Top Spot of the Week: "Checklist"  for Hershey's

This spot of the series is called “Mr. Literary Goes for a Checkup”


Press Release
Visitors to the B&N Studio at Barnes and Noble can now tune in to the latest adventures of Mr. Literary-a comic character with an unfortunate compulsion to quote famous authors at the most inopportune times. The series of Mr. Literary short films, which kicked off on B&N Studio January 11th, is the first project from Ascent Media Group’s Serial Creative, which is dedicated to creating advertiser-sponsored content for the internet.

The world-famous bookseller has included video content in its B&N Studio site for over two years, primarily in the form of author interviews, but the Mr. Literary series represents the site’s first comedy offering. Charlie Tercek, Serial’s Creative Director recalls, “I had a hunch that Barnes and Noble might be ready for something a little more high-concept. My writing partner, Chris Gorbos, and I kicked around a few ideas, and the character of Mr. Literary – a guy who brings books to life in a unique way – immediately struck us as a perfect fit. Plus, it’s always nice to put my degree in English Literature to use.”

The Mr. Literary video series was shot at locations around the Los Angeles area with minimal crew, and a very light equipment package centered around a “prosumer”-grade Sony V1U camera. Tercek and Gorbos shared directing duties. “You’ve got to be clever about production,” Tercek says. “Everybody has to wear several hats.”

“Being part of the Ascent Media family of post production facilities is one of the main advantages we offer our clients,” Tercek adds. “We were able to get color grading at Company 3 to help ensure everything looked fantastic. And Beast’s very talented editor, Charlie Lee, cut all the episodes.”

“The series really turned out well,” comments client Mike Skagerlind, VP and Head of Digital Media for Barnes and Noble.com. “It’s a perfect fit with B&N Studio thematically. Each episode is also funny and entertaining in its own right. They deliver a little extra value for our visitors and we think they’ll provide some extra incentive for them to return to the site.”

About Serial
Serial Creative is a new media advertising agency specializing in the creation of advertiser-sponsored content for the Internet. Equal parts ad agency, development studio and new media production company, Serial offers advertisers everything from marketing strategy and content development to studio production, placement and seeding of branded content. Serial is an Ascent Media www.ascentmedia.com <http://ascentmedia.com/> company.

About Ascent Media Group
Santa Monica, California-based Ascent Media Group, LLC is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Ascent Media Corporation (Nasdaq: ASCMA). With more than 40 facilities worldwide, Ascent Media Group is a leading provider of fully integrated, end-to-end services for the global digital media supply chain. Guided by our entrepreneurial culture, we blend breakthrough creative with emerging technologies to deliver some of the most advanced and innovative solutions to help film and television studios, independent producers, broadcast networks, cable channels, advertising agencies and other companies make, manage, move and monetize their digital media.

Watch the “making of” for the Barclaycard spot “Rollercoaster.”

Now watch “Rollercoaster”

From the opening retro robot voice, drum loop and chainsaw distorted power chords, it’s clear from the get-go that “Pretty,” the latest ad in the on-going campaign for Verizon Wireless and its Google Android smart phone from agency mcgarrybowen, is an attention-getter. That’s due in no small part because of the score created by music/sound design house Expansion Team, who crafted a rowdy, infectious, stomp groove that works perfectly with the visuals and voiceover.

”mcgarrybowen came to use because they wanted music that would feel authentic in much the same way they’re positioning the phone itself,” Alex Moulton, Expansion Team’s Creative Director says. “They needed it to sound like something you’d hear in some trashy Lower East Side club at 3 am. And that’s definitely our scene.”

Moulton brought in composer Eric Stamile to create the score. A highly regarded producer/remixer who’s worked with such artists as Janet Jackson, Korn and cee-lo (of Gnarls Barkley), as well as other TV campaigns with Expansion Team, Stamile immediately focused on the swinging anthem rhythm that propels the spot. ‘

”The most challenging aspect for me was trying to get the exact right guitar tone,” Stamile says. ”The agency wanted something that didn’t sound perfect and polished – it had to have a rawness to it, almost emulating early 80’s punk guitar performances. The track needed to feel modern and forward thinking, yet rooted in traditional rock.”

”Pretty” begins with a robotic voice saying ”droid” followed by a retro drum loop and razor-distorted guitars that play against visuals of three people starring hypnotically at a cell phone behind a glass case. A no-nonsense voice-over asks, ”Should a phone be pretty, should it be a tiara-wearing, digitally clueless beauty pageant queen?” From there it moves into a visual collage of surreal, often ironic images (a buzz saw through a ripe banana is not something you see every day) that perfectly illustrate the deadpan voiceover copy.

”Expansion Team’s vision and tenacity solved a tough creative brief under an incredibly tight time line – Alex and co. truly delivered,” says Jerry Krenach, Director of Music Production, mcgarrybowen.

