This is a very cursory look at where I spent two weeks in February. It is by no means complete, but it gives you some idea about how I spend so much of my time.
The Berlinale is an A-festival, founded in 1951 at the height of the Cold War. It accredits about 20,000 industry visitors and about 4,000 journalists each year with a total of 130 countries. It is one of the largest public festivals, selling about 300,000 tickets. The actual figure is 303,077 up 1.2% from last year’s 299,362). Aside from the Competition, it has 10 other sections and series, from children’s films to retrospectives. This year The Weimar Touch and also an homage to Claude Lanzmann were especially appealing to me. See more on the Efm website.
The Berlinale, which ran Feb. 7 to 17 includes the Festival, the European Film Market, the second largest market after Cannes, Talent Campus, Meet the Docs, The Co-Production Market and possibly other sections I am missing here. Efm registered a greater number of exhibitors than last year and they saw brisk sales for competition films including Richard Linklater’s Before Midnight, Chilean Sebastian Lelio’s Gloria (which won a Silver Bear for actress Paulina Garcia), as well as films from other sections and from the market itself. I am offering a report called Winter Rights Roundup which lists all the buying activity, not only for the Berlinale but also for Sundance. It includes links to the companies.
While around 400 films screened in thefestival (out of about 7,000 applications), 890 films screened in the market (600 were market premieres) to more than 8,000 participants from 95 countries. 1,690 of those were distributors in Berlin to buy rights from 172 international sales agents.
The Efm offered a new introduction to the market, “Shortcuts for First-Timers” on the first day of the Market, It was held in the Mirror Restaurant and 300 or 400 people attended. Thursday February 7 from 3.00 - 4.30 pm. I attended since I participate in the Cannes First-Timers event. The panelists were quite clear but I wished their names were in front of them. And I wondered who was in the audience. There is also possibly a replay of the panel but I don’t know where to find it for reference. There was a back screen which might have been used by showing a map of the market, or the names of those speaking or other graphics to help illustrate their points. They pointed out that red lights served to point out all the paths and venues used by the festival and market. That was very clever and once I knew to look for them, they helped me find new places.
They announced a new Berlinale Residency Program for writers/ directors who will have a four month stay in Berlin to work on their fiction, doc or cross-media project with the help of script consultants and industry experts from September to December. In February the residents return to present their projects at the Berlinale Co-Production Market to find further co-producers and financiers. This year 6 filmmakers were invited.
They didn’t mention the free WiFi for every registrant and the password written on the badges themselves.
I myself gave tours around the Martin Gropius Bau where most of the market takes place to participants at the Talent Campus and Deutsche Welle Akademie where I also taught about the international film business to Asian, African, Latin American and Caribbean film festival organizers. The tours are a great way to understand how the market works, who the people are, what company cultures are and how to understand them in order to operate optimally. I do the same thing for first timers in Cannes.
My partner Peter and I also had two clients there; one had his film in the market already and the other was following up with meetings with interested international sales agents. As it was their first time in Berlin, we were very pleased to see them take to it so easily.
It was only in the last two days I could actually see movies. But I caught up on lots of gossip along the way. For instance, I had not realized that Turner Broadcasting had bought a Norwegian sales agent and distributor for Scandinavia until Michael Werner who headed sales for NonStop told me that two years after their buyout they were now letting go of 400 people and Michael Werner and the international sales division were included.
I also heard about a new educational program called Making Waves. Five film schools including including the London Film School under the leadership of Ben Gibson and Columbia Film School under the leadership of Ira Deutchman brought students to Berlin and the students were making business plans for the sales and distribution of films in the market. Making Waves is a new week long distribution and marketing workshop devised by the London Film School in partnership with La fémis, the dffb, l'escac, the Romanian Film and Theatre University and New York's Columbia University of the Arts Film Department. Held in parallel to the Berlinale, 30 participants from the 6 film training institutions are immersed in all areas of the Berlinale: the European Film Market, the Festival and the Talent Campus where they work collaboratively in teams to develop creative campaigns, edit trailers, design posters and plan roll-out packages for actual independent films in the European Film Market. They are joined by experienced industry professionals working in the independent distribution sector who offer in-depth case studies. This hands-on workshop is for graduating students to gain understanding in emerging strategies in independent film distribution.
