Salt Lake Community College’s new
Center for Arts and Media Producing the next generation of storytellers and filmmakers ° Seventeen programs under one roof in the School of Arts, Communication and New Media ° Located at the College’s historic South City Campus, 1575 South State Street, Salt Lake City
Selected as a screening site for the 2015 Sundance Film Festival
AA/EO INSTITUTION • REV.01.02.14
spring
2014 14
departments
what’s coming for 2014
4 publisher’s notes
summer
news briefs
focus advertising agencies • media buyers • design • web design • illustration • marketing research • social media • mobile media • public relations • direct response • interactive
6 impatient cow grows in all areas 20
7 jon dean launches xacfaq
space: apr 21
art: may 2
release: jun 9
industry spotlight aerospace | state contracts | financial services | bio tech
8 redman—bryan clifton acts to stay relevant 9 comcast spotlight defines the “next ten” 6
features 10 pitch perfect: stilson acquires ignitive 12 neuromarketing now – joanne bloomfield
24
space: jun 23
art: jul 7
release: aug 1
industry spotlight education | healthcare | energy | sports marketing
14 dream team: don verdean
winter
17 special section: utah film commission
focus television • radio
20 arrowstorm entertainment
industry spotlight IT | software development | digital media | gaming
22 lone peak productions at 35 24 media grabbers marks a decade 22
fall
focus printing • outdoor • periodicals • exhibits • meetings • events • promotional products
space: aug 22
art: sept 5
release: oct 1
Publisher / Editor: susen sawatzki • susen@adnewsonline.com Business Development: lonnie blanton • lonnie.adnews@gmail.com
directories 26 stage pass showcase 27 stage pass matrix
Cover Illustration: dung hoang • hoang@shaolinfury.com Interior Design and Layout: eden graphics, inc. • www.edengraphics.net Printing and Mailing: hudson printing • hudsonprinting.com
27 production directory index
a d n ew s p 801.532.1325 www.adnewsonline.com
28 production directory
No responsibility is assumed by the publisher for its accuracy or completeness. All rights reserved.
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publisher’s notes s us e n sawatz ki
Professor Robert Avery, former chair of the Department of Communications in the College of Humanities at the University of Utah came to me several years ago and invited me to consider the Parry D. Sorenson Distinguished Lectureship. I spoke with several former inductees, Mary Dickson and Alexis Cairo, and they conveyed what a challenge it was but very rewarding in the looking back. I accepted the honor in the Spring of 2013 and began preparing my curriculum for the fall 2013 semester—a three-hour class each Tuesday evening. The project began with reading selections, course description, and the process of selecting guest speakers. See, the man for whom this lectureship was named was known for his highlevel slate of guest speakers. When I was his student, I remember hearing from Dee Dee Corradini when she headed the marketing and public relations department at Snowbird Ski and Summer Resort. That intimate “front row” exposure to top-level professionals not only illustrated for me the possibilities
that awaited but also connected me with professionals one-on-one. I felt I could ask Parry to stage an introduction with any one of the guest speakers. As the time neared to begin “my” fall semester, I wanted a blockbuster beginning and asked Joanne Bloomfield to come from New York and outline the fundamentals of Strategic Communication. Joanne is an accomplished Senior Marketing Practitioner and Fellow of The Chartered Institute of Marketing and owner of Bloomfield Marketing in Long Island, New York. She returned towards the end of the semester and taught a segment on Neuromarketing. From there, the students heard from Dallas Browning, Director of Creative Services at Agency Fusion; David Blain, President at Saxton|Horne Advertising; Bryan Brandenburg Vice President of Marketing at Salt Lake Comic Con and FanXperience; Skip Branch, former partner at Riester; Matt Hodgson, Director/ Writer at MattHodgsonDirects; and Jarod Phillips, Producer\Director at Independent Film. Each invited speaker spent time reading the materials for that week’s assignment, prepared a reel or a Powerpoint and imparted current, thought-leading information. But the most important and endearing part was the invitation for the students to contact them directly. If this group of speakers were assembled as a
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panel, the event would warrant an audience of CMOs paying a steep price of admission. I was grateful to each guest as they arrived punctually (usually before me), fully prepared to assume the pressure of expectation from 31 bright minds in the room. I was able to defer the face time with a classroom. I’ve pitched to some tough audiences and face the “eat what you kill” world Robert Avery, Susen Sawatzki, Kent Ono, every day; professor, department chair but standing before a classroom of students is the ultimate “face your fear” experience. It ripped me from any crevice of comfort or familiarity I would scurry to find. What a thrill to be so out of my element. I must thank every student in that classroom for bearing with me while I scrambled into uncertain and terrifying territory. There I was shown much grace as well as unfiltered intolerance. I remain humbled.
news briefs News from the ranch — impatient cow grows in all areas, talent, stage and projects UT Impatient Cow added a new 50’ x 20’ shooting stage to their existing production areas. The new prelit stage features a green screen cyclorama wall with full sound baffling for impeccable audio recording. The stage has been in almost constant use since it was completed and is available for rental.
New director, Danny Drysdale joined the grow-
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ing Ranch roster that includes Jake Bastian and Elliot Cutler. Danny brings an impressive body of work in the music video industry along with a beautiful set of commercials he created for various clients. “Having worked with bands such as The Killers, IMX, Scissors for Lefty, and Depeche Mode, Danny has an eye for striking images and lyrical story flow,” says Jon Foster, executive producer at Impatient Cow. The team at the Ranch have been busy on productions that include: Zero Fatalities, Experticity, Friends of Zion World Heritage Center, and Subway. Impatient Cow produced a heartbreaking spot for Zero Fatalities through PPBH. Directed by Elliot Cutler, the sober commercial shows the aftermath of a car accident where the adult in the front seat wasn’t wearing their seatbelt and they flew into the back, killing the child seated there. The PSA created controversy,
and consequently dialog, after airing during the SuperBowl. In addition, several motion graphics pieces were done for Experticity, explaining how the company operates. The videos were produced using a combination of Maya, Cinema 4D, AfterEffects and proprietary techniques. Impatient Cow created a video for a new museum being constructed in Jerusalem that features the contributions of Christian Zionists to the creation of Israel. The piece was constructed using a variety of animation styles. They also produced several commercials for Subway through The Summit Group. The high-energy spots had tight deadlines and required rigorous attention to detail due to strict internal branding standards.
news briefs jon dean former vp of electronic arts launches xacfaq Former VP at Electronic Arts, Midway, Activision, Jon Dean combined the two things he loves—trivia and mass-market entertainment software—into his own product line, XacFAQ.
UT
Jon Dean, CEO
With a healthy dose of faith in this concept, and a talented colleague Farrell Edwards, VP Product Development who holds the programming keys, Jon took his desire to lead the way for digital media entrepreneurs and left his high-level position with a revered gaming company.
They put their money where their mouths were. Farrell Edwards, VP Product Development He says, “I always wanted to help cultivate Utah as a friendly place to start up a company so I decided to start one up on my own.” And why a trivia game for their start up?—To settle a long-held grudge against Trivial Pursuit, the board game. See, Jon didn’t like the odds of getting a question in which you had interest and knowledge. Instead of leaving it up to the draw of a card, they designed a game where the player can choose the topics in which he or she has interest. And the game is updated daily so it has the effect of watching late-night talk shows where you get the inside track on all things pop culture.
The game is an app available on smart phones and tablets, free to download and play, and has a social aspect so you can play solo, with a pal or with the world at large. Here is where we enter the monetization conversation. Beyond the natural product placement-type of branding that could integrate directly into the questions (as that line blurs in the pop culture world) an advertiser can place display advertising within the game topics that match exactly the target audience they seek. Talk about the new layer of integration. Imagine being the sponsor in competition between two sports enthusiasts. Jon describes it this way, “It really comes down to what you like. If two people like sports and are talking, what they are talking about is trivial information but it’s not trivial if they care about it, it’s actually very important—it can be heated, it can be very passionate. If you ask those same two people to talk about the highest mountains in the world, chances are they wouldn’t be interested thus making the topic trivial.” An advertiser can book-end rounds of the game as an invited guest to the passionate exchange of “who knows the most about sports trivia?” On the launch weekend, they created a dynamic Oscar game/event and came in with a top 10 position on the charts. The first launch is the U.S. version, next in line is the UK, Australia and other English-speaking regions yet the country with the 2nd most downloads on launch weekend was China—the game satisfying a hunger for
U.S. pop culture. The completely addictive game covers topics such as pets, music, movies, TV and the 50 states—it even allows you to try your hand at the US Civics test which new immigrants need to pass as part of their naturalization.
The game can also be white labeled. “Let’s say you have a new movie opening,” explains Jon, “we take all of your pre-existing assets and make entertaining quiz-style gameplay out of them. As our users play, they’re learning about your movie, they’re sharing with their friends, all building excitement around your launch. It’s a seamless process for the consumer, part of our ever-changing content mix.” Farrell adds, “We’re the most up-to-the minute game in town. In addition to new products and trending data, we can also use dynamic content creation with a partner’s web-site or magazine back-end databases, bringing value to archives.” XacFAQ is a refreshing switch-up from the mind-numbing effect of the Tetris-style games that have hypnotized the American public.
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news briefs redman movies and stories—bryan clifton acts to stay relevant for today and tomorrow clicks on that link the customer’s connection with the original campaign is lost. Worse, the customer can quickly become lost into YouTube-land with no real feedback to the poster. Catapult’s services focus the media experience of the recipient while at the same time maintaining a robust back-end to manage an unprecedented amount of significant data.
I
n today’s highly competitive media business, the question arises of how to navigate between anticipating the future needs of media production while meeting current market realities. With more than 35 years in the motion picture and television equipment rental industry, Bryan Clifton, president and owner of Redman Movies and Stories, has his crystal ball front and center and foresees a total migration to the digital internet modality of production, post production and distribution. And he is making a significant investment in that future. For the past three decades, Redman Movies has provided grip, lighting, and motion picture camera gear, as well as trucks, cranes and expendables for media production. But while the equipment in the business has evolved in regular intervals, the rental business model hasn’t shifted in any significant way. Drawing from a model that he originally conceptualized to develop South Salt Lake’s Granite High School building (currently under the jurisdiction of South Salt Lake’s Granite School District) into a working film studio, Bryan has retroactively applied the salient portions to his Redman Movies building at 1075 South 700 West in Salt Lake City.
Another member of the collective is Dale Angell’s L.A.B.6. “Dale and I spent a lot of time building a recording studio with a foley pit and we didn’t realize how good a job we’d done until last week when we had some people out hammering and nailing and sawing things on the main stage 15 feet away from the space and they didn’t hear anything inside when they were recording music,” says Bryan. “That space also serves as a screening room,” he continues, “and in another room over here we’ve also got Chris Lee, who just finished a movie called Zombie Hunter. He’s a 22-year-old man with digital in his veins and he has already experienced unprecedented success in music videos, animation, and feature production. That kind of stuff is possible today.”
