MayJune Oz Magazine

May/June 2009 www.ozonline.tv

DECISIONS

OZ cONtrIbutOrs & cONtENts Jon Lee Andersen is an Atlanta area attorney who focuses his practice providing advice and assistance for advertising copy, sweepstakes, contests, promotions, labeling, endorsements, testimonial, copyright, trademark and licensing issues. His clients include advertising agencies, marketing firms, e-commerce businesses and freelance professionals.

Column, page 28 28, www.advertisinglawfirm.com.

COnTRiBuTORs & COnTEnTs

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By Louis Mayeurx Linda Burns produces, line produces and production manages national commercials, corporate industrials, webisodes, still photo shoots, independent features, and television shows, pilots and promos. Her next three producing projects are in the final stages of development. Aurora is repped by William Morris, bateson Devise is repped by cinetic Media, and the trust, is slated for production in 2009. burns is an industry and festival panelist, teaches film production classes, and spends much of her time nurturing emerging talent behind the scenes.

Voices article, page 24, www.plexuspictures.com.

Louis T. Mayeux, a longtime journalist for the Atlanta Journal-constitution, is an Atlanta writer. He frequently Journalappears in Atlanta Intown magazine and has published articles in salon, KnowAtlanta and the chattahoochee review. As a blogger, he makes his views on literature and culture known on southern bookman, and he muses on politics, art, tV, V, movV ies, travel and other subjects on chasing the blues. He also edited the Oregon Ducks and rutgers scarlet Knights Football Vault books for Whitman Publishing. Cover story, page 16.

Boyd Baker solves marketing challenges with words as sumoWriter.com. being a freelance business writer, he combines his past experience in advertising, Pr, newspapers, and business ownership to tell client stories through web and print. Fascinated with creative solutions, he tries to keep up with technology and how it builds communities. He lives in the Lake claire neighborhood of Atlanta with his wife and two kids. Feature story, page 20

Alex Marchetti is the President of the Atlanta DMA and President of Whitestone Marketing, an Atlanta-based, Direct Marketing company which creates and implements effective, cross-channel marketing strategies. He has a bA in Design from the university of Illinois, an MbA from Keller Graduate school, series 7 & 66 security Licenses and Variable Insurance Licenses in the state of Georgia.

He was publisher of Generator’s Journal and strategies & solutions trade publications. (678-521-0316). Feature story, page 25

COVER: Jay Montgomery’s award-winning work is known for easily pleasing Art Directors with his evocative, realistic style. clients rely upon Jay to quickly understand their communication goals and to offer exciting solutions with extra visual appeal and added stopping power that only illustration can bring. Most of his illustrations are created & delivered digitally for maximum speed, accuracy & easy revisions to get exactly what you want.

Jay’s 16+ years of commercial art experience has allowed him to give back to the community by teaching illustration at Portfolio center, Atlanta college of Art and currently savannah college of Art and Design in Atlanta. to t see more of his work please visit www.JayMontgomery.com 4

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By Boyd Baker

VOiCEs: EATinG OuR yOunG

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By Linda Burns

is DATA CRunCHinG yOuR CREATiVE?

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By Alex Marchetti

BELT suspEnDERs pROTECTiOn

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By Jon Lee Andersen

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O Z M A G A Z I N E s tA F F Publishers: tia Powell, Group Publisher Gary Wayne Powell, Publisher Kime Harless, Assistant Publisher Editorial: James Flynn, Ozcetera Editor sales: chris Dixon, sales consultant Design: Phaedra steele, Production Manager t Fabella, Logo Design ted Women ‘s Angle Photographer: t ry thomas, 770-457-0068, ter www.ter t ryt ter ry homasPhotos.com Oz Magazine is published bi-monthly by Oz Publishing Inc, 2566 shallowford road, #302, suite ite 104, Atlanta GA 30345, (404) 633-1779. copyright pyright 2009 by Oz Publishing Incorporated, all rights reserved. reproductions productions in whole or in part without express written permission of the publisher is strictly prohibited. this is magazine is printed on recyclable paper. Visit us on the web at www.ozonline.tv.

OZ ce tERA McMullen Named Marketer of the Year Honored for his leadership within both his company and his community, local entrepreneur Dave McMullen was named Atlanta Marketer of the Year by the American Marketing Association.

McMullen is a partner and lead strategic planner at redpepper, a creative agency with offices in Atlanta and Nashville. He is also the 2009 president of the Atlanta chapter of the Entrepreneurs Organization, a select group that serves and supports successful entrepreneurs around the globe.

Atlanta Marketer of the Year In 2008, the Gwinnett Chamber of Dave McMullen.

Commerce named McMullen the Pinnacle Small Business Person of the Year.

He was also listed as #14 on Catalyst magazine’s Top 25 Entrepreneurs list and led redpepper to be named to the Inc. 5,000 list of fastest growing companies in both 2007 and 2008.

Arketi Nabs Silver Quill The Arketi Group/Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI) team earned an International Association of Business Communicators (IABC) Southern Region Silver Quill 2008 Award of Excellence for Overall Strategic Communication Program for its work on the GTRI “Problem.Solved.” campaign.

The results of the campaign have been wildly successful. GTRI experienced a single-year contract increase of $53 million dollars, representing a 44% increase in total revenue. Website page views jumped nearly 555% and the number of average visitors per day increased by 409%. Moreover, GTRI accumulated nearly 400 media placements in 2008, including hits in the “New York Times,” “USA Today” and “Forbes.”

Silver Quill Awards are presented annually by the IABC to recognize excellence in communication within a geographic region.

Building on their success, Arketi was selected as public relations agency of record by GMT Corporation, a leader in workforce management and performance optimization solutions.

Georgia Film Production Strong Filming in Georgia continues to gain speed with more productions coming to the state, courtesy of the incentives passed last year. In addition to the Tyler Perry projects on the docket (see Title of Perry Blurb), the state has been hosting shoots for Lifetime Television’s “The Wronged Man,” as well as the newest entry into the Zombedy genre, “Zombieland.” “Zombieland” features a star-studded cast including Woody Harrelson, Emma Stone, Amber Heard and Mila Kunis.

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Hi-Rez Has Global Agenda Hi-Rez Studios has been busy showing off it’s still-in-the-works “Global Agenda,” their massively multi-player online game. Hi-Rez gave the first hands-on demonstration of its spy-fi action game at the San Francisco Game Developers Conference. Media and guests experienced fast-paced combat, in both PvE (player vs. environment) and PvP (player vs. player) missions, using stations within the Hi-Rez exhibition booth and playing real-time with remote players. Booth guests also got a taste of Global Agenda’s sophisticated, face-customization system and the introductory game sequence in which the player’s special agent character escapes from the clutches of an oppressive world government called The Commonwealth.

Massively.com’s Shawn Schuster named Global Agenda his “Most Anticipated New Game for 2009” after visiting the Hi-Rez booth. Gathering even more steam, the April Edition of “PC Gamer Magazine” featured a two-page preview of Global Agenda. Following the interview, PC Gamer writer and reviewer Evan Lahti referred to the game as his “Darkhorse for 2009” in a podcast.

Hi-Rez is continuing it’s testing on Global Agenda, and has called on Georgia residents to “Get In The Game.” Gamers who sign up will be able to visit the studios and participate in testing sessions. Curious fans can sign up at the Hi-Rez website.

Magick Wins Grim Award Magick Lantern helped its client, Cartoon Network Latin America, win two prestigious broadcast awards – a Gold World Medal at the recent New York Festivals 2009 Television Programming and Promotion Awards and a Bronze Promax Latin America award at the Promax/BDA conference held recently in Los Angeles. These international awards acknowledge the most creative work by top industry professionals in broadcast promotion and design.

Magick’s senior editor/ compositor James Powell worked in Magick’s Avid DS Nitris suite with Cartoon Network LA proMagick Lantern’s grim award. ducer Daniel Xavier and creative director Hernan LaGreca to win the awards for “Grim’s Fate.” The promo was created to spotlight new episodes of “The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy,” one of CNLA’s most successful shows. The promo uses a classic scene from “Groundhog Day,” starring Bill Murray, as a reference.

Champions Honored Whitney Ellis Boudreaux, consultant at The Arketi Group, and Ruth Mitcham, account manager at communications 21, were recently awarded the PRSA Georgia Chapter’s Chapter Champion award in recognition of their longstanding volunteer work.

Boudreaux currently serves as cochair of the Awards Celebration Committee and coordinated the silent auction at last year’s Celebration event. Previously she was part of the Operations Team for the Real World PR collegiate conference.

She is an active participant in the Young PRSA GA Chapter Champion Professionals SIG and has served as a Ellis Boudreaux. greeter at monthly luncheons.

Mitcham graduated magna cum laude from Berry College with a degree in public relations. She plans and executes marketing strategies, media relations, consumer relations and online marketing initiatives for clients in a wide variety of industries including food and beverage, technology, professional services and nonprofit.

Mitcham recently served as the chair of the development team for this year’s Real World PR collegiate conference, her second successful year leading the event’s fundraising efforts. In 2008, she supported the chapter’s Awards Celebration as a member of the Silent Auction committee in addition to her work with Real World PR. She also serves as the co-chair of the membership committee for Club Blue, a social networking group for young professionals that drives awareness and raises funds for the Boys & Girls Clubs of Metro Atlanta.

When it comes to growing the film, video, music and digital entertainment industries in Georgia, it’s important to speak with one voice.

The Georgia Production Partnership (GPP) is the grass roots organization of professionals bringing Georgia to the forefront of U.S. production through legislation, communication and promotion.

