2012 January | T2 + Back Alley Blog

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Meet The 3 Latest Additions to the T2 + Back Alley Films Team!

 ”JZ” – Jane Zander – Editor

Knowing that the :30 spot is still alive and well, we’ve    added Jane – “JZ” – (back in KC after a six-year stint at Cutters – Chicago) to our editorial team.  Her work experience includes campaigns for Tide, Dell, Hanes, Secret, and KFC.

“Step one in working with agency creatives is finding common ground. At the end of the day, we are all just people. I enjoy the human connection as much as I do the editing process.

Matt Antrim – VP/Original Program Development

After 14 years in reality television as a casting director in Los Angeles, we think he’s seen it all – so adding him to the staff at T2 is a no-brainer!

My friends call me the dog whisperer!  I have the coolest dog you’ll ever meet.” (Easy now – Charlie, T2′s mascot, was here first!)

Having worked on shows like “Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader”, “Joe Millionaire”, “It’ Me Or The Dog”, and “Thintervention” (just to name a few), Matt is ready to be on the pitching side of the table for T2 and our clients.

Adam Buritsch – Animator

Adam has a background in traditional hand-drawn animation ~ he has motion in his blood! He brings an eclectic and historical knowledge of animation to T2, a drive to push boundaries, and an endless supply of optimism.  Now, what could be wrong with that!

“I never let an inspiration slip past!  From Eastern European folk dancing to Blues harmonica and everything in between – I use a little bit of everything when I’m brainstorming.”

T2 with AECOM in the top 5 for Nelson Exhibit Design


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.