Having opened its doors last spring to a dynamic handful of small, contentcentric businesses that offer digital media services ranging from app and web development to film and audio media production and distribution, Redman has anticipated the emergent needs of future media makers, developers, and content providers. Speaking of today’s media environment Bryan points out, “You have to be much more flexible, and you have to be ready to reposition. So, what we’ve done is we’ve brought in other companies and other influences, other people that are working on technology, projects, or goods and services, to supplement what we’re doing. Then we added a couple of business models and we’ve put them all underneath one umbrella to offer a rich atmosphere for talent to breed a vibrant and dynamic synergy.” Examples from within the Redman collective include Catapult Impact, a young company with a visionary media forwarding service that at first glance might look a little like Mail Chimp or Constant Contact but which goes a lot further. With those better-known services, a customer can be sent a video link but once a recipient
Bringing together these entities with others like Joel Petrie’s highend video effects services, high-speed fiber internet, and Radar, a state-of-the-art mobile DIT and editing facility add capability and originality that can’t be ignored. As Bryan explains, “because everyone is shooting digital now, I anticipated one of the most important things was going to be high-speed fiber. So we brought a huge, high-speed fiber hub into the building and the last couple of pictures, we’ve uploaded dailies every day. And by hosting an FTP site in-house, it’s a fast download on the other end that allowed us to upload 100 gig files in 20 minutes that would have taken us eight hours to transfer to an FTP site in L.A. We can work immediately with the media coming out of the camera directly into Radar, on set, to process, transcode, duplicate, and backup, then upload direct to the secure FTP site for access by the client from anywhere in the world.” To complement these companies and their focus, Redman has repurposed large sections of its warehouse into two large sound stages with digital lighting and DMX controls. Optimized to current and future technology needs, these stages have already been useful in the filming of Meryl Streep’s newest film, The Giver. The production offices, the creative consortium, the sound recording studio and these new stages underscore Bryan’s commitment to offer a robust array of talent and facility that augments Redman’s long-established reputation for staple production goods and services.
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news briefs Comcast Spotlight defines the “Next Ten”
I
remember some 25 years ago the first time I heard the word, “convergence” in the way it referred to media living across multiple platforms. I believed it was coming, I just couldn’t imagine what it would look like. When you are the new kid on the block, as cable was to network television some 30 years ago, you have to try harder but you also have the luxury to innovate your existence. Ten years ago, Comcast innovated Spotlight, a system much like direct mail where the mail piece was only delivered to the demographics it was intended to reach. With Spotlight, media buys could show in zones targeted by the advertiser because of the cable delivery system. Following the acquisition of most of the local cable systems in 2003, Comcast Corp. became the largest cable provider in the country. Comcast brought in Charlie Thurston
to create a seamless system to place advertising across markets and systems while offering up fragmented buys. From its inception in 2004, Comcast Spotlight allowed advertisers to reach subscribers of multiple cable systems with one buy. Today, because of the I+ feature, advertisers can reach individuals in more than 35 million homes across nearly 80 markets served not only by cable but also satellite and telephone providers that include Verizon, AT&T, DirectTV, and DISH Network. Custom tools such as I+ help advertisers optimize and target a media spend by adding precision. With the multi-screen paradigm through xfinity. com, advertisers can engage viewers both on the television screen as well as online where the viewer can see long-form VOD and engage with an interactive message. These features provide data to help the advertiser refine messaging even further through fragmenting and RFI. Comcast Spotlight President Charlie Thurston describes Spotlight’s growth in three stages; Spotlight 1.0 as unifying the U.S. cable systems, Spotlight 2.0 as bringing cable, satellite and telecom together and Spotlight 3.0 as addressability and greater ROI. He describes this in an Ad Age magazine article, “I think 3.0 will be
about connecting all of today’s diverse viewing devices and figuring out a uniform way to get ads there—whether it’s the Internet, video on demand, DVRs, mobile phones or the ‘Dick Tracy’-type wristwatch,” and he continues, “Our job is to create a uniform way of buying, selling and measuring ads across devices and platforms. Once we’re able to serve up all of these devices in a uniform way, that’s going to allow us to get much better at precision targeting both to the individual consumer and to the singular device.” The leadership team of Charlie; Hank Oster, senior VP-general manager and Neil Smit at the helm as president-CEO of Comcast Cable are casting a trajectory to the future with an eye on connecting brands to consumers through myriad digital means.
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Pitch Perfect Behind the Scenes of Stilson’s Acquisition of Ignitive— It’s all about integration of the Infomercial and Digital Media
Eric Stilson on location at Skull Valley on the Worldtel shoot
TC Christensen and Eric Stilson on location for Big Step.
L
ove them or hate them, infomercials are a powerful marketing tool. The format is irresistible—I defy even the most cynical mind not to be seduced by the before-and-after transformations. Who doesn’t want rock-hard abs, an amazing shine on their hardwood floors and a blemish-free complexion? I know I do. The format is incredibly powerful because it pushes all the right buttons in our brains; we have time to see the product in action and hear success stories from real people who lead us to trust the pitch in a way that simply can’t be achieved in a 30-second segment. Extended-segment advertising has come a long way since the early 70s when advertisers first started to play around with it. Improved production quality in the late 80s saw the beginning of what we now come to expect from this type of advertising. It could be argued that Eric Stilson of Stilson Productions, formerly known as Stilson-Stilson Advertising, is one of the major influencers behind that evolution launching what are now internationally famous brands such as 10
spring 2014
HealthRider, Pilates, Gyrotonics, Bowflex, NordicTrack, Euro Pro’s Ninja Blenders, NatureSleep and non profits such as 22 Shriners Hospitals for Children, DrugTalk and the LDS Church. His radical approach in terms of production quality and storytelling transformed the genre. The list of brands that Eric has nurtured and developed over his 30 years in the business is beyond impressive and the $3-plus billion he has earned for his clients makes him a man worth listening to. Utah born and reared, he started his career working with local brands and franchise owners such as the Larry Miller Auto Group, the LDS Church, Bank of Utah and Taco Bell. His campaigns weren’t just good; they set sales records. The agency grew to a 50-strong team and began picking up national campaigns. By the early 90s Stilson Productions focused exclusively on national accounts. Today, Eric is seeking to build local and regional accounts to round out the national work and spend more hands-on time with campaign creation. Market conditions have changed since the instant money machine of infomercials 15 years ago. Eric believes that the proliferation of cable channels and other digital media have relegated direct response to an educational and support role in advance of a product’s national rollout to retail. With his eye on optimizing and integrating distribution media channels, he merged Stilson Productions with digital rising stars Ignitive, Inc.
by Joanne Bloomfield
Ingnitive’s CEO Tyrell Jewkes about their plans. adnews: Your web site features a strong positioning statement of “Fearless Creative.” What is behind your promise of “Fearless Creative?” Eric Stilson: The idea of fresh, original, edgy creative was what launched us both locally and nationally. We are a full-service advertising and marketing firm, but almost everyone knows us for our creative product. The running tag, “A Stilson Production” has been seen on hundreds of millions of national television airings and has
A Utah man at heart, Eric’s desire to spend more time on home ground inspired him to reopen his office in Sandy. We spoke to Eric Stilson and
Tyrell (Ty) Jewkes, CEO of Ignitive
given us a national production brand. It doesn’t take more than a few minutes viewing our reel or our on-line spot samples to conclude that there is nothing ordinary about what we do. But there was a time when we became more conservative, and quickly learned that ordinary creative produces very ordinary results. We went back to fearless creative and results immediately returned and we’ve never looked back. From the original music and choreography of the HealthRider launch, to the Shriners Fairy, to the stunning location footage on Utah’s Salt Flats or sand dunes, national-quality images and powerful, emotional music are what create memorable national brands. adnews: You have been fully focused on national brand launching and advertising for the past 10-plus years, why reopen Stilson for local and regional accounts now? Eric: I’ve had a lot of experience in the national arena, but Utah is my home and I intend to retire right here. But before I do, I’d like to help introduce some of the national and international strategies and techniques we’ve learned over the years to the local and regional marketplace. For example there are new ways to integrate direct response media, digital media and traditional media into new incredibly effective campaigns. We’ve always specialized in advertising and promotional innovation and that is what we plan to interject here in Utah. adnews: What was behind the decision to acquire Utah-based Ignitive LLC? Eric: We established a relationship with Ignitive when they successfully completed some demanding digital projects for us; we realized their youth and digital expertise were the perfect fit and complement.
Eric Stilson published his third book, OCR – Observer Created Reality in October of 2013. In it, he explores how we communicate and view reality with tenets stemming from the Copenhagen interpretation of quantum physics with the promise that the reader will gain insights that will affect the way one views the world, one’s life and one’s future. With Eric’s long-standing career in persuasion, he has now engaged scientific theories to present ways to control the forces that shape one’s life.
adnews: What do you see as your primary goals and what type of accounts will you be targeting?
the digital execution of our team.
Ty: We will keep our Southern Utah office to service the higher education, regional e-commerce and SyberJet Aircraft accounts we have but will also begin to build out our presence into a common space in Sandy with Stilson. Initially, Both Eric and I will be the primary contacts for all new Utah accounts. We feel that we can serve two broad groups. A lot of established companies are struggling to meet the expectations of the modern market. The digital landscape is reinvented every day and it’s hard for organizations to keep up with exclusive reliance on their internal teams. These companies are really great at what they do but need immediate solutions in their
Stilson’s decision to focus his attentio on local and regional brands is good news for everyone. This advertising community’s refined sophistication when it comes to creative, strategy and digital technology will ensure overall growth in Utah as well as directing the global spotlight to this market for creative services. Consumers aren’t ‘listening’ the way they did and we all know that integration is the only viable way forward. It will be interesting to watch how Stilson/Ignitive tackles integration; could we be on the precipice of a new approach to direct selling?
adnews: Ty, what prompted your company to join the Stilson team? Ty: It was really a no-brainer for us. We are all under 30 and perhaps have a better understanding of how our generation views and uses media. Most of us have grown up watching the breakthrough “Fearless Creative” for which Stilson is so wellknown and we’ve watched Stilson build several national brands over the years—many of which are currently in our friends’ and families’ homes. Interacting with the Stilson team while working on their recent digital projects, we saw first-hand how Stilson thinks and works. We share the same success-driven “fearless creative” philosophy, applied to the digital world. So it was a perfect match.
On set for the Ab Doer infomercial digital strategy. We have the talent to both refine their strategies and execute e-commerce, digital advertising, SEO, mobile app and social media projects. Second, we’re looking for the next great idea. Stilson is a powerhouse at building brands into multi-million dollar, household names almost overnight. We believe the next best regional ideas will achieve the greatest success by leveraging the national, strategic experience of Stilson and
Since moving to America in 2006, lazy Saturday mornings watching TV no longer include reruns of “The Witch of Waverly Place” (don’t judge me), nope, I am glued to the ‘paid for’ advertising segments. Phone on standby, I’m ready with my credit card to cash in on double-up deals, free shipping and the promise of a wrinkle-free life. I guess you could say I’m a Stilson Production in progress. 2014 spr i n g
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Neuromarketing Now
Easy does it. S
cientists have spent a long time figuring out what makes our brains tick and I don’t think anyone would be surprised to learn that, when you get down to it, we all prefer the simple things in life. Every minute, of every day, we’re being bombarded with data and our brains are in overdrive trying to process it all. Cognitive Fluency refers to the degree of ease by which we process information (think); the easier things are to process, the more fluency they have and the more our brains like it. Pretty obvious stuff I know but, what is surprising is how fluency affects the way we feel about things. Every decision we make—even the most logical— is rooted in emotion. We are literally incapable of making a purely logical decision. So, how does fluency affect how we feel about things? Long story, short—pun intended—the easier something is to process, the truer or more reliable, we believe it to be. The implications of this are mind blowing. For example, New York University and Princeton have worked on several important studies that examined the importance of fluency (and disfluency) in our decision making process. They went so far as to examine if cognitive fluency had any impact on the performance of stock prices. Amazingly, they discovered that companies who had easy to pronounce names did in fact perform better than those with hard-to-pronounce names. Cognitive fluency isn’t just about how something is pronounced; it’s also about how it appears and where it appears on a page/screen. Good, fluent design can literally bring a consumer closer to your brand as the brain works hard to reject information that is difficult to process. Basically, our brains like it easy.
