Xotix Ident

The Gay Genre themed ident for the Xotix channel, created by Chello Creative:

Freelance Friday 1: Addikt

Sjoerd and Xander from Addikt came to our office to show their impressive reel and to talk about their creative process:

Promax Europe 2009 - Sessions

MK12 AND THE FILM TITLE: A DELIRIUM OF TYPHOGRAPHY, SAND, WOMEN, 007, AND THE COSMOS
by MK12

MK12 is a Kansas City-Missouri-USA-based design and art collective that works primarily in motion design, creating hybrid live action & animation works both for commercial and noncommercial endeavors.
For the past year, the studio been immersed in the world of James Bond, having been given the opportunity to work on the 22nd installment of the 007 franchise, Quantum of Solace. The studio collectively remembers very little of the experience as it is all a blur of hyperkinetic color, shimmering lights and missing time.
None the less, MK12 will attempt to explain and explore the creative process, conceptual underpinnings and technical minutia of the main title sequence of Quantum of Solace as well as a case study on the VFX construction and implementation of the interfaces and moving graphics found throughout the film.
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FUTURETAINMENT
by Mike Walsh

Welcome to the Revolution. All the media we grew up with - the movies, TV shows, music, books and newspapers - are in the process of being re-invented and turned on their heads. Not by technology, but by new patterns of consumer behaviour. From Seoul to Shanghai - there is a new generation of consumer who has grown up never knowing a world without the Web. Armed with advanced mobile devices, multiple identities in virtual worlds, and a freewheeling attitude to both content and copyright - their interactions with entertainment and brands will forever change media as we know it.
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LAST MAN STANDING: HOW TO SURVIVE THE PITCH (for designers and their clients)
by Matt Penney

A tongue-in-cheek yet fact-filled session that blows the lid off every part of the pitch process, from first brief to last gasp. A veteran of numerous successful (and some less successful) creative pitches, Matt shows you how to get the best out of the process, whether you are running it or attempting to win it. An essential session in increasingly competitive times.
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HOW TO STEAL YOUR NEXT IDEA
by Doug Harris

During this laboratory style examination of the "science" of creativity, a former broadcast promotions director turned agency creative director turned idea wrangler shares his proven methods for stimulating creative thought in individuals and organizations. With a dose of escapism and a touch of music therapy, Doug Harris will explain the two founding principles of creativity, present an amazingly simple four step process for generating ideas, and dozens of tips on how you can ignite your creative spark TODAY.
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UP, UP, AND AWAY: WHERE WILL YOUR SUPER POWERS TAKE YOU NOW?
by Doug Harris

By the end of the conference you would have spent 2 days absorbing hours of information, but how do you put this newly acquired knowledge to work at your job? What can you do to ensure that your colleagues and supervisors share your excitement and your new vision and allow you to become an agent of change. Doug Harris will map out a specific plan for the next two weeks of your professional life and give you a glimpse into your future success.
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AGAINST ALL ODDS: REBRANDING PUBLIC TV IN CZECH REPUBLIC AND GEORGIA
by Uros Trefalt and Markus Schmidt

How do you change the unchangeable? Which treatment do you give to TV brands that seem lost? What do you do to win back trust of a long time disappointed audience? Uros and Markus will show two very unusual case studies and explain how to master challenges like 30 year old logos, political revolutions and even war.
Czech TV was the first TV in the former Czechoslovakia, established 1953. More than 50 years later it experienced the first rebranding ever in its history. Despite of the conservative institution, the feedback was fantastic. The unchangeable was changed, a new image was born. The rebrand had a fundamental impact on the perception of TV design in Czech Republic.
Georgian Public Broadcaster is the direct successor of former Soviet state television. In a country that was widely unknown before and is now on everybody´s map. The rebranding took over one year. It was interrupted by new managements, political protests, name changes and eventually the war in August. When it finally launched, it showed some surprising results.
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AROUND THE WORLD IN 80 WAYS
by Jeff Conrad

This action packed session takes you on a global tour, firing your imagination by demonstrating 80 highly effective new and innovative ways of promoting your brand in today’s world. What we promise you won’t see is a traditional 30 second promo or spot!
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WHEN "NO" MEANS “YES!”: RAISE YOUR GAME & ACHIEVE THE IMPOSSIBLE
by Tony Scheinman