Join Us!

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OZ cE tERA YuMMY PackaGinG Object 9 won a 2009 AMY Award for AMA Marketer of the Year: Visual Branding & Identity B2c for their work on Fire & Flavor’s line of gourmet grilling products. Winning campaigns were selected from a group of finalists based on best practices, sound strategy and delivering measurable results.

Object 9 also won two American Package Design awards for its work on carroll Shelby’s chili Kit and Fire & Flavor’s products.

Fire & Flavor’s success continued when it was named one of the world’s most effective brands in the fifth annual ReBrand 100® Global Awards, garnering one of the 25 Distinction Awards. ReBrand 100 is the highest recognition for brand rebuilding and redesign in the business arena, and is the only global, juried program of its kind.

Object 9 was recently chosen to appear in Rockport Publishers’ 1,000 Package Designs: A comprehensive Guide to Packing It In. Work showcased in the design sourcebook includes projects for Flying Dog Brewery, Diageo’s Red Stripe beer and Marques de Paiva gourmet coffee.

Finally, Object 9 recently created the new Red Stick International Animation Festival web site. the site’s design, Flash elements and navigation create a presence that is reflective of a prestigious international animation festival.

Object 9’s Fire & Flavor package and Marques de Paiva packaging.

ai treats drY skin Artistic Image was recognized for their creative direction and production for two-consumer product launch commercials for Stiefel Laboratories. Artistic Image was honored with a silver telly t Award for “Maxclarity” and was awarded with a gold Medical, Marketing & Media (MM&M) Award for “Sarna.”

Both spots were produced and edited by Artistic Image with Ken Soons as director.

Stiefel Laboratories recently announced the U.S. launch of Impruv, a line of dry skin products that will be available this month at Walgreens stores nationwide. Artistic Image will be on board once again to help create and shoot the commercial. the Impruv campaign launch will include extensive communication and sampling to physicians, pharmacists, and consumers through internet, print and national television advertising.

For the 81st Academy Awards® coverage, tNt Latin America wanted a unique look for the network’s on-air promos and turned to Artistic Image for their strong 3D design capabilities. Artistic Image used a variety of different graphics for the spots, constructed from week-to-week leading up to the show where the final complete design tied everything together. For the pre-show graphics, the red carpet was used to lead the audience through the design. the show graphics reveal the red carpet’s arrival at the Oscar® statue and then branching out into multiple red carpets signaling the welcome from all directions.

In other news, Artistic Image recently unleashed their new web page. All done in-house by one of their designers, the site is easier to navigate and has more of a fresh, clean and vivid design.

13: all skill, nO luck cinema concepts won thirteen EMPixx™ Awards for outstanding work on branding and corporate image campaigns for several of its major clients. the Platinum and Gold EMPixx Awards statuettes are symbolic of moving pixels and reflect the transition from film to pixels within the industry. the EMPixx Awards are sponsored by the American Pixel Academy, an organization founded by professionals and educators in the pixel media. cinema concepts received seven Platinum Awards, the highest honor, with four in the corporate identity category for cinemark theatres, Palm Beach International Film Festival, ShowEast and the Grand theatres. Additionally the company won two Platinum Awards for its Studio Demo Reels. A Platinum Award was also awarded in the sales category for National Amusements. cinema concepts also received six Gold Awards for Liebe Entertainment Group, Madison Art cinemas, MJR theatres, National Amusements, Rave Motion Pictures and carmike cinemas.

Send all your business news to Ozcetera editor, kiMe harless at kime@ozonline.tv. nO faXes Or hardcOPies, Please.

All news should be submitted via email.

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kilGannOn GOne fishin’ Kilgannon won two Flame awards from the International Association of Business communicators (IABc), Atlanta chapter. the agency was recognized with two Bronze awards for its work on behalf of SouthernLINc Wireless, a Southern co., in the categories of Internal communications/Video and Event Marketing.

Kilgannon was honored for a video it produced for the SouthernLINc Wireless 2008 sales force kick-off meeting. the video showcased the brand work developed by the agency for the company’s 2008 advertising campaign and included imagery of the marketing campaign pieces and people representative of Part of Kilgannon’s fishing trip customers in the company’s promotion. regional footprint. the agency also won an award for event marketing in the integrated marketing campaign category in association with Edelman/Atlanta. the two organizations united forces to promote “the Fishing trip of a Lifetime” sweepstakes in conjunction with Movies Under the Stars, sponsored by Southern LINc Wireless. Despite a budget cut and fewer movie screenings in target markets than in past years, Kilgannon pursued strategic media opportunities that leveraged the relationship SouthernLINc Wireless has with professional bass fisherman tom t Mann, Jr. and outdoor enthusiast O’Neill Williams. the efforts paid off, and the team exceeded its goals for the number of movie attendees, sweepstakes entries and web site hits.

redPePPer builds sPan redpepper signed its newest client, Southern Pine Awareness Network. the Southern Pine Awareness Network (SPAN) was founded in January of 2005 with the goal of raising the awareness of Southern Pine as a leading building material throughout the Southeast. Led by funding from members of the Southeastern Lumber Manufacturers Association, SPAN is designed to be an information clearinghouse for homeowners throughout the Southeast region. redpepper will be developing a campaign featuring both consumer awareness and retail outreach with plans to launch just in time for the outdoor building season.

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OZ ce tERA The Council Has Spoken Resonance marketing principal Kathleen Turaski has been tapped to serve on Appleton Papers’ National Design Council for 2009. The Council brings together leading graphic designers from across North America to explore issues and trends in design, particularly in paper and printing. The Council also serves as the judging body for a national design competition and touring exhibit of top design projects.

Turaski is the first representative from the state of Georgia to serve on Kathleen Turaski sits on the Council since its creation in 1995, acAppleton Papers’ cording to Ferko Goldinger, Appleton’s Design Council. advertising manager.

In 2006, Turaski co-founded Decatur-based Resonance, which develops corporate identity and print and Web communications for a wide range of companies and organizations.

New Hires Make Trend Brand innovation agency Trend Influence brought on three new hires in strategy, industrial design and operations to support the company’s growing client roster.

Lindsay Williams Bellasi joins the Trend team as director, brand innovation.

Bellasi joined Trend Influence from Zyman Group where she was a marketing consultant with many key accounts. She is a big picture brand strategist, experienced and objective, able to identify opportunities for top-line business growth. Bellasi is also highly skilled in developing research methodologies, conducting fieldwork and is bilingual in Spanish. Prior to Zyman, she was with Grupo Mas where she worked on the 2006 Yankelovich MONITOR Multicultural Marketing Study. Bellasi spent three years working in marketing in Buenos Aires, Argentina for McCann Relationship Marketing Worldwide and later for McDonald’s Argentina. She also served as vice president of the American Society of the River Plate and has worked for the Kimberly-Clark Corporation in Latin America regional marketing for the Feminine Care and Adult Care divisions and for the Developing and Emerging Markets division.

Bellasi received her MBA from Goizueta Business School at Emory University. At Goizueta, she was awarded the Roberto C. Goizueta Latin America Scholarship, served as president of the Hispanic Business Association, and was presented with the Zyman Institute of Brand Science award for excellence in Marketing for her class. Bellasi holds a BA in Business Administration from Washington and Lee University. In her role with Trend Influence, she will participate and lead a variety of brand strategy and innovation.

Justin Arsenault came on board as industrial designer. Originally hailing from California, Arsenault came to Georgia to attend Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD). While at SCAD he won an internship with Procter and Gamble that lead to his adoption of an intense research-based design philosophy. Graduating with a BFA in industrial design has enabled him to excel at many different design tasks from brand identity to complete product development of complex items such as appliances.

In his role at Trend Influence, Arsenault provides critical design input on research structure, giving the client teams at companies such as Navistar, LG Electronics and Coca-Cola a much more actionable deliverable.

Reagan Schmidt joins the team in operations. Schmidt comes to Trend Influence from a media migration company, VidiPax, LLC where she served as the finance, contracts and administration manager. Schmidt earned a bachelor’s degree in accounting from Western International University and in her role with Trend Influence, she will lead or support various financial, human resource, team and location support initiatives.

Trendy new hires: Justin Arsenault and Reagan Schmidt.

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Studio Space Atlanta Opens The Studio Space Atlanta recently opened a photo/video studio in Atlanta. The 8,000 sq. ft. studio features three cyc walls (two large corner cycs, and one permanent green screen cyc), 15 different A look inside The Studio color seamless backdrops, vehicle access, Space Atlanta. three loading docks, two make-up/dressing rooms, full kitchen, client lounge, conference area, free wireless internet, two loft areas, and equipment rentals. The studio also provides in-house photography and video production services.

All Systems Still Go at Tyler Perry Studios Tyler Perry and the state of Georgia will continue their partnership this year. Perry began work on his newest film, “I Can Do Bad All By Myself” in March at his Atlanta Studio. The film will star Perry in his customary Madea role, as well as Traji P. Henson of Benjamin Button fame. The film is scheduled for release in September through Lionsgate.

In the pipeline already is Perry’s sequel to 2007’s “Why Did I Get Married?” titled “Why Did I Get Married Too?” “Too” is set for an April 2010 release.

The Sound of Busy StreetLevelSound, a relative newcomer to Atlanta’s advertising and production community, is creating custom music and sound scores for clients AT&T, Kellogg’s Apple Jacks, Alka-Seltzer, and Publix groceries. The music for the Kellogg’s spot, “Big Apple,” was awarded by Chicago agency Leo Burnett to StreetLevelSound after considering several music houses. Austin based agency GSD&M also chose StreetLevelSound from among a number of providers for their :60 TV spot “Timelapse” for AT&T. Working in conjunction with LA music house Horrible Music, StreetLevelSound created a humorous mambo score to help Publix roll out its new “Viva Italia” sale for agency 22 Squared. The spot began running at the end of February.

