"This is B.S.!" shouts Steven Best as we arrive on the set of Best/Spectacular, the eponymous series about a Web marketing and content agency rolling with the punches in the New Media age.
Best (pict., top r.) isn't angry - in fact, he's laughing. "This is great, right?"
Most likely, Best - Partner/COO of Best/Spectacular, a Culver City-based firm that provides grass-roots Web marketing - is referring to the huge, bustling office, presently bustling not only with staff but with cameramen, sound people, grips, and PA's.
"I mean, we wouldn't be documenting what we do if it wasn't entertaining," Best asserts, "and Justo thinks it's entertaining, and we put our faith in him every day."
'We' is the firm, launched this year by Best and Partner/CCO Nicholas Speck(pict., r.).
'Justo' is Justo A. Diaz(pict., below), Director of Marketing for B/S and the driving force behind the Web series. "Nobody works the way Steven and Nicky do," explains Diaz, himself an entrepreneur and Web marketing guru to a host of brands. "They make magic first and ask questions later."
Today, Best and Speck are entertaining a pair of new clients whose profiles could not be more different from one another (and whose identities we've been asked to withhold). According to Speck, this diversity is, in part, what fuels the dynamic duo. "We're engaged in a civil war," he says of his relationship with Best, "one that's lacking in civility but one we both win."
A charming Brit with a frenetic energy off-set by an easy smile, Speck stresses that the documentary series is in its infancy, and frets that his partner has probably said too much. In his defense, this was an unscheduled visit; Best chatted us up in the diner down the block and invited us over. "I promise we'll have you back," says Speck as we're whisked to the door. "We can give you an exclusive...Or you can be in the next episode!"
Best and Speck see us off with a case of Function drinks (a sponsor of the show) - in exchange for a signed release permitting them to use any video of us in the series. Looking over our shoulders as we go, we're excited about the impending exclusive - but we can't help wondering if the latter option might be even more fun.
BEVERLY HILLS, CA, July 29, 2008 - Top indie retailer Sportie LA and LA Gear-owner ACI are teaming up for a relaunch of the LA Gear brand, with product expected in select stores by mid-September. SLAM, Sportie LA's content and marketing eGency, is overseeing marketing and promotion for the endeavor, which focuses primarily on late 80s product.
For the initial launch, ACI and Sportie LA are bringing back many of LA Gear's signature styles, while updating some colors and materials. Among those styles re-emerging are the Fire High (known for its fiery emblem), the Star Shooter High (B-ball on the tongue), and the K.A.J., which will update the classic Kareem shoe with a striking metallic silver and gold combo. In its second phase, the team will bring back the LA Lights, a trademark of the period, which will be available in kids, mens, and womens sizes.
"LA Gear is one of the classic heritage brands, and we're staying true to that," said Sportie LA co-owner Isack Fadlon. "A few years ago, everyone was coming back, it was the thing to do. With LA Gear, we and ACI have chosen the timing, we didn't fall into the trap of following suit." Fadlon added that the LA-centric theme is no coincidence: "ACI and Sportie LA are both based here, and the timing reflects a boon in fashion in Los Angeles. The city's profile in that regard is rising so quickly, gaining stature in its own right."
"It has been almost 20 years since these original LA Gear styles have been in the market, and we feel like it's time to bring them back," said ACI's Lance Jackson, Director of LA Gear Specialty Product. "It's a project LA Gear is very confident and excited about!"
"We're building our effort around the connection that people have with this brand," SLAMDirector of Marketing Justo Diaz stated regarding the outfit's campaign, which will include Web sites, commercials, print components, and events. "Our audience comes to LA Gear from all angles; some connect at a point of nostalgia, while others seize the opportunity to be part of a vibrant era for the first time."
The new LA Gear line will be offered exclusively at Sportie LA for a limited time, before expanding to select retailers.
With four stores in the Los Angeles area, and a clientele that reads like a Who's Who of fashion-conscious celebrities, Sportie LA is considered one of the chief influencers on today's sneaker scene. In 2007, the company was listed #3 among Independent Retailers on Footwear News' Power 100.