Tony Scheinman, Executive Producer in the P&P Division of the leading European pay TV platform Sky Italia gives us an exclusive look at a ‘world first’ in football. The mission to achieve the impossible is a culmination of four years of collaboration and brings together the top clubs and players for a country whose national obsession is football. Sky convinced 106 professional players from 19 teams to give their time for free for this project. They then turned the project into an HD, cross platform, multimedia success linking marketing, production, web and television promotion. Eighteen days of production uniquely links Serie A and some of the world's most famous footballers with the Sky brand. This is a 100% Sky Italia internal project from the creative to the production, graphic design and post-production. Come and hear the whole story in this inspirational session and learn how Sky Italia convinced so many people that when they said 'no' they really meant 'yes'!
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SOMETHING FOR NOTHING
by Teresa Guitart

We all love a bargain, especially in a time of shrinking budgets, a time when every cent counts! In this session you will learn just how far imagination and ingenuity can make that Euro stretch. Think your ground breaking idea can't be done on your budget, think you need to simplfy your creative? Think again, maybe you just need to think differently! And this session will demonstrate how your colleagues from around the world have done just that, by looking for alternatives while retaining the creative core of a great idea, they've truly achieved 'Something for Nothing'.
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MAKING THE IMPOSSIBLE POSSIBLE
by Mike Kelt

Over the last 30 years the business of Special Effects has seen some seismic changes and survived them all. Mike will look back at some of the milestones that have been passed along the way, as well as forward to an exciting future where science and creativity combine to dazzle the imagination. He will show some of the amazing ways that a client’s or director’s dream can be fulfilled, and all done for real without using CGI.
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HOW TO WORK BETTER
by Jens Hertzum

It’s easy to get lost in the media storm of platform diversification that has swept across our industry. With all the changes happening in delivery and format, we can sometimes forget that a good, well thought out and executed idea will withstand the battering of change.
Drawing on years of broadcast experience (his own, that of colleagues, friends as well as adversaries), Jens offers an insightful and creatively inspiring alternative to the “good work” debate.
Jens couples current and inspirational examples of work from around the globe with a large dose of good humour to inform and instruct promo producers, designers and marketers how they can turn negatives into positives and ultimately achieve an end product they are both happy with and proud of.
If you want to leave feeling charged and inspired to take on your day-to-day creative challenges with some good old ‘creative insight’, join Jens as he shows us how we can all WORK BETTER.
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SOUNDS IDEAS
by Jens Hertzum & Steven Hore

This informative and aural-laden session will demonstrate the critical role good audio plays in promotions and design. Jens and Steven deliver an entertaining and informative insight into how strong audio concepts can deliver a message far more effective and arresting than visuals alone. They will utilise diverse examples of work from around the world to showcase how “Sound Ideas” should not be an after-thought in the creative process but a driving force behind the idea.
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CZECH MATE: An unique look at today’s Czech design scene
by Czech Mate

What do you know about Czech contemporary motion design? Who are the new and progressive young artists who are fundamentally changing the Czech design scene? In this ‘Czech Mate’ session four amazing multidisciplinary artists / studios will present their work. Their inspiration is drawn from different fields including typography, motion film, computer games, rotoscoping, traditional Czech puppet animation and the latest cutting edge technology. You will see loads of different work yet all will have a specific Czech flavour. Find your new Czech MATE!
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EFFECTIVENESS
by Clare Phillips

Great promos, great design, but did they work? This session will focus on how to position brands to deliver effective results by increasing audience share an/or ad revenue. Clare Phillips, Head of Strategic Planning at Red Bee will chair a session that demonstrates effectiveness from three clients around Europe, including the marketing success of the year ‘Dave’ in the UK.
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MANAGING SUPERPOWERED CREATIVES
by Marco Giusti

Creative people think differently, act differently, and work differently than the rest of the business. Each of us even thinks, acts, and works differently than other creatives!
Managing creative people is a challenge all of us face. How do we get the best work from the imaginative people around us -- be they promo producers, editors, talent, or designers?
Our experienced panel will share the techniques they use to manage different types of creatives. You’ll walk out of this session with superpowers that will get you results and make bad managers quiver with fear!
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WORLD GOLD - THANK YOU FOR SMOKING!
Hosted by Bron Dean

A look at the world's most smokin' hot work for 2008 and early 2009. The winners, the nearly winners and some other interesting spots!