Joanne Bloomfield, FCIM Originally from the United Kingdom, Joanne is a Fellow of the Royal Chartered Institute of Marketing (the largest professional and academic marketing organization in the world). She is a 26-year veteran of international marketing who specializes in the behavioral adaptation of marketing programs and is known for her incredibly high-performing direct campaigns. She also lectures about Marketing Communication at Universities in Europe and the USA. If you have any questions about this article or simply want to connect with Joanne email her at joanne@bloomfieldmarketing.com or connect with her on LinkedIn http://www. linkedin.com/in/joannebloomfield/
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For example, if you want to make a factual statement you can directly affect the way that statement is interpreted by changing the font, or placing more clean space around it (the more space/prominence you give an object/statement, the more ‘important’ it is perceived to be). Even altering the structure of a sentence so that it rhymes or just simply repeating it can affect how true a person believes a statement to be. See for yourself. I think, therefore I am. I think, therefore I am. There are, of course, times when disfluency (literally the opposite of fluency) can work to your advantage. If you want a person to really consider the statement and carefully think about it; make it harder to read. Read the two statements again and ‘feel’ how much longer it takes to read the more complicated font. However, it’s safe to say that in most cases we don’t want people to have to think things through, we want them to just ‘feel right’ about it. So, use disfluency sparingly and with extreme caution. We are simple creatures at heart and consumers prefer that which is easy to understand and process, and will find products and messages that are ‘easy’ to grasp more desirable than those that are ‘challenging.’ Even small changes to ads, packs, sensory or
experiential characteristics of your message/product can aid processing fluency and impact perception at a subconscious level. The ‘why’ of all of this is really simple; fluency is often interpreted as familiar by the brain and familiar is just a short skip to trust (because it feels true). Simple = true. True = Trust. Badly executed design can literally drive consumers away as the brain fights to reject that which is tricky. The savvy marketer must always keep an eye on the simplicity and ‘flow’ of his communication if he wants to court favor with consumers. The Journal of Consumer Research reported on the depth of our understanding of cognitive fluency in advertising and how it can significantly affect product perceptions. They found that order and spacial relationships greatly affect how we interpret what we see. Order Counts: Past vs. Future. First, researchers from the University of British Columbia found that for certain products, something as simple as the placement of photos on a page (or web page) can dramatically affect how favorably the product is viewed. It turns out that in cultures where we read left to right, we have a spatial understanding of things on our left as being in the past, and things on the right as being in the future. So, researchers were able to show that when the product in question had an implied ‘time’ component, consumers actually had a more favorable impression of the product when the ads they viewed had visual components that traveled from left to right across the page. The opposite was found true for people from cultures that read from right to left. Close Relationships: Another study, reported in the same issue, expands upon another facet of how we perceive information. That is, when two things are placed close together, we perceive that a relationship exists between them. The strength of the
perceived relationship is directly related to how physically close the two things are. This insight has been translated into the advertising world. When it comes to products with a ‘before’ and ‘after’ (think acne medication), the spatial proximity of visual representations of cause and effect can influence customers’ perception of the product’s effectiveness. That is, the closer together you place the before and the after images, the greater causal relationship the viewer perceives, and the more effective they think your product is.
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Seeing is believing.
Sorry, my bad …
Foundation Emerging Artists Seeing is for believing. y
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promoting innovative theatre andFoundation for Emerging Artists The David Ross Fetzer film through T grants and mentoring h E D promoting A v E innovative y F theatre o uand n D A T i o n
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The Davey Foundation was created to honor the life of David Ross Fetzer and his commitment to Foundation was created to honor the The Davey David Ross Fetzer and his commitment to the film and theatre arts. The Foundationlifeisofexcited the film and theatre arts. The Foundation is excited to make available grants to artists 35 and younger to make available grants to artists 35 and younger the development of innovative film and theatre for the development of innovative film and theatre promotingforinnovative theatre and projects, and to provide the mentoring framework projects, and to provide the mentoring framework film through grants and mentoring that will allow the Davey grantee to flourish. that will allow the Davey grantee to flourish.
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promoting innovative theatre and film through grants and mentoring
If you are an emerging artist, consider submitting
The Davey Foundation was created to honor the your screenplay or script and applying for one of life of David Ross Fetzer and commitment to If you arehisan emerging artist, consider submitting the grants by going to thedaveyfoundation.org. the film and theatre arts. The Foundation is excited your screenplay oryounger script and applying for one of to make available grants to artists 35 and for the development innovative and theatre the of grants byfilmgoing to thedaveyfoundation.org. projects, and to provide the mentoring framework that will allow the Davey grantee to flourish.
By making youartist, are helping to make possible a If you a aredonation, an emerging consider submitting grant your to anscreenplay emerging will allow to puror artist script that and applying for the one artist of sue a the finished grants product. by going to thedaveyfoundation.org. Paypal or credit card donations at thedaveyfoundation.org/ donate or sending a check to The Davey Foundation, 1169 Yale Avenue, Salt Lake City, Utah 84105
If you are an emerging artist, consider submitting your screenplay or script and applying for one of the grants by going to thedaveyfoundation.org.
make possible a the artist to pur-
oundation.org/ yfoundation.org/ ndation, 1169 oundation, 1169
4 Q 2013
donate Your gift can make a difference in a young artist’s life.
The Davey Foundation was created to honor the life of David Ross Fetzer and his commitment to the film and theatre arts. The Foundation is excited to make available grants to artists 35 and younger for the development of innovative film and theatre projects, and to provide the mentoring framework that will allow the Davey grantee to flourish.
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By making a |donation, you are helping to make possible a 4 Q 2013 adnews 5 grant to an emerging artist that will allow the artist to pursue a finished product. 4 Q 2013 adnews 5
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Paypal or credit card donations at thedaveyfoundation.org/ donate or sending a check to The Davey Foundation, 1169 Yale Avenue, Salt Lake City, Utah 84105
2014 spr i n g 4 Q 2013
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Dream Team Don Verdean:
Brandt Andersen
Jason Hatfield Dave Hunter Photo credit: Steve Olpin
Jared Hess
Importing Film Funding to Utah—Producer Dave Hunter Creates Sustainable Film Business by Susen Sawatzki and Joanne Bloomfield
S
hot in Utah and locally crewed, Don Verdean has attracted an all-star cast and is set to be a breakout indie hit when released.
Grail. Plans quickly run off the rails, and Don is forced to make life-altering detours and is left to ultimately seek what is truly important to him.
IMDB: Sam Rockwell (The Way Way Back, Moon) plays “biblical archaeologist,” Don Verdean, who walks the line between faith-promoting spectacle and massive fraud, in a search of fortune and glory. The film follows Verdean and Boaz, played by Jemaine Clement, (Flight of the Conchords, Men In Black 3) in a circuitous sham, fueled by a feud between two competitive and spiteful congregations—set in the golden age of televangelism. The easy-to-love, hard-to-watch hero and his earnest assistant, played by Amy Ryan (Gone Baby Gone, The Office), take a wild ride as their sleepy RV-based roadside attraction frantically escalates into a high-stakes bounty of biblically-significant items such as the Skull of Goliath and the Holy
They say you can’t mix friendship and business—that’s what they say. Somebody better send the guys behind the movie Don Verdean a note and let them know right now . . . before it’s too late. But time has told. Friends they are, and I have a feeling, friends they will always remain despite working together.
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I met with the team behind Don Verdean; Dave Hunter, Brandt Andersen and Jason Hatfield, producers and Jared Hess writer/director to find out what makes them tick as a business and creative unit. First, a look at the bios behind these cast of brilliant, fun-loving characters.
Dave Hunter’s first film gig out of the BYU gates was his company called Halestorm Entertainment founded in 2000 with co-founder and life-long friend Kurt Brian Hale. Kurt’s grandmother founded the Hale Center Theater Company and had written 150 plays. They decided to extract some screenplays from her stage plays and launch themselves as filmmakers into the Mormon Comedy genre. “Nobody had done a Mormon comedy before and we thought, let’s be the first people to start a Mormon comedy thing and we did a movie called The Singles Ward and it turned out to be pretty successful so we went on to do a slew of Mormon comedies. Intermixed, we started a distribution company to distribute films and flash forward to 2007 and we did our last Mormon comedy called, Singles Second Ward. We noticed that our product did really well in the beginning and then it tapered off and kind of died because there weren’t ancillary markets—we couldn’t take them to European markets, Asian markets—it didn’t translate,” says Dave, “It was one of those light-bulb moments—we were doing all this brain damage for limited appeal, we might as well do the same brain damage on broader-appeal films.”
landed the same group that financed Lone Survivor and an all-star cast was drawn to the project because of Jared and Jarusha’s reputation. The hard-working, devoted cast of friends pulled together quickly for the fiveweek shooting schedule. Susen Sawatzki: What drives you? Dave Hunter: We are the company in Utah that’s going out and packaging and preselling these things. We get L.A. money and bring it back here. It’s a small community and every time we get together to make a movie, it’s a riot, it’s a reunion. We’ve done nothing but laugh the whole time. I’m working with my best friends and we are low stress—if you’re dramatic, you’re out. We only work with people who we really like. You have to be funny, cool and laid back. We do it here in Utah because we love Utah and we love the people here. We do have disasters, some of the films we’ve done did not do well and those were really hard times. We’re at the point now that we are a little more sophisticated—we are presold—so nobody ever really loses when you have Redbox, Netflix and lots of other distribution that can cover the costs.
As an instinctive businessman, Dave figured out a better model for making movies—find scripts that can be presold to one market to cover production costs and then preserve the rest of the distribution and make the back end there. He especially likes to take out-of-state funding, bring it here to Utah and keep his crew busy making movies and TV specials. He and Kurt parted and Dave started Stone Five Studios with the first show, A Christmas Wish, written by Craig Clyde and presold it to the Hallmark Channel. It turned out to be one of the biggest successes for Hallmark to date. He sold some more titles to Hallmark and some to Walmart. Then he veered off to the outer limits of crass humor with MTV’s Nitro Circus which he produced as a 3D film. Brandt produced Lone Survivor starring Mark Wahlberg and Ben Foster, 2 Guns starring Mark Wahlberg and Denzel Washington, Broken City starring Mark Wahlberg and Russell Crow, and the Golden Globe-nominated film, The Flowers of War starring Christian Bale. Both Dave and Brandt have a head for home-run financial ventures. Dave, in his late 20s, started a student housing development business that went national and provides the cushion required in the fickle film world. Brandt was the youngest CEO to make the annual Inc. 500 list in 2004 with his tech company uSight. He then bought and sold an NBA Development League franchise and continues his commitment to philanthropy. Jason has a long and varied resume that spans a broad spectrum of skills from lighting to directing, to locations and beyond. He worked on “Turning Point” a TV series documentary, Gentlemen Broncos, Nitro Circus: The Movie and debuted his producing skills on a short called, Shooting People. Jared and wife, Jersuah’s scripts and director roles include Napoleon Dynamite starring Jon Heder and Efren Ramirez, Nacho Libre starring Jack Black and Héctor Jiménez, Gentlemen Broncos starring Michael Angarano and Jemaine Clement, to name but three. Their quirky take on the world and intensely creative approach to writing is what makes their movies so unique and wildly popular. It’s no surprise that Don Verdean has such a stellar cast and is already being tipped for success. Having all got their start at Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah, (BYU) studying film, they have made it their business to keep the local movie activity robust as they continue to work together and build something really special for the Utah film industry. This team was in pre-production with feature film, Micro Nations starring Jack Black when Jack got an offer to be in the Goosebumps series. So they turned attention to Jared and Jarusha’s script, Don Verdean squeezing it in the tiny window. In record time Dave and Brandt rallied the financing and
Brandt: It’s rare that you would truly get to see your work on a major scale shortly after you create it. But it’s there and it’s there forever and for good, bad, beautiful, ugly, it will always stand as a reminder of the work you did, then you go on to the next thing. It’s a very condensed version of running your business. SS: Do you also have a creative side? Are you two, as producers, writing something you want to bring into reality some day? Dave: You have to be creative even with financing; you have to be creative to cut it in this business. Producers get pigeonholed as business guys, but the producer is the ‘whole brained’ person on the set—you have to deal with the creative side as well as the financial side for every aspect of the film. Brandt: You get to work with very creative people and that keeps you strong creatively. Take Jared Hess, he sees the world differently from the way you and I see it. He’s a guy who has a mind unlike most minds—Hess and Wes Anderson are two of the people who see the world in a unique way. His lens on the world is different than anybody else but it connects in a way that appeals to the masses. SS: What’s next for you guys? Dave: It’s tough to be full time in the film business in Utah. If you have a couple of stinkers, all of a sudden that’s a couple of years with no income so you have to have reserves. It’s only because of my previous life that I can do what I do because it created those reserves. I’m going to direct a film at the end of this year—Shoelaces for Christmas, it’s a Hallmark show and it’s small and manageable. I’ve produced so many films; I think it will be new and different for me. Brandt and I hope that we will make a few films every year with big casts and go theatrical. That is the big picture. Jason: I’m going to take a vacation after this. This production is moving along at four-to-five times faster than we usually do. It’s a crazy race and it feels like we’re still in prep and we’ve already shot for three days…well…. actually I have a lot of simmering projects and first on the list is a micro budget project with some 10 people on crew. Keeping it real is what keeps this team going—products of BYU, Utah’s burgeoning film industry and products of a creative community that is cultivating creative talent. This group of friends has limitless creative reserves, a sustainable business model, unbridled respect for each other, and a love of Utah that keeps them coming back for more making the Utah film community even stronger. 2014 spr i n g
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utah film commission special section
UTAH FILM COMMISSION DELIVERS The Sundance Film Festival, Movies, TV Shows, Commercials and Print Advertising Show Off Utah to the World and Reel in $101 Million in Economic Impact in 2013 The rich red-rock country of Utah is enough to lure commercial, television and feature film production to Utah. But as Derek Mellus and Mimi Davis-Taylor, locations specialists at the Utah Film Commission will tell you, you can find anything and everything in Utah. China Town, the Alps, the Moon, you name it—Utah has it and Derek and Mimi with the backing the resourceful team of Ricky Flores and Marshall Moore, UFC director Marshall Moore, director of the Utah Film Commissionn, can help you find it and make it work for your production.
