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Client: HelloFlo // Directed by: Pete & Jamie // Production Company: World War Seven
Continuing their successful awards season, directing duo Pete & Jamie are being recognized for their female empowering "First Moon Party", part of a multi-spot campaign for HelloFlo. SheKnows Media coined the term 'Femvertising' and will be recognizing the creators and giving awards at the company's 'BlogHer' conference this weekend.
Yes you're the same person after the draft, but there is a certain swagger that happens after the draft as we see in these spots for Foot Locker starring Emmanuel Mudiay, directed by David Shafei.
Incoming NBA rookie Emmanuel Mudiay discovers that everything changes after the draft. Even gift giving.
Incoming NBA rookie Emmanuel Mudiay discovers that everything changes after the draft. Even relationships with family members.
Incoming NBA rookie Emmanuel Mudiay discovers that everything changes after the draft. Even listening to music.
The answer is...yes. Yes Frank, you can wear coral. The NBA changes you as we see in this new campaign featuring Frank Kaminsky for JCP Men's Store out of Victors & Spoils and EVB
He's the same old Frank, doing the same old Frank things. But now, there's just something different about him. Did Frank change, or did Frank just change? #FrankChanged
Crystal Moselle, director of "The Wolfpack", the Sundance Grand Jury Winner in the U.S. Documentary category is interviewed by Vice for their 'Vice Talks Film" segment. Full interview video [below]
Father's Day. What does it mean? This long-form piece for Toyota sheds light on the relationships we have with our fathers without being heavy handed. Cosmo Street's Bill Chessman helps craft a story of a man gearing up to meet his father for the first time in a very long time showing us that no matter what the circumstances, everyone has a father and that it's never to late to re-kindle relationships or simply just call and tell them what's on our mind.
What do most dads want for Father's Day? To spend time with their kids. Which is why Toyota sent one L.A. native on a thousand-mile journey to spend Father's Day with his dad for the first time in 13 years. #OneBoldChoice
When it comes to Father's Day, dads usually get the short end of the stick. We learned that people spend about $7 billion more for Mother's Day than for Father's Day. In fact, many dads are lucky to even get a card or call. This year, Toyota wanted to help make Father's Day mean something more.
click image above for website
Debatable, BUT we're not ones to complain either. What is indisputably 'punk' is having raw talent whether it's used to melt faces in a blistering guitar solo or to explode minds with interactive experiences that push the limits of what once was thought impossible and not giving a shit who's watching...like this guy
Los Angeles based interactive & design studio Wildlife is taking the latter path, challenging preconceived perceptions of what can & can't be done with the right alchemy of technical and creative abilities. Little Black Book recently published a piece entitled "The Punks of Post" highlighting companies that are doing KILLER work and [currently] flying under the radar. If you value being in the loop then we would highly encourage peeping some of this work.
Obsidian is proud to welcome production & interactive studio Pet Gorilla to our roster for representation. Pet Gorilla was founded by Minivegas founder Luc Schurgers as well as Minivegas EP Dominic Bernacchi.
On top of this great news, the "Now We're Newtons" web series concepted by agency Weber Shandwick/Chicago and directed by Luc Schurgers has gained some press in Fast Company / Co.Create. The series was created in order to move the brand's iconic cookie away from "Fig Newtons" because they are offering more flavors and the "Fig" just felt old. Hilarity ensues in this Office-esque spoof when the 'Newtons' join the ranks at the office [much like Millenials joining the workforce...a favorite topic of ours here at Obsidian. Below you can view the trailer for the series as well as the first episode. Click below for the full article in Fast Company as well as the Newtons' YouTube channel.
From the creators of your favorite fruit chewy cookies comes the unfiggetable office comedy NOW WE'RE NEWTONS. This season, the figs are hitting their breaking point, the fruits are hitting their stride, and an unlikely pair is hitting it off. WATCH the first 3 episodes NOW!
As James starts a new project, he's forced to face the fact that things at Newtons are changing for good. From the creators of your favorite fruit chewy cookies comes the unfiggetable office comedy NOW WE'RE NEWTONS. WATCH the first 3 episodes NOW!
Los Angeles, CA -- Wildlife, a Los Angeles based interactive & design shop nabs yet another FWA Site of the Day nod for their most recent live action, interactive trailer for EA's new game title, Battlefield: Hardline [an Obsidian favorite].
This activation has received a lot of press over the past few weeks and justifiably so. It is the first of it's kind live action, interactive experience created in 360 degrees specifically for a seamless experience on your Oculus or GearVR. Even if a user has neither headset they can still get a fantastic 360 experience because this was also developed to take advantage of mobile devices' accelerometer.