KEF Hires Amy Burton Amy Burton joined KEF Media Associates in Atlanta as a client service manager. Burton, a public relations professional with more than a decade of experience in consumer, corporate and publishing PR, will counsel clients and help develop new business, said Yvonne Goforth, KEF Media’s general manager.

Burton was most recently with Weber Shandwick’s Atlanta office as an account group director overseeing public relations assignments for Brinker International, Renaissance Aruba and Rooms to Go. She also was an account supervisor with the office of Manning, Selvage & Lee in Atlanta, where she directed luxury lifestyle campaigns for Porsche Cars North America.

Amy Burton, client service In addition to her consumer exmanager, KEF Media Associates. perience, Burton began her career in publishing, successfully leading publicity teams for Longstreet Press in Atlanta and HarperCollins Children’s Books in New York. She is a graduate of Louisiana State University.

WaGes desiGn On the MOve Branding and communications firm Wages Design moved their office to a cool new space in King Plow Arts center. Possibly in celebration of the move, Wages added three new clients, BeMyAd.com, the List Inc., and the Atlanta Jaycees.

New Space for Wages Design at the King Plow Arts Center.

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carabiner’s cabrera aY YOunG and restless carabiner communications named Kathy cabrera as director of new media to lead the rollout of the new service to clients and account teams. In her new role, cabrera will help create new programs spanning online group building via LinkedIn®, tw t itter and individually branded communities; blog monitoring and posting; and online video and podcast creation and distribution. cabrera joined carabiner communications in March 2005 as an account director and writer. During her tenure, she attended the University of california, Los Angeles (UcLA) School of theater, Film and television’s master of fine arts (MFA) in screenwriting program and graduated Carabiner’s rising star, in June 2008.

While attending UcLA, cabrera was Kathy Cabrera. a finalist for the 2007 NAAcP & NBc Screenwriting Fellowship and was awarded the 2008 Young and the Restless Fellowship in te t levision. In 2008, she produced the short narrative films “Forgive Us Our transgressions” and “A Peacock-Feathered Blue,” both of which will enter the film festival circuit this year. In addition to being an active PR professional, cabrera is also writing and developing several feature film screenplays. She also holds a bachelor of arts degree in communication studies from canisius college in Buffalo, New York.

In development news, carabiner recently unleashed a new social media and video service, Social connector™ to help clients build and integrate social media tools and content into their online communications campaigns.

Ai revs up Ford’s Sync campaign with some anime.

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Visionary Creative Staffing

OZ cE tERA suttOn hired ‘cause Of kiZ Fletcher Martin recently hired Brandon Sutton as vice president, management supervisor. Sutton brings extensive experience in lifestyle and youth marketing, specifically consumer marketing to the Generation X/Generation Y community. Sutton will oversee primary research, messaging and overall branding of Fletcher Martin’s newest client Kiz®.

In addition, he will serve as the liaison between MDc Partners Inc. sister agencies, trend Influence and LIME public relations + promotion, as they assist Fletcher Martin with the international rollout of this new brand.

Sutton joins the agency from Octane Interactive where he helped clients attract target consumers through social media and other non-traditional outlets. Prior to Octane, Sutton served as the managing director of UMIX.net, spearheading the re-launch of the online lifestyle community. Sutton also served as the market manager for KBA Marketing in New York, and in 2000, he co-founded the boutique agency trend Influence, a Fletcher Martin sister agency, where he served as vice president, client service.

Innovative toy company Kiz®, led by noted technology consultant chris Moreau, selected Fletcher Martin as its agency of record based on its progressive, performance-based agency model. Fletcher Martin eliminated its standard retainer model in 2007 and now develops detailed strategies for a fee with execution of the plans attached to a performance-based model.

Atlanta-based trend Influence, a brand strategy and product innovation consultancy, and New York-based LIME public relations + promotion, a kirshenbaum bond partner company, both MDc Partner companies, will assist Fletcher Martin in the global brand launch, including the development and execution of a strategic platform designed to work across all brand communications. Both also agreed to take part in the aggressive profit sharing plan, as opposed to the traditional fee model.

Brandon Sutton joins Fletcher Martin as vice president.

life is better With art craig Johnson of North Sutton, NH won first place in the Art Institutes and Americans for the Arts (AFtA t ) Annual Poster Design Scholarship competition and tA received a tuition scholarship valued at $3,000 to attend the Art Institute of Atlanta - Decatur. Johnson, a student at Kearsarge Regional High School in Sutton, plans to earn his bachelor’s degree in graphic design.

Each year, the Art Institutes and AFtA t offer graduating high school seniors interested in studying graphic design or other design and media arts programs the tA opportunity to earn scholarships for tuition at the Art Institute of their choice. the purpose of the Art Institutes and Americans for the Arts Poster Design Scholarship competition is to test students’ graphic design skills. to t qualify, entrants were asked to create an original poster design that supports the contest theme, “Life Is Better With Art In It.” Entries were judged on originality, visual impact, basic design concepts, and compliance with theme and guidelines. Each entry was accompanied by the designer’s statement describing his/her design methodology, production process, and explanation of why they want to enter their program of choice at one of the Art Institutes. the first-place winner from each Art Institute location becomes a finalist in the national competition. ten t national winners will receive scholarships ranging from $2,000 to $25,000 in addition to their local scholarship awards. the national winners’ work will be featured in a calendar produced by the Art Institutes and distributed nationwide. the national first-place winner’s work will be featured in marketing materials for the Art Institutes and on its website.

dunbar JOins bbdO

Whitlock Dunbar joined BBDO Atlanta as a senior digital producer – a new position. He was most recently a senior interactive producer at LBi, Atlanta. Dunbar has more than ten years of experience in digital production, including editing at cNN, Peachtree Post Productions, and crawford communications. At BBDO Atlanta, he will help bolster the agency’s already award-winning digital capabilities.

Whitlock Dunbar, senior digital producer, BBDO Atlanta.

Elegant Piano Music for Special Occasions

Craig Johnson’s scholarship-winning poster.

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TAP Taps Breensmith Breensmith Advertising, along with partner U1 Design, was selected to represent the Atlanta market on behalf of the TAP Project and UNICEF. The list of creative partners nationwide working on the project is a literal Who’s Who of creative hot shops throughout the country and includes the likes of Draga 5 (NY), TBWA/Chiat/Day (LA), and BBDO Energy (Chicago).

Breensmith just completed an aggressive guerilla marketing campaign targeting metro Atlanta. The campaign launch coincided with World Water Week in an effort to raise awareness and funds to provide access to clean drinking water to more than 900 million people who live without it.

Doppler is Star Studded American Idol Season 3 winner and Grammy nominee, Fantasia, spent time at Doppler Studios tracking vocals for her third album, “World Premiere,” under J Records. Rick deVarona engineered, Ira Folston assisted, and Eric Hudson produced the sessions.

Doppler hosted Mr. Collipark of Collipark Entertainment, Inc. for a CD listening event and meeting with his newest teen pop/hip hop/rap duo, The Vistoso Bosses. Taylah P. and Kelci’s debut album, “Confetti,” is due out this year.

Speaking of teen pop duos, Sweet Rush held several sessions at Doppler to write, track, and mix for their upcoming album. The sessions were recorded for Universal Republic Records with Rock City and Atazzio producing, Exit engineering, and Ira Folston assisting.

Island Def Jam Music Group booked several sessions in January for their artist Fabolous for tracking vocals for a myriad of new songs. Sid V and Bangladesh produced, Swivel engineered, and Zach Steele assisted. Another Island Def Jam Music Group duo Playaz Circle spent a few nights in Doppler laying down vocals for their highly anticipated second full-length album, Flight 360, due in stores this year. Playaz Circle are members of the Disturbing tha Peace family, founded by and introduced to hip hop and rap through Ludacris.

St. Lunatics and Nelly graced Doppler’s Studio E with some new beats in February. DJ Montay and Nelly produced the sessions, world renowned Carl Nappa engineered, and Zach Steele assisted. St. Lunatics plan to release their third group album this year, entitled “City Free.”

Atlanta native, Diamond spent a few evenings recording voice for her debut solo album set to drop in 2009. This female rapper is a former member of the group Crime Mob, which she left just last year to pursue a solo career. Diamond’s label, Warner Bros. Records, plans to invest in the young talent as an artist and a brand, including not only musical opportunities, but also television and film projects. Kelly Drake engineered the sessions at Doppler, and Ira Folston assisted.

Atlanta-based producers Bryan-Michael Cox and Johntá Austin brought their new project, Justin Bieber, to Doppler to write, record, and mix for his first album.

While Rob Skipworth and Sam Thomas engineered, Ira Folston assisted. Bieber, a 15-year-old R&B artist, is signed to Island Def Jam Music Group.

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Mountain View Changes the World Mountain View Group, Ltd. and its client partners were recognized recently by several international creative communications competitions with prestigious awards for its superior and notable work in video and digital production.

“Why Not Change the World?,” an engaging film produced for Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) received a CINE Golden Eagle, a Platinum AVA Award, a Gold MarCom Award, LACP Spotlight, and a Silver Telly Award. The program was commissioned by RPI’s Office for Institutional Advancement.

GE Energy’s employee broadcast, “Energy @ The Half,” was honored with awards at LACP Spotlight Awards, MarCom Creative Awards, and the Telly Awards.