SLAM provides nontraditional creative marketing promotion, advertising production and consulting for select brands and since its inception in 2006, has carried out Web-based initiatives for brands such as PF Flyers and Creative Recreation, and had a hand in live events for K-Swiss, Asics Onitsuka Tiger, New Balance, and Reebok.
SANTA MONICA, CA, July 7, 2008 - "Whether I'm working on a broadcast commercial or something in another medium, it's all storytelling, and I like it to feel very authentic," says tightdirector Danny T, who worked with the project's visionary creator Matt Wolf of Double Twenty on an alternate reality game promoting Guillermo Del Toro's upcoming film HellBoy II: The Golden Army. Danny T, whose spot credits include projects for Nike and Coke, was responsible for directing the live-action segments appearing online via a variety of distribution platforms.
Recognizing the Internet as a vital tool to communicate with people all over the world via video cam, blogging, and websites, the team has incorporated all of these Web sectors to create an interactive, alternate reality game that encourages participants to work together to uncover clues, unravel a mystery, and solve a myriad of puzzles.
An innocent visit to YouTube serves as a portal to the ARG's live action clips, luring viewers through the looking glass with segments that are alternately amusing, intriguing, and startling: a young, amateur vlogger named Lexi gradually finds herself drawn into a world of fairies, trolls, and other things that go bump in the night; video footage of random people encountering a spray painting with secrets of its own; and clips of leaked military training and experiment footage. Each of these videos contain clues to help win the game. The YouTube videos have already received thousands of hits while message boards on other sites associated with the game have become popular tools for players to communicate and to work together to figure out who the characters are and what the clues to unlock the final puzzle - known as the Secret Device - could be.
There are a variety of sites to visit creating various ways to be introduced to the game. Because of this there are three distinct groups of players: Hellboy fans, gamers, and an audience that stumbles upon it either by seeing the YouTube videos or by word of mouth. The main sites introduce you to the Secret Device, where clues are given and received and where the true mystery will be revealed, HETFET, which has message boards, forums, information, articles, and links to the YouTube sites, and finally Panatrog, which is a mysterious organization associated with the game.
Wolf explains, "It combines story narrative and gameplay in one. Designed to entertain diehard fans of Hellboy and new fans alike, our goal was to create a parallel experience for people to get excited about, as the upcoming movie approaches." As the participant becomes more involved with the game and the online characters, they are educated about the upcoming Hellboy movie as well. While the game is fantasy, it does include a real eco friendly message that people believe in and can relate to since there is a concentration around HETFET, Humans for the Ethical Treatment of Fairies, Elves and Trolls, and their environmental safety. As well as the connection with live-action characters that gamers have already formed a rapport with through YouTube and message boards. The players are introduced to various characters and scenarios that will allow them to formulate a relationship with the franchise and therefore create new Hellboy fans without giving away any details of the actual film.
A co-host of the award-winning The Totally Rad Show (referred to by Wired Magazine as "The best weekly podcast-period"), Danny T routinely covers the latest in movies, television, videogames and comic books. "Matt and I are both gaming geeks and through hanging out we recognized that and collaborated well," the director says. "Being part of making a game and the process was very exciting and cool. I am a guy who plays the games, I'm that guy we're targeting. I'm a consumer of other products as well, and I always try to relate to the audience for a campaign. Still, when it comes to the gaming stuff, I was uniquely connected."
For Danny T, the challenge was to grab viewers' attention and inspire an "is it or isn't it real" reaction. "Even in a movie theatre, we're asked to suspend disbelief, if just for a moment," he explains. "We wanted the videos to be just believable enough to have people, for a second or a minute, to question whether or not this is real."
The vlogger, Lexi, for example, had to be "a real person, not a character," Danny T says. "There is a point where you realize she is an actor, but at the same time, when these videos broke, people were emailing Lexi thinking she did not know she was being used as part of a game." For the spray paint videos, we paired visual effects with a very grounded shooting style to strike the perfect balance between credibility and unreality. Danny T shot the "educational film" pieces on Super8, which most closely resembled the look of the old-school 16mm films he studied as references and Wolf really wanted to obtain. "We want people to laugh at it because it's so dead on," he says. "It could have been made thirty years ago, it could be the real thing, something we found in a vault, but it's not." The believability throughline extended to editorial and music, Danny T says. "You don't want it to be so crappy that it's unwatchable, but the artistry can't be too polished."
