T2 + Back Alley Blog

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T2 has been working with AECOM, an award winning architectural firm to design a pavilion for the lawn of the Nelson Atkins Museum of Art and their Worlds Fair Exhibition.  We’ve been selected as one of 5 finalists and will be giving a presentation of our proposal to the Nelson on Thursday.   Check out this article in the Kansas City Star about it and wish us luck!  More details on the proposal are soon to follow!

“Risk Taker” A Requirement for Urban Hero Award

Teri Rogers was recently honored in a HUGE way, being named a 2011 Urban Hero at the DowntownCouncil of Greater Kansas City’s annual meeting for her contribution to making downtown a more vibrant place to live, work and play with her company T2 + Back Alley Films.

Teri has been operating T2 in the Crossroads since 1988 when there was nothing but tumbleweeds and dark, scary parking lots surrounding her business. She believed in the potential of the area and set her roots there in 2005 when she purchased her building at 1906 Wyandotte and designed a beautiful, modern, inspirational work space for her creative staff and clients. Since then, the area has transformed around her with restaurants, retail boutiques, coffee shops, event spaces and now, the crown jewel of Kanas City ~ The Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts as her neighbor to the north.

“Being honored in this particular year, when Julia Irene Kauffman was presented the J. Philip Kirk Urban Hero Award is very special to me since we were involved in the two-night launch party celebration of the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts. Her vision, guidance and commitment to the revitalization of Kansas City’s downtown has been an incredible inspiration,” says Rogers.

Nominees for this award were required to be “risk takers” and founders of small but mighty, fast-growing businesses helping to grow Kansas City’s downtown economy.  You had to be brave enough to believe in the vision, and to carry your own unique vision, of fitting into the revitalization process that Kansas City has been undergoing for many years.

Teri was the Executive Producer of the documentary film “The Next American Dream”, which conveyed that very theme, using Kansas City as the business model for how to build back the urban core of a city whose residents had fled to their cozy suburban homes, only to return because of their yearning for pop culture, the arts, and a vibrant dining and entertainment experience.

This is a group with whom anyone would be proud to share company ~ the other Urban Hero Award recipients are: Christopher Elbow, Christopher Elbow Artisanal Chocolates; Danny Gosserand, Danny’s Big Easy; August Grassis, III, Handmark; Shaul Jolles, Office Port; Sam Meers, Meers Advertising; Keith Novorr, Michael’s Fine Clothing For Men; Danny O’Neill, The Roasterie; Ryan Sciara, The Cellar Rat; and Emily Voth, Indigo Wild…all GREAT businesses that work, play and create wonderful cultures for their staff and clients in the downtown of Kansas City.

eCamp – KC style

Back in May, I blogged about eCamp (We all hate that name, but it seems to have stuck) , a grass roots organization that I’m a part of – made up of folks from all over the country and from within our industry — who get together for two days twice a year.  Last spring the eCamp group met in San Francisco and the previous fall, we met in Boston.  It was my turn to host this fall, so it became my pleasure to have 15 colleagues here for two days of full agenda items – followed by some serious partying at the end of each day.   That’s a key part of the agenda- and we are all a bit competitive about that part.  In all honesty, I have to say that Beyond Pix in San Francisco  had us beat on the entertainment agenda items.  Hard to believe, I know.

I believe strongly in collaboration – both internally and externally (though that can sometimes be challenging in a competitive market).   Inside T2 +Back Alley Films, our groups and skill sets are integrating more and more in every job we do.

The Kauffman Grand Opening work this past September was a perfect example of that – with four internal groups – interactive & Experiential combined with motion graphics and animation, editorial and Smoke finishing, and Back Alley for the production and shooting with the Weiss camera – working together to make it happen.   No single group could have achieved what we did on that project without the creative input and skill sets of the other groups.