Ricky Flores, Utah Film Commission; Derek Mellus, Utah Film Commission; William H. Macy, actor; Marshall Moore, director of the Utah Film Commission; Travis Bourne, intern for the UFC at the HUB—the Utah Film Commission’s hospitality location on Park City’s Main Street during the 2014 Sundance Film Festival.
Then add the robust array of services in every department, DP, casting, extras, wardrobe, set construction, set styling, grips, gaffers, trucks, cameras, screening rooms, directors, special effects, green-screen stages, sound studios, DIT, craft services, transportation and the list goes on.
department. The Motion Picture Incentive Fund, (MPIP) is available to international, national and local production companies.
The motion picture industry provides with world with entertainment, education and messaging. The Utah Film Commission is there to offer producer services from beginning to end and is very competitive in the incentive
See film.utah.gov for the full scoop on the incentives. And call 800-453-8824 to line up with Derek and Mimi before your next production and get a leg up on those logistics details.
FISCAL YEAR 2013 ESTIMATES
What’s in the Works?
Features: Studio/Independent/Cable Total Projects: 21 Total Production Jobs: 1,223 Total Production Days: 336 Economic Impact: $16,223,771
The following have received approval for an incentive through the Utah Film Commission’s Motion Picture Incentive Fund or have applied and are in the works of receiving approval.
Television Total Projects: 29 Total Production Jobs: 593 Total Production Days: 253 Economic Impact: $14,154,978
• “Let It Go” is a drama feature film slated to begin production in May. It tells the story of forgiveness following tragedy.
Commercials/Photo/Industrial/ Documentary/Misc. Total Projects: 38 Total Production Jobs: 358 Total Production Days: 56 Economic Impact: (Utah Spend) $1,590,000 Other Related Film Activities Sundance Film Festival: $70,000,000 Total Days: 10 Overview Total Projects: 89 Total Production Jobs: 2,174 Total Production Days: 1,106 Total Economic Impact: (Utah Spend) $101,968,749
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• “Jumpstart Main Street” is a reality TV series featuring businesses with billion-dollar potential. Producer Rod Blanchard described the show as a hybrid of “Shark Tank” and “American Idol.” Shooting is slated to begin in April.
• “The West” is a TV mini-series produced by Stephen David, Shirley Escott with involvement from Sundance and is slated to begin production in May. Stephen David produced the Discover mini-series, “Gold Fever” and continues his exploration as “The West” tells the story of the violent struggle of those settling the American West. • “The Giver” is a fantasy sci-fi drama and increased its shooting days in Utah from three to nine. The feature stars among others, Brenton Thwaites, Taylor Swift, Meryl Streep, Katie Holmes and Jeff Bridges. • “Need for Speed” is a feature shot partially in Utah and features the Bonneville Salt Flats and Moab. It is in theaters now and stars Aaron Paul, Dominic Cooper and Imogen Poots. Of note is the the last line of the film: “See you in Utah.” • The BYUtv series, “Granite Flats” is shooting its second season with the first episode airing in March. Directed by Scott Swofford and produced by Vineyard Productions, it is the first dramatic, scripted series for BYUtv. • The pilot for “Galyntine” an AMC TV movie is expected to begin production in 2015. According to IMDb, the show “Takes place at a time after a cataclysmic technology-induced disaster has resulted in a new society that has eschewed any form of technology.” Producers are Greg Nicotero, Jason Cahill and Ridley Scott. • Russ Adams, a visual effects artist appeared in an episode of “Jim Henson’s Creature Shot Challenge,” a reality competition on the Sci Fi Channel.
utah film commission special section Lone Ranger Transformers 4
Airborne
Aquabats
Cloud 9
Granite Flats
Dear Dumb Diary
NFS
2014 | 2014spring spr i n g
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utah film commission special section Film, Television and Commercial Projects for Fiscal Year 2013 Estimates *Projects that utilized the incentive Features/Independents/ JOBS DAYS Cable Features
UTAH SPEND
• Adventures of Roborex, The (Robot Dog I, LLC)* - - • Beauty in the Beast (Candle Light Media)* 33 16 $225,386 • Better Half, The (The Better Half Production Company, LLC)* - - • Christmas For a Dollar - - • Cloud 9 (Salty Pictures, Inc.)* 375 30 $6,352,019 • Colorless Green 25 25 $25,000 • Dear Dumb Diary (Triple D Productions, LLC / Walden Media)* 217 24 $3,127,991 • Freemason, The (Joseph James films, LLC)* - - $235,920 • Friend Request (Front Gate Films, LLC)* 52 18 $407,972 • Haunt (Attic Door Productions, LLC)* 165 24 $1,852,878 • In Football We Trust (IFWT Productions, LLC)* 9 150 $300,383 • Inspired Guns (1) (Pitch White Entertainment) 12 $39,996 • K-9 Adventures II: Legend of the Lost Gold - - (Pebbles, LLC)* - - • Mania Days (40 Acres & A Mule Filmworks) 5 4 $200,000 • Need for Speed (Bandito Pictures/Electronic Arts/ 217 23 $2,185,667 DreamWorks Studios)* - - • Nowhere Safe (AKA Gettysburg 2.0) - - (Gradual Elevate Media, Inc.)* - - • Red Machine (Partos)* 64 5 $589,766 • Saints and Soldiers 3 (GO FILMS)* - - • Storm Rider (Rootbeer Christmas, LLC)* - - $405,793 • Thirst (Thirst Film, LLC c/o Cosmic Pictures)* - - • Transformers 4 (Paramount Pictures/Hasbro) 61 5 $275,000 TELEVISION • Animal Planet: Catch & Release - - • American Ride 5-6 (Vineyard Productions)* - - $1,200,844 • Aquabats! SuperShow (Freemantle Media North America)* 114 25 $1,092,131 • Armstrong Documentary - 1 • Audio Files (Violet Suitcase) - 3 $7,500 • Behind Mansion Walls (Beyond Productions) - 1 • Breaking Pointe - Season 2 (BBC Worldwide - - Reality Productions, LLC)* • Dangerous Persuasions (Entertainment - 2 One Television) • Feherty (The Golf Channel) - 1 • Frontline (PBS) - 1 • Gold Fever (Stephen David Entertainment)* 190 60 $1,910,594 • Granite Flats 2-4 (Vineyard Productions)* 217 23 $2,185,667 • Granite Flats 5-13 (Vineyard Productions)* - - $6,128,752 • Hidden America - 1 • House Hunters International (Pie Town Productions) - 1 • Jungle Gold (Raw Television) 2 3 $22,500 • Kings of Crash (Fischer Production)* 46 63 $843,752 • KSL News Bystander Effect (KSL) - 1 • Mythica (Camera 40 Productions)* - - • New Polygamists - 3 • Persuit of the Truth (Go Go Luckey Entertainment) - - • Shark Tank 4 (ABC) - 1 • Sundance Channel HQ (B2 Studios)* 24 57 $763,238 • Teen Mom 3 (11th Street Productions) - 1 • The Story Trek- Street Shoot (BYUTV) - 2 • Top Gear (BBC) - 1 • Turning Point - Season 4 (Turning Point Productions, LLC)* - - • Who the Bleep … (Sirens Media) - 1 • Yo Gabba Gabba!! (The Magic Store) - 1 -
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COMMERCIALS/ JOBS DAYS PHOTO/ INDUSTRIAL/ DOCUMENTARY/ MISC.