With increasing views and response, the game has rapidly been gaining momentum in anticipation of the film's July release, and both Danny and Matt are pleased by the reaction to the work. "Hopefully, by avoiding overt stylization that would reveal the hand of the director," Danny T concludes, "I've been able to put my own stamp on it, after all."
To view the game and various websites visit www.thesecretdevice.com, www.hetfet.org, www.panatrog.org. Danny T's live action material can be viewed atwww.youtube.com/user/lexivision, www.youtube.com/user/aSmarmyYeti, www.youtube.com/user/dutchfelines, as well as Tightfilms.com. Double Twenty is located at d20.com The game will wrap on June 4, 2008 and the Secret Device will be exposed to the public. Universal's Hellboy II: The Golden Army premieres world wide July 11, 2008.
Project Credits
Client: Universal Pictures (The Secret Device Alternative Reality Game)
Agency: Double Twenty Executive Producer: Matt Wolf Writer/Director/Game Design: Matt Wolf Producer: Tania Thiele Additional Writers: Tania Thiele, David Wohl
Production Company (Live-Action): tight Director: Danny T Executive Producers: Rich Carter, Don Block, Elaine Behnken Head of Production: Annie Hanlon Producer: Ari Hakim
Editorial: Jigsaw Editor: David Trachtenberg VFX: Mark Leiss Executive Producer: Kirsten Thon-Webb
Los Angeles/London, June 26, 2008 - Digital marketing and media agency The Viral Factory took home a Silver Cyber Lion at last week's 55th International Advertising Festival in Cannes. Competing with top tier agencies worldwide, The Viral Factory was honored in the Viral Video category, for a hugely successful piece created for Samsung Electronics to promote the Samsung G800 Mobile Phone. In the film, stop motion animation stick figures traverse the bodies of a guy and girl falling in love, telling the story of "How We Met." Shot entirely on the G800 and produced in a user-generated content style, the entertaining piece is a "product demo" in the purest sense of the term.
In addition to the Lion, and a Yellow Pencil earlier this year, "How We Met" earned a position on the front page of YouTube and racked up total views of 10.5 million. Upon its release on YouTube, it ranked #1 most viewed globally overall, #1 most viewed entertainment globally, #1 top favorite globally, #1 most discussed entertainment globally, #6 top rated globally, #6 most linked globally.
The awards, accolades, and statistics serve as further evidence of The Viral Factory's uncanny balance of great creative, seeding, and consumer impact. The agency's work has landed on the YouTube front page three times in 2008, delivering its clients views in the double-digit millions from YouTube alone. For the third most popular site in the world, with 150,000 videos uploaded every day, this is no small feat.
"We are thrilled by this honor," said The Viral Factory Senior Partner Don Block, in a statement. "The award for this video in particular underscores the idea that we understand what the online audience is looking for, how to develop and execute creative, how to reach the audience, and how to get them excited about brands and products."
The Silver Cyber Lion comes just as a new video from The Viral Factory, "Drag and Drop," makes its mark on viewers. The video, also for Samsung, has been on the front page of YouTube for six days over the last two weeks, accumulating over 1 million views and counting. Another recent video featured on the front page of YouTube, "Rock Song for My Mom," for Teleflora, was also created by The Viral Factory.
DETROIT, MI, February 7, 2008 - 3-D technology has been making moviegoing experiences more exciting since the early 20th century. Now, Universal Images and Mediascape have devised a way to take that experience out of the theater - and sans those clumsy glasses. This latest technique was applied to a new presentation for OnStar by GM, to promote that product's numerous features. For the 2008 auto show circuit, Mediascape and UI developed technology and content for a multimedia walk-up OnStar display that creates an exciting visual experience with 3-D effects. With years of 3-D display experience, Mediascape was ready to help with MVP Collaborative's production for OnStar.