Venice seems to be working on student initiatives as well with a call for entries to the Biennale College. Unlike festivals that call for finished films, the Biennale College asked for up-and-comers to submit their ideas. The best proposals get 150,000 euros in seed money and the filmmakers are matched with some of the industry's finest practitioners who would help turn their treatments into reality, with a guaranteed screening at Venice in the summer. After narrowing it down to 15 semifinalists out of hundreds of submissions from around the globe, organizers this month announced three winners, each from a different continent. From the United States, director Tim Sutton and producer John Baker have won a spot with their yet-to-be-made film called Memphis, which follows the transformation of Ezra Jack, 'from beloved soul singer to ecstatic contemplator,' said judges in their review. From Thailand, director Nawapol Thanrongratanarit and producer Aditya Assarat won with their submission The Year of June, which follows a year in the life of an anonymous female student in Bangkok through her Twitter status. And from Italy, director Alessio Fava and producer Max Chicco won the last spot with Yuri Esposito, about a documentary film crew who follows a man who lives in a state of perennial sluggishness, whose wife all of a sudden gets pregnant. Buzz around the competition, which has the potential to launch unknowns into stardom, has been mounting for months. “To me the promise of a Venice debut is even a bigger deal than the money, because it's one thing to make a movie and quite another to have a chance for the entire international press to see it,” said San Francisco Chronicle film critic Mick Lasalle. “In fact, it's quite a big deal to make a movie, as an unknown, knowing that international exposure is guaranteed. The whole question mark - even if this turns out great, will anybody ever see it? - is eliminated”. Ensuring a fresh batch of talent, competition rules stipulated that the submission must be the applicant's first or second film endeavor. Earlier this month, semifinalists took part in a 10-day workshop with veteran filmmakers and cinema experts in Venice. “The key is that masters in cinema were present here during the workshop to help participants along,” says Paolo Baratta, president of the Biennale, the festival body that oversees the annual film fest. Organizers then narrowed it down to the three winners, who will receive funding thanks in part to Italian luxury fashion designer Gucci. In just 15 days the filmmakers will get a jumpstart on making micro-budget feature films before screening them at Venice August 28 through September 7. The winners will also get online distribution, adding to their much-needed visibility at the dawn of their careers. Organizers of the Venice Film Festival, the oldest in the world, say mixing veteran mentors with young blood is key to sustaining cinema as an art as well as keeping the festival relevant. “It is an initiative whose constant development will be continued for years to come,” Baratta says. See Variety Feb 11 – 17, 2013. You know this is in response and attests to the success of the the Berlinale Talent Campus which just completed its 11th year.
And in France, Cinefondation has brought U.S. director Barney Elliott to its six month residence program in Paris where he wrote the first draft of Oliver's Deal and later developed it at Amsterdam’s Binger Filmlab. It is now set to star Edward Burns and Spain’s Alberto Ammann. Marina Fuentes of Dreamcatches will bring the film to the market. Christine Vachon is exec producing. It will start shooting in May in New York and will travel to Lima, Peru and Huarez in the Anders.
Other notes gathered during this intense 10 day experience were Russian filmmaker Andrey Khvostov made a summer love story called Saint Petersburg which is being sold by Aktis Film International. Of course I want to see this especially because Rosskino hosted a trip last year to St. Petersburg for distributors after holding screenings of current films on offer. St. Peterburg of one of the most beautiful cities in the world; and the film has an original score by Sergei Yetushenko (The Last Station, Russian Ark).
Also Alberto Antonio Dandolo whom I met in Havana, was in his new home town Berlin continuing to sell The Cuban Wives about the wives of the Cuban 5 who are imprisoned in the United States.
Other news of interest includes The Match Factory’s Distribution 2.0 VOD initiative which will release its first film, Postcards from the Zoo. Partnering with Euro VoD platforms in France, Ireland, Switzerland, Spain, Peccadillo Pictures in U.K. and Eye Film Institute in the Netherlands, The Match Factory will coordinate marketing activities. This exploration of new marketing and distribution avenues for international arthouse features has the support of the EU’s Media Mundus.
BackUp, the Paris based financier is launching a new rights management software Movie Chainer on April 30, two weeks ahead of the Cannes Film Festival. This cloud based app enables Av rights holders to track contracts, generate exploitation and availability reports and calculate revenue splits and repayment schedules in a clear and visual style. The Cannes March’s database and networking platform Cinando will host and support the launch. The first live version of Movie Chainer will be available free to all industry professionals for a maximum of three projects and a demo version and presentation of the software is available here.
Former Arte Cinema chief Michel Reilhac has reactivated his production company Melange with a $6.7 million multi-platform project exploring the world of high endurance sport ultra-trailing. The work will revolve around six blocks or storylines, unfolding on several platforms – the web, the real world, tv. over six months in the second half of 2014.
New international sales agent out of Poland, New Europe, which picked up two Us in Progress films, Now Forager and I Used to be Darker, has also picked up Papusza, the story of the first published Romany Gypsy woman poet, whose work enraged her patriarchal community. Poland is also coming out with films by up and coming female directors two of which are in the official selection: 39 year old Malgorzata Szumowska has In the Name Of about homosexuality within the Polish Catholic Church (picked up for U.S by Film Movement) in the Main Competition, and Baby Blues, a story about teenage parents by Katarzyna Roslaniec in Generation. Izabela Kiszka, head of international relations at the Polish Film Institute, the country’s major public film funder, says both films are “daring, important, modern and up-to-date Eruopean cinema”. Both films are produced by Agnieszka Kurzydlo of Mental Disorder 4 and Szumowska is co-producer of both. Zentropa Poland is also a co-producer.
International sales agent We Pictures of China is producing a $9 million film called American Dreams in China, to be directed by Peter Ho-Sun Chan and photographed by Christopher Doyle. One of the protagonists teaches English in a Kentucky Fried Chicken store in China and invites his two other friends to partake in his “New Vision” where thousands of students wanting to go to the U.S. to follow their “American Dream” flock to the class.
