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!

And believe it or not, they are all excited to come to Kansas City next September when T2+Back Alley Films will host the group. Boston, San Francisco…Kansas City? Why not?

The Dark Side of Chocolate / Schmutzige Schokolade from We Know Music on Vimeo.

At T2 + Back Alley Films our love for documentaries and the people who produce them is endless. The Dark Side of Chocolate is no exception. It’s a compelling piece, expertly executed and, most importantly, inspires thought and conversation.

This was the first time that Pepsi and Doritos partnered for an event and Crash the Super Bowl was a huge success. Not only did the contest garner a record number of fan submissions, it also generated an unprecedented number of consumer votes. Just goes to show the power of the consumer and how the creative landscape has changed. Not only do consumers want to watch great spots, they want to be a part of the process of not only creating them, but also selecting the winners.

Brad Bosley, a 28 year-old Leawood, Kansas native is the creative talent behind Pepsi MAX’s “Love Hurts” Super Bowl spot. He wrote and directed the spot for about $800 and took home 5th place in the competition. That was no small feat, considering there were more than 5,600 entrants, representing the most ever in a single year of competition.

The winning ads (in alphabetical order) were:

• “First Date” (Pepsi MAX) by Nick Simotas
• “House Sitting” (Doritos) by Tynesha Williams
• “Love Hurts” (Pepsi MAX) by Brad Bosley
• “Pug Attack” (Doritos) by JR Burningham
• “The Best Part” (Doritos) by Tyler Dixon
• “Torpedo Cooler” (Pepsi MAX) by Brendan Hayward

It’s also no small feat that out of the top 5 most popular ads identified by USA Today’s AdMeter, that two were spots created by consumers.

It was great to hear Brad interviewed on KCTV5 this morning and share that the inspiration for his spot was his grandparents. He said that his grandmother had always been somewhat aggressive with his grandfather, and known to kick him under the table if he tried to eat something that wasn’t good for him. I’d say Brad figured out a great way to not only honor and memorialize his grandparents, but to make one heck of an impression in front of millions of viewers the world over.

Here are the ads ranked in the Top 10 by USA Today’s AdMeter and the full list is available here.

The presentation was grand. It spanned the entire length of the interior wall of the Grand Ballroom of the Kansas City Convention Center. We used six different projectors to project the images onto the wall and the combined final image was visually stunning – 300 feet long and over 30 feet tall.

We worked with Vista Productions as our live event partner; and Wheeler Audio for sound design; and Noel Selders, who created the original score.

KCADC Projection Wall from T2 + Back Alley Films on Vimeo.

Heller’s piece explored the 1954 George Cukor film “It Should Happen to You” starring Judy Holliday and Jack Lemmon. The film’s main character was Gladys Glover (played by Holliday). Much like the Kim Kardashians and Paris Hiltons and Perez Hiltons of today, Gladys was a nobody who wanted to be somebody. And she was determined to get it, come hell or high water. And, the fact that she was loaded and not afraid to spend money didn’t hurt her in her quest for fame.

To accomplish her goal of ‘being somebody’ Gladys rented an empty billboard in NYC’s Times Square. A manufacturing company who wanted the space was surprised when she turned out to be a tough negotiator. Six billboards later – billboards bearing nothing but her name – Gladys had what she wanted. Attention. And just like the ‘somebodys’ of today, she milked it for all it was worth.

Heller calls it the beginning of the ‘me’ generation. That may well be the case. But I think it’s also a pretty good example of the old adage: Advertising works. It can even make a nobody a somebody. And it never ceases to amaze me how many businesses forget this simple adage. Just because you build it, doesn’t mean they will come. Advertising – of some form or another, is just about always an important component of any successful strategy.

In case you can’t remember all these experiential design beauties and others (that happens this time of year), the campaigns identified by Creativity Magazine as the cream of the crop featured this great body of work:

The Old Spice campaign, which was not only brilliant, but relied on consumer generated video and social media to hit it out of the park–interactive experiential design at it’s most basic level;

The Pepsi Refresh campaign, which again relied on social to support its cause-focused effort;

Domino’s Pizza, which relied on consumer input and social media channels to help improve its brand and turn the corner following a disastrous event;

Conan O’Brien’s Team Coco and their tremendous online effort that included leveraging Twitter, Foursquare, Facebook, web craziness and some traditional advertising to focus eyeballs on the star’s return to TV on a different station.

Space Chimp, the World Wildlife Fund Australia’s compelling environmental message , produced in collaboration with musician Ben Lee;

Nike’s experiential design campaign for the World Cup, which included user-generated content integrated into the digital outdoor production, interactive film and a healthy dose of social media to spur awareness and participation;

Jay-Z’s promotion of his new book, “Decoded,” that was again an interactive, experiential design piece, literally bringing the book to life for fans in a myriad of different locations. This campaign produced by Droga5, also included an online element sponsored by Bing, that allowed fans who couldn’t physically participate in the outdoor extravaganzas the chance to do so online.

