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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Coming soon to PBS: “Mission of Hope”

Premiering Jan. 31, 2013, on PBS, “Mission of Hope” is the untold inspirational story of Colonel Ilan Ramon, a fighter pilot and son of Holocaust survivors who became the first and only astronaut from Israel, embarking on a mission with the most diverse Shuttle crew ever to explore space. Ramon realized the significance of “being the first” and his journey of self-discovery turned into a mission to tell the world a powerful story about the resilience of the human spirit. Although the seven astronauts of the Columbia perished on February 1, 2003, a remarkable story of hope, friendship across cultures and an enduring faith reemerged.

Playtone presents a West Street Productions and Herzog & Company film.

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Cinema’s Past, Future and Present

The film industry’s creative and business sectors are at an intersection of great possibility, and new tools and practices are emerging every day. To guide industry leaders and filmmakers and to help creatively tackle the challenges of this evolving industry, NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts has recently launched the Cinema Research Institute.

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Great to know: Leviathan’s Jason White

Jason White, the executive creative director of design-focused production studio Leviathan, recently returned from a very successful trip to Australia, where he participated in events with Autodesk in Sydney as well as the Pause Digital Festival in Melbourne. At Pause, Jason presented “Moving Masses: The Art of Transformative Visual Experiences” as part of the PauseStage premiere conference event, and he hosted the world premiere of the dramatic short “Lilith,” Leviathan’s first original narrative film. The film was very well received, and so were Jason’s presentations. Here is some of the feedback.

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Great to know: Libby DeLana

Libby DeLana is a founding partner and creative at the next-generation branding firm Mechanica. I had the very good fortune of meeting her when my clients at Shilo first collaborated with Libby, her partners and their clients at Saucony on the inspirational project featured above. Through our exchanges formulating a PR strategy to promote the Saucony “Find Your Strong” campaign, I was exposed to the deep strategic thinking Mechanica invests into its work, as well as many facets of Libby’s personal talents. At the time, her photographs from Shilo’s location shoot blew me away, and since that first introduction, everything I’ve seen and experienced has made me even more of a fan.

For a bit more background, check out this 2009 profile of Mechanica from northshore magazine.

Q: What one trait or habit got you to where you are today? A: “A sunny disposition, a fierce belief that just about anything is possible and a touch of discipline.”

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Half the Sky: Thanks for the Documentary

Thankfully, the Half the Sky Movement is well underway tonight, continuing a vital quest to turn oppression into opportunity for women worldwide. The Movement’s documentary begins its two-night engagement on PBS about an hour from now on the U.S. East Coast. Produced for PBS’s Independent Lens by Show of Force, the film is based on … Read moreHalf the Sky: Thanks for the Documentary

Shilo is stepping up…

Fans of U.S. creative production company Shilo, fasten your seatbelts! This year the company has welcomed director Luc “Reso” Janin to its roster for commercial and music video representation in America, and Brad Tucker came onboard in June as a creative director and director. Behind the scenes in New York City, Shilo added Robert Berman … Read moreShilo is stepping up…

“Produce!” a great team effort for Thornberg & Forester

One of the highlights of working with the bright and innovative talents at Thornberg & Forester (T&F) over the past year was helping to write the script for the promo I’m embedding above. This project is a teaser for a colorful and informative interstitial series that T&F created for Cooking Channel which the network started … Read more“Produce!” a great team effort for Thornberg & Forester

Bravery from Brand New School and Antidote rewarded…

When Antidote (www.antidote.co.uk) was approached by Diesel founder Renzo Rosso to create a call-to-arms to inspire and mobilize the world’s youth to join the fight to help end extreme poverty in Africa and around the world, Antidote’s creatives wrote a manifesto for The Only The Brave Foundation and approached Brand New School to create a short, powerful animated film. In his treatment, BNS founder and executive creative director Jonathan Notaro proposed the unique storytelling approach that helps the foundation deliver its message in style in the finished production. The presentation is also taken to new heights by the score from Human Worldwide.

Read moreBravery from Brand New School and Antidote rewarded…