David Castellanos formerly of Latido, has found success in his own international sales company, Cinema Republic. Their film The Clown was the Brazilian entry for Academy Award Nomination for Best Foreign Language Film and has wracked up 1.5 million admissions in Brazil. At Efm he is premiering Camina o Revienta which features first time director Paco Leon and stars a top Spanish TV actor and his real-life mother. It was the first day & date release in Spain and worked quite well. The Dumbass (Muro Mula) is also by a first time director and was filmed on a low $30K budget. It comes from Guaemala and features great music and is an example of the new wave of Latin American comedy. 18 Meals is the actor Luis Tozar’s first production and is directed by first timer Jorge Coira. It sold to Argentina and Japan, won for Best Director in Taorima Iff, the Audience Award and Jury Special Mention at Ourense Iff, and won Best Film and Audience Award at La Laguna Gastronomic Iff. Yummy: six seemingly unconnected stories in which food is the common demominator make up a romantic comedy set in Santiago de Compostela. It is available for viewing at Cinando as is The Clown and Carmina or Blow Up.
The Berlinale is an A-festival, founded in 1951 at the height of the Cold War. It accredits about 20,000 industry visitors and about 4,000 journalists each year with a total of 130 countries. It is one of the largest public festivals, selling about 300,000 tickets. The actual figure is 303,077 up 1.2% from last year’s 299,362). Aside from the Competition, it has 10 other sections and series, from children’s films to retrospectives. This year The Weimar Touch and also an homage to Claude Lanzmann were especially appealing to me. See more on the Efm website.
The Berlinale, which ran Feb. 7 to 17 includes the Festival, the European Film Market, the second largest market after Cannes, Talent Campus, Meet the Docs, The Co-Production Market and possibly other sections I am missing here. Efm registered a greater number of exhibitors than last year and they saw brisk sales for competition films including Richard Linklater’s Before Midnight, Chilean Sebastian Lelio’s Gloria (which won a Silver Bear for actress Paulina Garcia), as well as films from other sections and from the market itself. I am offering a report called Winter Rights Roundup which lists all the buying activity, not only for the Berlinale but also for Sundance. It includes links to the companies.
While around 400 films screened in thefestival (out of about 7,000 applications), 890 films screened in the market (600 were market premieres) to more than 8,000 participants from 95 countries. 1,690 of those were distributors in Berlin to buy rights from 172 international sales agents.
The Efm offered a new introduction to the market, “Shortcuts for First-Timers” on the first day of the Market, It was held in the Mirror Restaurant and 300 or 400 people attended. Thursday February 7 from 3.00 - 4.30 pm. I attended since I participate in the Cannes First-Timers event. The panelists were quite clear but I wished their names were in front of them. And I wondered who was in the audience. There is also possibly a replay of the panel but I don’t know where to find it for reference. There was a back screen which might have been used by showing a map of the market, or the names of those speaking or other graphics to help illustrate their points. They pointed out that red lights served to point out all the paths and venues used by the festival and market. That was very clever and once I knew to look for them, they helped me find new places.
They announced a new Berlinale Residency Program for writers/ directors who will have a four month stay in Berlin to work on their fiction, doc or cross-media project with the help of script consultants and industry experts from September to December. In February the residents return to present their projects at the Berlinale Co-Production Market to find further co-producers and financiers. This year 6 filmmakers were invited.
They didn’t mention the free WiFi for every registrant and the password written on the badges themselves.
I myself gave tours around the Martin Gropius Bau where most of the market takes place to participants at the Talent Campus and Deutsche Welle Akademie where I also taught about the international film business to Asian, African, Latin American and Caribbean film festival organizers. The tours are a great way to understand how the market works, who the people are, what company cultures are and how to understand them in order to operate optimally. I do the same thing for first timers in Cannes.
My partner Peter and I also had two clients there; one had his film in the market already and the other was following up with meetings with interested international sales agents. As it was their first time in Berlin, we were very pleased to see them take to it so easily.
It was only in the last two days I could actually see movies. But I caught up on lots of gossip along the way. For instance, I had not realized that Turner Broadcasting had bought a Norwegian sales agent and distributor for Scandinavia until Michael Werner who headed sales for NonStop told me that two years after their buyout they were now letting go of 400 people and Michael Werner and the international sales division were included.
I also heard about a new educational program called Making Waves. Five film schools including including the London Film School under the leadership of Ben Gibson and Columbia Film School under the leadership of Ira Deutchman brought students to Berlin and the students were making business plans for the sales and distribution of films in the market. Making Waves is a new week long distribution and marketing workshop devised by the London Film School in partnership with La fémis, the dffb, l'escac, the Romanian Film and Theatre University and New York's Columbia University of the Arts Film Department. Held in parallel to the Berlinale, 30 participants from the 6 film training institutions are immersed in all areas of the Berlinale: the European Film Market, the Festival and the Talent Campus where they work collaboratively in teams to develop creative campaigns, edit trailers, design posters and plan roll-out packages for actual independent films in the European Film Market. They are joined by experienced industry professionals working in the independent distribution sector who offer in-depth case studies. This hands-on workshop is for graduating students to gain understanding in emerging strategies in independent film distribution.