Promax Europe 2009 - Speakers

MK12


MK12 are based in Kansas CIty, Missouri and are a design and filmmaking collective with acclaim in both commercial and artistic arenas. Founded in 2000, MK12's work constantly challenges the boundaries between narrative structure and experimental storytelling via juxtapositions of live action, graphic design, nostalgic influence and new technologies. MK12 has been sought after to direct numerous commercial & network-based projects and has also provided graphic design & animation for feature films such as Stranger than Fiction, The Kite Runner, HolyWars, and Quantum of Solace.

The studio's experimental & short film catalogue has been featured in many international film festivals and has been published in design and trade journals worldwide. Most recently, their short film ™Overload - a collaboration with NY-based painter Brian Alfred - was inducted into the Guggenheim's permanent collection.

MK12 continues to produce original content for television and cinema, and its most recent film, ™MK12's History of America, proves to be their most ambitious work to date, merging experimental design and traditional storytelling to dramatic effect. More information about this and other projects can be found at mk12.com.


MIKE WALSH

Mike Walsh is a leading authority and keynote speaker on the digital media revolution. He is the author of Futuretainment published by Phaidon and CEO of the future research consultancy Tomorrow. Tomorrow advises some of the world's leading organisations and brands on where the next generation of consumers are going. Mike has been working in the digital space for over a decade. He was previously Managing Director of Jupiter Research in Australia, and also held strategic roles at News Corporation in both the Australian and Asian markets. You can read Mike's blog at www.mike-walsh.com


MATT PENNEY

Matt Penney is an award-winning creative director. He joined Dunning Eley Jones in 2004 after a 10 year career at Lambie-Nairn. His work has been recognised with numerous awards including an RTS and D&AD Award for his BBC Three identity. Since joining Dunning Eley Jones he has worked on a range of projects for clients internationally including Schweizer Fernsehen (Switzerland), Animal Planet (US), Discovery Kids (US), Net 5 (Netherlands), Deutsche Welle (Germany), Sky Movies (UK), FilmFlex (UK/Germany) UKTV and BBC Entertainment. In 2008 Matt became a partner at Dunning Eley Jones.


DOUG HARRIS

With a creative legacy that spans twenty years in marketing and a stable of over 40 broadcast clients around the world, Doug Harris has earned a reputation as the world's premiere broadcast marketing consultant. A former Billboard Magazine Promotion Director of the Year, and the recipient of dozens of industry accolades, Harris has made a practice of out-thinking, rather than outspending his competitors in ratings and revenue battles, and has demonstrated a unique ability to blend the needs of programming with those of sales. A frequent speaker at gatherings of broadcast professionals, Harris has addressed marketing groups in nineteen foreign countries and has been a featured presenter at the NAB Europe for eight consecutive years. As Chief Creative Officer of Creative Animal International and President of Noisemaker Communications, Harris creates clutter-busting campaigns for a wide variety of clients worldwide.


UROS TREFALT

Uros Trefalt, 43, has his academic background in theatre. He studied in Prague, New York, France and in Slovenia. He published theoretic books on drama and puppet directing in Slovenia and Spain and was teaching at the Prague Film Academy. For 7 years he was the Art Director for the leading broadcasting company in Czech Republic, TV Nova. His work includes the full range from rebrandings to promo campaigns to music clips. In 2006, the biggest challenge in his professional life was the rebranding of Czech TV - public television.


MARKUS SCHMIDT

Markus Schmidt, 40, worked in advertising before he became Creative Director for Germany´s ProSieben. He founded and headed the award-winning inhouse agency SevenSenses. Four years ago he created UnitedSenses, an international branding network with offices in Los Angeles, New York, Copenhagen, Moscow, Johannesburg, Beijing and the headquarter in Munich. He worked in over 25 countries and won more than 100 Promax and BDA awards.


JEFF CONRAD

Jeff Conrad is recognised globally as an expert on media branding, he is a seasoned speaker on the global conference circuit and comments frequently on radio and television in the UK.

Jeff heads up the design group in Red Bee Media Creative. This agency has a long and successful track record of creating award winning work.