Mountain View Group was also recognized for its noteworthy work in commercial production. In particular, a series of clever spots produced for Stickley Audi & Co. helped promote the distinguished furniture brand. The Stickley spots campaign received a Platinum AVA Award and a Bronze Telly Award.

Work completed for Raytheon Company received two additional Telly Awards recognizing outstanding communications work. “Year in Review,” featured at the annual Leadership Forum won a Silver Telly Award. The Mountain View Team also received a Bronze Telly Award for “Space,” which successfully promoted Raytheon’s space division and raised awareness of its capabilities and resources.

In addition, an executive podcast and website created for GE Technology Infrastructure has garnered several industry acknowledgments from the AVA Awards, iNOVA Awards, LACP Spotlight, and MarCom Creative Awards.

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VER Offers New Camera Package Video Equipment Rentals (VER) has purchased a large complement of Hitachi SK-HD1000 HDTV studio and field production cameras. VER currently rents the Hitachi SK-HD1000 cameras to customers producing audio/visual, staging, and broadcast projects. This large order represents the first Hitachi HDTV cameras that VER offers as part of its extensive rental arsenal.

The high-end SK-HD1000 has three, 2/3-inch progressive scan 2.2 million pixel CCDs - with a high dynamic range. These allow the camera to produce an image with 1100 TVL resolution, with a SNR of 60db, at F11@2000 Lux. The camera provides both 60/50 Hz for NTSC and PAL applications.

VER takes delivery of the Hitachi The SK-HD1000, which is a two-piece, dockable native 1080i SK-HD1000. camera, is feature-rich, including a 12-vector masking system to control the hue and saturation of colors; two-memory Flesh-tone detail adjustment; white balance memories for 16 different shooting situations; gamma function for film-like image capture; 14-bit A/D converters and a cross-converter to output 720p. VER outfits the cameras with a wide array of lenses, including the Canon KJ Series and Fujinon ZA Series HD lenses, as well as their long-range lenses up to 101X.

Bill Grant on Jury Duty Grant Design Collaborative president and creative director Bill Grant will be serving on the jury for the Savannah College of Art and Design’s 2009 International Interior Design Student Competition. The program invites students from across the globe to participate in multi-disciplinary teams to create a 4-D visitor experience for a United States National Park Service Monument — the Fort Pulaski National Monument on Cockspur Island, Georgia. Concepts for the visitor experience will include considerations for the entire 6,000-acre site and renovations to the Visitor Center and must address the historical, ecological, economic and cultural issues surrounding the site. Awards for the competition will be presented later this year in a ceremony held at the Savannah College of Art and Design in Savannah.

Grant joins a distinguished panel of A+D community heavyweights, including IIDA Executive Vice President, Cheryl Durst; Senior Vice President of HOK, Pam Light; and founding principal of Architectural Resources Group, Bruce Judd.

In other news, Walden’s general brochure was featured in the STEP 100 design annual. Released each year, the publication’s list of the top 100 design projects includes work from the world’s best design firms. Crafted by Grant Design Collaborative as a key element in Walden’s ongoing brand strategy and identity development, the general brochure offers a snapshot into the wide range of tailored services and products offered by Walden. The Ohio lifestyle community includes the region’s only AAA Five-Diamond resort, Inn Walden, the blissful Spa Walden, a private championship golf venue and an extensive residential development with custom designed homes. Other projects created to further enhance the community’s brand include an extensive new web site, business communication materials and an interactive press kit.

Fitzgerald+CO Pitches Amway Fitzgerald+CO has been tasked with two key branding efforts at direct selling leader Amway Corp. The agency will partner with the company’s marketing unit in evolving the brand positioning and strategy for Amway, which celebrates its 50th anniversary this year. Amway is a global leader in direct selling. The company’s distributors offer products to consumers in more than 80 countries and territories worldwide. Amway’s parent company, Alticor Inc., recorded 2008 sales of $8.2 billion.

Preliminary positioning and branding work has also begun on Nutrilite, Amway’s exclusive brand of vitamins, minerals and dietary supplements. With more than $3 billion in annual sales, Nutrilite is the world’s leading brand of vitamin, mineral, and dietary supplements. Nutrilite supports optimal health for consumers with total quality control of its plant concentrates from seed to finished tablet. It’s the only global vitamin and mineral brand to grow, harvest, and process plants on its own certified organic farms, located in California, Washington, Mexico, and Brazil.

Schieber Sells VTA VTA hired Frank Schieber as director of sales. Schieber will be responsible for generating and nurturing corporate client relationships, seeking enhanced brand development, and implementation across multiple marketing channels to introduce or revitalize products and services.

“We are thrilled to bring Frank Schieber on board with VTA,” confirmed Brett Player, creative director. Schieber is an active member of the Metro Atlanta Chamber of Commerce, American Marketing Association, and Southeast Franchise Forum.

VTA’s new director of sales, Frank Schieber.

Joel Ames Wins Accreditation

Tellys for Van Winkle

Joel F. Ames, APR, public affairs manager at Atmos Energy Corporation and a member of the Georgia Chapter of the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA|GA), was awarded his APR (Accredited in Public Relations) certification.

Ames serves as the Atmos Energy spokesman, customer ombudsman, public relations consultant and civic liaison for Georgia, Virginia and East Tennessee. His company office and home are in Columbus, GA, about 120 miles (one way) from Atlanta, but Ames made the effort to “commute” to Atlanta several APR certified Joel F. Ames. times for study groups and instruction to join his Atlanta colleagues in studying to earn his APR. Ames received his doctorate from Vanderbilt University and completed undergraduate work at the U.S. Air Force Academy, Memphis State University and Middle Tennessee State University.

Created in 1964, APR is the voluntary certification program for public relations professionals and was established to unify and advance the profession by identifying those who have demonstrated mastery of a body of knowledge as well as recognition of experience and professional judgment in the field. The process is governed by the Universal Accreditation Board, of which PRSA is a lead participant.

Van Winkle & Associates was awarded two 2009 Telly® Awards, one silver and one bronze. The Silver Telly Award is the highest honor bestowed by the council and is granted to less than 10% of the over 14,000 entries submitted from all 50 states and various countries around the world. Van Winkle & Associates took a Silver Telly in the Graphic/TV category and a Bronze Telly in the Regional/National category.

LBi on Search and Display Mission LBi Atlanta was chosen as the preferred vendor for search and display for Newell Rubbermaid. Under the agreement, LBi will conduct media planning, execution and reporting for media initiatives across Newell Rubbermaid’s portfolio of consumer brands.

Over the past year, LBi has been engaged in a variety of capacities for Newell Rubbermaid and several brand development initiatives for Newell brands such as Graco, DYMO and Newell Rubbermaid Corporate.

Newell Rubbermaid is a worldwide marketer of consumer goods, with products and brands organized in segments: office products; cleaning; organization and décor; tools and hardware; and home and family. Among the company’s better known brands are Sharpie, Paper Mate, Graco, Calphalon, Levolor and Goody.

New Digs for BKV After ten years in the same space, Bennett Kuhn Varner’s (BKV) Atlanta office is ready for new digs. The agency has leased almost 26,000 sq. ft. in the Lenox Towers building, at 3390 Peachtree Road, Atlanta, Georgia, 30326. BKV and its sister company, Response Mine Interactive, will occupy space on the 8th, 9th and 10th floors of Lenox Towers in June.

“We’ve expanded numerous times over the past ten years in our current Atlanta location,” said Maribett Varner, president of BKV in Atlanta. “Relocating gives us a new and more productive workplace at reduced occupancy costs. It’s a fresh environment with better amenities to offer our clients and employees.”

Dreams Are Not for Profit A new television show targeted to the nonprofit community began production in February 2009 in Georgia. Nonprofit Dreams, in partnership with Fulton County Government and Comcast, created a talk show “Dreams Are Not for Profit” to address capacity building issues within the community and structured to help nonprofit organizations remain effective and sustainable.

There are over 62,500 nonprofit corporations registered with the State of Georgia serving over 9 million residents. “Dreams Are Not for Profit” responds to the increasing need of organizations to serve the community more efficiently. Donors seek more accountability from organizations. The talk show will provide tips such as forming new partnerships, researching resources, legal requirements, accounting principles, and marketing information.

The first episode guests included Eric Merriweather, founder of The African American Association of Georgia, Inc. and Marty Atherton, president of Volunteer Management.US discussing issues relating to volunteer management, youth, and sport programs. Organizations from the beginning neighborhood stages to the national level will be highlighted within the series on Fulton Community Channel 25. Once episodes have been aired they will be published on various internet sites to provide opportunity for organizations in other counties to watch this vital television show.

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Undercutting

by Louis T. Mayeux

Price is only an issue in the absence of value.

Still, as more buyers view “creative� as a commodity, price undercutting is a serious issue.

Joel Silverman strives to teach his photography students a key professional lesson. “I always emphasize, no matter whether it’s in a shooting class or a business class, the importance of never undervaluing your work, even at the beginning of a career,” said Silverman, who teaches at Creative Circus and the Portfolio Center and runs his own business, Joel Silverman Photography. “I seek to make clear the importance of being consistent in pricing, and not giving away our work.”

overhead,” Sauers has seen the acceptance of lower standards for print work. “People are letting stuff go that they wouldn’t in the past. People are willing to accept B instead of A, if that will save them money.

They are going to people one year out of school, with no experience, if that’ll be B-cheap, and saying ‘I’ll deal with it,’ to save money, save money, save money. This causes headaches. It’s a perfect explosion for a bunch of finger-pointing.”