Claire Thomas, principal and director at Currant Films
Meet Claire Thomas, director AND owner at Currant Films which 'officially' opened it's doors yesterday. Prior to Currant, Claire was at Green Dot which spring boarded her into the advertising world. Ursula Gabel Baird, Claire's EP from Green Dot followed her to Currant:
“Claire not only has a prolific body of work, but she has a laser like knowledge of social media in so many areas - food, fashion, lifestyle... We’ll be shooting spots for broadcast, and she’s recommending to clients additional shots they’ll want for other media platforms. Because she has a consistent, successful presence as an online influencer herself, she knows what works.”
When she's not shooting commercials, you can find her updating her blog, The Kitchy Kitchen or sharing new recipes and 'life hacks' on her YouTube channel.
To celebrate International Women's Day [yesterday] as well as Women's History Month [March], Microsoft urges and challenges young girls to get interested and in a lot of cases stay interested in Math & Science. Cosmo Street's Aaron Langley edited this spot. For more information on programs you can visit DigiGirlz which is Microsoft's diversity recruiting initiative as well as the ever-popular Girls Who Code, which Microsoft also sponsors.
Client: Microsoft // Agency: m:United // Edited by: Aaron Langley // Editorial Company: Cosmo Street
A scene from 'The Wolfpack' premiering at the 2015 Sundance Film Festival
Director Crystal Moselle was recently named by DAZED as one of the top filmmakers to watch in 2015. Her feature documentary 'The Wolfpack' about the Angulo brothers who have been locked away from society in a small apartment within the projects of Manhattan. The brothers' only real understanding of the outside world comes through movies that they watch [and re-create]
![Our Quarterly Newsletter, The Razor Report Hits [Digital] Shelves Today](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52701b9be4b0147930303fda/1420739819517-Y6DHO1I5BN8LTLE90C9T/image-asset.jpeg)
We're stepping into our 'wayback' machine and taking a look at all the great work and news that took place in the 4th Quarter of 2014. Click, Read, Learn.
via IMDB
Los Angeles, CA - (Director, Producer, Writer) received the 2010 Directors Guild of America (DGA) Award for “Outstanding Direction of a Comedy Series” for the pilot of ABC's comedy hit “Modern Family” and was named one of Daily Variety’s 2011 “10 Directors to Watch.” The Baltimore native made his feature directorial debut in 2011 with “Arthur,” starring Russell Brand and Helen Mirren.
Winer served as the producing director on “Modern Family’s” first season and during his collaboration with the show, has received an Emmy Award (2010), Peabody Award (Excellence in Television: 2009, 2010, 2011), PGA Award (2011, 2012), and an AFI Award. He has now directed 19 episodes of the hit comedy since the show began and was a 2012 Emmy nominee for his episode, “Virgin Territory.”
Jason and cast members from Modern Family
A graduate of Northwestern University, double majoring in Performance Studies and Photography, Winer honed his improv skills in the acclaimed comedy group, “The Mee-Ow Show,” a launch pad to past alumni such as Julia Louis Dreyfus and Seth Meyers. Winer is also an alumnus of the Improv Olympic Theatre in Chicago. Winer began his career as an actor, improviser, and photographer before making the transition to directing.
Jason has directed work for brands such as Oscar Mayer, Walmart, Staples, Danon and SunRun.
Los Angeles, CA - - Director Mark Kudsi creates visually striking projects with compelling and emotionally resonant narratives. A natural storyteller with a background in design, Mark’s filmmaking career was born out of passions for music, photography and art direction.
In the commercial realm, Mark has lent his talents to the launches of several notable brands and products. He revealed the Apple iMac with Retina display. He helped reintroduce North America to Fiat, after a 30-year absence. He also launched Nintendo’s Wii U gaming console, Tide Pods as well as projects and campaigns for Glad, HP, Microsoft, Google, Sears and more.
Mark’s breakout work on The Black Eyed Peas’ technology-infused “Boom Boom Pow” music video earned him a Grammy Award and solidified his reputation as a director on the rise. For Katy Perry’s smash-hit single “Roar,” Mark orchestrated a playful jungle-inspired music video. “Roar” and “Boom Boom Pow” have racked up over a billion views.
Over the past decade, he has amassed an array of industry accolades for his work. Publications such as Creativity, Shoot, CommArts, VideoStatic, FXGuide and StudioDaily have recognized Mark’s diverse efforts, which have also garnered kudos from the Art Directors Club, D&AD, AICP and the Clios, among others.
Drawing upon many years of experience as a creative director, Mark approaches each new venture with a fresh perspective, while leveraging a distinct ability to enhance live action through design.
In rebellious fashion, Mark, a Southern California native, dedicates his limited free time to playing ice hockey.
Like what you see? Click 'View Reel' for Mark's general reel.