This is essentially why eCamp started; a group of people in the production and post production industry got together and decided that we could only benefit from sharing what we know. We each come from a different market, but the same industry and so, without feeling the need to be competitive, we are able to talk frankly about what has worked for us and what hasn’t — the challenges we face, and our best operational practices. This has been particularly helpful these past few years – as our industry was struggling with the recession and technology advances that were significantly changing the nature of our business.   It has been interesting to see how each business is evolving to meet the needs of the changing world we are all experiencing.  It was also interesting to note that most of us  had called on other companies within the group this past year  – to collaborate on a project or two.

A definite perk.

I was thrilled to introduce my colleagues to a local genius right here in KC – who was our guest speaker.  Stefan Mumaw is the author of several books about the creative process – but he focused on his latest, Chasing the Monster Idea, which explored the difference between good ideas and great ideas, and how to deploy the great ones. Several in the group plan to book Stefan to speak in their own markets.  Finally, we ended our time together by a work showcase – where each company got 10 minutes to show their best work.  It’s always my favorite part.

Thanks to the eCampers for a great weekend.  And those of you who couldn’t make it this time, we missed you.  Next time – in Columbus, Ohio.  See you all there!

Call for Interns: the T2 2-Minute Documentary Challenge!

We are looking for interns, and you, blog readers, are the first to hear about it. Check out the details…

T2 + Back Alley Films, located in the Crossroads district of Kansas City, MO, is looking for interns to support our full service production unit. Ideal candidates have a passion for storytelling, a keen eye for composition, basic knowledge of Final Cut 7, experience handling DSLRs, and a healthy dose of “go-get-it” attitude. Think you have what we’re looking for? Show us by submitting a piece to the T2 2-minute Documentary Contest.

Here’s what you need to know about submission:

- Choose a subject of your choice and tell a story in a traditional documentary style

- Total run time must be 2 minutes or less

- Must include at least one on-camera interview to tell the story

- Shot composition (i.e. framing, light design, and use of space) must be well thought out

- Broll should be used effectively

- Can be shot in SD or HD

- Your entry can be a project you’ve completed for a different purpose, or it can be something brand new – we do not care. What we DO care about is how you tell your story.

- Deadline is November 11, 2011 (by midnight)

- Submit to rbangert@t2.tv

More about the internship:

Along with your documentary, please submit a cover letter and resume. This internship run January-May, and can be put towards college credit. This is considered a full-time internship and we expect participants to be in the office Monday through Friday. Additionally, interns are responsible for finding their own lodging and accommodations.

To learn more about T2 + Back Alley visit www.t2.tv.

 

A Word on the Hex Pixel Gallery…

Have you been to the new Hex Pixel Gallery?

The T2 crew was proud to host our second successful installation here at Hex – Hollow – on the first Friday of this month. Take a look…

You may be curious as to why we opened up our doors as a gallery. First of all, we love the Kansas City artist community, and as a creative enterprise we want to foster and encourage art appreciation in our city. We think First Fridays are a great way to celebrate creativity in this town, and are thrilled to participate.

But on a deeper level – we want to create a platform for digital media. Obviously, it’s the medium we love. Whether it’s short films, interactive design or animation, we are crazy about digital design. And so we want to provide an outlet for it.

Garrett Fuselier, our interactive designer who helped launch the gallery, has this to say:

“We are giving a voice to a time-based medium – a space for work that is not static. By doing this, we can change the experience of how people view digital work. We’re taking it offline and bringing it into a physical space.”

Beyond changing the viewing experience, we also hope to celebrate digital artists everywhere, giving attention to work that deserves to be recognized. Since our grand opening in September, we have showcased two motion-based pieces with video and animation. The first show, Diaporamas, featured artist Sara Ludy. Hollow featured two artists, Max Hattler and Kiron Hussain.

In the coming months, we hope to showcase local, national, and perhaps even international talent in this arena. For this next show we plan on showcasing interactivity so that pieces can react to their audience instead of people just reacting to the pieces. You won’t want to miss it.

Be sure to stop by Hex on November 4! We’d love to see you at our next exhibit.

P.S. Do you have any digital artists/work that you love? Are you a digital artist yourself and would like to show your work at the Hex Gallery? Leave us a note in the comments. We want to bring you work that speaks to you!