Silverman’s standard, however, is under siege in today’s creative marketplace. Recession cost-cutting and competition are forcing photographers, designers, illustrators and printers to accept reduced fees. The Internet teems with bargain-basement generic work and has blown down the walls. On the wideopen, wild Web, everyone can saddle up as a creative gunslinger.

Maria Schiller of the printing company Everything Graphic Inc. says she’s been buffeted by the same shifting winds. “It was difficult to explain to the receptionist with Publisher loaded on her computer why we couldn’t output her four-color process tri-fold brochure without tweaking the file for output,” Schiller said in an e-mail.

Just as blogs allow a host of people to call themselves writers and pundits, the Web is opening the gates.

Established professionals are having to compete with newcomers who accept cut-rate fees. The Internet, with plug-in templates and catalogs of generic artwork, gives these newcomers tools to enter creative fields once protected by professional credentials.

Joel Silverman

PRINT “With the world wide Web, all of these people are going professional by buying some software,” said Ryan Sauers of Sauers Communications, a multifaceted communications company with services ranging from printing to design.

“Quite frankly, anybody can call themselves a creative designer, but what does that really mean? Where are their credentials, what have they really done? Design is a big word. It can mean drawing architectural designs, designing a business card.”

“They were alarmed to be charged a fee, so that’s when we’d have to take time to educate and review the file breakdown in detail, and that alone becomes extremely time consuming as well. Especially when they want a mini-lesson in graphic design prepress production so their files output correctly without having to pay a minimal fee each time.”

Schiller said that this situation actually led to the expansion of her busiMaria Schiller ness. “We have been in business since 1999 as Everything Graphic (EGI), but prior to EGI we were a service bureau where we mostly offered design, pre-press and film output.

When all that changed, so did we. We started outsourcing the printing portion and keeping the graphics in-house. However, many of our clients, with the invasion of the home computer over the past 10 years or so, provide files already in place in the visual sense, but they are rarely print-ready.”

Because this resulted in a lot of time-consuming pre-press and production, the business started a sub-business, SAS Design Agency, to receive compensation for these services.

Sauers has seen a cost-cutting frenzy spiral as the economy has flat-lined. “It touches every part of it, from vehicle graphics to banners to whatever, they want you to give everything away. Regional people are in a cutthroat-type mentality to ‘try to move cars off the lot.’ There’s a lot of bait-and-switch stuff, especially in the last six months.”

Online competition is increasing, but Schiller says her quality of service is giving her an edge. “It seems that many people are shopping online, and it’s difficult to compete with the Vista Prints, Got Prints, etc.,” she said. “They are huge warehouse and cookie-cutter print shops that are great for projects that aren’t color critical or don’t require special handling and finishing.”

In a profession where even the local church secretary can create a newsletter or brochure, why hire a professional using long established price structures and procedures when easy-click software and prepackaged templates diminish the variables of design.

While it’s tough for her to compete on that kind of work, she says, “We engage with the customer more to learn the uses of the material and make suggestions and recommendations that may be useful and helpful for them to achieve their goals. Customers will say they want less or they are willing to compromise, but they really just want to pay less and truly do not want to sacrifice quality. . . . to cut corners in print media or ad design isn’t worth the risk of not being taken seriously in their marketplace by delivering a brochure or flier that doesn’t fully represent their products and services for the sake of saving money.

That would do more harm than good.”

“Customers don’t know what they’re bidding. It’s becoming more difficult in design and other businesses to give customers a true quote that’s competitive. It’s forcing companies to stay in a false economy.”

Bids for printing jobs can vary widely, and inexperienced customers often lack the understanding to compare. For example, in a bid for a newsletter Sauers would include time for corrections and changes, while someone else might not — only to surprise the customer with new invoices for additional services.

Ryan Sauers

As competition has increased with “the guy in the basement with no

Schiller also said she’s seen the personal side of the business change.

“Once upon a time there was loyalty, and for a few dollars more the customer would rather work with us. We were more flexible on cost as well because we believed we developed a relationship and could make it somewhere else down the line. Now, the consumer is willing to haggle and work with just about anyone. I must remind them they will get the best in quality and customer service, but lately it seems that price drives the sale no matter what.

“However, that’s not how I feel and continue to work with my vendors even when their price might be a little bit higher. I know what I get back is a sure thing, and that to me is worth the additional cost.” www.ozonline.tv OZ MAGAZINE

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As an example of what’s happening, she talked about competing for a project with a competitor. It appeared that her company had received the work, but then the customer requested that she match the prices of another vendor entering the process. “What the customer failed to realize is that I was quoting one set of specs while the competitor was quoting another; despite my attempts to explain the differences they only had their eye on the bottom line. When I finally received the artwork, it was clear why the price I was asked to match was considerably lower. I suggested they go back to the competitor and get their price for outputting the same thing. Were they trying to get me to match their price or get the competitor to match my specs?”

In this case, she was actually competing with a much larger print shop. She said such shops are in a stage of “desperation” and are able to be more aggressive to attempt to nail down a job. Many customers return when they realize the cost savings weren’t worth missing the professional attention she provides.

PHOTOGRAPHY In the photography business, the landscape is shifting as the print advertising world grows smaller and businesses seek to control expenses. Atlanta food photographer Iain Bagwell, who does work for such heavyweights as Kraft Foods, Publix Supermarkets, Red Lobster, Weight Watchers and Woman’s Day, said he has seen one client cut back on rates and one on expenses. The other three are “pretty much paying the same as they always have.”

Bagwell said the reduction hasn’t affected his business significantly, but he’s seeing peripheral staff like prop and food stylists “getting hit hard by one of my clients” as the budget is reduced for that work.

Fewer days are being devoted to shoots, and he’s being asked to shoot projects in Atlanta rather than traveling to New York City.

Outside of his own business, Bagwell said he’s heard of “clients taking advantage of photographers. Some photographs are doing $2,500 jobs for like $1,000. It’s counterproductive for everybody. Regular pros have to cut back. When the economy recovers, those photographers are going to have trouble getting a higher rate. The quality of work suffers – it’s starting to suffer with some ads I’ve seen.”

Photographers who’ve seen their business fall off are “moving into a lot of different areas to try to make a living,” he said. “Photographers who don’t even shoot food are pitching for food projects because they need the work.” Ad agencies are now seeking to control prices by such practices as requiring photographers to “front the entire cost of food” or taking longer to pay invoices.

However, Bagwell doesn’t think experienced professionals like himself will be seriously hurt. “People who are flexible and experienced and can adapt a little bit, they are going to survive. New York’s been affected more than the market down here. I haven’t been affected that much.”

Silverman agrees that professionalism will give experienced photographers a winning edge in a tough environment. “When I started, in the beginning of the digital photography age, it cost $25,000 to buy the kind of equipment that costs $2,000 or $3,000 today,” Silverman said. “With the cost of high-quality digital cameras so cheap, anybody can buy a camera and call themselves a photographer and try to make a living at it. But there’s a difference between someone who’s skilled and someone who loves photography and has a nice camera.”

He said a professional knows how to “make a picture” rather than just seeking to “take a picture.” When working for an ad agency or a magazine, “you can’t just get lucky and take a perfect picture, you have to do that every time you go,” he said. “The ability to take an evocative, compelling photograph that tells a story is something you can’t buy — it only comes with experience and training and having 18

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been mentored by outstanding photographers, and by the school of hard knocks.”

Silverman said that it’s not the equipment that matters but “the vision I bring to a job, and the reliability and business-like nature I bring — something that comes with experience and training, the craft and skill that only a select few are able to bring. Only a pro can make a great photograph every time they walk out the door.”

Still, Silverman has been affected somewhat by the economic slump. “Times are tight for everybody. Clients that would never do so in the past are asking me to reduce my fees.” Although he doesn’t think the expense tightening will handicap him too much, Silverman still expresses a concern. “How do I agree to cut my fees to reflect their economic realities without that becoming my new fee?”

DESIGN In the design field, Jeff Mares, managing director of Propel Creative, said “We haven’t found that clients are seeking to pay less; rather we are seeing clients prioritize their initiatives judiciously. Now, more so than a year ago, we notice that some clients are phasing in projects, scaling back project scope, delaying project starts or even canceling projects. “But so far we haven’t seen clients pushing down on price,” Mares said in an e-mail. “I assume various factors, such as client industry, size of client organizations and hopefully the value of our work, contribute to the current pricing environment we are experiencing.”

In general, Mares characterized design professionals’ reducing their prices to win work as “pretty much free market competition. There are always individuals and firms who are willing to greatly discount their services, work on spec or even give away work in order to build their portfolios or gain entry into a new client. It’s not the way we work, but it happens and we expect we’ll see more of this whenever client budgets tighten and agencies get hungrier.”

Jeff Mares

ILLUSTRATION Jay Montgomery of Jay Montgomery Illustrations said that while seasoned, trustworthy art directors offer him prices that are “worth your time and worth the money,” he’s also having to deal with less experienced people who don’t have a good sense of market values. “A lot of people who have never worked with illustrators are calling me, finding me on the Web or something,” he said. Often it’s someone with a full-time job in a non-creative field who’s been inspired to carry out a project like writing a children’s book on the side and wants an artist to do illustrations.

“Technology has made it very cheap to produce books and printed materials,” he said, and it lets anyone achieve the dream of authorship.

“They have no idea of what things cost, they’ve never hired an illustrator or an artist. It’s up to us as illustrators and artists and photographers to educate them, to tell them that this is what I would normally charge.”