UTAH SPEND
• 2013 Yamaha Sport Bike 5 1 - • Alex Boye Music Video $10,000 • Ballet West/Strong Audi 20 1 $5,000 • Bazaar Magazine • Broadview University – 10 1 Provide Campaign • BYU Student Commerical - 1 (BYUTV) • ColorByAmber - 1 Photoshoot • Coventry Insurance - 1 Commercial • Dangerous Mimes 5 1 • Days of ‘47 Parade Filming/ - 1 Broadcast (KSL) • FiftyFilms Commercial 29 2 $50,000 • Harley Davidson Still 20 4 Photography • Jeep Still Shoot 2 1 $35,000 • Land Rover $50,000 • Larry Wilmore Project 20 1 - • LDS Chuch Filming 10 1 • LDS Church Ensign 5 1 • Macey’s Grocery Store 10 1 $25,000 • Meta Stock Advertisement 1 • ModBod Lifestyles 10 1 Photo Shoot • Montezuma Treasure - - • Nature’s Way Probiotic 7 1 $5,000 • NBC News/Rock Center - 1 with Brian Williams • Quitting for Real — 10 1 Utah Quit Net • Religious Freedom 5 1 Mormon Message • Strayer University 10 1 • The Book (Neiman Marcus) - - • The Foundation For a 30 8 $1,000,000 Better Life (site 1) • The TRUTH 10 1 - • The Tutor 5 1 • Thomas Arts / Insphere 5 1 Insurance Solutions • University of Utah 5 1 “Imagine U” • UTA–Doors site 1 50 3 $75,000 • Utah Birth Defects PSA 5 1 - • Verizon 5 2 • Verizon: Share America 15 1 $250,000 • Wayward Prodigal Son 40 10 $75,000 • Zions Bank Spot 10 1 $10,000
Visit our website film.utah.gov to learn more about Film Incentives
Pride & Prejudice in 2003 after graduating BYU’s film program. Kynan says, “Core to our business model is identifying the talent that can achieve the product the marketplace wants. Pride & Prejudice was driven by market opportunity. We didn’t have any business background so we spent a lot of time in the law library and talking to local businessmen and started pitching our idea and raising money. That was really our learning curve because that’s not something they teach at school at all. It was from Pride & Prejudice that we discovered the model that we use now— selling the rights to distribute rather than dealing with distributors, which has opened us up Kynan Griffin to a lot of new opportunities. Our domestic distribuand acquire new powers tor introduced us and weapons by conquerto a foreign sales ing progressive levels. It’s agent. From there journey-based and this type we learned what of common gaming experihica the foreign markets ence has now made its way Myt of set On the like.” into a film trilogy/television mini-series, Mythica. It didn’t take them long to figure out that the With three films completed, the third having world is changing in the way we consume wrapped mid March 2014, they already presold media. Jason knew he wanted to understand the them as features in foreign markets but could business hicaof independent filmmaking in this new set of Myt have either a trilogy of feature films or a six-epifrom the paradigm so he went back to school for a Marketsode mini-series for television domestically. ing MBA. He got what he needed in the first year and that was enough to put a plan together, raise Kynan says, “Mythica lends itself to an episodic capital and create a film fund—Arrowstorm Entermodel. If we can get people hooked in the first tainment. They started turning out fantasy-genre few episodes, we will have an ongoing audience films because they understood the gaping hole in opening the doors to something more serialized fantasy entertainment. and stable,” and he continues, “Primarily what we are trying to prove is there is the creative “We make cool, imaginative fantasy films for talent and artisans required to pull off something fans—not the studio way to suit the masses. of scope [in Utah]. We met a lot of really talented Since we are geeks ourselves and grew up playartists through this project—make up, props, ing video games, we know what we love to watch people we haven’t encountered before who are and we found that there’s a world of people who working at Walmart or Hobby Lobby and they like it too,” says Jason. want to be in the film industry. If we can lure Kynan tells the story, “We both grew up playing more work to the state we could fill any number ‘Dungeons and Dragons’ and loving the fantasy of slots that would come up.” And that adds to genre. Back then in 2003, it was the height of the the vibrant post-production, animation, visual blockbuster video boon and if you went to the effects talent available in Utah. video store, all there was in the fantasy section Let’s roll back in time a bit and follow Jason’s and was from the 80s like Conan, Never Ending Story, Kynan’s discovery process from romantic comedy, Highlander and so forth. We looked at that and to one-off fantasy-genre concept films to recreatput it next to the book market and saw that the ing the role-playing experience dramatically. second biggest sales in books was in fantasy. So the obvious answer there is market gap. We Prior to founding Arrowstorm Entertainment, did an experiment where Jason was teaching a Jason and Kynan produced their first feature, such as “Walking Dead”, “Arrow” and “Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.” that command a fanatical fan following, Jason wrote a concept that mimics the role-playing games—where there’s a party of adventurers that go out and prove their skills
Jason Faller
W
hen you have a population of gamers and fantasy enthusiasts—and are one yourself—it only makes sense to feed the voracious appetite with entertainment that satisfies that craving. Here is another story of two Brigham Young University film students, Jason Faller and Kynan Griffin who created a ‘field of fantasy-genre dreams’ for writers, directors, cinematographers, and the vast clan of artisans who craft weapons, costumes and makeup for any era, any planet, any species. There is something to the vintage of BYU’s film program that turned out the likes of Jared Hess, Andrew Black, Dave Hunter, Brandt Andersen, Jason Hatfield and the breed of entrepreneur now pushing forward into the new world of entertainment with unique content and fresh new business models. Kynan from South Africa and Jason from Canada have a natural propensity to see the entire world as their marketplace but have made Utah their headquarters for Arrowstorm Entertainment—their fantasy-genre empire. In a warehouse just off I-15 in Provo, Utah, the cast and crew of the third in a series called, Mythica just tore down the medieval dining pub to build a cave complete with dust, candles and dead people strewn about. Mythica is a live-action medieval fantasy series that recreates the role-playing experience of gamers. Outside the warehouse are piles of spears and other props. Once inside, everyone is engrossed in fine-tuning the cave for the next scene. Not to be bothered with distractions, the teams are going full blast with an intense focus rendering me invisible. Chatting with Jason and Kynan, they are lighthearted and playful as they make fun of each other and finish each other’s sentences while dodging the full-blast set constructors, grips and gaffers. With the popularity of made-for-television series 20
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producing class at BYU. We put it out there that if someone will make a movie with a hero fighting a dragon with a spear, we will get behind it. Well, a group did come up with a script and a director, we made the film, and it sold really well in the foreign markets.” They have nine fantasy films out over the past three years with titles such as, SAGA: Curse of the Shadow, Dawn of the Dragonslayer and Orcs! The productions are bare bones coming in at less than a million dollars per title but Jason believes they have production value of between two or three million dollars. Today, they are on the lookout for writer/director/ cinematographer teams to come to them with a fantasy-genre production for funding. Jason and Kynan will oversee only to the degree that it follows within the template that would ensure the greatest returns in foreign and domestic markets. For now, BYU provides fresh, eager teams to fill the pipeline of
Now for the real secret; they sell individual territorial rights to the film. And since most of the rights are sold before the film is done, Jason refers to the process of selling trailers more than the film. For instance, say one of the films has the theme of, ‘hero fighting dragon with sword;’ that translates the same to any foreign market—France, Japan, Brazil, Australia, you name it. Jason explains, “They can go theatrical, they can sell it to TV, they can put it on DVD, or Netflix in their territory and it’s over for us as far as we are concerned.” He goes on to say that many of the films have several titles across the territories and the owner can market with unique key art and covers. In the UK they may call the film, Curse of the Shadow, where in Australia it might be known as, Shadow Warrior. In Japan, they often market it in a way that has little or nothing to do with the movie showing characters on the cover that are not even in the film. “They buy the rights and we get the checks. We like our model, it’s profitable,” says Jason and also likes the freedom of moving directly to the next project with no worries of distribution, residuals and so forth. “If we chased every movie and did festivals and
The strategy is to draw a fan base via social media and cultural events such as FanXperience, Salt Lake Comic Con and FantasyCon locally as well as other markets. As the distribution model becomes a direct channel to a highly responsive fan base, the mechanism opens to even broader possibilities for the Arrowstorm brand value. “We believe that in the future, having an audience and building a brand and a fan base is going to be worth something,” explains Jason and continues, “Right now if you look at the top 100 brands—like Universal or Warner—nobody gets excited that Universal is coming out with a new movie because they don’t have a dedicated audience to them. They do have an audience who cares about their product but not who they are as a brand. “In the future, we believe when a lot of sales are being done through Netflix and Hulu, iTunes—whatever—if you have 20,000 real fans, you are so far ahead of a project that starts with no fans—even if you are NBC. OK, NBC has the muscle to put commercials all over the place and promote it, and you can do that, but that’s spending money.
content and crew, but as the fund builds and grows, there will be opportunity to attract national and international teams to Utah to produce and the Utah Film Commission’s Motion Picture Incentive Program will do a lot to fan that flame. This unique model is a secret weapon but it’s a secret that they are willing to share—Jason and Kynan even invite brain-picking. These smart, young, personable men see the world getting bigger every day with new opportunity and know they’ll always have a part in it. Jason says, “We tell everybody and invite them to find out everything about it and hang out with us to see how it’s done so many people can benefit from this model.”
films—three of them in the Mythica series. Jason and Kynan have pre-sold the Mythica features in foreign markets but are exploring the domestic television mini-series market— seeing what they will learn. But ultimately, a one-on-one relationship with a robust fan base looks like the future.
“To have a true fan base that says, ‘Arrowstorm makes movies we like to see, not like the studios, not for the masses; they make it for the real fans,’ then when we say on Facebook that we’ve got a movie coming out and ask them to check out our Kickstarter or go buy it on Amazon, that can give us the leverage where we don’t have to go to distributors. From now forward, we want to be directly connected to our fans, our followers.”
theatrical screenings and went to studios, we would do a movie a year maybe,” Jason says.
We’ll keep an eye on these brainy geeks (self proclaimed) and see what they come up with next. One thing we know, it will be a great adventure!
This year they will release four, maybe five 2014 spr i n g
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The Peak at 35
Bob Rock’s Journey of 35 Years in this Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World of Corporate Communications and Beyond for other tenants, plenty of room for Lone Peak and plenty to do before anyone could move in. It had been built as a garage, morphed into a boat dealership and most recently a wood shop. Gut the building, new electrical, new plumbing, new windows, walls, ceiling, HVAC and finally, a new home for Lone Peak. A small insert stage with a green screen sweep, three edit bays, voice-over recording booth, and offices. Hire more people. Wait, High-Def. Time to re-invent again...new cameras and new computers (thankfully, no need to worry about new decks anymore). Fast forward to 2014 and Lone Peak just finished building out a very large new production studio. Studio B, as it has become known at Lone Peak, is located in a large, non-descript block building just off the spaghetti bowl and features an “L” shaped green screen sweep measuring 35’ by 39’ that reaches almost to the 16-foot ceilings—ceilings (and walls) that have been sprayed with a thick coat of sound-deadening insulation. Jeremy Penzien, Ken Hoffman, Bob Rock, Ray Opheikens, Paul Furner, Stephen Smith
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t’s 1979 and here are the choices for your sales meeting; you can go with the full-blown 16mm film or you can go with a slide show. Well, there is that cool deal that Bob Rock at Lone Peak Productions is doing with a bunch of slide projectors synchronized to a soundtrack. At the time, that was pretty cutting edge.
But alas, all good things must come to an end. And with all the moving parts, some would say the end was never too soon for a multiple projector slide show—what with slides, carousel trays, projectors, computer readers, tape decks, amplifiers, and speakers—there were ample opportunities for mechanical failure. It’s best to have two of everything...redundancy. But with no start-up capital, it is expensive Lone Peak headquarters at to buy all the equip400 North 300 West ment once, not taking into account redundant pieces. To keep beans on the table, maybe it’s best to get a second job. So for the first five years of Lone Peak, Bob worked nights and weekends at the airport, selling tickets and slinging luggage (carefully of course), while trying to run Lone Peak during the day. All this, while the multi22
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ple-projector shows were losing their shine with clients. Time to re-invent. And time to move on—with a new business focus and with a more civilized work schedule. Quit the airport, hire some help, and supplement the big productions with computer-generated speaker support slides—$65,000 for an IBM 286 just to make slides? You’ve gotta pay to play; so Lone Peak dove headlong into computer slides and graphics.
On the ceiling is a fully equipped light grid with permanently mounted DMX controlled lights. All camera feeds (there are eight of them) feed to a control room featuring a TriCaster camera switcher that allows for live streaming and is capable of creating virtual sets. After 35 years in business, Lone Peak knows their market and has added a client-friendly lounge upstairs for corporate or agency guests complete with a conference table, white board, monitor and adjacent to the client lounge is a full kitchen for craft services or food prep.
It was a good ride for a few years but along came Harvard Graphics where clients could create slides on their own computer. Then it was Aldus Persuasion, and then the final nail in the slide coffin, Microsoft PowerPoint that came free with Microsoft Office. Good thing Lone Peak had transitioned from slide shows into 3/4” video in the interim. But it truly was time to re-invent once again. Who could afford to compete with Video West, STS, or Telescene? When the VideoCube came out, a 30-frame, 60-field non-linear editing system, Lone Peak saw the opportunity and bought the first one in the valley—Lone Peak off and running—always with new technology. Three-quarter inch gave way to BetaCam—BetaCam gave way to DVCPro. But there was always 16mm film for the purest. In 1995, Lone Peak vacated the Crane Building in lieu of a studio at 400 North and 300 West with a cool 12,000 square feet—plenty of room
Studio B kitchen & lounge “I think our new studio is a great example of what we are doing to stay one step ahead of the competition,” said Bob, “we’ve built it out correctly without ‘betting the farm’ and we feel it fills an important niche in the market. It just gives us one more arrow in our quiver to help clients and continue to grow our business.” With
Shaeron Harris Nuclear Power Plant in North Carolina for a FEMA evacuation video
Inflight safety video for Continental Airlines
only a couple of exceptions, his business has grown every year, according to Bob. So where to from here? Bob says, “We have some great talent at Lone Peak and everywhere I look, I see opportunities. Sure, the barriers to entry are gone. Everyone has an HD camera on their phone and editing software comes bundled on any new laptop. But we have a long history, a great client list, knowledge of what clients need, and the infrastructure and talent to meet those needs.” Shooter Jeremy Penzien notes that, “the new cameras we use produce a much better image. With large chips and prime lenses, we can give everything a richer, more cinematic look. It’s really
Studio B green screen stage
fun to see what we can squeeze out of a shot.” Editor Stephen Smith, an 11-year veteran at Lone Peak, says, “when I started here, most of the edits were pretty straightforward—graphics, special effects, and color grading were too expensive for most projects. But now, because of the
availability of the technology and our experience, we routinely add them. It’s always a challenge to keep up with the changes but that challenge helps make my job much more interesting. And the variety of projects is interesting...I work on everything from 30-second spots to long-format projects.”