About Expansion Team:
Expansion Team redefines how music can be created for today’s media by building a bridge between the recording, TV, film and advertising industries. They know the importance of a successful brand message and focus on creating impassioned brand aficionados. Led by founder and creative director Alex Moulton and executive producer April Jaffe, Expansion Team is supported by an exceptional roster of talent; an international collective of award-winning producers, songwriters, DJs and remixers. Because they work in studios around the world, an additional network of top session players and vocalists have become part of their growing family. For more information check out: www.expansionteam.org.

Verizon “Pretty” Credits:
Client: Verizon Wireless
Project: “Pretty” (:30)

Agency: mcgarrybowen, New York
Executive Producer: Suzanne Crowe
Executive Creative Director Managing Partner: Mark Koelfgen
Executive Creative Director: Warren Eakins
Art Director: Michael Cannova
Copywriter: Tiffany Smith
Director of Music Production: Jerry Krenach
Acct Managing Director: Tom Sewell
Director: Lee Roth

Production Company: Park Pictures, New York
Director: Benzo Theodore
Executive Producer:    Jackie Kelman Bisbee
Supervising Producer: Mary Ann Marino
Line Producer: Ron Consentino

Music House: Expansion Team, New York
Creative Director: Alex Moulton
Composer: Eric Stamile
Executive Producer: April Jaffe

Editing House: Beast, New York
Editor: Adam Schwartz
Asst Editor:  Rebecca Beluk
Executive Producer:  Valerie Petrusson
Producer: Ann Martini

Post Production/Visual Effects: A52, Santa Monica
Executive Producer: Jennifer Sofio
VFX Producer: Jenny Bright
VFX Supervisor: Patrick Murphy

Telecine: Moving Picture Company, Santa Monica
Colorist: Mark Gethin

Agency: BBDO Toronto
Writer: Jamie Marcovitch
Art Director: Todd Cornelius
Creative Director: Ian MacKellar
Producer: Adriana Laborde

Production/VFX: Eight VFX
Directors: Jean-Marc Demmer, Fred Hopp
VFX EP: Baptiste Andrieux
VFX Supervisor: Jean-Marc Demmer
CG Supervisor: Fred Hopp
CG Artists: Mathias Jourdes, Shuichi Nakamara, Chein-I Kao
VFX Producer: Marsi Frey

Music House: Ta2 Music
Audio Director: Tommy Zee

Client: Jack Daniel’s

Advertising Agency: Arnold
City/State: Boston, Mass.
Chief Creative Officer: Pete Favat
Creative Directors: Wade Devers, Wade Paschall
Associate Creative Directors: Lee Walters, Chad Leitz
Executive Producer: Billy Near
Assistant Producer: Reaghan Puleo
Account Director: Chris Ferko
Business Manager: Maria Rougvie

Production: Brand New School
City/State: Bicoastal, USA
Director: Jonathan Notaro
Art Directors: Mario Stipinovich, Eric Conception
Designers: Ricardo Villavicencio, Stephen Kelleher, Emmett Dzieza
CG Lead: Vadim Turchin
3D Animation: Eric Concepcion, Han Ho, Mike Garcia, Walter Lubinski, Kim Kehoe, Andre Salyer, Carmine Laietta, Adam Rosenzweig, Dave LoGiudice, John Kalagian
2D Animation: Stieg Retlin
Storyboard Artists: Will Rosado
Compositor: Eric Concepcion, Dave LoGiudice, Michal Finegold
Executive Producer: Danny Rosenbloom
Head of Production: Devin Brook
Producer: Toby Sowers, Mike Sullo
Production Coordinator: Ilona Klaver

Original Music: The Lodge
City/State: New York, NY
Creative Directors: Eric Hillebrecht & Colin Thibadeau
Composer “Tennessee”: Ronan Coleman
Composers “Old Number 7”: Alex Weinstein
Composers “Proud”: Demian Sims
Executive Producer: Sallie Moore
Producer: Heather Weisberg

Press Release

MTV’s “Gone Too Far” documentary series features the late Adam Goldstein, aka DJ AM, counseling other addicts in recovery, as he, himself, had dealt with his own addiction problems. “I got so lost in my disease, I was gone,” he once said.

Buster Design’s show open for this new TV series (produced on behalf of clients Gigantic! Productions and MTV), physically manifests that loss of control ‘ showing individuals under the grip of something much larger and more sinister than they can handle. Footage of DJ AM and young addicts are intertwined in plumes of smoke and dripping lines of tar – all rendered in a haze of addiction. Sometimes the vein-like “drug lines” hold the addicts in their grip like puppet strings, as they use and abuse drugs, and fall into oblivion.

The project was created by Buster Design, under the supervision of Buster’s executive producer/executive creator director Jonas Morganstein. Sadly, Adam passed away the day Buster delivered the final show graphics. Please see: http://www.stuncreative.com/emailblast_10_14_09/landing.htm