Venice seems to be working on student initiatives as well with a call for entries to the Biennale College. Unlike festivals that call for finished films, the Biennale College asked for up-and-comers to submit their ideas. The best proposals get 150,000 euros in seed money and the filmmakers are matched with some of the industry's finest practitioners who would help turn their treatments into reality, with a guaranteed screening at Venice in the summer. After narrowing it down to 15 semifinalists out of hundreds of submissions from around the globe, organizers this month announced three winners, each from a different continent. From the United States, director Tim Sutton and producer John Baker have won a spot with their yet-to-be-made film called Memphis, which follows the transformation of Ezra Jack, 'from beloved soul singer to ecstatic contemplator,' said judges in their review. From Thailand, director Nawapol Thanrongratanarit and producer Aditya Assarat won with their submission The Year of June, which follows a year in the life of an anonymous female student in Bangkok through her Twitter status. And from Italy, director Alessio Fava and producer Max Chicco won the last spot with Yuri Esposito, about a documentary film crew who follows a man who lives in a state of perennial sluggishness, whose wife all of a sudden gets pregnant. Buzz around the competition, which has the potential to launch unknowns into stardom, has been mounting for months. “To me the promise of a Venice debut is even a bigger deal than the money, because it's one thing to make a movie and quite another to have a chance for the entire international press to see it,” said San Francisco Chronicle film critic Mick Lasalle. “In fact, it's quite a big deal to make a movie, as an unknown, knowing that international exposure is guaranteed. The whole question mark - even if this turns out great, will anybody ever see it? - is eliminated”. Ensuring a fresh batch of talent, competition rules stipulated that the submission must be the applicant's first or second film endeavor. Earlier this month, semifinalists took part in a 10-day workshop with veteran filmmakers and cinema experts in Venice. “The key is that masters in cinema were present here during the workshop to help participants along,” says Paolo Baratta, president of the Biennale, the festival body that oversees the annual film fest. Organizers then narrowed it down to the three winners, who will receive funding thanks in part to Italian luxury fashion designer Gucci. In just 15 days the filmmakers will get a jumpstart on making micro-budget feature films before screening them at Venice August 28 through September 7. The winners will also get online distribution, adding to their much-needed visibility at the dawn of their careers. Organizers of the Venice Film Festival, the oldest in the world, say mixing veteran mentors with young blood is key to sustaining cinema as an art as well as keeping the festival relevant. “It is an initiative whose constant development will be continued for years to come,” Baratta says. See Variety Feb 11 – 17, 2013. You know this is in response and attests to the success of the the Berlinale Talent Campus which just completed its 11th year.
And in France, Cinefondation has brought U.S. director Barney Elliott to its six month residence program in Paris where he wrote the first draft of Oliver's Deal and later developed it at Amsterdam’s Binger Filmlab. It is now set to star Edward Burns and Spain’s Alberto Ammann. Marina Fuentes of Dreamcatches will bring the film to the market. Christine Vachon is exec producing. It will start shooting in May in New York and will travel to Lima, Peru and Huarez in the Anders.
Other notes gathered during this intense 10 day experience were Russian filmmaker Andrey Khvostov made a summer love story called Saint Petersburg which is being sold by Aktis Film International. Of course I want to see this especially because Rosskino hosted a trip last year to St. Petersburg for distributors after holding screenings of current films on offer. St. Peterburg of one of the most beautiful cities in the world; and the film has an original score by Sergei Yetushenko (The Last Station, Russian Ark).
Also Alberto Antonio Dandolo whom I met in Havana, was in his new home town Berlin continuing to sell The Cuban Wives about the wives of the Cuban 5 who are imprisoned in the United States.
Other news of interest includes The Match Factory’s Distribution 2.0 VOD initiative which will release its first film, Postcards from the Zoo. Partnering with Euro VoD platforms in France, Ireland, Switzerland, Spain, Peccadillo Pictures in U.K. and Eye Film Institute in the Netherlands, The Match Factory will coordinate marketing activities. This exploration of new marketing and distribution avenues for international arthouse features has the support of the EU’s Media Mundus.
BackUp, the Paris based financier is launching a new rights management software Movie Chainer on April 30, two weeks ahead of the Cannes Film Festival. This cloud based app enables Av rights holders to track contracts, generate exploitation and availability reports and calculate revenue splits and repayment schedules in a clear and visual style. The Cannes March’s database and networking platform Cinando will host and support the launch. The first live version of Movie Chainer will be available free to all industry professionals for a maximum of three projects and a demo version and presentation of the software is available here.
Former Arte Cinema chief Michel Reilhac has reactivated his production company Melange with a $6.7 million multi-platform project exploring the world of high endurance sport ultra-trailing. The work will revolve around six blocks or storylines, unfolding on several platforms – the web, the real world, tv. over six months in the second half of 2014.
New international sales agent out of Poland, New Europe, which picked up two Us in Progress films, Now Forager and I Used to be Darker, has also picked up Papusza, the story of the first published Romany Gypsy woman poet, whose work enraged her patriarchal community. Poland is also coming out with films by up and coming female directors two of which are in the official selection: 39 year old Malgorzata Szumowska has In the Name Of about homosexuality within the Polish Catholic Church (picked up for U.S by Film Movement) in the Main Competition, and Baby Blues, a story about teenage parents by Katarzyna Roslaniec in Generation. Izabela Kiszka, head of international relations at the Polish Film Institute, the country’s major public film funder, says both films are “daring, important, modern and up-to-date Eruopean cinema”. Both films are produced by Agnieszka Kurzydlo of Mental Disorder 4 and Szumowska is co-producer of both. Zentropa Poland is also a co-producer.