Montgomery said that working for these new authors can cause dilemmas. “I try to be fair to the individuals who call me; I know that they don’t have a lot of money, that it’s coming out of their personal checking account and is not big business. But in the end, I have to decide, do I want to work for big business or cater to an individual?” He said he

might tie himself up on a lower-paying job, preventing him from taking a higher-paying job if one were offered by an ad agency.

Another dimension of the Internet’s affect on pricing dynamics is the proliferation of sites offering stock art and photos and royalty-free CDs. “All lower the standard of what it would cost,” Montgomery said. “Project planners are people who create budgets for jobs, based on a couple of factors, such as ‘Can I find that image already done on a stock illustration site’ or ‘do I Jay Montgomery have to pay for it, get a custom illustration?’ They have a price for the stock illustration — the existing-piece price — and the price for a commission piece. Those two prices tend to be getting closer.” Some sites, like Getty and Corbis, receive higher prices for images, but others sell an image for as low as a dollar.

The Internet is also changing the advertising model, by using images in a variety of fields. Artists are not receiving pay for extended use of images.

“The companies or individuals that are asking you to do something for less money are the ones whose jobs are not a typical illustration,” Montgomery said. ”There are a lot of new ways of creating content and new ways of advertising. They are not traditional, not a standard billboard or full-page ad in a magazine. They’re using it for a lot of different things, and it’s hard to price. Where it’s something used for a children’s book, they’re also using it for promoting a product line. They want combo deals. Something for a cover of a magazine, they put it in the article on the database.”

Montgomery said he’s giving clients unlimited use for a certain period of time and charging extra. Or he’s giving them exclusive use for, say, 10 years, after which the rights revert back to him.

While Montgomery says he’s not certain he’s knowingly experienced “undercutting,” he’s heard stories about it occurring. He sees it as part of the business of negotiating and competition. While some art directors “try to low-ball you,” Montgomery said “the majority of the time art directors are honest and will tell you straight up if there’s no money. They are honest with you about what the budget really is.

It’s important to know art directors that you know are trustworthy and good to their word.”

ONLINE Designer Jame A. Riley of Riley Design Works said his business has been seriously hurt by undercutting. “I’ve seen more and more of that,” Riley said. “The trend was going that way before we hit this financial crisis. It’s been spiraling downward for several years. Clients contract for short-term stuff. They want more and more for less, and want someone who’s experienced in everything. Stuff that used to be straight out of school, for $50 to $75 an hour, now goes for $20 or $25.”

He’s also been hurt by the Web. “A lot of Internet providers are offering Web templates where it’s easy to just plug stuff in. It doesn’t look customized and unique, but they’re saying it’s so much cheaper.

People are going for all of that. My own personal business has almost been destroyed by this.”

Despite his difficulties, Riley remains optimistic, especially in regard to opportunities to come from the development of green businesses.

“There’ll be huge amounts of growth and progress in alternative energy, conservation, environmental stuff and things like that. . . . . It’ll be a major driving force in the next decade as soon as we get out of our current plight.” Riley says that as new green companies develop, they’ll need his services to promote their products, help people visualize their concepts and present demonstrations and exhibits to receive funding. “Print stuff will all come back,” he said.

VALUE WILL RULE Despite the entrance into creative fields of less experienced people via the Web, as well as the increased cost-cutting, professionalism, talent and experience will continue to have value. The challenge of the future is determining what that value is, and whether creative people will receive the full value of what they’re worth.

The economic downturn might actually increase the spirit of cooperation.

“I have found that more people are coming out to network,” Schiller said. “At one mixer I attended recently, intended to bring local businesses together, the head of the group stood up on a chair to get everyone’s attention and simply announced that we really need to make an effort to think of one another right now, that we need to pull together. It was very sweet and kind of emotional.”

TAKING STOCK PART 1

GettinG your photoGraphy and footaGe into the stock system or startinG your own stock service.

When asked “What advice would you give a rookie interested in getting into the stock system,” photography and film veterans Ron Sherman, Ben Butin and Jack English gave these responses:

“You know, I don’t know how someone would make a living at it.”

“Only as a stock footage company can you make any money these days.”

“With the economy the way that it is, prices are down and you’ve got way more competition than there used to be.”

By Boyd Baker

S

ome would say that world has changed seismically over the past ten years. To get a better perspective of where things are heading, understanding the beginnings of stock footage is helpful.

Stock photography has been around since the 1920s. “Stock,” as it is known, is basically extra content. If a photographer went on a commercial shoot, the shots not used could be considered stock. You could sell them yourself directly to clients or have them represented by a stock company. Putting these images in a stock library where they could be accessed by a variety of clients could provide revenue for the artist well after they retired. This development gave artists an agent representing their work who could handle all the contractual legal details while they continued to create.

From the 60s through the 80s commercial advertising exploded and the number of stock-footage companies increased. Artists could make a decent living selling their stock images through multiple stock companies and agents. In the 90s Getty Images and Corbis changed the landscape by acquiring many smaller image banks in an effort to consolidate the industry. This was the first sign of a new stock world.

While this shrinking pool of outlets for their work was impacting creatives, technology was also working to make things more difficult. Digital images were allowing professional photographers to create even more stunning work. At the same time, the availability of digital cameras was creating an army of photographers – some untrained – who could capture huge volumes of images at a very low cost. Many were willing to license their shots just for the exposure. Anyone could now call themselves a professional photographer without education, apprenticeship or the requisite “paying their dues.”

Add to this digital realm the explosion of the Internet. Where print catalogs were once used to showcase the finest stock images and attract clients to a stock service, now an infinite number of images can be seen 24 hours a day from anywhere in the world.

The competition became fierce and the playing field infinite. Clients no longer needed to restrict their dealings locally, regionally or even nationally.

As if a smaller number of stock agencies, more competing images and continuous availability weren’t enough, along came the “royalty-free” model. Where a photographer had once relied on being able to charge a fee for each image every time it was used

(rights managed), a new business model of packaging multiple images, often hundreds of them, and selling them all on one CD for a set price arose. Why would someone pay $200 for your image when one almost as good could be bought in a package with 100 other images for $300? This increased competition required a creative sales strategy and decisions about whether to enter the royalty-free fray.

Add to this stock-footage equation the shrinking size of print media, growing impact of online content (requiring much lower quality images) and a crushing economic downturn — and you can see how veteran photographers and filmmakers can make dreary predictions for the viability of a career as a stock system contributor.

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PIONEERS Of StOck ck SERVIcE R MAN -R O N SH E APH E R PH OT O G R

IN - B E N B UT E R APH R C IN E M AT O G

- CH R IS PH OT HA MI LT O N OGRA PH E R But all hope is not lost. Every industry has peaks and valleys and creatives are well aware of how to handle life’s challenges.

Though it may not be as easy as it once was, there is still money to be made in stock footage.

“How smart are you? How good are you? And how creative are you? A million dollars a year may not be possible but you can still make money,” says photographer Ron Sherman. Having amassed a collection of over a quarter of a million images from commercial and editorial shoots over the past 50 years, he manages his own stock library and also has other companies representing him. Sherman explains, “I’ve been in Atlanta since the 70s and have accumulated a mountain of images of Atlanta, Georgia and the Southeast. Fortunately, I got an online presence early and have been able to stay on top of the advancements in the stock industry.”

The real turning point for the do-it-yourselfer came when programmers figured out how to make image libraries searchable.

“A searchable site makes all the difference in giving clients what they want,” says Sherman. “You don’t have to spend time helping clients track down certain images. They can do it themselves.”

Photographer Chris Hamilton agrees with Sherman about the 22

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- JACK E NG L B R O AD ISH C O- O WN C A ST S E R, O LUT IO NS

importance of having a searchable database. “The technical side of creating your own stock service can be a business of its own.

You’ve got to manage the cataloging and tagging of every photo in such a way that it can be found by a potential client, as well as insure that your website knows how to access it on command.

I’m working with a design group that’s really making it all come together. Now, the challenge is to upload my catalog of photos while continuing my daily work as a photographer,” he explains.

Anyone who posts an image on the web can call themselves a stock service, but finding a buyer is the real challenge. The more images you have, the greater your appeal to buyers. Hamilton notes, “It used to be, you work hard and get your name out there and everything will come together. Today, you need to be smart and have a strategy. In the end, I believe there is always room for quality work.”

“You’d better have resources to hang in there today – resources like money and large collections. Ask yourself, ‘What do I have to do to survive?’ Not just what you want to do. It’s not a business for the fainthearted,” says Sherman. He maintains that there are many opportunities out there for those willing to do the research and smart enough to market themselves to clients.

Much like the photography market, film and video is increasingly competitive — thanks to digital media — and have their own “game changer” in high definition. Cinematographer Ben Butin says, “Over the last ten to fifteen years I’ve gathered about 37 hours of footage that’s available through stock footage houses. Four of them are in high def. With everything upgrading to HD, people are having to go re-shoot pieces and that can be very expensive.” Jack English, co-owner of Broadcast Solutions, adds, “You can transfer 35mm film to digital but you can’t get the quality of high def and high def is what clients are increasingly demanding.”

This creates a challenging situation for those in the film realm.

Though the needs of online content can be met with standard digital film, expensive cameras and lenses are necessary to shoot in high definition for film and broadcast television. “We decided to move to HD in 2005, because we could see where things were going. We’re lucky we did, because it would be pretty challenging trying to recreate that aerial footage today,” says English. Since 9/11, security measures have gradually tightened everywhere and flying over cities and buildings can require a lot of red tape — if you can fly at all.

