Enter by 11:59pm PDT – Monday, March 28th, 2022
AICP Awards Eligibility Period: Work entered must have aired between April 26th, 2021 and March 27th, 2022
The 2022 AICP Week, composed of The AICP Post Awards, The AICP Next Awards, and The AICP Show, will be held in June.
Stay tuned to aicp.com for details. Please contact Katie Mulligan at katiem@aicp.com with any questions.
Design-first creative studio ATKPLN has expanded its footprint to Chicago with the addition of Larissa Berringer as Executive Producer. She joins ATKPLN’s existing team of talented artists and producers in Dallas to build out a new Chicago presence and keep the crew in check. This hire sweeps ATKPLN into the Windy City, with the hope that she’ll be allowed into the swarms of establishments ATKPLN Executive Creative Director Daniel DelPurgatorio has already been banned from. This expansion is aligned with an evolution of ATKPLN’s look along with a hyper-focus on building a culture that embraces joy in the creative process.
With the driving force of recently added Executive Creative Director Daniel DelPurgatorio, the growth into Chicago comes along with an extreme home makeover for the company, punching up the brand, website and overall vibes they’re putting out into the world. DelPurgatorio (or “The Award-Winning Daniel,” as he makes us call him) joined the team to bring excitement, a flair for break dancing, and a woodsy scent to the existing ATKPLN formula for creative magic.
Larissa got her start as a production assistant on the hit (pun intended) Showtime series “Weeds.” Trading the sunny, temperate weather and crime of Los Angeles for the relentlessly unforgiving winters and crime of Chicago and transitioned into the VFX industry. As Executive Producer at Vitamin Pictures, she split her time between babysitting and transforming the company from a scrappy startup to a high end creative boutique ripe for acquisition. She made the move to The Mill as Senior Producer before taking on the role as the U.S. Executive Producer of Design at Framestore, building the company’s design offering nationally.
Notes DelPurgatorio, “This is where I would insert a really quotable quote about Larissa, if I were going to add a quote. I have the best quotes.”
While a new website and overhauled brand have the ATKPLN team feeling fresh going into the new year, it’s–as always–what’s on the inside that counts. Although being nimble and innovative are mainstays for a creative shop that they simply can’t ignore, after a period of reflection and contemplation (staying home will force you to do that), they’re doubling down on their core ethos as a world class animation studio, infusing personality and vibe into characters, products, and worlds–with a deliberate element of fun at every turn.
This year for H-E-B’s holiday campaign we at Plot Twist Creativity, wanted to commemorate once again being able to celebrate together. During the holiday season, the table becomes so much more than the place we eat. It’s the place we gather, play, joke, tell stories, bake, wrap presents, build gingerbread houses, and most importantly, build memories. For two of these spots, we showed how different Texans gather around the table, using a left to right panning motion to link each scene together.
Our creative team Rachel Dawer and Sonia Amin, thought up a fun visual montage of classic holiday scenarios edited to the 1970’s Captain and Tennille tune, “Love Will Keep Us Together.” Rachel stated, “We wanted a song that was both upbeat that had some nostalgia to it, since the holidays are a time to celebrate family traditions and memories. It was also important that the song choice promote a message of togetherness, especially after last year’s gatherings being smaller.”
We wanted to keep that same energy and ease when it came to our work for H-E-B’s curbside & delivery offering. This commercial shows how with H-E-B’s convenient shopping options, families can spend less time on their holiday to-do list and more time on their want-to-do list.
For this campaign, we partnered with production company, Bunker, and director Anton Jøsef. charlieuniformtango handled the post production, with Adam Henderson as the editor.
Henderson added, “Working on these spots with Plot Twist was such a fun experience. I was able to spend 4 full days around Austin with the team, which was less like work and more of a bonding experience.”
Watch spots…
The Dixie Fire — one of the largest, most destructive wildfires in California’s history — reduced towns, homes, and lives to ashes. And yet, hope remains. In that spirit, Hope Rises is an organized effort to help rebuild the community and town of Greenville, California and the surrounding communities of Plumas County that were destroyed by the fires. The effort is the work of The Richards Group which delivered strategy, creative, and in-house production, and partnered with Camp Lucky to provide post production services for the centerpiece PSA.
The Richards Group’s involvement with developing the initiative was inspired by agency creative writer Jay Cook, who is originally from Greenville and witnessed her close-knit town devastated by wildfire. Rallying around the community, The Richards Group’s production team traveled to California while the fires were still underway and worked with local authorities on safe ways to shoot the videos and produce the content. Camp Lucky was honored to lend support with editorial, color, graphics and sound design & mix for the powerful call to action.