International sales agent We Pictures of China is producing a $9 million film called American Dreams in China, to be directed by Peter Ho-Sun Chan and photographed by Christopher Doyle. One of the protagonists teaches English in a Kentucky Fried Chicken store in China and invites his two other friends to partake in his “New Vision” where thousands of students wanting to go to the U.S. to follow their “American Dream” flock to the class.
David Castellanos formerly of Latido, has found success in his own international sales company, Cinema Republic. Their film The Clown was the Brazilian entry for Academy Award Nomination for Best Foreign Language Film and has wracked up 1.5 million admissions in Brazil. At Efm he is premiering Camina o Revienta which features first time director Paco Leon and stars a top Spanish TV actor and his real-life mother. It was the first day & date release in Spain and worked quite well. The Dumbass (Muro Mula) is also by a first time director and was filmed on a low $30K budget. It comes from Guaemala and features great music and is an example of the new wave of Latin American comedy. 18 Meals is the actor Luis Tozar’s first production and is directed by first timer Jorge Coira. It sold to Argentina and Japan, won for Best Director in Taorima Iff, the Audience Award and Jury Special Mention at Ourense Iff, and won Best Film and Audience Award at La Laguna Gastronomic Iff. Yummy: six seemingly unconnected stories in which food is the common demominator make up a romantic comedy set in Santiago de Compostela. It is available for viewing at Cinando as is The Clown and Carmina or Blow Up.
- 3/4/2013
- by Sydney Levine
- Sydney's Buzz
From director Tim Sutton and producer John Baker comes a project titled Memphis, which is one of the 3 projects that will proceed to the second phase of the Biennale College – Cinema, which consists of a workshop that will make it possible to actually make a mini-budget film, with funding of 150,000 euro (about 150,000) each. The 3 projects, each being either debut features or sophomore works, are chosen at the end of the first workshop are among the 15 previously selected projects from all over the world (presented by a team of one director and one producer) are. The goal is to present the 3 feature-length films at the upcoming 70th Venice International Film Festival...
- 2/11/2013
- by Tambay A. Obenson
- ShadowAndAct
Three projects have advanced to the second round of the Venice Film Festival's Biennale College-Cinema program. This second phase consists of a workshop in which the participants will actually make a mini-budget film; each will get 150,000 euro in funding. The three projects were chosen at the end of a 10-day workshop held in January, in which 15 groups participated, each comprised of a director and producer. The initial group of 15 represented 12 countries from around the world. The goal of the program is to present the three feature-length films at the 70th International Venice Film Festival (August 28 - September 7, 2013). The three projects are: "Memphis" (USA), director Tim Sutton and producer John Baker "The Year of June" (Thailand), director Nawapol Thamrongrattanarit and producer Aditya Assarat "Yuri Esposito" (Italy), director Alessio Fava and producer Max Chicco...
- 1/22/2013
- by Beth Hanna
- Thompson on Hollywood
In this roundup from the Encore and Mumbrella Annual, we look at the year’s best screen ads.
1. Telstra – Land Down Under
Launched ahead of the 2012 Olympic games, Ddb Sydney’s spine-tingling rendition of Men At Work’s Land Down Under was a fitting tribute to the Australian athletes competing in London.
The band’s lead singer and guitarist Colin Hay directs groups of Aussies in a rendition of the anthem, including a school choir and an Afl team inspiring a feeling of patriotism rarely found outside the sports arena.
2. Foxtel – London Olympics
A well-crafted ad that sums up the determination and sacrifice athletes put in to get Olympic gold. Created by Clemenger Bbdo Sydney, a range of high-profile Australian athletes are shown training in the lead up to the games.
3. Nestle Purina – Fancy Feast
A sushi train style of dining for cats makes a refreshing change from the abundance of other pet food ads.
1. Telstra – Land Down Under
Launched ahead of the 2012 Olympic games, Ddb Sydney’s spine-tingling rendition of Men At Work’s Land Down Under was a fitting tribute to the Australian athletes competing in London.
The band’s lead singer and guitarist Colin Hay directs groups of Aussies in a rendition of the anthem, including a school choir and an Afl team inspiring a feeling of patriotism rarely found outside the sports arena.
2. Foxtel – London Olympics
A well-crafted ad that sums up the determination and sacrifice athletes put in to get Olympic gold. Created by Clemenger Bbdo Sydney, a range of high-profile Australian athletes are shown training in the lead up to the games.
3. Nestle Purina – Fancy Feast
A sushi train style of dining for cats makes a refreshing change from the abundance of other pet food ads.
- 12/20/2012
- by Luke
- Encore Magazine
Let yourself go: domestic target market 41% more likely to visit Ki after seeing the ad
The South Australian Tourism Commission has released the results of a survey to show the impact of ‘Let yourself go’, a popular campaign for Kangaroo Island that courted controversy six months ago after revelations that celebrities were paid to tweets positive things about the island and the ad.
