Chief Production Officer. The move reunites him with Linus Karlsson, Chairman and Chief Creative Officer of McCann New York and London, with whom he worked at Fallon.
Crossroads launches a Digital Content Division and names David Lamb to head it up.
The AICP announces a slate of seminars and workshops for its second annual conference, including a client panel organized by SourceEcreative. After the event, which drew a packed house at the Times Center in Manhattan, we reported on the panels and captured some images of the conference attendees.
In a major trans-oceanic move, the London powerhouse Rattling Stick announces the opening of an office in the US, based in L.A.
And in another cross-continent jump, the UK-based post production shop STITCH partners with former Cut + Run Editor Dan Swietlik to open a STICH in L.A.
Bodega, the sister company to New York-based post house Northern Lights, acquires San Francisco's Hoytyboy and opens an office there, headed by EP Clint Goldman.
Former Zoic Studios Partner and EP Steve Schofield and a team of new partners officially launch the digital and visual effects studio Modus Operandi. Other new shops announcing their launch include The Traveling Picture Show Company, led by Director Chris Woods.
Dramas and documentaries produced by directors and production houses with strong ties to advertising are among the top titles slated for the upcoming Sundance Film Festival, with work from Nonfiction Unlimited's Stacy Peralta and the new Park Pictures Features leading the way.
The annual production cost survey conducted by the US ad agency trade group the 4As is released, showing a relatively minimal rise in the production of an average national TV spot, while post production costs rose 14 percent.
Finally, the L.A.-based commercial, music video and branded content production house HELLO! announces a deal with content provided by Front Row Networks to produce 3D concerts for broadcast, DVD and pay-per-view markets.
And that's just a sampling of what we covered.
Published 30 December, 2011
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