DIRECTED BY:
Paul Nelson & Ben Winter
Agency: THE RICHARDS GROUP
Glenn Dady, Chief Executive Officer
Sue Batterton, Chief Creative Officer
Sean Donovan, Chief Innovation Officer
Chris Ferrel, Chief Strategy Officer
Paul Nelson, Head of TRG Studios
Cassie Greenwald, Senior Producer
Sara Sax, Director, Business Affairs
Kerstin Fredrickson, Business Affairs, Print
Corey Austin, Head of Creative Technology
Danny Bryan, Group Creative Director
Arthur Stewart, Brand Creative, Art Director
Sam Langford, Brand Creative, Art Director
Jay Cook, Brand Creative, Writer
Whitney Plonka, Brand Management
Post: CAMP LUCKY
Tammie Kleinmann, Partner
Jessica Berry, Executive Producer
Kendall Kendall & Jennifer Brannon, Post Producer
Marc Stone, Senior Editor
Neil Anderson, Colorist
Mark Sullivan & Tim Nagle, Flame Artist
Seth Olson, Graphics
Matt Cimino, Sound Design/Mix
Jake Odgers & Matt Fritsche, Assistant Editor
Music: STOREFRONT MUSIC
Adam Elk, Partner
B Muñoz, Head of Production
John “Scrapper” Sneider, Partner
Kari Steinert, Composer
ReelFX releases their latest animation project, “Back to the Outback”, scheduled to release on Netflix December 10th. It’s about a group of Australia’s deadliest animals feeling sick and tired of being locked up in a reptile house for humans to stare at them like they’re monsters, so they all decide to make a break for it and escape the zoo to live freely in the Australian Outback. The leader of the group is a poisonous snake with a heart of gold named Maddie, who joins forces with a Thorny Devil lizard named Zoe, a hairy spider named Frank, and a sensitive scorpion named Nigel. All seem to go according to plan, until an adorable yet annoying Koala named Pretty Boy insists on tagging along. The animals do their best to escape to the Outback, all the while the zookeeper Chaz and his mini-me are hot on the trail.
“Back to the Outback” boasts a pretty impressive voice cast featuring Isla Fisher, Tim Minchin, Eric Bana, Guy Pearce, Miranda Tapsell, Angus Imrie, Keith Urban, Jacki Weaver, Rachel House, Celeste Barber, and Wayne Knight.
Daniela Mazzucato produces, and Weed Road Pictures’ Akiva Goldsman and Greg Lessans, who developed the story with Cripps, are executive producers.
Music will come from Rupert Gregson-Williams (Aquaman) and songs will be by Tim Minchin (Broadway’s Matilda). Animation and imagery will come from ReelFX.
Said director Knight: “I have always been touched by stories of hidden beauty. Maddie is both uniquely beauty and beast, and to get to present that message in comedy is the icing on the cake.”
Added writer-director Harry Cripps: “Growing up in Australia, I spent a lot of time in the Blue Mountains which has many different types of snakes and spiders, and I always preferred them to the cute cuddly animals, so it’s such a treat to make a film where the heroes are these poisonous but beautiful little creatures. This film is a love letter to Australia’s incredibly diverse and unique wildlife.”
Dallas area based Twelve 37 Filmworks is expanding its body of work, and is showcasing it with a new YouTube channel. The production outfit, owned by feature film and music video director Steven Gaddis, was founded in 2019 to unleash his film, Live from the Astroturf, Alice Cooper, on the world. That film saw immediate success as it toured film festivals across the world, and is in preparation for release on video and streaming platforms. Live from the Astroturf, Alice Cooper was followed by a number of music videos from artists including Alice Cooper, Halls of the Machine, and The Polyphonic Spree.
Now the award-winning music-based film production outfit is branching out to include high-end promos and ads for businesses. September saw the first promo campaign for ER Of Texas debut. It was followed in October with the first ad for The Shops At Legacy North. Both were clients of Magen Communications, who sought out Gaddis for videography and editing. He was happy to apply his directing and editing skills in a new way. As he put it, “Just like musicians are passionate about their songs, local business owners and managers get excited about their brand and products. It’s that passion that sparks my inspiration. It’s great to see their efforts come together, expressed in sound and video!”
The YouTube channel, conveniently titled “Twelve 37 Filmworks,” currently showcases both music videos and promos the company created in the past year, but will soon include more of Steven Gaddis’s previous work as well as the company’s future output as it becomes available.
For more information, contact: Steven Gaddis at steven.gaddis@twelve37filmworks.com
What do you get when you blend a beautiful woman wearing elegant clothing with captivating imagery from the DFW area? A beautifully shot video from Equilateral for FORTY FIVE TEN, a downtown Dallas boutique that merges fashion, art & design while championing the new, the unconventional, the eclectic and the inspired.
The campaign idea to use visuals from iconic DFW locations, came from FORTY FIVE TEN Creative Director, Jonathan Merla. He was inspired by a series of sculptures on which the blue egg background sculpture is based. The egg image is seen throughout the entire video in numerous visual effects.
Using Jonathan’s sculptural idea as a springboard, Equilateral’s Director Roger Peters brought a vibrant and ethereal vision to the project. Merging shots of grass, blue egg, skyscrapers, and an art museum as the background visuals, he showcased product shots and model close-ups.
It was important for Jonathan and Roger to find a balance of captivating imagery while showcasing the elegance of the clothing.