"We continue to advance the state of the art with screen-popping imagery that escapes the 2D surface, creating a true 'wow' factor with crowds," said Mediascape President Howard Luby. Indeed, the response from the community has been one of excitement - and surprise. From afar, the image seems completely normal and 2-D. However, as the viewer moves toward the display the image is perceived in 3-D, jumping out at the spectator. Each forty-two inch screen used in OnStar's display presents a slightly different image to the left and right eye of the viewer, just like our view of natural 3D objects. Mediascape and UI continue to make strides in stereo video by leveraging the latest hardware, and their own proprietary tools.
"This technology is at the forefront of the industry," said Luby, "We've explored prototypes of this method for years, but this generation of equipment is the first that's been viable for public use."
Etta Menlo, President of Universal Images, added that "part of the success of this project was due to the collaboration between UI and Mediascape during the development phase.One of UI's Senior Effects Artists, Matt Simecek, spent a lot of time shuttling between UI and Mediascape to test and tweak the visuals. As a result, UI is expert at creating content for this specific format."
The new display was rolled out in Detroit during NAIAS and will continue on through the auto show A circuit through March, with an additional dealer show in San Francisco starting Feb 9th.
Mediascape was recently granted the Ambassador Award and the Innovative Media honor with Presentation Works at Detroit's D Show. The awards were in honor of Mediascape's work with VW Caraoke, an in-car "Caraoke" system for use during 2007 international auto shows to promote new cars by VW.
Project Credits:
Mediascape Hardware and Software Development: Howard Luby, Josh Dady
Universal Images Senior Effects Artist: Matt Simecek Effects Artist: Henry Birdseye Senior 3D Animator(s): Eric Brown, Mike Gregg
Via GOON Media, Christopher Guest & GO Film Provide Intel with Musical Tech Support
HOLLYWOOD, CA, September 12, 2007 - GO Film's Christopher Guest is no stranger to the synthesis of music and comedy...in fact, he's an iconic presence in this arena, achieving cult hero status as a member of Spinal Tap and as a director, writer, actor, and composer on numerous films.
Guest now brings his talent to two Web-based spots for Intel, "Everything Has Changed" and "Set I.T. Managers Free".
Created by MRM Worldwide and McCann Erickson, the spots function as music videos of sorts, driven by tracks Guest composed with CJ Vanston.
The pieces are featured on a specially created website, and tout Intel's "Hard Meets Soft" campaign.
Dan Finnerty (soft rock-software) of The Dan Bandand Rob Giles (hard rock-hardware) duet on both songs, conveying the changes afoot at Intel, changes that marry hardware and software technology like never before.
The project originated with Duncan Mitchell, SVP Creative Director, MRM Worldwide, who approached GOON Media about crafting a musical piece that would get the message across.
"When you create advertising for the Internet, the work has to be worth people's time, it has to charm more than sell," said Mitchell. "Our task was to tell the story of a complex and breakthrough new Intel technology for IT managers. We decided to tell the story of this powerful product in song, with a soft rock singer representing software, and a hard rock singer representing hardware. At the end of the song they come together, rocking harder than either could on their own. We wanted this to be smart and funny, and because it involved music, Christopher Guest was the prefect choice."
The product is a suite of hardware that is embedded into PC's, which enables network management software to do much more than ever before. This entirely new way of hardware and software working together makes IT manager's jobs much easier.
While Guest helms traditional spots through GO Film, GOON serves as an incubator for alternative and new media pursuits, bringing nontraditional marketing and creative development together.
After composing the songs with Vanston, Guest devised the visual elements of the ads, which bring Finnerty, Giles and their band members into an office setting where they perform their respective parts.
"Chris was drawn to the project because of the music element," recalled GO Partner/EP Gary Rose. We were given a laundry list of computer terms, which CJ and Christopher used to craft lyrics and a song that not only made sense to IT guys but was great musically."
Who would have ever thought one could create a singable lyric out of the term remote manageability? Even the multi-talented Guest admitted the task was challenging.