Jeff graduated from Westminster University in 1988 and after travelling the world and working as a commercial photographer, joined the BBC in 1992. After obtaining a post graduate degree in Marketing, Jeff eventually found his spiritual home in the then graphic design department. His challenge was to manage a large team of creative talent and move the business from an in-house BBC programme-service provider to a truly commercial creative agency. (The company became a commercial subsidiary of the BBC in 2002 before being sold to Macquarie in 2005)

The business has grown significantly in the last five years opening offices in China, Australia, Singapore and France and Jeff’s team continues to build on its world class reputation in broadcast and digital design. Developing consumer focused creative and strategic solutions for media brands all over the world. The team has live projects in China, Russia, India and Scandinavia as well as many in Europe. Recently completed projects include the re-branding of BBC Three, the reinvention of UKTV G2 to Dave, the re-branding of ERT (the public service broadcaster of Greece), the network re-brand of CANAL+ Spain and a programme-packaging design for Disney EMEA to launch across 46 countries.


TONY SCHEINMAN

Tony Scheinman was born in Los Angeles and graduated from the University of Colorado at Boulder with a degree in Communications. He always loved watching television and he enjoyed playing sports…and so it was…sports & television! 23 years later, his magical journey continues…….4 OLYMPIC GAMES (2 EMMY AWARDS), NBA, NFL, MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL, WIMBLEDON, X-GAMES, ESPN, ABC, NBC, CBS, FOX.

In 1994 his journey took him to Rome to work for Orbit Communications as Sports Promotions Manager. His passion for international television, and Italy in particular, was born. Tony continued to travel and work for all the major US Networks. Then in 2003 Newscorp decided to make a major investment in Italy, so Tony left immediately to offer his help and 6 months later Sky Italia was launched.

He created a place for himself by producing original football documentaries that brought cameras where they had never been before, offering an inside look at the lives of the players and teams. He also helped and continues to help with the branding of Serie A, Champions League and the World Cup. Now his responsibilities have expanded to original program development in all sports and the branding and promotion of special projects like the Olympics.

Tony is always looking for a new approach, pushing the limits…ignoring the “rules”. He pursues new ideas with passion and demands that people believe.


TERESA GUITART

Teresa has been working in TV3-Televisió de Catalunya’s Marketing Department for 20 years. She has created and developed events that have been on the air for more than 15 years and that continue to be ratings successes, holding viewers’ interest. She was appointed Marketing Director of TV3 in 2004 and is in charge of marketing for the network’s four channels (generalist, children, news, culture). She also heads the Events Department and Promo Unit made up of 20 professionals who put out an average of 15 promos a week.


MIKE KELT

Mike has been in the Special Effects business for 30 years, the last 21 with Artem, which he helped to set up and has run since the start. Before that he was at the BBC where he worked on such ubiquitous projects as ‘Blake’s 7’, ‘Dr Who’, and ‘Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy’, while prior to that learnt his trade in the theatre!

Over the years he has been involved in all aspects of the business, from titles and idents such as BBC 1 and 2, through Commercials, to TV and Feature Films such as ‘Hot Fuzz’ and ‘Doomsday’. During this time he has seen the industry change, with CG replacing many of the traditional craft skills, but also sees new doors opening and a flourishing of new young talent attracted to an industry where the challenges change daily, and the need for creativity never lessens.

Mike sits on BSAC, (British Screen Advisory Council), the Board of UK Screen, the trade body for the facilities sector, and Skillset’s new Facilities Skills Council. He is a passionate believer in education and training, and sees a bright future for the business.


JENS HERTZUM

Jens Hertzum is highly regarded in the broadcast industry as a skilled and talented director. His reputation as an internationally successful media creative has been built on his ability to produce quality, award-winning work consistenstly.

Having previously worked at Sci Fi in the UK, Jens' joined BDA London as Creative Director prior to moving to Australia to launch the BDA Sydney office. Since this launch seven years ago, Jens and his team have consistently produced exceptional work for leading broadcasters in the region, including FOXTEL, XYZ Networks, Channel 7, Channel 9, SKY NZ and TV3 New Zealand. Jens is no stranger to the international broadcast market either, having worked for Middle Eastern broadcaster and more recently completed the entire on air and award-winning rebranding for SONY India.

As BDA Sydney's creative director, he leads a team of talented creatives where he continually aims to help them deliver to brief, and produce award-winning work BDA Sydney has become renowned for.


STEVEN HORE

Steven joined BDA in their first year of trading (1999) as a writer and director, and went on to stay with the company for seven years, collecting dozens of Promax Awards during that time.