Equilateral shot at 3 vastly different DFW locations including a farm, an art gallery and at the top of a parking garage. The result is a promotional video that fulfills the promise of the boutique: to merge fashion, art, and design.
Credits:
Director: Roger Peters, Equilateral
Editor/VFX: Max Smith, Equilateral
Executive Producer: Jessica Cramer, Equilateral
Creative Director: Jonathan Merla | FORTY FIVE TEN
Model: Makayla Harmon, Kim Dawson
Equilateral recently released new work from their clients at PLEXOR! The spots were directed by Roger Peters, turnkey-ed by Equilateral and written by Matt Christensen. They are 3 comedic spots featuring super cool and talented actor, Kamen Casey, who plays the character Max. Wearing a PLEXOR outfit that resembles a NASCAR pit crew member’s uniform, Max demonstrates just how easy it is to use the new PLEXOR oven from TurboChef. With one plug, one touch control, 3 different vent-less cooking technologies, the new PLEXOR oven offers “Automation That Wins Every Time.”
Check out the spots…
Rusty Hill had a giant opportunity to shoot stills and motion for the launch of Cicis Pizza‘s new Giant Pizza product, along with their new Poppers and Pan Pizzas. The biggest challenge for Rusty was working within the restaurant and creating a home living environment for the motion portion of the shoot. Most of the tables were welded to the floor and couldn’t be moved but our team was able to convert an area to a very believable home living area.
What Rusty had to say about how he approaches pre-production on these types of shoots: “When I shoot stills and video components, I’m always looking at ways to make them flow as seamlessly as possible. On this project, we used our downtime on the stills day to prep out the scene for the motion day. My DP and I worked out a shot order for maximum efficiency and thought through the lighting of the shots. We were grateful when the client agreed to use a “real” family. The natural interaction between the family made directing them almost effortlessly.”
original content
The Alliance of Independent Representatives (AIR) has officially launched as a professional trade association. The mission of the organization is to advocate and promote the interests of independent representative companies who connect content creatives with agencies, brands and media.
AIR is committed to a wide range of priorities that extend beyond its membership:
In mid-March, 2020 when the global pandemic hit, Veronica Lombardo, West Coast (VLM) and Ann Asprodites, Southeast (Asprodites Reps) saw the need for community among their rep colleagues. “We began as a support group for our fellow reps to dial into – helping each other navigate the unknown waters ahead, not only in our industry but the world-at-large,” explains Ann. “Whether it was understanding the various government stimulus packages being offered to support small businesses or simply being a sounding board for those struggling with tough stuff in need of advice — we were there and continue to be,” adds Ann.
Julie Koellner, Treasurer for AIR and owner of Dallas-based Remedy Reps, stated, “I’m super excited about AIR! It’s been invaluable getting to know the other members throughout the country (and beyond). The presentations and panel discussions have been really informative and I’ve since been incorporating valuable takeaways into my own business as a result. Although we’re still all independent, it’s been wonderful to have a network to bounce ideas off of, especially since there’s no handbook for what we do!”
The calls started with a small group of less than ten and quickly grew to sixty something by June, 2020. It took on a grassroots effort, one rep telling another and another. A deepened sense of community was created.
“Initially, we didn’t realize the importance of what we were doing, we just did it for others, as is our nature,” recalls Veronica. “To have a virtual venue for peer-to-peer conversations about things we were going through that were specific to what we do in our day to day careers was so valuable. For so long ours has been a trade of lone soldiers, highly competitive lone soldiers,” Veronica continues.
“We had a common cause which made us realize that we needed to form an organization in order to truly come together, similar to other industry organizations like AICP, AICE, AMP and the like,” says Ann. “It was time we created our own platform to advance our interests. What we have brought and are creating now is a wider, more inclusive community.”
With a focus on meaningful impact, AIR has established Member Committees including Evolution + Change, Diversity In Talent, and Membership + Recruitment to advance their unified goals and support the industry-at-large. AIR’s membership expands borders with most of its members stateside and an expansion into Canada and Scandinavia.
“When it comes to the structure and practices for its members,” Veronica says, “Respect is top priority in AIR. We have an ethical code of conduct that gives people a voice while adhering to strict confidentiality and restrictions to sharing proprietary information. We pride ourselves on empowerment.” Veronica adds “Everybody wants to be empowered, everybody wants to be supported and to feel like they’re not alone. That’s where AIR comes in and we’re very excited to see what we can accomplish as a united front.”
AIR is an incorporated 501(c)6 non-profit trade association with an elected board of directors composed of Veronica Lombardo, West Coast (VLM) – President, Ann Asprodites, Southeast (Asprodites Reps) – Vice President, Corey Rogers, East Coast (Schaffer/ Rogers) – Secretary, Julie Koellner, Southwest (Remedy Reps) – Treasurer and Doug Sherin, West Coast (Options) – Director-at-Large.
To learn more about AIR or to Join the Alliance, please visit AllianceOfIndieReps.org