The secret to their success: Appreciate clients. Understand that they pay the bills and should, at a minimum, get everything they expect—but try to give them more. Keep up with the technology and try to make it fun. If it’s not fun, why bother? And don’t try to retire on each project...slow and steady wins the race.
Looking back, it’s been an interesting ride explains Bob. There are now six “Peakers” who do everything from scripting, shooting (on-location and in-studio), graphics (2D, 3D, and video graphics), audio, post-production, and digital fulfillment. The Lone Peak client list reads like a “Who’s Who” of local and regional agencies and
Walking into their studio, you have to think that has been pretty good advice. You can’t help but notice the award certificates framed along the halls and the lighted display case in the conference room bristles with statues—including an Emmy. Everyone seems busy, but the stress level just doesn’t seem to be there in spite of
Studio B lobby companies. In addition to producing a remarkable amount of spots and corporate videos, Lone Peak has been involved in several television ventures, perhaps the most notable being the production of “Hot Homes of Utah,” a weekly show that ran for five years prior to the real estate collapse.
Studio B control room the deadlines. Bob laughs and claims, “we’re not really in the video business, we’re in the deadline business.” After 35 years, Lone Peak is firmly grounded. And with values like they display, I think we could see Lone Peak Productions around for another 35 years. 2014 spr i n g
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Media Grabbers
Marks a Decade
Josh Eaton, Doug Stringham, Wyatt Germer and Harry
W
hen Media Grabbers was conceived in late 2003 by founders Joshua Eaton, Doug Stringham and Wyatt Germer, their dream as they describe it was to create a shop that specialized in creating incredible motion graphic content for clients of all shapes and sizes—meaning, they’d take anything that came in the door if they felt they’d be good at it. Today, a decade later, that mantra is still on the top of their minds…‘don’t turn anything away, but be specific about what you’re good at.’ When they first began, they worked out of Josh’s basement for more than a year doing a lot of editing work for the outdoor industry as well as creating lots of motion graphic content for casinos all over the country. Over the next 10 years, they dialed in their craft by expanding, shrinking, adjusting, tweaking, hiring and firing in order to perfect their business model and the artistic media they create. With Josh producing and directing and Doug and Wyatt creating 2D and 3D animation, they have managed to continually grow smoothly and steadily. They’ve outlasted many competitors and survived an economic downturn that forced many clients to take a lot of their video production and editing work in-house. They’ll say the key is being just ahead of what the average media guy can pull off, but avoiding 24
spring 2014
spending huge amounts of capital investment to get there. Vice President Wyatt Germer says, “Pushing the creative boundaries while balancing budgets and deadlines is constantly on our minds.” But it’s not just their technical skills driving their business, it’s their level-headed enthusiasm that they bring to the table each and every day. “I think what we want more than anything is for clients to trust us—trust that we can bring a script to life in a visually rich, interesting and straightforward way. Trust that we’ll deliver when promised and trust that viewers will get the intended message!” says Doug Stringham. Media Grabbers has managed to keep clients coming back for more year after year. Clients such as Easton, who for more than eight seasons contracted them to produce more than a hundred 30-minute hunting TV shows on the Sportsman’s Network. Creative Director Gary Cornum said, “When we started the series “Easton Bowhunting”, we really didn’t know how much work we were getting ourselves into. As the show grew and challenges arose, Media Grabbers rose to every level and we created a top-three network show for over five years.” Their takeaway from the hunting show: “Getting through big projects with clients, even when there’s bumps, and then to have them come back to us
for more… that’s the ultimate satisfaction,” says Josh and continues, “In the heat of a project deadline, it can get stressful. If someone were to ask what our specialty is, it’s offering creative solutions to a fourth round of changes on a set budget and doing it with smiles on our faces.” Media Grabbers has evolved into a production company that writes, produces, shoots and posts well over 100 broadcast commercials and product videos a year. They usually get tapped for projects that have a higher degree of editing, compositing and motion FX. Recognizing the secret ingredients.” With a lot of the bigger agencies taking their post work in-house, Media Grabbers has pushed harder into more complex 3D animation and compositing in order to provide the icing on the cake. Preston Wood, Creative Director at Love Communications says, “Our guys can only handle so much. Knowing Josh’s team is there, that they will work within our budget and can handle the complex things we throw at them, allows us take on additional work and still make a profit.” “More often than not, clients don’t even realize that we’ve been involved in a project,” says Josh, “We provide a comfortable support for those overload moments a typical, small in-house team can experience all too often. But staying ahead is a must. Every day, some new software or a camera comes out that levels our ‘special talents,’” he says and continues, “With the prices of software, hardware and cameras always coming down, the barrier to entry is lower than it’s ever been. But nothing is more important than a well-written script and an experienced team that knows exactly how to bring that script to life.” need to expand into production, they moved into a 9,000 square-foot warehouse in North Salt Lake in 2008 and began building for the future. They built editing bays, sound rooms, producer’s offices, a photography studio and one of the largest green-screen cyc sound-stages in greater Salt Lake. They’ve now grown to a close-knit group of a dozen very seasoned full-time employees. “I’m not a believer in 1099 employees who come and go,” says Josh, “Every project is a bit different and knowing my team’s diverse strengths allows us to and divide and conquer quickly and efficiently.” Creating commercials from start to finish is their specialty. But many advertising agencies come to Media Grabbers when they need to have more serious compositing and FX work on in-progress spots. “We can deliver the magic touch,” says Josh, “We add the sparkle that takes the spot to another level by adding motion effects, cool typography, color styling, animation, and other 2014 spr i n g
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stage pass showcase
impatient cow
lone peak productions
impatient cow Jon Foster, Producer, Icow.tv p 801.718.3006 THE RANCH 264 S. Glendale Street, Suite 100 SLC, UT 84104 e jon@icow.tv, www.icow.tv
media grabbers
media grabbers inc. Joshua Eaton, President p 801.951.1382 383 North 700 West, Unit B, North Salt Lake, UT 84054 e josh@mediagrabbers.com, www.mediagrabbers.com
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lone peak productions Bob Rock, Steve Smith, p 801.521.5567 f 801.521.5569 404 North 300 West, SLC, UT 84103 e info@lonepeakproductions.com, www. lonepeakproductions.com
redman movies and stories
redman movies and stories, inc. Bryan Clifton, Pat Smart, Nate Biddle p 801.978.9292 f 801.978.2299
The Redman Building 1075 South 700 West, SLC, UT 84104 bryan@redmanmovies.com, pat@redmanmovies.com, nate@redmanmovies.com
p r o du c t i o n d i r e c t o r y i nde x avalanche studios
indie 6n6
mediagrabbers
stilson / ignitive
31 Producers / Production Companies
31 Production Studios / Stages
28 Animation / Computer Graphics /
28 Creative Services 29 Directors
axis41
ksl productions / ksl 5 television
Visual Effects 29 Editors / Editing Facilities
30 Interactive Multimedia
31 Producers / Production Companies
31 Production Studios / Stages
carolyn leone
kineto pictures
merch hero
28 Costume Design
29 Editors / Editing Facilities 31 Producers / Production Companies
28 CD / DVD Duplication
31 Producers / Production Companies
the digital ranch 28 Animation / Computer Graphics / Visual Effects 30 Interactive Multimedia
moving pictures ltd.
colormill 28 Digital Cinema Mastering / Grading
lab 6
29 Equipment Rental, Sales & Leasing 31 Production Support Services
corser, inc.
redman movies and stories, inc. 28 Audio / Music Composition /
30 Models / Actors / Voice Talent
munn powell / blackbox
Scoring / Production
28 Directors
tmg / talent management group inc.
29 Directors of Photography /
31 Producers / Production Companies
left turn films
toyshed studios
Cinematographers
cosmic pictures
28 Directors
31 Producers / Production Companies
29 Directors of Photography / Cinematographers
craze talent agency
31 Production Studios / Stages
parking garage pictures
tv specialists inc.
redman movies and stories, inc 29 Editors / Editing Facilities
29 Equipment Rental, Sales & Leasing
30 Models / Actors / Voice Talent
lone peak productions 29 Editors / Editing Facilities
radar
29 Editors / Editing Facilities
fluid studio
30 Interactive Multimedia 31 Producers / Production Companies
redman movies and stories, inc
30 Mobile Digital IT
vérité
30 Interactive Multimedia
universal post
28 Animation / Computer Graphics /
31 Production Studios / Stages
redman movies and stories, inc.
gordon c. lonsdale, asc
matthew williams
29 Directors of Photography /
29 Directors of Photography /
Cinematographers
Cinematographers
Visual Effects
28 Audio / Music Composition / Scoring / Production - lab 6
30 Interactive Multimedia
29 Editors / Editing Facilities -
vineyard productions 31 Producers / Production Companies
parking garage pictures
impatient cow 28 Animation / Computer Graphics / Visual Effects 31 Producers / Production Companies
matt hodgson directs
29 Equipment Rental, Sales & Leasing
28 Directors
30 Mobile Digital IT - radar
warner / chappell productions
31 Production Studios / Stages
28 Audio / Music Composition / Scoring / Production
stars talent studio
31 Production Music Libraries
mccarty talent & modeling agency 30 Models Actors / Voice Talent
30 Models Actors / Voice Talent
wildwood productions 31 Producers / Production Companies
stage pass matrix
18' 20' 30' 18' 20' 30'
Redman Movies Main
18' 60' 60' 18' 60' 60'
Toyshed Studios
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BMCC 2.5K
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BMPCC
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Media Grabbers
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Lone Peak Studio B
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14' 23' 34' 12' 12' 16'
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Lone Peak Studio A
Fiber
Indie 6n6 B
30,000 sq ft
Control Room
14' 50' 60' 12' 50' 60'
Width
Indie 6n6 A
Grade
Impatient Cow B
18' 40' 150'
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12' 20' 55' 12' 20' 20'
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Impatient Cow A
Special Features
Multi-Camera Switcher
Bay Door
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Media Grabbers Photo
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2014 spr i n g
27
p r o du c t i o n d i r e c t o r y animation / computer graphics / visual effects
animation / computer graphics / visual effects continued
audio / music composition /scoring / production continued
creative services
warner/chappell production music
the digital ranch, inc
vérité
Susan Jensen p 801.485.4503 f 801.485.2316 1354 East 3300 South, #300 Salt Lake City, UT 84106 e susan@digital-ranch.com w www.digital-ranch.com
Kimberley A. Jones p 801.553.1101 f 801.553.1215 608 West 9320 South Sandy, UT 84070 e kjones@verite.com w www.verite.com
Digital Ranch is your creative and technical partner for web design and video, phone apps, online marketing, cloud hosting, data backups and all things digital.