Like photographers, filmmakers acquire their stock by shooting on their own time or when working on specific shoots. “We often work out deals with clients who have hired us for certain shots. We tell them we’d like to shoot some extra for our reels. In

Websites dealing with stock and the folks mentioned in this article:

www.benbutin.com (Ben Butin) www.ronsherman.com (Ron Sherman) www.southeaststockfootage.com (Jack English) www.hamphoto.com (Chris Hamilton) www.istockphoto.com/index.php www.gettyimages.com/ www.pro.corbis.com/ www.snapvillage.com www.fotolibra.com/en-us/ www.cutcaster.com/ www.asmp.org www.shutterstock.com www.stockartistsalliance.org

return, we might give them a lower rate for the shoot or special access to other footage. They get what they want and so do we,” says English. “I always let clients know upfront when I plan on shooting extra film. That’s just good business and they appreciate the honesty,” adds Butin.

“For me, stock footage is supplemental, not true income. I think of it as my retirement plan. That’s why I always try to think of ways to increase my stock reel and maintain my own stock company,” says Butin. Though both of these creatives have representation with other stock services, they know that they need to represent themselves as well. In addition, they’re not afraid to share resources. “We all know each other,” says English. “People come to us for a variety of aerial shots, but if they need killer time-lapse stuff I refer them to Ben Butin. Or for great midtown Atlanta footage I send them to Andrew Green. Film is a community and we all try to work together and share referrals whenever we can. Everyone wins in the end.”

One idea that English and his partner Russ Jamieson are working on lets other filmmakers combine their stock in one central location, thus creating a local stock footage service. The idea is that a deeper library will attract more clients, and individual filmmakers can earn commissions from their referrals. It’s a creative solution for a creative community.

All say the amount they have made from stock sales shifts from year to year. A really good year might mean 50% of their income results from stock, but that’s rare. Though many understand the benefit of having their own stock company, they all understand the importance of representation with other stock companies too. The more outlets they are in, the better their chances of success. And having to deal with upfront costs, distribution, fair pricing, licensing and other legal aspects of running a personal stock library can be more than the creative artist is willing to take on.

In the end, being part of a stock service offers the possibility of residual income for many years, and that’s a retirement plan that can’t be denied.

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VOICES

IF WE KEEP EATING OUR YOUNG, WHO WILL BE THE LEADERS OF TOMORROW?

by Linda Burns

I moved to Atlanta in 1992. My first break? An indie film trailer directed by a fireman hoping to obtain financing. It was unpaid. We worked 24 hours straight. I fell in love with our business that day. The feature was never made.

The people I met hired me again, where I met new people, who hired me for more work. Less than a year later, I was offered 3 jobs in 4 hours – a PA on a major motion picture, a PA on a network television mini-series, and the job I took, working as a Production Secretary on Steve Martin’s “Simple Twist of Fate.”

That was the 90s. Atlanta was a major production hub, although our popularity was waning. As time marched on, other states saw the economic engine of production and began offering incentives.

Not Georgia! No, we had everything anyone could ever need, why would anyone go anywhere else? We forgot the first rule of filmmaking. It’s called show BUSINESS. But we survived. Atlanta became a thriving commercial and music video hub, and companies like Turner Broadcasting increasingly shot more in Atlanta.

What effect did this have on our film industry? It kept us on life support, but it severely altered the landscape of our talent base. Our best and brightest moved away to chase the work. Vendors left too. Actors had to be pretty faces, gone were jobs for character actors, who flocked to the theater to survive. Crews became accustomed to short days and fat paychecks. Movies? Why bother?

Then commercials and music videos vanished too, and we realized we had to aggressively compete to bring back the work. And we did.

The State of Georgia’s film incentives are luring productions to the state, and our industry is growing fast, while others are failing. The economic engine of film production is reflected in projects flourishing all around the state.

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But incentives are only the first step. They bring the work, but it’s up to us to keep it. We must dazzle out-of-towners with not only our southern hospitality, but the vitality of our industry. We must show them our wonderfully talented performers and our incredibly capable crews. We need them to see that we are a strong community.

Our biggest challenge today? We are dinosaurs heading for extinction, not from tar pits or asteroids, but from our own lack of nurturing. Most of the cast and crew working today are imported, including entry-level positions, while hundreds of potential local hires wonder how to break in.

17 years ago, I would PA on a $30 million movie, then production manage a $250,000 indie with many of the same crew. The two groups were the same people. A third grip could Key Grip an indie, a PA was a Production Manager or a 1st AD, and a Set Dresser was now the Set Designer. Extras had lines and bit players were stars. Indies offered experience, allowed us to take risks and make mistakes, while “real” movies taught us protocol, paperwork, and process.

The decline in studio feature work, increase in commercial work, and advent of cheap, easily accessible video cameras did away with this model.

Suddenly, the new kids were making their own movies with friends. The professionals no longer helped. Who wanted to work 12 hours a day on something that would never amount to more than a paperweight? The indie kids didn’t want us around either. Who wanted to work with a jaded film veteran who would rather be anywhere but on that set?

How do we change and advance our homegrown cause?

Industry professionals must work harder to provide training on set and in the classroom.

Indies need professionals to work their movies, and studio features need indies to fill entry-level positions. We need to find organizations willing to support this mission, and then provide them with the resources of time and money. We used to

Linda Burns produces, line produces and production manages national commercials, corporate industrials, webisodes, still photo shoots, independent features, and television shows, pilots and promos. Her next three producing projects are in the final stages of development. Aurora is repped by William Morris, Bateson Devise is repped by Cinetic Media, and The Trust, is slated for production in 2009. Burns is an industry and festival panelist, teaches film production classes, and spends much of her time nurturing emerging talent behind the scenes. For more information visit www.plexuspictures.com.

offer practical classes taught by working industry professionals. Victoria Morgan’s production coordinator class back in the 90s had over 75 people in attendance. We need hands-on workshops and training opportunities for beginners, not overviews and theory classes.

A thriving feature community should feed the striving indie community, and together, we can staff studio projects while making financially successful and distribution worthy local films, which breeds more economic investment in homegrown movies, which offers more experience to Georgia cast and crew, which leads to less imports, which leads to more local support for the arts community in general.

I challenge our unions, talent agencies, casting agents, local colleges, production companies, GPP, Georgia Film Office, Atlanta Film Festival 365 (formerly IMAGE), and Women in Film to work for a better tomorrow by bridging the gap between the professionals and the wannabes. I double dare you to call upon me, and others in our community, to work through the challenges of today to formulate a workable plan for tomorrow.

The ball is in your court, adapt or die. Only you can save our industry from extinction.

OZ cOLUMN Marketing Trends The challenges of today’s highly complex, competitive and global business environment are making everyone rethink the way they sell and market their products or services. creative service providers are facing challenges unlike anything they have ever seen before, and the competition for real opportunities is fierce. The only creative firms that will survive and thrive in the future will be those capable of creating high performance, crosschannel marketing strategies. customer focus is the most important trend in the marketing space. Accurately segmenting data to reach your target market with relevant, compelling creative and effective messaging is paramount to achieving positive, measurable results. It’s all about knowing your customers and their influences, preferences and behavior patterns.

Given our economic environment, clients are competing for fewer dollars, making well-targeted campaigns with timely special offers, incentives and discounts even more critical. consumers are highly selective and reluctant to respond to poorly conceived irrelevant campaigns regardless of the channel. Last year, 68 percent of adults said they opened direct mail because the message was appropriate and the timing was right.

Online & Offline Channel Integration clients are using e-mail campaigns to increase response rates on direct mail campaigns. Additionally, they are utilizing websites and SEO (search engine optimization) to improve results based upon customer segmentation, messaging and creative.

Traditional Advertising – On The Ropes?

Pretty pictures and clever ads have always been under the microscope of c-level skeptics. Now more than ever they are being challenged to prove effectiveness. Today, creative needs to be more effective and capable of being integrated into multi-channel marketing strategies. clients are demanding measurable results.

Creative – A Channel In Transformation Around the world, marketers estimate that 55% of their entire marketing dollars failed to deliver results. That means over half the marketing budget does not contribute to the firm's top or bottom line.* *Source: Brand Strategy, 2008 It’s no secret: Most companies plan to reduce marketing budgets and intensely scrutinize spending. They are feverishly trying to find better ways to market and improve returns on their marketing dollars. They now demand that all campaigns have real value, achieve measurable results and be integrated into a multi-channel strategic marketing plan. The days of pretty pictured, high-volume, standalone direct mail campaigns are over. clients want well-targeted, multichannel strategies that work.

Many marketers make the mistake of assuming that their success hinges solely on their creative. But that's simply not the case.

Innovation is now the driving force behind effective creative purchases. But it must be relevant and achieve measurable results if you expect to keep your client. clients want to be open to new and interesting ideas but are unwilling to take too much risk, given the economy. They are, however, more inclined to accept risk if you can incorporate tracking systems which allow them to measure results and enable them to learn more about their customers and prospective customers.

Top three Issues facing marketers 1. Qualify and measure the value of marketing investments 2. Improve efficiency and effectiveness of marketing 3. Grow customer knowledge, insight and conversations Source CMO Outlook Marketing Report 2007

While most marketing channels traditionally bounce back after a period of economic downturn, the magnitude and timing of this recession is expected to change forever the way clients market and sell their products or services. The shift from “mass” to “data-driven” multi-channel direct marketing is accelerating at breakneck speed and will not slow down in the foreseeable future. Technology-enabled marketing tactics have created a powerful array of one-to-one marketing capabilities, richly embraced by clients.