Mitsubishi’s virtual test drive harnessed technology for their Live Drive, the first of its kind by an automaker, and an obvious nod to the experiential design decade we have entered;

Dare Labs’ Remote Palette is nothing short of brilliant in the realm of app development and its popularity was spurred along by web video and social channels.

And finally, the release of Arcade Fire’s Wilderness Downtown campaign was an example of collaborative genius that combined music video production for the band’s “We Used to Wait” song, with Google Earth and created a musical experiential design piece.

The interesting thing about all of these campaigns is that they typify the massive changes in the world of advertising that are leaning so heavily in the direction of experiential design. Notice how many include consumer-generated content and/or provide an opportunity for interactivity with consumers? And how many rely on a variety of social channels to help spread awareness. And how experiential design is being tapped again and again to allow consumers to be a part of a campaign, not just passively watch from the sidelines?

As a digital media and creative services agency, the success of these campaigns is nothing less than pure delight for us. It confirms that we made the right move in expanding our brand beyond production and post-production into the fresh (and fun) new area of experiential design. This kind of substantive transformation has not been easy these past few years – new jobs and new people replacing the old model – lots of change can be stressful for sure. So it’s nice to end the year with news like this that lets us know that we are in a good position as we start 2011. Here’s wishing all of us in this battered industry a prosperous new year!

And please don’t make the mistake of thinking that just because we’re located in the Midwest that amazing design doesn’t happen here. It does – and we can prove it. Enough said.

Our specialties include 2D and 3D motion graphics design, editorial, experiential design, augmented reality, mobile app design and other forms of new media design. Additionally, through Back Alley Films, we produce digital content across all media platforms, including original films and documentaries. We like to get our hands in every detail of the storytelling process and are not afraid of pushing the envelope. Every aspect of our business is about creativity and we believe collaboration is the formula for success for any company today.

We’re looking for a truly passionate leader to inspire and guide our group of young and talented designers. Someone who totally gets how critical creative storytelling is — to us and to our clients. And understands how to translate that story into design. And, of course, you need to be able to pitch creative to internal and external business partners and be a part of the process of continually building and growing the business.

This is a Creative Director position and reports directly to the CEO. If you’re interested in the position, we would love to hear from you. We think that some of the things you need to be adept at (that aren’t specifically mentioned above) include:

• At least 10 years of relevant experience in motion design
• Bachelor’s Degree or higher in Fine Arts, Film, Graphic Design, or Digital Media Design
• Extensive understanding of interactive and moving media
• Proven hands-on knowledge of AfterEffects, Photoshop, Illustrator, Maya / Cinema 4D and Flash
• Ability to solve problems quickly, collaboratively and intuitively
• Experience in strategic planning and execution
• Strong people management to provide clear creative direction and to motivate and inspire the creative team

Submit your resume to trogers at t2.tv and include a link to your online motion design reel. Please make sure your experience is appropriate to the position. We can’t wait to hear from you!

Anyone who knows me knows how much I love filmmaking – and when I find something that helps people who love it as much as I do – well, I get excited. Today’s discovery — The Rocketboom Filmmakers Program.

The Rocketboom Filmmakers Program was developed to help filmmakers by making resources more available. As anyone involved in the business of filmmaking knows, ideas are plentiful, it’s the money and resources that can be the tricky part. So, if you have some great ideas (and of course a fair amount of talent) and are interested in producing short run web series or short films, you should definitely explore Rocketboom’s program. I know my buddy Heather and I will be doing that with our web series as soon as I finish writing this blog post!

Acceptance isn’t a given, so be prepared to sell yourself to the folks at Rocketboom. But if you’re successful, their mission is to help underwrite the production costs, help you distribute and promote your work through their network and even let you use their resources and content studio as needed.

To be considered, you’ve got to email them and include the following information:

• A brief description of the short film or web series you would like to produce.
• A treatment or script for the project
• Your filmmaking background and experience
• Links to or files of previous work they can view
• Overview of previous projects

Intrigued? Like to know more? If so, check out Save The Date, a 10-part web series that was produced as part of The Rocketboom Filmmakers Program. For more information, send them an email directed to filmmakers at rocketboom.com.

And if you’re not interested in filmmaking but video journalism is your gig, Rocketboom is also looking for independent video journalists and field correspondents from all over the world to submit content. You not only can get paid for doing what you’re passionate about, but you can produce great work, maintain ownership and freedom-of-use, but use Rocketboom’s powerful platform to distribute your work (and make a name for yourself). Check them out here for an example of the kind of episodes they are looking for and connect with them by email for more info at humanwire at rocketboom.com.

Rocketboom is no flash in the pan. They’ve been around for awhile and have been earning rave reviews from a myriad of sources including AdAge, Rolling Stone and CNN, to name a few. And the Rocketboom vlog has been honored by Forbes with a Best of the Web nod. What they do at Rocketboom is awesome and really on the cutting edge of video on the web, innovative filmmaking and so many other things. – I’m so glad to have found them.

Now go make films – or a series! Just tell good stories – and get them to Rocketboom.