Vérité, a digital communications agency founded in 1993, produces unique and effective web tools as well as marketing, advertising, and training campaigns. We combine cutting edge creative with forward think ing technologies to strengthen brands, reach audiences, and get results. We’re producing tools and campaigns for: Adobe, Ancestry.com, Bard Access Systems, Intel, Merit Medical, Novell, Rio Tinto, Symantec and more.
impatient cow Jon Foster, Producer, Icow.tv p 801.718.3006 THE RANCH 264 S. Glendale Street, Suite 100 Salt Lake City, UT 84104 e jon@icow.tv w www.icow.tv We continue to be a SLC-based production and postproduction company. But now we have a brand new 35,000 sqft facility! Come check it out. Icow.tv.
Design, Production and Development services include: Web Design - Motion Graphics - Video Production - Mobile Apps - eToolsTM for Registration, Certification Programs, Content Management & eCommerce – Consultation and Execution for Social, Marketing and Advertising initiatives. Are you ready to find out how amazing creative and innovative technology can come together for your business? Please give us a call or visit our website. We’d love to start a conversation, put our expertise to work, and let the results speak for themselves.
audio / music composition /scoring / production
Mike Hicks p 801.531.0060 f 801.531.0346 915 West 100 South Salt Lake City, UT 84104 e mike.hicks@warnerchappellpm.com w www.warnerchappellpm.com With over 35 years of experience, Warner/Chappell Production Music brings you the largest and most diverse music library in the market today.
cd / dvd duplication
Joshua Eaton, President p 801.951.1382 f 801.951.1387 toll free 888.225.8879 383 North 700 West, Unit B North Salt Lake, UT 84054 e josh@mediagrabbers.com w www.mediagrabbers.com
merch hero Wesley Nappi p 801.397.5550 333 West 500 South Salt Lake City, UT 84101 e info@merchhero.com w www.merchhero.com Merch Hero, CD / DVD duplication, USB drives, Screen printing and embroidery.
costume design -carolyn leone-creative-collaborative-committed 24 years of experience. Works locally in Salt Lake, Los Angeles and Chicago.
Grabbing people’s attention, thirty seconds at a time! We provide the eye candy that makes your media stand out. Whether it’s photo-real animation or sexy graphic compositing, from concept to delivery, we can make it shine. Find us on Facebook!
lab6
digital cinema mastering
Dave Angell
p 801.978.9292 f 801.978.2299
The Redman Building 1075 South 700 West Salt Lake City, UT 84104 e dangell@xmission.com w www.redmanmovies.com The sixth and newest studio from Dale Angell who, with his friend Tom Ruff, have been recording and mastering sounds since the late 1960’s with such projects as Grizzly Adams and The Legend of Sleepy Hollow. LAB6 has a unique shape optimized with Klipsch horn-type speakers and high definition video projection onto a 20-foot screen allowing the mixing theater to also function as a screening room seating forty. A large control room and a large voice booth make Lab6 an excellent location for Foley work, ADR, and film sound mastering.
colormill Micah Young p 801.463.3880 f 801.463.3885 1345 South Major St Salt Lake City, UT 84115 e micah@colormill.net w colormill.net The dark secret Hollywood doesn’t want you to know about. Studio quality digital cinema finishing on an indie budget. Digital dailies. Full DI and color grading services. Digital Cinema mastering. Clients include Fox Searchlight, dozens of happy indie producers, and you. Need a DCP for digital cinema distribution? We can do that too. Stop by and see the only large screen digital finishing suite in Utah. You’ll be like, “What???” And we’ll be like “I know, right?”
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Eric Stilson p 801.571.6277 f 801.571.6256 11475 South 2875 East Sandy, UT 84092 e estilson@stilson-stilson.com w www.stilson-stilson.com Nationally recognized and locally based, full-service advertising and digital marketing company for national-quality television spots, on-line promotions, web development and direct response infomercials.
directors
p 323.403.7795
media grabbers inc.
stilson productions llc
corser, inc. John Corser p 435.200.3460 225 Main Street Suite A PO Box 4198 Park City, UT 84060 e john@corser.com w www.corser.com Corser, Inc. is a production company specializing in marketing, promotions and advertising. The Corser team is composed of A-list professionals at the highest levels of motion pictures, advertising and digital media.
left turn films Tyler Measom, Producer, Director, Cinematographer p 801.836.1578 205 E. Vidas Salt Lake City, UT 84115 e tmeasom@lefturnfilms.com w www.lefturnfilms.com Left Turn Films boasts an extensive reel of national and international projects with a unique specialization in long and short-form documentaries. From the big to the small, from the dangerous to the humdrum, we work our powers of levitation and X-ray vision to produce a myriad of media.
matthodgsondirects Matt Hodgson - Director / Writer p Los Angeles 310.570.5191 p Salt Lake City 801.440.7140 e matthodgsondirects@mac.com w www.matthodgsondirects.com Director/Writer Matt Hodgson is a rare blend of Madison Avenue & Hollywood. His artistic vision, keen branding sense & ingenious storytelling have made him a sought-after creative force in the worlds of Advertising, Entertainment and Politics. Call Jeff Miller, Excective Producer @ Vineyard Productions, SLC, UT 1.801.263.3443 Or Danixa Diaz or Sheima Hassanlou, Exectuve Producers @ Cortez Brothers, Los Angeles, CA 1.310.821.3122
p r o du c t i o n d i r e c t o r y directors continued
editors / editing facilities
editors / editing facilities continued
equipment rental, sales & leasing
kineto pictures inc.
stilson productions llc Eric Stilson p 801.571.6277 f 801.571.6256 11475 South 2875 East Sandy, UT 84092 e estilson@stilson-stilson.com w www.stilson-stilson.com Nationally recognized and locally based, full-service advertising and digital marketing company for national-quality television spots, on-line promotions, web development and direct response infomercials.
directors of photography / cinematographers gordon c. lonsdale, asc m 801.362.6881 e lonsdale1@comcast.net w gordonclonsdale.com
Representation: Innovative Artists: Cecilia Banck p 310.656.5186 Director of Photography for: Dramatic work, commercials, CGI, aerial and Underwater.
left turn films Tyler Measom, Producer, Director, Cinematographer p 801.836.1578 205 E. Vidas Salt Lake City, UT 84115 e tmeasom@lefturnfilms.com w www.lefturnfilms.com Left Turn Films boasts an extensive reel of national and international projects with a unique specialization in long and short-form documentaries. From the big to the small, from the dangerous to the humdrum, we work our powers of levitation and X-ray vision to produce a myriad of media.
Travis Babcock p 801.521.3725 m 801.599.2438 676 East Vine Street, Suite #5 Murray, Utah 84107 e travis@kinetopictures.com w www.kinetopictures.com Kineto Pictures is an award-winning, full-service production facility, with a wide range of HD services—various camera packages, editing, color correction, and motion design. We specialize in episodic TV, custom commercials, corporate marketing and documentaries.
parking garage pictures Joel Petrie
Usually companies that tell you awards aren’t important, don’t win any. They may not be important... but we’ve won many... Addys, Auroras, Tellys and even an Emmy. What really counts to us is results, however YOU want to measure them. Three complete FCP HD edit suites with color grading, compositing, motion graphics, 2D/3D graphics, music/FX library and interactive for TV, corporate, industrial, and documentary. Audio booth, insert stage and location shooting. Come in and let’s talk about your project and while you’re here, we’ll be happy to show you our award case—we’ll even make a space for yours .
p 801.793.5969
The Redman Building 1075 South 700 West Salt Lake City, UT 84104 e joel@parkinggaragepictures.com w www.parkinggaragepictures.com PGP is quickly gaining ground as the go to guys for Editing and VFX work in the greater Salt Lake area; with 4 features and a television series under their belts. They have a lovely set up here in Salt Lake, with 3 fulll Adobe systems, a 4k workhorse machine, an HD projector, a comfy couch and a coffee pot
Troy Parkinson, p 801.973.0632 f 801.973.0380 toll free 800.867.0632 812 West Layton Avenue Salt Lake City, UT 84104 e mail@movingpics.net w www.movingpics.net Grip / Lighting / Dollies / Expendables Production Services—The way you want them. Delivery and pickup available.
redman movies and stories, inc. Bryan Clifton, Pat Smart, Nate Biddle p 801.978.9292 f 801.978.2299
The Redman Building 1075 South 700 West Salt Lake City, UT 84104 e bryan@redmanmovies.com pat@redmanmovies.com nate@redmanmovies.com Arri Alexa, Red Epic, Sony F65 and F55 cameras, grip and lighting, Fisher and Chapman dollys, jib arms to riding camera cranes, blmpded movie generators, Lightening Strikes, Helicopter mounts, walkie talkies, sound stages, expendables, trucks. Still photo strobes One stop shop, full customer service.
universal post Micah Young, p 801.467.4788 f 801.463.3885 1345 South Major St Salt Lake City, UT 84115 e micah@universalpost.tv w universalpost.tv
tv specialists, inc.
Without exaggeration, the very best place in the Universe. Literally. Edit. Colorization. Motion Graphics. Visual Effects. 2D and 3D Animation. Digital Dailies. Digital Cinema Theater with Assimilate Scratch and Christie 2K Projection. HD. 3D. TV. 2K. 4K. OK? Ask for Micah and he’ll give you the nice face discount.
Film and Digital Cinematography Super 8 to IMAX, DSLR to Arri Alexa
Commercial clients include Verizon, Snapple, Toyota and more.
moving pictures ltd.
With 10 seasons of adventure reality shows and 500 commercials under our belt, yes, I’d say we know editing. From short form to long form, we have the experience, the facilities and the creative juices to help deliver award-winning media. Find us on Facebook!
Bob Rock, Steve Smith, p 801.521.5567 f 801.521.5569 404 North 300 West Salt Lake City, UT 84103 e info@lonepeakproductions.com w www. lonepeakproductions.com
Director of Photography p 801.538.0553 m 818.590.4528 e mwilliamsdp@gmail.com w www.williamsdp.com
Blackbox p 801.358.6866 Representation: UTA - Robert Arakelian p 310.860.3741 e blackbox@mac.com w www.munnpowell.com
Joshua Eaton, President p 801.951.1382 f 801.951.1387 toll free 888.225.8879 383 North 700 West, Unit B North Salt Lake, UT 84054 e josh@mediagrabbers.com w www.mediagrabbers.com
lone peak productions
matthew williams
munn powell
media grabbers inc.
Eden Graphics, inc.
Geoff Barry p 801.486.5757 f 801.486.7566 180 East 2100 South Salt Lake City, UT 84115 e geoffb@tvspec.com w www.tvspecialists.com HD and production camera rentals, editing system packages, digital cinema projectors. Factory authorized sales and support. Locally owned and operated. For current prices, call Geoff.
Contact us for a FREE Consultation about your next design project! (visit website)
GRAPHIC DESIGN & BOOK DESIGN PORTFOLIO: WWW.EDENGRAPHICS.NET • book covers & interior layout • brochures • direct mail
• • • •
websites posters invitations logos
• business cards • billboards • newsletters • banners
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calendars catalogs trade show displays menus
• newspaper & magazine ads • cd/dvd covers and booklets
2014 spr i n g
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p r o du c t i o n d i r e c t o r y interactive
interactive continued
mobile digital it
models / actors / talent continued
((radar)) Daren Smith, Lisa Konecny, Jason Seaton p 801.978.9292 f 801.978.2299
axis41 Jon Baddley p 801.303.6308 f 801.303.6339 48 W. Market Street Suite 300 Salt Lake City, UT 84101 e jbaddley@axis41.com w www.axis41.com Axis41 delivers content marketing and communications solutions that clearly articulate an organization’s brand position. Everything Axis41 does is about inspiring your customer to have a lasting relationship with your organization. We do this by integrating marketing, technology and your business objectives. The agency was founded upon the premise that clear communication strategy—executed via relevant content and the appropriate WCM and analytics technology—leads to lasting customer relationships. Understanding the interdependence between information technology and marketing is a critical component of building a successful brand. Axis41’s approach is a complete integration of these two disciplines with your business and communication objectives. - See more at: www.axis41.com
lone peak productions Bob Rock p 801.521.5567 f 801.521.5569 404 North 300 West Salt Lake City, UT 84103 e info@lonepeakproductions.com w www.lonepeakproductions.com Kiosks, museum exhibits, interactive touch-screens…want somebody to do it all? Lone Peak has been “doing it all” since 1979. HD TV production, corporate, industrials, & documentaries on Sony, Canon and Panasonic. From concept, scripting, and shooting (in our studio or on location [our production van carries ARRI, HMI and LED lights, track & dolly, jib and camera packages]), to interactive programming and post (in one of our 3 HD edit bays). Great talent, great facilities, great work! Call and let us help design your next project.
