Archive for January, 2012

A busy last few months of 2011

Posted by Scot, January 29th, 2012

Well, the 2nd half of 2011 ended up being extremely busy with a wide variety of projects. Of course, all the deadlines converged into a perfect storm of post-production craziness in early December, but that always seems to be the case. It definitely wasn’t dull around here!

From about late June on, it was so busy I really neglected my blogging duties – as in I didn’t do it. I always thought I would get to it “next week”, but you know how that goes. So, in an effort to catch up a bit, here are a few highlights from the last six months of 2011.

NEW SHOW FOR CBM CANADA
Working closely with our great client Direct Point Group in Toronto, we wrapped up post-production on a new 60 minute television show for CBM Canada – an organization that focuses on breaking the cycle of poverty and disability for children and adults. The show hit the air in late November and the new donor response has been excellent.

In Zambia with CBM

Ed Epp, Executive Director, CBM Canada

12 year old Yolata, one of our feature stories.

A large portion of this new show was filmed in Zambia in March and we had the pleasure of working with CBM Canada’s Executive Director, Ed Epp. Ed is completely dedicated to his work and making a real difference for people, especially children, living in poverty with a disability. He’s a great guy and a pleasure to work with. Ed hosted the show and I’m sure his honesty and commitment are major factors in the show’s success.

EAST AFRICAN FAMINE TV SPOTS
This summer the drought and famine in East Africa was one of the year’s biggest stories and tragedies. Once again we worked with Direct Point Group to produce a series of emergency TV spots for the Humanitarian Coalition – a Canadian partnership between Care, Oxfam, Plan and Save the Children.

Emergency Response TV Spot

It was a classic “up all night” job to get something on the air with only two days notice but it’s a big part of what we do. When unfortunate events like this unfold with such tremendous loss of life, you do whatever needs to be done to help save lives.

SARAH MCLACHLAN SCHOOL OF MUSIC
Local singer/songwriter and, of course, world wide mega-star, Sarah McLachlan, is extremely dedicated to giving something back to her community. The Sarah McLachlan School of Music is all about helping young people “find their voice”. The school is a free program in Vancouver aimed at youth without the means to take music lessons.

The Sarah McLachlan School of Music. An amazing place.

We had the pleasure of creating a short video promoting the school and its incredible successes that was played prior to Sarah’s performance at a major women’s conference in Vancouver. You can learn more about Sarah’s school at www.sarahschoolofmusic.com.

The OAK RIDGE BOYS CHRISTMAS TV SPECIAL
In early November we travelled to Branson, Missouri and Nashville, Tennessee to film a Christmas TV Special for Save the Children with country music legends, The Oak Ridge Boys. It was a whirlwind trip to say the least but the guys were fantastic. They were true professional through-and-through and were happy to give us as much time as we needed to get the job done. It’s been 30 years since “Elvira”, their biggest ever hit, but the boys still pack ‘em in on a regular basis. It’s great that they’re using their voice and platform to help make a difference for children living in poverty – both in developing countries and in the United States.

Show opening animation and title

Duane Allen, The Oak Ridge Boys

Katie Cook

A young boy living in poverty in Tennessee

After filming with them in Branson, we hopped in our rental car and drove down to Nashville to shoot additional segments with Katie Cook, host of CMT’s Insider. During the drive it was a real education to see how many small American towns are suffering. Business after business closed, homes foreclosed and boarded up, unemployment rates steadily rising – it was eye opening to see such incredible poverty in the richest country in the world.

JOURNEY INTO THE FIRE
This project was somewhat of a departure from our usual work, but so much fun to be involved in. Journey Into the Fire is a web video series that follows a small group of local firefighters and their quest to win hockey gold at the World Police Fire Games in New York City in August. We followed the guys for four months as they pushed their bodies, and themselves, to the limit. All of them were skilled players in their youth with dreams of playing in the NHL. Several played professional minor league hockey and a few even had NHL tryouts before real life took over. Now they have a chance to play for their version of the Stanley Cup. They all committed to train, eat, practice and focus like professional players again to chase their dream.

Main title for web series

Post production has just about wrapped up and all the episodes will start going live this February. The entire project was sponsored by Vega Sport, an all natural sports nutrition product. As a hockey player myself (not a very good one mind you), it was a blast being at the firehall, rink and everything in between to tell their story. I felt like part of the team!

Watch for the series, coming soon at www.vegasport.com