In 2007, 78% of four color print jobs ran less than 5,000** and 33% of digital color work is now versioned or personalized with variable data.***

Value Of Personalization We are not talking about adding Jennifer’s name to a postcard or email. We’re talking about variable data which enables personal, relevant communication with a customer or prospective customer. How about “Jennifer, it’s been six weeks since you had your oil changed and it’s time. By the way, we have a sale on Best Oil, your brand, and if you come in by May 1, we’ll give you $5.00 off.” We know Jennifer, what she buys and how often, so we can create compelling, targeted and timely communication that will increase response rates and sales.

Consider The Power Of Data Personalization Value Guidelines • Relevant personalized campaigns range from an average response rate of 3% to 13% • Static vs. personalized

Know the 40/40/20 Rule!

The 40/40/20 Rule states that…

• 40% of your marketing success depends on choosing the right mailing list.

• 40% depends on your offer.

• 20% hinges on your creative execution.

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• Personalized, Data-Driven Campaigns • Improve results • Increase the campaign’s ROI • Reduce costs

cOLUMN

More Creative with Data Driven Strategies The truth of the matter is it is becoming increasingly difficult to identify and develop relevant creative that helps clients market to only their best prospects. Successful creative reflects customers’ passions, influences and behavioral patterns, and it reaches them effectively. Data needs to support comprehensive end-to-end direct marketing channels that improve results and lower your costs.

Market segmentation clients must focus on their products and segment their market opportunities as narrowly as possible to reach the right customers for those products. Different products or product groups need to be positioned and targeted differently to achieve optimal results and ROI. Narrowly defined market segments, approached with appropriate creative, will produce higher response rates. clients offering expansive product lists should create several product-specific campaigns, targeting key market groups. These campaigns should not be large, but highly focused with embedded testing and tracking systems.

Elements Of Effective Data-Driven Creative Understand Client Objectives • • • • • • •

Relationship management Generate new business Increase/measure customer loyalty (e.g. retention) Increase/measure customer satisfaction Measure buying intentions Increase/measure brand recognition Measure brand awareness

Customer’s Evolving Preferences & Behavior • Understand changing lifestyle • Align communication ouch-points to target markets • Ongoing use of segmentation modeling and analytics • Holistic target marketing

Hierarchy of Data Sourcing • Demographics data – basic public information • Customer specific data – operating data – purchase history – frequency of purchases • Response marketing data – strategic inquiries – Customer influences – Customer preferences – Customer behavior

Your client’s database is the foundation that will drive the growth of its business, and it is critical that it keeps the information as up-todate and accurate as possible. Maintaining a rich customer database and mining that data can dramatically improve your client’s marketing results.

Database Marketing Drives Creative Strategy • To identify which products, customers and prospective customers are most likely to buy: • Segment the customer database to determine where their best opportunities are.

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• Help clients develop a strategy to increase sales and profits. Get key decision-makers to understand and support the strategy.

• Develop a predictive model detailing which products are most likely to be purchased by customers.

• Create tracking mechanisms and systems within your campaigns using unique email addresses, micro-sites, tracking codes, etc.

• Track the results and prepare a report for management which measures response rates, ROI, sales, conversion rates, etc..

• Develop creative which supports the direct marketing plan.

Who are your best prospects?

Where are your opportunities?

How do you reach them?

What do you say to them?

Data Management Understanding Customer Relationships

• Create comprehensive cross-channel tracking systems which allow clients to capture customers’ behavior and gain an understanding of their interests, influences and preferences.

Every interaction is an opportunity to capture more data on your customers and develop a buying relationship.

• Recognize the individual customer’s responses in all channels to learn more about individual triggers, timing and motivations.

Segment Customers & Prospects

• Create a data model for segmenting customers and prospects by preference, influences and behaviors.

• Group your customers by their needs and their value to your organization.

• Create and customize your segments in real time by assigning response values and scoring responses.

• Analyze segments for patterns, further segmentation and information that will guide the creative development process.

• Segmentation and analysis is your best opportunity to refine and adjust your creative to optimize results.

What’s Next?

Successful campaigns begin with a sound strategy. Powerful creativity begins with a good understanding of your client’s marketing message and ends when that message is artfully illustrated, produced and communicated to your target audience.

With today's increasing clutter, it's more and more difficult to stand out in a crowd. That's why it is vital to pay close attention to good creative that properly complements the message.

Effective copy and strong creative must work hand-in-hand with database marketing strategies and simultaneously: • Capture target audience’s attention • Quickly communicate personal, effective and relevant message to the intended audience • Generate effective and measurable responses Treat each client’s situation as unique and take the time to listen and understand its challenges and pain points before you recommend well-crafted copy or powerful images. combine strategic vision with in-depth expertise in database marketing to ensure clients streamline their marketing processes if you hope to enjoy a long-term relationship with them. This will position you as a trusted advisor and partner who can help them successfully respond to competition, improve ROI, increase response rates and optimize their business results.

Projects aren't rolling in and you need to demonstrate to clients that you are more than a creative resource — that you can add value to their business and help them achieve better results. If necessary team with a qualified direct marketing professional to deliver services your clients are demanding.

Source: ** Strategies for Management Commercial Print 2010 ***Interquest

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OZ cOLUMN

by Jon Anderson

Belt & Suspenders Protection stories, poems, commercials, lyrics, drawings and other media work. While there are some differences in registration periods and fees between the two branches, the registration service of each is pretty much the same. The WGA East notes that script registration is one of its most popular services, and both branches offer the service to both members and non-members of the Guild.

I know that many Oz readers are writers, doing advertising copy, radio and television scripts — and probably, on a flash drive, the next great novel. From my writer clients and friends, I am constantly asked how they can protect their work from copying. The question is frequently presented with the opening “I have this great idea for a – fill in the blank: movie script, commercial, book, short story, etc.”

The answer is usually about the same: If it is only an idea, it will be difficult; if it is written down, the copyright laws are your best ally. Identify yourself as the copyright owner on the work and register it with the Copyright Office of the Library of Congress. Registration of a work with the Copyright Office is the true “suspenders” for ownership protection.

Since one of the important aspects of copyright law and protection is the date that a work was completed, I thought I might discuss a very good way to establish this part of the equation. I have heard repeatedly of the “poor man’s copyright” where the author puts a copy of the work in an envelope and mails it to him/herself.

The purpose of the plan is to be able to show, from the postmark date, when the work was completed. The major flaw in this procedure is the evidentiary issues involved with the letter or package containing the work being sent by and received by the same person. Even though presented in court in a “sealed” envelope there is still only self-serving testimony about the package and its handling. Issues about whether the envelope actually contained the work when sent, who has had custody and where the envelope has been between the time it was mailed until it was presented in court, can all cause countless problems and lead to a rather weak case.

A similar but better solution is offered by the Writers Guild of America (WGA). This organization, which has both West Coast and East Coast branches, has a program for the registration of scripts, treatments, synopses, outlines, novels, stage plays, books, short

Here is essentially how it works (WGA East’s procedures). Copies of your work, along with required identification information, can be sent to the WGA office electronically or by mail, or delivered in person. When received, the material is logged in and assigned an identification number. It’s sealed, and the submitting author is given a receipt with the date received and the identification number. Once it’s received, except in very limited circumstances, the material cannot be returned to the author, as this would defeat the purpose of the registration — that is, the ability to provide evidence that the material has been in the WGA’s custody since the date of deposit and that the seal is unbroken. The registered material is held for a period of 10 years (five years at WGA West) and the registration can be renewed. The current fees, for an online registration, are $10 for members of the WGA and $22 for non-members. After the expiration of the registration period the material is destroyed by WGA. In addition to adding the normal copyright declaration on a work (© date, name) a writer who has registered his/her work with the WGA can add the notice “WGAE registered” or “WGAE #****. ” Together, these notices really make any recipient of the material aware of its protected status.

A word of caution: registration with either WGA does not confer any statutory protection or a legal remedy in the event the work is stolen or infringed upon. It merely provides evidence of a date upon which a claim of authorship can be made by an author with respect to a certain work. But what evidence! In the event that the creation date of a work is in issue, I cannot think of a better witness than a WGA employee showing up with a sealed copy of the work and testifying as to the registration process and the chain of control — it’s a hands-down winner.

So think about adding the WGA belt to your suspenders, or at least putting on the belt to protect your work. If you do, it could go like this: The writer’s case looked quite dark When his opponent displayed his postmark.

But things turned around With new proof profound When the Guild man showed up from New York © April, 2009 Jon Lee Andersen

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Artist Reproduction artisian

Monika Ruiz

Oil on Canvas

678.904.0545 www.graphicsworldwide.org Master Designer - Kyle Crew OUTrageous Border Design

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On Friday, March 20th, 6 locally produced short films premiered at The Plaza Theater on Ponce De Leon Avenue in downtown Atlanta to a lavish crowd of Atlanta's film lovers. These film concepts were selected by a panel of local experts, and most films are first time directing efforts The shorts were: Peacock Feathered Blue, Jenna Milly Playgirl, Melanie Mascioli Wheels, Tracy Martin Love Happens, Della Cade Noble Flights of Angels, Kimberly Jurgen Happy Hour, Angela Barnes Gomes All films were shot in Atlanta in 2008 and are all self-financed. Many directors served as volunteer crew members for each other’s films in various roles to learn from each other and strengthen their networks for future projects. Yet the similarities end there. Each story and directing is different, offering an entertaining mix of comedy, kitsch, drama and experimentation.

The Woman’s Angle aims to mentor women by encouraging their directing talent, and guiding them at every critical stage of their film’s development to take it to the finish line.

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