Domestic holiday makers are 41% more likely to visit Kangaroo Island after seeing the ad – directed by Jeffrey Darling with music by Eddie Vedder – while this metric rose by 52% among the campaign’s main target market of ‘high-yield experience seekers’.
Awareness of the ad in Sydney and Melbourne was measured at 29%, with 68% of the target market describing it as having “high appeal”.
The survey was conducted by BDA Marketing and Planning among 3,244 people in person from April this year, when the campaign broke, through to July.
Satc has...
The South Australian Tourism Commission has released the results of a survey to show the impact of ‘Let yourself go’, a popular campaign for Kangaroo Island that courted controversy six months ago after revelations that celebrities were paid to tweets positive things about the island and the ad.
Domestic holiday makers are 41% more likely to visit Kangaroo Island after seeing the ad – directed by Jeffrey Darling with music by Eddie Vedder – while this metric rose by 52% among the campaign’s main target market of ‘high-yield experience seekers’.
Awareness of the ad in Sydney and Melbourne was measured at 29%, with 68% of the target market describing it as having “high appeal”.
The survey was conducted by BDA Marketing and Planning among 3,244 people in person from April this year, when the campaign broke, through to July.
Satc has...
- 10/9/2012
- by Robin Hicks
- Encore Magazine
Kangaroo Island 'Let Yourself Go'
The South Australian Tourism Commission has extended its relationship with ad agency Kwp!, which is now working on a follow-up campaign to the popular Let Yourself Go spot for Kangaroo Island that launched in March this year.
The extended deal, which will run until 30 June 2013, sees Kwp! build on its decade-long relationship with Satc. The news comes the week after brand agency Cato Purcell Partners was was appointed to create a new brand identity for the South Australian government.
Satc and Kwp! faced controversy a month after Let Yourself Go launched when it emerged that celebrities had been paid to tweet about Kangaroo Island and the ad itself, which featured the track Rise by Pearl Jam’s Eddie Vedder.
A new campaign is now in development for South Australia’s Barossa Valley and Flinders Ranges, with the agency considering using locally sourced music in a new ad.
The South Australian Tourism Commission has extended its relationship with ad agency Kwp!, which is now working on a follow-up campaign to the popular Let Yourself Go spot for Kangaroo Island that launched in March this year.
The extended deal, which will run until 30 June 2013, sees Kwp! build on its decade-long relationship with Satc. The news comes the week after brand agency Cato Purcell Partners was was appointed to create a new brand identity for the South Australian government.
Satc and Kwp! faced controversy a month after Let Yourself Go launched when it emerged that celebrities had been paid to tweet about Kangaroo Island and the ad itself, which featured the track Rise by Pearl Jam’s Eddie Vedder.
A new campaign is now in development for South Australia’s Barossa Valley and Flinders Ranges, with the agency considering using locally sourced music in a new ad.
- 9/11/2012
- by Robin Hicks
- Encore Magazine
Rsl: dwindling membership
Adelaide agency Kwp! has been hired by the South Australian Returned & Services League to help the organisation reverse falling membership numbers.
Kwp! takes on a brief to first research and later improve the community’s perception of the organisation.
Rsl believes that the fall in membership is a result of people not being informed of its activities.
New Rsl State President Brigadier Tim Hanna said: “We need to define our messages and then design a campaign which will be effective in dispelling stereotypes and informing a wide audience.”
“We can’t keep taking it for granted that the community and government will support us, and that Adf personnel will keep taking up membership, if we don’t keep ourselves relevant and communicative. We need to ensure no one thinks we’re just a bunch of old blokes who get together for a beer on Anzac Day,” he said.
Adelaide agency Kwp! has been hired by the South Australian Returned & Services League to help the organisation reverse falling membership numbers.
Kwp! takes on a brief to first research and later improve the community’s perception of the organisation.
Rsl believes that the fall in membership is a result of people not being informed of its activities.
New Rsl State President Brigadier Tim Hanna said: “We need to define our messages and then design a campaign which will be effective in dispelling stereotypes and informing a wide audience.”
“We can’t keep taking it for granted that the community and government will support us, and that Adf personnel will keep taking up membership, if we don’t keep ourselves relevant and communicative. We need to ensure no one thinks we’re just a bunch of old blokes who get together for a beer on Anzac Day,” he said.
- 9/6/2012
- by Robin Hicks
- Encore Magazine
A new billboard execution for a beer brand has been created to be only visible at night.
The ad for Coopers Dark Ale comes to life in the evening with comic book style artwork and carries the tagline “Life after dark”.
Designed and executed by Kwp! Advertising Adelaide, the ad by day is just a white billboard with an image of the Dark Ale bottle.
The artwork is created by Pose (Msk) a street artist and illustrator from Chicago and uses luminous Uv paint to bring the collage to life.
The Life After Dark campaign also includes a three-part video series as well as social, digital and print executions.
Credits
Client: Coopers
Agency: Kwp! Advertising Adelaide
Creative Director: James Rickard
Creative Team: Matt Minear, Michael Gagliardi
Media Team: Natalie Morley, Catherine Paglia, Nick Ryder
Account Team: Lucy Noblet, John Baker
Production Team: Micky Grant, Nic How, Peter Jones (SignStyle)
Artist:...