Susan Jensen p 801.485.4503 f 801.485.2316 1354 East 3300 South, #300 Salt Lake City, UT 84106 e susan@digital-ranch.com w www.digital-ranch.com Digital Ranch is your creative and technical partner for web design and video, phone apps, online marketing, cloud hosting, data backups and all things digital.
At Fluid Studio we only create one thing—Maximum Impact. Think of us for . . . Advertising. Marketing. Graphic Design. Web. Social Media. Mobile Application Design and Development.
1326 Foothill Drive Salt Lake City, UT 84108 e mccartytalent@yahoo.com office@mccartytalentagency.com w www.mccartytalentagency.com Utah’s First & Finest Agency is happy to be celebrating 40 years of providing the State’s best actors, voiceover artists, models, young performers and make-up artists.
p 801-201-5885
models / actors / talent
Kimberley A. Jones p 801.553.1101 f 801.553.1215 608 West 9320 South Sandy, UT 84070 e kjones@verite.com w www.verite.com Vérité, a digital communications agency founded in 1993, produces unique and effective web tools as well as marketing, advertising, and training campaigns. We combine cutting edge creative with forward think ing technologies to strengthen brands, reach audiences, and get results. We’re producing tools and campaigns for: Adobe, Ancestry.com, Bard Access Systems, Intel, Merit Medical, Novell, Rio Tinto, Symantec and more.
Web Design - Motion Graphics - Video Production - Mobile Apps - eToolsTM for Registration, Certification Programs, Content Management & eCommerce – Consultation and Execution for Social, Marketing and Advertising initiatives.
Philip Case p 801.295.9820 f 801.951.5815 1065 South 500 West Bountiful, UT 84010 e info@fluid-studio.net w www.fluid-studio.net
p 801.581.9292
stars talent studio
SPOT COLOR
Design, Production and Development services include:
fluid studio
((RADAR)) Mobile Studios is revolutionizing the bridge between Production and Post to make the entire process run smoother, faster, better. With prices from just $795 per day we have solutions for every scale of Production. At ((RADAR)) we believe that Post starts the moment the card leaves the camera.
mccarty talent agency
9441 S. Union Square Sandy, UT 84070 e amber@starstalentstudio.com w www.starstalentstudio.com
vérité
the digital ranch, inc
The Redman Building 1075 South 700 West Salt Lake City, UT 84104 e d@radarmobilestudios.com lisa@radarmobilestudios.com jason@radarmobilestudios.com w www.radarmobilestudios.com
Are you ready to find out how amazing creative and innovative technology can come together for your business? Please give us a call or visit our website. We’d love to start a conversation, put our expertise to work, and let the results speak for themselves.
Stars represents many of Utah’s top actors, voice over, models, singers, PANTONE 1585 C and athletes. With over 30 years of experience, we specialize in representing talent with diverse ethnicities.
craze talent agency Troy Lee p 801.438.0067 f 801.438.0032 9176 South 300 West, #3 Sandy, UT 84070 Boise Office; 410 South Orchard Street, Ste. 146 Boise, ID 83705 p 208.433.9511 Las Vegas Office; 6280 S. Valley View Blvd. #730 Las Vegas, NV 89118 p 702.730.9176 e craze@crazeagency.com w www.crazeagency.com Craze represents 2000 quality Actors, Models, Extras, Voiceovers and Convention Hosts! Large audition facility. Guaranteed satisfaction, reliability and great rates! Member B.B.B. of Utah.
talent management group, inc. Vickie Panek - Lauralee Bush Matua p 801.263.6940 f 801.263.6950 512 East 4500 South, Suite 200 Salt Lake City, UT 84107 e Vickie@talentmg.com w www.talentmg.com TMG is YOUR source for the most capable talent to satisfy the needs of the most demanding clientele. We are professionals representing professionals – dedicated to the success of every project through excellence, quality and integrity. • Industrial
• Commercial
• Runway
• Voiceover
• Presenters
• TV
• Makeup Artists
• Film
• Stylists
production music libraries warner/chappell production music Mike Hicks p 801.531.0060 f 801.531.0346 915 West 100 South Salt Lake City, UT 84104 e mike.hicks@warnerchappellpm.com w www.warnerchappellpm.com With over 35 years of experience, Warner/Chappell Production Music brings you the largest and most diverse music library in the market today.
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p r o du c t i o n d i r e c t o r y producers / production companies avalanche studios
kineto pictures inc.
Dave Lindsay
Travis Babcock p 801.521.3725 m 801.599.2438 676 East Vine Street, Suite #5 Murray, Utah 84107 e travis@kinetopictures.com w www.kinetopictures.com
p 801.747.1130 f 801.747.1130
5288 S. Commerce Drive, Building B-150 Salt Lake City, UT 84107 e dave@avalanche-studios.com w www.avalanche-studios.com Full-service production facility specializing in TV ads, corporate video and TV production. High-quality productions at reasonable rates. Three edit suites, sound booth, studio, green screen, and more.
Kineto Pictures is an award-winning, full-service production facility, with a wide range of HD services—various camera packages, editing, color correction, and motion design. We specialize in episodic TV, custom commercials, corporate marketing and documentaries.
ksl productions / ksl 5 television cosmic pictures inc John Murphy p 801.463.3880
F 801.463.3885
1345 South Major St Salt Lake City, UT 84115 e john@cosmicpictures.com w www.cosmicipictures.com Lots of directors to choose from. Lots of camera formats to choose from (film, RED, DSLR, GoPro). Lots of post expertise to choose from (edit, graphics, effects, 3D Animation, compositing, color, VO, and sound sweetening). Lots of projects to have fun on (commercials, industrials, web videos, features, and TV shows). Let’s. Get. Started. Oh and ask us about our Ocotocopter. OPTIONS, poeple.
corser, inc. John Corser p 435.200.3460 225 Main Street Suite A PO Box 4198 Park City, UT 84060 e john@corser.com w www.corser.com Corser, Inc. is a production company specializing in marketing, promotions and advertising. The Corser team is composed of A-list professionals at the highest levels of motion pictures, advertising and digital media.
Tami Ostmark p 801.575.7235 KSL Broadcast House 55 North 300 West Salt Lake City, UT 84101 e tostmark@ksl.com w www.ksl.com KSL Productions is a full-service production and post production facility with one of the largest studios in the state. Great video production to meet your needs, done to fit your budget.
lone peak productions
production studios/stages
lone peak productions vineyard productions Jeff T. Miller
p 801.263.3443 f 801.263.3191
5183 South 300 West Murray, UT 84107 e redmon@vineyardfilmproductions.com w www.vineyardfilmproductions.com Full-service production company specializing in feature-length films, commercials, television and large format. Having successfully managed over $250,000,000 in production funds, Vineyard has the experience and reputation for on-time and on-budget results.
Bruce Aoki, Director/Cameraman p 801.533.0355 972 South 300 West Salt Lake City, Utah 84101 e aokiflex@wildwoodproductions.net w www.wildwoodproductions.net We’ve travelled the world capturing images for a ton of clients. We like good people, great concepts and would love a chance to work on a project with you. Give us a shout.
production support
media grabbers inc. Joshua Eaton, President p 801.951.1382 f 801.951.1387 toll free 888.225.8879 383 North 700 West, Unit B North Salt Lake, UT 84054 e josh@mediagrabbers.com w www.mediagrabbers.com One of the largest double walled rentable green-screen coves in the Wasatch front. Two stories tall, incredible sound, large enough for a car and houses an industrial turntable that can hold 800lbs. Flip the switch and walls are lit! Find us on Facebook!
Bob Rock p 801.521.5567 f 801.521.5569 404 North 300 West Salt Lake City, UT 84103 e info@lonepeakproductions.com w www. lonepeakproductions.com Lone Peak has been doing it all since 1979. HD TV production, corporate, industrials, & documentaries on Sony, Canon and Panasonic. From concept, scripting, and shooting (in our studio or on location [our production van carries ARRI, HMI and LED lights, track & dolly, jib and camera packages]), to interactive programming and post (in one of our 3 HD edit bays). Great talent, great facilities, great work! It all starts with an idea, bring yours to us and let’s make it happen.
moving pictures ltd. Troy Parkinson, p 801.973.0632 f 801.973.0380 toll free 800.867.0632 812 West Layton Avenue Salt Lake City, UT 84104 e mail@movingpics.net w www.movingpics.net Grip / Lighting / Dollies / Expendables / Production Services – The way you want them. Delivery and pickup available.
indie 6n6
impatient cow
We continue to be a SLC-based production and postproduction company. But now we have a brand new 35,000 sqft facility! Come check it out. Icow.tv.
Salt Lake’s oldest production company now has Salt Lake’s newest studio. 2500 sf studio with full dmx controlled light grid, 35x40 green screen and control room with multi-camera switching and live streaming. On-location or in-studio, Lone Peak has it all.
wildwood productions, inc.
production studios/stages Jon Foster, Producer, Icow.tv p 801.718.3006 THE RANCH 264 S. Glendale Street, Suite 100 Salt Lake City, UT 84104 e jon@icow.tv w www.icow.tv
Bob Rock p 801.521.5567 f 801.521.5569 404 North 300 West Salt Lake City, UT 84103 e info@lonepeakproductions.com w www. lonepeakproductions.com
stilson productions llc Eric Stilson p 801.571.6277 f 801.571.6256 11475 South 2875 East Sandy, UT 84092 e estilson@stilson-stilson.com w www.stilson-stilson.com Nationally recognized and locally based, full-service advertising and digital marketing company for national-quality television spots, on-line promotions, web development and direct response infomercials.
Mark Weiler p 801.244.1090 e highspeedcinegear@gmail.com Indie 6n6 offers a variety of stage, sound booth and camera options. With a large green-screen stage (50’ by 60’) with two corners, a 30,000 sq ft warehouse that can be used for sets, as a venue or for storage and staging; we also have a 4,000 sq ft workshop on-site to build sets and props. In addition, we have a sound booth for audio recording. Located just SW of downtown Salt Lake City, consider Indie 6n6 a resource for anything you plan to do. Coming soon—a virtual stage and more!
redman stages Bryan Clifton, Pat Smart, Nate Biddle p 801.978.9292 f 801.978.2299
The Redman Building 1075 South 700 West Salt Lake City, UT 84104 e bryan@redmanmovies.com pat@redmanmovies.com nate@redmanmovies.com w www.redmanmovies.com Worlds away in your own backyard. Redman introduces two of the newest state-of-the-art stages to open in Salt Lake. Take advantage of our 60’ x 60’ MOS stage with 60’ green screen for your next major project, or check out our fully digital 20’ x 3o’ insert stage optimized for motion capture.
toyshed studios Kyle Mallory p 801.831.0780 e kyle@recinema.com w www.recinema.com Toyshed Studios is a small, secure insert stage centrally located in the heart of Salt Lake Valley suitable for music videos, light commercials, and talking-head shoots. 2014 spr i n g
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