Proven social media marketing strategies, tactics and breakthrough ideas for the ad and film industries

This week I had the pleasure of attending a webinar entitled, “Tweet this! Using Twitter and Social Media to Promote your Project and Yourself,” which was organized and moderated for StudioDaily.com by Film & Video Magazine’s Editor-in-Chief Bryant Frazer, and featured Mike Monello, co-founder and executive creative director at Campfire Media and co-producer of “The Blair Witch Project,” Erik Proulx, freelance creative director, copywriter, employment activist, social entrepreneur at Please Feed the Animals, and director of the short documentary film, “Lemonade,” Ian Schafer, CEO of Deep Focus, and Paul Klinke and Tobin Nageotte, co-founders of thirtysevenclick, and producers of the independent comedic short “Moustachette.”

Read moreProven social media marketing strategies, tactics and breakthrough ideas for the ad and film industries

We Are Plus relaunches, drives positive brand movement worldwide

Since first launching Plus et Plus in New York City in 2002, company founder Jeremy Hollister, co-creative director Judy Wellfare and their colleagues have built a reputation as a go-to company for fashion brands seeking to create sexy, marketing-savvy visual content for high-profile promotional uses ranging from live and in-store events to online, offline and traditional broadcast marketing campaigns. Recently relaunched as We Are Plus, over the past several months the company has delivered innovative projects for AMC, Shu Uemura Cosmetics, and Kidrobot, among many others.

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Editors from “Stand Up to Cancer” broadcast earn Creative Arts Primetime Emmy

Last September, “Stand Up to Cancer” (https://standuptocancer.org) was broadcast live and commercial-free simultaneously on ABC, CBS and NBC, and was seen in over 170 countries. During the broadcast, which was produced by Laura Ziskin Productions and Seligman Entertainment, and hosted by Halle Berry, Jessica Alba, Sheryl Crow, Charles Barkley and Melissa Etheridge, the event raised more than $100 million in an unprecedented effort to end cancer’s reign as a leading cause of death. Meanwhile, last Sat., Sept. 12, 2009,

Read moreEditors from “Stand Up to Cancer” broadcast earn Creative Arts Primetime Emmy

Kevin McMahon: Thanks for the Documentary

At some point over the past several weeks, my eyes were opened to the global water crisis, but I see now that I’m only beginning to get the full picture. Last week, I posted an entry on Irena Salina’s “FLOW,” and last night, my wife and I had another chance to see that amazing film thanks to it being repeated on the Sundance Channel. This morning, we found it there again and watched more of it with our 8-year-old daughter. After these viewings, I realized that there was a second powerful film I had recently seen (thanks again to Sundance Channel) on this subject: filmmaker Kevin McMahon’s “WATERLIFE.”

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Irena Salina: Thanks for the Documentary

Filmmaker Irena Salina has created an amazingly powerful documentary film entitled “FLOW: For the Love of Water,” which debuted at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival and has since won the International Jury Prize at the Mumbai International Film Festival, as well as Best Documentary honors at both the Vail International Film Festival and the United Nations Association Film Festival. Within the past several weeks, I saw the film on the Sundance Channel, and I want to encourage as many people as possible to see it. If interested, you can order the film on DVD by visiting this link.

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Case Study: Stardust Studios

Last updated on Aug. 31, 2009: Award-Winning Creative Production Company Stardust Studios Expands Business and Global Reputation

“Strategic Public Relations Campaign Designed and Executed by The Darnell Works Agency Put Stardust’s Business Feats in Brilliant Perspective”
See also: MEDIA COVERAGE

Stardust Studios, a bicoastal U.S. creative production company, specializing in motion design, animation, visual effects and live-action production. DWA strategic campaign kicked off in December, 2005 and ran through August, 2009.

Executive Summary
In November of 2005, well into its third year in business, Stardust Studios retained DWA as its PR agency of record, to devise and launch a proactive media relations campaign. Stardust’s brilliance in creating engaging original motion design and live-action content, combined with DWA’s campaign efforts, extended the studio’s reputation as a unique creator of extraordinary content worldwide. The company achieved fame through the Apple community and was widely recognized and honored among the world’s best through editorial exposure and industry awards related to its collaborations with the world’s most prestigious agencies, brands and recording artists.

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Behind the lens with ATTIK’s Simon Needham

As the co-founder of global creative agency ATTIK, and the creative director for ATTIK U.S., Simon Needham has already made an impressive impact on the marketing industry. ATTIK recently published NoiseFive, the latest of its self-guided, experimental, collectible design publications, and with each passing day, Simon continues to innovate alongside the world’s premier marketers — and the extremely talented artisans and craftspeople working with or within ATTIK on its latest campaigns.

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Earth Island Institute asks tomorrow’s leaders, “What would Dave do?”

Earth Island Institute established the Brower Youth Awards in 2000 to honor their founder and legendary environmental activist, David R. Brower and to call forth a new generation of leaders. This award manifests the Earth Island Institute’s abiding commitment to growing environmental leadership. The annual Brower Youth Awards honor six young people for their outstanding activism and achievements in the fields of environmental and social justice advocacy.

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Cause Marketing Case Study: MTV Networks International’s “Burma Viral”

Cyclone Nargis hit Burma on May 3, 2008, dramatically increasing the suffering of more than 55 million people already living under the unjust rule of a notorious military government. News of the peaceful 2007 protests of hundreds of thousands of Burmese citizens reached the world over the internet, inciting executives from MTV and Ogilvy and Mather into action. Together, these groups enrolled many key players in creating, distributing and promoting a poignant, dramatic short film, targeted to MTV viewers and influential passionistas worldwide, all to urge the global community to support the people of Burma and donate to relief efforts.

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A ray of hope from Levi’s and Walt Whitman, courtesy of Wieden+Kennedy

Since the world we live in is constantly changing, I guess it’s pretty easy to feel that anything from ‘yesterday’ is irrelevent. I recently read a critique of one of my clients’ latest ad campaigns, where the facets included a couple of really cool and interesting microsites. The critical comment said, “Microsites are so five minutes ago.” It made me think, my how some people love to hear themselves talk, even when their words make no sense. Earlier this month, Wieden+Kennedy Portland launched an arguably fascinating initiative for Levi’s called the GoForth campaign, which features the “America” spot I’ve embedded above.

Read moreA ray of hope from Levi’s and Walt Whitman, courtesy of Wieden+Kennedy