The ad for Coopers Dark Ale comes to life in the evening with comic book style artwork and carries the tagline “Life after dark”.
Designed and executed by Kwp! Advertising Adelaide, the ad by day is just a white billboard with an image of the Dark Ale bottle.
The artwork is created by Pose (Msk) a street artist and illustrator from Chicago and uses luminous Uv paint to bring the collage to life.
The Life After Dark campaign also includes a three-part video series as well as social, digital and print executions.
Credits
Client: Coopers
Agency: Kwp! Advertising Adelaide
Creative Director: James Rickard
Creative Team: Matt Minear, Michael Gagliardi
Media Team: Natalie Morley, Catherine Paglia, Nick Ryder
Account Team: Lucy Noblet, John Baker
Production Team: Micky Grant, Nic How, Peter Jones (SignStyle)
Artist:...
- 7/27/2012
- by Colin Delaney
- Encore Magazine
With a rejuvenated career thanks to Bridesmaids, it didn’t take long for director Paul Feig to find his next project. Production recently kicked off on his next comedy, The Heat, in Boston, with some last-minute casting announcements coming in. Re-teaming with his star Melissa McCarthy, the cast also includes Sandra Bullock, Rob Corddry, Tony Hale and John Baker.
Now Variety reports that comedian Bill Burr has joined the cast as brother to McCarthy, who is upset to find her cop sister turning in their other brother for being a drug dealer. The project follows an FBI agent (Bullock) and a Boston cop (McCarthy), both of whom are paired up and tasked with prosecuting a Russian gangster. One likely recognizes Burr from many TV stints such as Chappelle Show, Breaking Bad and even films like Date Night. The comedy arrives on April 4th, 2013.
In other casting news, Jimbo Lee is...
Now Variety reports that comedian Bill Burr has joined the cast as brother to McCarthy, who is upset to find her cop sister turning in their other brother for being a drug dealer. The project follows an FBI agent (Bullock) and a Boston cop (McCarthy), both of whom are paired up and tasked with prosecuting a Russian gangster. One likely recognizes Burr from many TV stints such as Chappelle Show, Breaking Bad and even films like Date Night. The comedy arrives on April 4th, 2013.
In other casting news, Jimbo Lee is...
- 7/17/2012
- by jpraup@gmail.com (thefilmstage.com)
- The Film Stage
Tony Hale‘s a funny guy, and Paul Feig (somewhat) recently made a funny movie. We’re already in business.
Anyway, Variety reports that the former will appear for the latter’s newest effort, The Heat, a cop comedy starring Melissa McCarthy and Sandra Bullock. Now, while fans of his Arrested Development/Veep work might be somewhat disappointed to read about the part — seeing as it sounds pretty small and what-not — I imagine him as “a man who McCarthy‘s character arrests for soliciting a prostitute” and can only laugh.
The screenplay, by Katie Dippold (Parks and Recreation), doesn’t center on arrests of that sort, but two law enforcement officers — “a high-strung FBI agent” (Bullock) and “unconventional Boston cop” (McCarthy) — who have to find and arrest a Russian mobster. John Baker (or “Spoken Reasons”) is also starring in The Heat, which will begin shooting next month.
Now, for competing action movies.
Anyway, Variety reports that the former will appear for the latter’s newest effort, The Heat, a cop comedy starring Melissa McCarthy and Sandra Bullock. Now, while fans of his Arrested Development/Veep work might be somewhat disappointed to read about the part — seeing as it sounds pretty small and what-not — I imagine him as “a man who McCarthy‘s character arrests for soliciting a prostitute” and can only laugh.
The screenplay, by Katie Dippold (Parks and Recreation), doesn’t center on arrests of that sort, but two law enforcement officers — “a high-strung FBI agent” (Bullock) and “unconventional Boston cop” (McCarthy) — who have to find and arrest a Russian mobster. John Baker (or “Spoken Reasons”) is also starring in The Heat, which will begin shooting next month.
Now, for competing action movies.
- 7/9/2012
- by jpraup@gmail.com (thefilmstage.com)
- The Film Stage
With 500,000 subscribers to his YouTube channel and a cume 125 million views of his videos, online comedian Spoken Reasons (aka John Baker) has joined the cast of Paul Feig's buddy cop movie The Heat, which already stars Sandra Bullock and Melissa McCarthy as a pair of Boston cops who take on the Russian mob. Mr Reasons, making his feature film debut, will reportedly play a lead character named “Terrell Rojas,” although no description yet. And how did 23-year-old Spoken Reasons aka John Baker go from YouTube star to feature film lead role? Per Deadline, the success he's enjoyed on YouTube got him onto producer Brad Robbins’ new YouTube...
- 6/28/2012
- by Courtney
- ShadowAndAct
The ultimate elderly pairing? Variety reports that Tommy Lee Jones and Robert De Niro might make their first turn together in Malavita, a Luc Besson-helmed dark comedy that will star the latter as a mobster in hiding — Michelle Pfeiffer has already been cast as his arsonist wife — and the former figures in as his “stern handler [...] who checks in on the family and tries to help them assimilate to their new life overseas.” Not that I don’t like seeing the ever-great Jones get some casting, but what number was he on the list of “stern-like actors”? Zero?