“I’m computer literate but would not consider myself a Mac genius,” said Guest. “We had to write music and lyrics about things most people have never heard of.”
Spots Titles: "Everything Has Changed" and "Set I.T. Managers Free" First Air Date: 7/23/07
Client: Intel VP, Sales and Marketing Group/Director, Integrated Marketing: Nancy Bhagat Integrated Marketing Manager, Business: Sandra Lopez Integrated Marketing Program Manager, Business Client: Travis Hockersmith
Agency: MRM Worldwide and McCann Erickson SVP Creative Director, MRM Worldwide: Duncan Mitchell Senior Copywriter, MRM Worldwide: Andrew Payton EVP Executive Creative Director, MRM Worldwide: Michael Jacobs SVP Executive Producer, McCann Erickson: Jonathan Shipman
Production Company: GO Film Director: Christopher Guest DP: Jeff Cutter Executive Producer: Gary Rose Producer: Leah Fleischmann
Music and Lyrics: GO Film Christopher Guest, C.J. Vanston
Editorial: Red Car Editor: Charlie Cusumano Editorial EP: Jennifer Lederman
So spot-on and genuine is this film in its regard for its subject, the term "mockumentary" just doesn't seem to fit. Nevertheless, as this 3-minute "Fashion Show" unfolds, it becomes clear, sort of, that someone has orchestrated the proceedings. Commissioned by Grey Worldwide and directed by James Rouse with The Viral Factory, "Fashion Show" purports to chronicle the latest work of fictional designer Stefane Monzon, whose canvas is hair - specifically pubic hair. Staged in LA, the piece has a grounded, realistic tone, despite the outrageous styling choices (including Ostrich-like plumes as well as flame-streaked hair, because, as Monzon exclaims, "fire burns everywhere, it doesn't just burn it the tips."). Edited by Justin Trovato at Jigsaw Editorial, the film jumps from backstage to center stage, and the crowd was wowed by the show, which they perceived to be real - only the models, actors, and production staff knew it was a setup.
Client: Remington Spots Title: "Fashion Show" First Air Date: September 18, 2006
Production Company: The Viral Factory USA Director: James Rouse with The Viral Factory USA Agency: Grey London/The Viral Factory USA Creatives: Sam Hibbard, Grey London/The Viral Factory USA Editorial: Jigsaw/ Santa Monica Editor: Justin Trovato Sound Design: Eleven Sound/Santa Monica Music: NAPT (Sub Frequency Funk Records) Song: Rock Your Style Shoot Location: Los Angeles
"This is B.S.!" shouts Steven Best as we arrive on the set of Best/Spectacular, the eponymous series about a Web marketing and content agency rolling with the punches in the New Media age.
Today, Best and Speck are entertaining a pair of new clients whose profiles could not be more different from one another (and whose identities we've been asked to withhold). According to Speck, this diversity is, in part, what fuels the dynamic duo. "We're engaged in a civil war," he says of his relationship with Best, "one that's lacking in civility but one we both win." 
much. In his defense, this was an unscheduled visit; Best chatted us up in the diner down the block and invited us over. "I promise we'll have you back," says Speck as we're whisked to the door. "We can give you an exclusive...Or you can be in the next episode!"
with top tier agencies worldwide, The Viral Factory was honored in the Viral Video category, for a hugely successful piece created for Samsung Electronics to promote the Samsung G800 Mobile Phone. In the film, stop motion animation stick figures traverse the bodies of a guy and girl falling in love, telling the story of 
feat. 
moviegoing experiences more exciting since the early 20th century. Now, 
"This technology is at the forefront of the industry," said Luby, "We've explored prototypes of this method for years, but this generation of equipment is the first that's been viable for public use." 
Created by MRM Worldwide and McCann Erickson, the spots function as music videos of sorts, driven by tracks Guest composed with CJ Vanston. 
seem to fit. Nevertheless, as this 3-minute "Fashion Show" unfolds, it becomes clear, sort of, that someone has orchestrated the proceedings. Commissioned by Grey Worldwide and directed by James Rouse with 