Unique insights and actionable ideas from The Darnell Works Agency’s daily quest for greatness.
Three years ago, Nobel Laureate and former U.S. Vice President Al Gore issued a powerful challenge to America: “Today I challenge our nation to commit to producing 100% of our electricity from renewable energy and truly clean carbon free sources within 10 years.”
Read moreForces for Good: Al Gore
ArtoftheTitle.com Founder Ian Albinson is a leading global authority on the art and craft of film and television title design. At this year’s South by Southwest (SXSW) Music and Media Conference and Festival in Austin, Texas, Ian produced and presented the fascinating video embedded here, which is entitled “A Brief History of Title Design.” Of the production, Stephanie Murg of Mediabistro’s UnBeige and LiquidTreat.com writes:
“In less than three minutes, he takes viewers from the title card for D.W. Griffith’s Intolerance (1916) to the Tokyo fever dream opening of Enter the Void (2009), pausing along the way to pay respects to the title sequences of everything from Singing in the Rain to Dexter.”
To commemorate the one-year anniversary of launching design-focused production studio Leviathan in Chicago, company principals Chad Hutson, Jason White, Matt Daly and their colleagues recently threw a very happy birthday block party.
The fascinating video featured with this story was just released in May, and it’s already aging. It ran with the Wired story “Six Months Later, Kinect Hacks Flourish” to coincide with a presentation by computer scientist Johnny Chung Lee at Wired’s Disruptive by Design business conference, and since then, the phenomenon has literally taken the tech and creative worlds by storm.
Read moreSharing secrets: Kinect hacking
On the evening of 20 June in New York City, world renowned opera artist Jessye Norman will present On Summer’s Edge, an evening of music and celebration benefiting The Partnership to End Homelessness. Beginning at 6:30PM at Frederick P. Rose Hall, Home of Jazz at Lincoln Center, Ms. Norman and Sade Baderinwa will co-host performances from Dee Dee Bridgewater, Dance Theatre of Harlem Ensemble and Mingus Dynasty.
Read moreJessye Norman On Summer’s Edge
TONIC is a platform for brands (consumers, celebrities and causes) to educate, interact and engage consumers around positive actions. Started as a destination for good news content, TONIC now generates its own news via the worlds of Silicon Valley, Madison Avenue, Philanthropy and Hollywood. This week they shared 10 thoughtful tips on ways to do good and be awesome this summer.
As their social media marketing manager Alethia Austin writes, “Here at Tonic, we believe the things to do during summer that are the most fun are those that have a positive effect on you, the people around you and our beautiful planet. We’ve put together a few ideas for you to consider when you find yourself wondering what to do during these long, wonderful summer days.”
I’ve summarized their suggestions below, but encourage you to check out the full article linked above for further ideas and inspiration. Thank you very much for your interest, and for doing your part to make our world better for us and generations to come.
Read moreForces for good: TONIC and YOU
After learning of the recent passing of Walter Lürzer, I wanted to update this entry I originally dedicated to him four years ago (below), share the intriguing autobiographical video above, and encourage anyone interested to read this wonderful Tribute written by Michael Conrad, his friend of 50 years. Dear Mr. Lürzer, thank you for the inspiration! You will be missed.
When I graduated from college in 1990, my personal interests largely drew from the realms of narrative film, literature and poetry. Many of the post-college jobs I landed were in production, but to my surprise, some of the more interesting ones built more upon my nonfiction writing abilities and the things I learned pursuing a PR/journalism minor. After years of working on high-profile TV shows and video projects, I ultimately homed-in on the field of publicity and public relations as a perfect means for earning a living which allowed me to independently make big impacts for others and their companies by using all of my talents. I still dream of being a filmmaker and a novelist, and sometimes, I get especially excited about the characters and other ‘materials’ coming my way each day as I handle my clients in the worlds of film and TV production and advertising.
Indeed, reading the Letter from the Publisher in the January edition of Lürzer’s Archive makes me realize that, if I would have been exposed to Walter Lürzer earlier in my career, I might have moved to Salzburg in the hopes of landing a job with him. The January ’07 opening letter finds Walter in Patna, a city in India
Read moreThe one-man international advertising ambassador, and his Archive
In April, creative production company Shilo delivered its patent commercial production brilliance far and wide. Enjoy the newest additions to the video slideshow above, which include the following. Saucony “What is Strong?” :60, director Andre Stringer’s first-ever TV spot for leading global performance athletic footwear and apparel supplier Saucony(R), via brand development firm Mechanica. The … Read moreShilo: Stronger, smarter, better
Ventilate Japan is a charity poster series donating 100% of all profits to the Red Cross, benefiting those who suffer from the Great East Japan Earthquake. Curated by graphic artist and publisher Michael Brown, Ventilate Japan is an initiative of ventilate.ca and each of the contributing artists as well as its sponsors. The group’s goal is to not only raise funds but to also raise awareness of the scale of this disaster, the physical and psychological toll taken by its victims, as well as the on-going threat posed by spent nuclear fuel.
Read moreForces for good: Ventilate Japan
I often tell people how pictures can make a story, and to me, the below photo by Gus Powell of Foley artist Marko Costanza for the Wired article “The Sound of Violence” is an excellent example. Of course, it’s also a great story by Joel Meares on the fascinating art of sound design for motion pictures. Check it out online at Wired.com.
Read moreStory pictures: Marko Costanzo by Gus Powell