In 2006, he left to spread his wings working as a freelance writer and director. During this time he gained vast experience working in different disciplines such as long form documentaries, commercials and cinema trailers and further developed his credentials as a voice over artist.

In 2008, Steven returned to BDA as Creative Director of Promotions where he heads up the 15 strong creative team and oversees regular promotions work for NBC Universal and special projects for a wide range of broadcasters.

CZECH MATE

Lukáš Skalnik will present work from Eallin Animation a visual arts company who combine classical traditional animation techniques such as stop motion or cartoon animation with cutting edge technology – particularly in 3D animation. www.eallin.com

Oficina studio was set up after the collaboration of Lukaš Fišarek and Marek Cimbalnik on several projects, involving graphic and motion design and film and television production. This multidisciplinary studio has a special emphasis on typography in each sphere of their work. www.ofcn.cz

Noro Držiak will present a unique project, ‘ALOIS NEBEL’. This much loved and acclaimed novel by Czech collaborators Jaroslav Rudiš and Jaromír 99, Alois Nebel is getting the feature film treatment in its native land with first time director Tomáš Lunák at the helm. This animated film is being created at the studio Tobogang using the animation technique rotoscoping, in which the scenes are shot with real actors before being animated and textured, producing a stylized graphic form much like that of a comic book. www.tobogang.com

“I SEE GRAPHIC DESIGN AS A METHOD FOR NAVIGATION IN INFORMATION“, says Lukáš Veverka a multidisciplinary Czech designer and Rocket Award winner of Promax/BDA Europe 2008. Lukáš will present a cross section of Altworx project - logo, animations, promo spots, print materials, web presentation and user interface design. www.parasite.cz


CLARE PHILLIPS

Clare Phillips is Head of Strategic Planning at Red Bee. She started her career at AMV.BBDO, where she was the youngest Strategic Planner to be promoted to the board of Britain’s biggest advertising agency, her successes there included award winning campaigns for The Economist, Sainsbury’s and BT. Her enthusiasm for media brands led her to BSkyB where she established a strategic planning function that became integral to the creative process. Whilst there, she worked on the re-launch of Sky Movies. At Red Bee, Clare has overseen the transformation of many media brands including uktvG2 to Dave and the recent multiplatform re-launch of BBC Three. Clare has 3 young children and her passions are cooking and any TV produced or created by JJ Abrams.


MARCO GIUSTI

Marco Giusti, Vice President of Branded TV at Warner Bros for Europe, Middle East & Africa will enlighten us, along with an experienced panel, on how we can understand different types of creatives and manage them more effectively! As someone who has sat on every side of the fence – from broadcaster to agency, start-up to heavy weight global entertainment network he brings unique insights and perspectives to this interesting & complex topic. Marco had his own agency for over a decade working for numerous broadcasters across Europe to then be headhunted for the start-up Home Choice (now Tiscali) to be part of one of the most innovative and pioneering first on-demand tv services in Europe. More recently, Marco has joined Warner Bros and is responsible for developing the Warner TV brand and positioning in his territory working closely with the team in Burbank.


BRON DEAN

After nearly 17 years in promo and broadcast design, Bron Dean has finally come to realize that this is not a phase and she never will get a ‘real job’. Bron spends hours every week watching TV, locally and reading about or watching snippets of TV from around the world, as well as creating TV of course! This has gone way past an interest and become a full-blown obsession, fueled by love and passion.

This passion, which has been seen by many friends and family as bordering on insanity, has led to her holding the position of Creative Director at one of South Africa’s top Broadcast Design and Promo companies, Orijin, who at the 2008 PromaxBDA Africa took home an unprecedented 19 awards! Prior to that she racked up a long list of awards both as Director and Creative Director and humbly admits that her passion and mentorship may have had something to do with the 2 Rocket Awards and 1 Young Designer Award won by people working with her.

It is her passion for the constant upliftment and improvement in and of our industry that has seen her grab the opportunity to present World Gold sessions around the world with both hands. “I find it an awe-inspiring and stimulating process, trawling through hours and hours of the best work from our global industry to select gems to share with colleagues and peers”. Bron promises that this will be both a fun and inspiring session that will help kick your day and the coming year off to a “super-powered” start.

Chello Creative 2008 Highlights

Mad Men Season 2 Promo

TF1 Idents

Skins Season 3

LOST : Ajira Airways "Destiny Calls" Promo