Besson and Michael Caleo have adapted Tonino Benacquista‘s novel, Badfellas, in which criminal Giovanni Manzoni becomes “Fred Blake,” moves his family to Normandy, and tries to become a normal citizen — except, unilt his proclivities get the best of him and things turn violent from thereon out. The director’s credit...
Besson and Michael Caleo have adapted Tonino Benacquista‘s novel, Badfellas, in which criminal Giovanni Manzoni becomes “Fred Blake,” moves his family to Normandy, and tries to become a normal citizen — except, unilt his proclivities get the best of him and things turn violent from thereon out. The director’s credit...
- 6/28/2012
- by jpraup@gmail.com (thefilmstage.com)
- The Film Stage
Music can make an average ad great. So why, Robin Hicks asks, is music the last thing a creative thinks about when writing an ad?
My favourite TV ad of the year so far is the Let Yourself Go spot for Kangaroo Island.
When it didn’t win Mumbrella’s Ad of the Month for March (it came third) I felt aggrieved for the agency that made it. But less so a week later when it emerged that the agency had paid celebrities to tweet nice things about its work.
Let Yourself Go is a stunning spot with lots of pretty images. But it would probably have had a similar effect on me if I’d watched a blank screen for 60 seconds.
John Baker of Adelaide ad agency Kwp!, which made the ad, told me that the music (Rise by Pearl Jam singer Eddie Vedder) “is 50% of the communication”. For me,...
My favourite TV ad of the year so far is the Let Yourself Go spot for Kangaroo Island.
When it didn’t win Mumbrella’s Ad of the Month for March (it came third) I felt aggrieved for the agency that made it. But less so a week later when it emerged that the agency had paid celebrities to tweet nice things about its work.
Let Yourself Go is a stunning spot with lots of pretty images. But it would probably have had a similar effect on me if I’d watched a blank screen for 60 seconds.
John Baker of Adelaide ad agency Kwp!, which made the ad, told me that the music (Rise by Pearl Jam singer Eddie Vedder) “is 50% of the communication”. For me,...
- 4/30/2012
- by Robin Hicks
- Encore Magazine
The South Australian Tourism Commission has come under fire from MediaWatch for paying celebrities to tweet positive things about Kangaroo Island.
The ABC show last night revealed that celebrities including celebrity chef Matt Moran, Australian idol contestant Shannon Noll and TV presenter Sophie Falkiner have been paid to Spruik the destination.
The revelation comes one month after Satc launched a TV-led ad campaign for Kangaroo Island, created by Adelaide agency Kwp!.
MediaWatch came across an email circulated from a publicist, which read:
I have been contacted by South Australian Tourism and they are looking for high profile celebrities with a high twitter following to tweet about Kangaroo Island. They will pay $750 plus Gst for one tweet. They don’t want to tweet to appear endorsed, rather an organic mention, injecting your own personality into the tweet.
The Satc’s director of marketing communications David O’Loughlin confirmed to Mumbrella that...
The ABC show last night revealed that celebrities including celebrity chef Matt Moran, Australian idol contestant Shannon Noll and TV presenter Sophie Falkiner have been paid to Spruik the destination.
The revelation comes one month after Satc launched a TV-led ad campaign for Kangaroo Island, created by Adelaide agency Kwp!.
MediaWatch came across an email circulated from a publicist, which read:
I have been contacted by South Australian Tourism and they are looking for high profile celebrities with a high twitter following to tweet about Kangaroo Island. They will pay $750 plus Gst for one tweet. They don’t want to tweet to appear endorsed, rather an organic mention, injecting your own personality into the tweet.
The Satc’s director of marketing communications David O’Loughlin confirmed to Mumbrella that...
- 4/23/2012
- by Robin Hicks
- Encore Magazine
An ad by the South Australian Tourism Commission to promote Kangaroo Island has resulted in an increase in searches for the destination on South Australia’s tourism website.
Two weeks after ‘Let yourself go’ launched on 22 February, searches for Kangaroo Island on southaustralia.com had increased by 208 per cent, the Satc told Mumbrella. However, it did not disclose what the actual number of searches was.
John Baker, managing partner of Kwp! Advertising, the Adelaide agency that made the ad, has called it “probably the most beautiful thing we’ve ever created.”
The TV ad, which is running on free to air and pay TV, is being supported by outdoor and indoor cinema, along with newspaper, magazine and digital.
David O’Loughlin, director of marketing and communications, South Australian Tourism Commission said in statement: “Our latest campaign shines the light on Kangaroo Island in a way that we haven’t before...
Two weeks after ‘Let yourself go’ launched on 22 February, searches for Kangaroo Island on southaustralia.com had increased by 208 per cent, the Satc told Mumbrella. However, it did not disclose what the actual number of searches was.
John Baker, managing partner of Kwp! Advertising, the Adelaide agency that made the ad, has called it “probably the most beautiful thing we’ve ever created.”
The TV ad, which is running on free to air and pay TV, is being supported by outdoor and indoor cinema, along with newspaper, magazine and digital.
David O’Loughlin, director of marketing and communications, South Australian Tourism Commission said in statement: “Our latest campaign shines the light on Kangaroo Island in a way that we haven’t before...
- 3/10/2012
- by Robin Hicks
- Encore Magazine
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