LOTS to be found at “Lost”

Lost At E Minor is an online publication of inspiring art, photography, music, and more for creative people. Founded by brothers Zolton and Zac Zavos in 2005, Lost At E Minor is an imprint of Australia’s Conversant Media, also publishers of the country’s sports opinion site The Roar. Lost At E Minor’s worldwide team of editors and writers based in cities from Bogota, Berlin, New York, Melbourne and many locales in between report from 21st century civilization’s leading edge, providing a constant source of creative inspiration.

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Success builds for Sam Jones on and off camera

One of the many highlights of my work handling PR for Tool of North America back in 2004-2006 was having the opportunity to meet the acclaimed photographer and director Sam Jones, and handling the campaign announcing him joining Tool for commercial representation. Since then, Sam has hooked-up with RSA Films for commercial representation, while also following his passions to very impressive new heights in the fields of publishing and production.

Last year, Sam launched Off Camera as a website, magazine, television show, and podcast drawing upon his passion for the long form conversational interview, and his connections with a myriad of high-profile artists, actors, musicians, directors, skateboarders, photographers, and writers. In May, Rob Haggart – the former director of photography for Men’s Journal and Outside Magazine – ran a story about “Off Camera” on his popular website, A Photo Editor. Here is an excerpt:

Sam Jones is a go-to photographer for many magazines, studios and ad agencies when it comes to shooting actors. In over 20 years of shooting he’s noticed an unfortunate trend working for magazines. Less time; less control over wardrobe, location, heck even what side of the face you get to shoot; less choice in what to shoot with; which in his mind equals less exciting pictures. No unguarded moments or glimpses into their real lives. So, he decided to do something about it and created his own vehicle for “more” called offCamera.

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Future forward with production studio Leviathan

As the principals of design-focused production studio Leviathan begin their fourth year in business together, their impacts are growing in virtually every dimension. While the montage featured here and at www.lvthn.com presents most of their latest large-scale visual experiences crossing all media, many new achievements are currently in the works as well.

At each new turn, projects like these for The North Face and Callaway via Factory Design Labs, for Kelley Blue Book via Doner, for Western Digital via R&R Partners, for Dodge via Union AdWorks, for HP via Designkitchen, and for musical artists Amon Tobin, Skrillex and others are leading in new directions.

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Adapting to the unknown with R/GA

R/GA is a full-service digital agency that transforms the way people interact with brands. The slideshow embedded above was part of a March 2013 talk from R/GA Chicago’s Abraham Velázquez Tello and Joseph Delhommer revealing how designers and technologists are redefining the creative process through close – and frequent – collaboration. Recently at the One … Read moreAdapting to the unknown with R/GA

Brilliant directors: Roman Coppola

Just last August, writers around the world were invited to become part of a very tantalizing short film competition. In short, filmmaker Roman Coppola had teamed-up with Intel and W Hotels to create an original series of four short films to be written by you or me. Here are a few details that appeared with the original announcements in Portable and many other high-profile media outlets across the creative industries.

“Write a screenplay for a short film set in a W Hotel, featuring an Intel-inspired Ultrabook. Roman and a panel of judges, including Chloë Sevigny, Michael Pitt, James Ransone, Jeff Baena, and other notable filmmakers, might just choose your screenplay to be developed into a short film by The Directors Bureau! Your story awaits behind a hotel door. Submit your script by August 30th. Come make a film with us.”

The opportunity absolutely sparked a great deal of interest… but before I knew it, the winners were being announced, and the resulting films, too. Above, I’m embedding Coppola’s own contribution. Below you can also find the project’s official trailer. Enjoy!

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Creative Entrepreneurs: Jose Sebastian Gomez

Over the past year, creative production company Shilo and director Jose Sebastian Gomez took on the challenge of creating a great deal of stunning cinematic content for Qatar TV, as you can see in the montage featured above. After traveling to Qatar to learn more about the culture and people – and make a lot of new friends – Shilo crafted this original HD content and much more for Qatar TV’s on-air identity.

“We were asked to make each promo a metaphor for different aspirational subjects such as education, business, environment and family,” Jose explains. “The main creative challenge was to render these stories in artistic and simple ways that didn’t require further explanation or language. We focused on conveying a feeling and tone for each subject in ways that are abstract and metaphorical but still understandable.”

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Transcending dimensions with The D4D

Hoping you will enjoy this behind-the-scenes look at how The Department of the 4th Dimension designed the experience, content and technology for the Lucid Dreams exhibit in Sephora & Firmenich’s Sensorium, the world’s first pop-up fragrance museum.

“In the Lucid Dreams interactive installation, visitors can affect floating holographic dream images inspired by Firmenich’s master perfumers. Using a high tech flower sculpture, the images transform based on the power of the individual’s sniff – triggered by the unique sound transmitted by the physical act of smelling. The multidisciplinary team at The D4D designed the complete Lucid Dreams experience including each room’s architecture, short films, floor-to-ceiling motion graphics, glowing sniff-registering flowers and the software that drives the interaction. Every step of the creative process was taken hand-in-hand with the perfumers at Firmenich to ensure a truly integrated and multisensory experience the brings their fragrances to life.”

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Thornberg & Forester’s time

It has been almost two years since fate connected me with Elizabeth Kiehner, Scott Matz, Justin Meredith and their colleagues at the award-winning NYC-based design and digital production company Thornberg & Forester, and as time marches on, their story just keeps getting better. Most recently, they collaborated with the gentlemen behind Paris-based creative agency VERSUS for a new global campaign for Bisquit Cognac.

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Adventures in publishing: Maria Popova

The Marginalian is the brain child of Maria Popova, an interestingness hunter-gatherer and curious mind at large, who also writes for Wired UK and The Atlantic, among others, and is an MIT Futures of Entertainment Fellow. The Marginalian is a record of Maria’s reading and reckoning with our search for meaning: sometimes through science and … Read moreAdventures in publishing: Maria Popova

Gift Togetherness

I am very proud to share Thornberg and Forester’s “The Gift of Togetherness,” part of a powerful campaign from DDB Chicago promoting Ronald McDonald House Charities. The campaign’s goal is to raise $1 million by December 31; for every dollar raised, 90 cents support programs globally! To learn more about RMHC and be a part … Read moreGift Togetherness