![Art Basel 2014 [or] "I'm in a Gallery, Bitch!"](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52701b9be4b0147930303fda/1420155631291-EZNXPUJBO4K2G4WMJ3PI/image-asset.jpeg)
Art Basel is an event I’ve always read about, but never gave much thought to attending until a few years back. I suppose I never really thought I belonged there…I’m not a billionaire and therefore don’t collect art. Also, the only artists I can name are the ones you typically learn about in high school or college 101 classes, but in December 2014 I was in for a real education.
When I first sat down to write this post, I wanted to simply talk about Miami - how I had never really been to Miami and how I was basically expecting to be walking amongst throngs of these tools. The fortunate reality is that Miami is really nothing like what Chicago, namely the “Chiami” crew would lead you to believe…yes, fuck you @ChiamiLifestyle you’re ruining not one, but two perfectly good cities.
I digress.
"Ravenheart" by Curtis Wehrfritz
Art Basel is pretty gnarly; for one week in December people from all over the world descend upon the relatively small city of Miami - all in the name of 'art'. Some come to purchase, some to look, while others simply come for the party. Basel itself is held at the convention center and is difficult to describe without using words like ‘enormous’ or ‘overwhelming’. There is so much stimulus - paintings, sculptures, photography, interactive exhibits, film, etc that museum fatigue [yes that’s a thing] sets in within about 2 hours. It took me two days to navigate Basel itself and I still didn’t come close to seeing everything.
In addition to Basel there are other exhibitions that are held all over Miami during the same time frame such as: Pulse, Scope, Design Miami, NADA, and Aqua to name just a few. I was lucky enough to have procured a pass from my friends at Artsy that would allow me access to all of these exhibitions. For the next 4 days I shuttled [and UBER'd] around Miami trying to dedicate a ‘morning’ to one particular exhibition and an ‘afternoon’ to another. This method worked for a few days, but the deeper I went, the longer I stayed…I was on to something. I couldn’t put my finger on it, but every exhibition I went to was slightly more ‘underground’ than the last - if there isn’t a designated shuttle then that is ‘underground’.
"The Death of Love 2" by Katsutoshi Yuasa
After a few days of soaking it all in [including the aloe for my sunburn] I thought I should get some of these thoughts down. Art Basel is the 'Main Event' with famous people like Jay-Z, Leo D, Pharrell Williams, etc. looking at [and tweeting about] famous pieces from famous artists, but you never read about any famous person popping by the smaller exhibitions where in my humble, non-celebrity opinion the real art is. Is it because they haven’t heard of the artists that are showcasing at the smaller exhibitions or [more likely] is it because it's not 'The Main Event'? As much as I’d like to believe it’s the former, odds are it’s the latter and that’s totally fine. Each of the above mentioned celebs are artists in their own right and have earned the right to go to whatever they want.
The point here is not to say that one [exhibition] is better than the other and it certainly is not to position myself as an art critic. The point here is simple…OPEN YOUR EYES and find what you like. If you fancy yourself creative then DON’T BE LAZY and go with what you know or with what everyone "says" they know - there are so many beautiful, fascinating, intricate, creative things out there and while it’s so easy to simply go to ‘The Main Event’ the REAL tastemakers & trendsetters won’t be found there. And if they are, they're probably not the ones posting every single piece they pass by to their ‘insta’ [that’s Instagram, people] feed to show how cultured and cool they are. This is my challenge to you, creative industry. 2015 is around the corner. There is some really amazing stuff out there, but there's also a lot of bullshit so open your eyes, put down your 'insta' and let’s see what you’ve got.
Love.Matt.
ULTRA SPECIAL THANK YOU'S TO: Stas @ Artsy, Apollonia @ Gallery on Wade, Yuki @ Yuki-Sis Gallery and UPS
Here are a few SFW images from the event.
The North Face See For Yourself cab drove around New York City giving unsuspecting passengers a choice - go on with their normal day or let us take them on an epic outdoor adventure. Would you #SeeForYourself? When's the last time you just stopped...and went? Get out there and #SeeForYourself.
Client: The North Face // Agency: Anomaly [ACE Content] // Directed by: Adam Donald // Production Company: Decon
Click below for the full credits from Agency Spy!
Watch as we bring a military dad closer to home using the power of scent. For 11 months, Kearen's been away from his wife and kids in North Carolina. So we partnered with his family to create a special gift to make him feel at home even while he's away.
Client: AirWick // Agency: Droga5 // Edited by: Mark Potter // Editorial Company: Cosmo Street
Client: Under Armor // Agency: Droga5 // Directed by: Johnny Green // Edited by: Tom Lindsay // Editorial Company: Trim
Under Armor's commercial featuring ballerina, Misty Copeland was honored in AdWeek as being #6 in the Top 10 best commercials of 2014. Congratulations to all involved, especially editor Tom Lindsay at Trim! Click below to see all the winners!