”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.

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.

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!

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.

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!

The T2 + Back Alley team was thrilled to be a part of the production of the campaign. And recently, they were written up in Screen Magazine where you can watch them all! Here’s a little bit about how those spots came together…

If you’re not familiar with Runza, they are a regional restaurant group with a rabid cult following. They have no intention to compete in hundreds of markets across the country, nor to extend their hours into breakfast or late-night like the national chains. So, when it came to making these spots, they thought the best way to stand out would be to poke fun at the competition and talk about how they’re different.  And that’s exactly the approach they took with Swanson Russell, their Nebraska based agency, and us, their trusty production partner.

First order of business: find the perfect Runza Spokesman – someone who could be self-deprecating, but remain compelling to viewers while not being annoying. Back Alley Films’ very own Creative Director, Pete Meyer, turned to Chicago, a market well known for its strong improv talent, and cast Tim Ryder, part of the famed Second City ensemble.

“The scripts were pretty funny to begin with but we would have been fools not to utilize Tim’s improv skills to improve the spots,” said Meyer. “Once we knew we had the scripted versions in the can, we let him improvise on longer takes. Working in this looser structure made the shoot days and the editorial process a lot more fun for everyone.”

Once the spots were shot, Meyer donned his editor’s cap to cut them together while our Creative Director, Travis Schlitter, directed our design/animation team to create the motion graphics. “We really enjoyed developing the visual style for Tim’s stream of consciousness,” said Schlitter. “The loose pen and ink illustrations bring interest and energy to the spots with the right balance as to not overpower his performance.”

Together, along with the Swanson Russell team and, of course, Runza, we created a 5-spot campaign we are quite proud to show you.

Runza will run the spots in their regional markets, rolling them out in a series throughout the fall.

Credits for Brand Spots:
Pete Meyer – Director – Back Alley Films
Andy Romero – Director of Photography
Head of Production – Ethan Downing – Back Alley Films
Postproduction Executive Producer – Nicole Melton – T2
Director/DP (Food Spots) – Russ Hadley
Pete Meyer – Editor – T2
Alex Kane – Assistant Editor – T2
Animation & Motion Design – Travis Schlitter & The T2 Design Team
Smoke Finishing – Jen Paine – T2
Music – Matthew Thornton
Mix/Sound Design – Jim Schrader – Sky Recording
Copywriter – Charlie Stephan – Swanson Russell
Art Director – Greg Bousquet – Swanson Russell
Chief Creative Officer– Brian Boesche – Swanson Russell
Runza Marketing Creative Manager – Vizma Shaeffer

This year, there are a few opportunities to get your film geek on at Fringe—a couple individual projects will be airing throughout the week, and larger organizations will feature multiple film showings.

The Art Institutes International of Kansas City is showcasing several short films created by students in the Digital Filmmaking & Video Production program. The photography, film, and mixed media pieces will be screened daily at The Wine Gallery (1911 McGee), absolutely free (with your Fringe Festival button of course) for the rest of the Festival—go see what these budding filmmakers are creating!

And the Independent Filmmaker’s Coalition of Kansas City has three more night showings of its own “Best of IFC Short Films,” featuring the best films produced by members in the past several years. At least twenty different IFC members will be showing their films, so you’re bound to get an eclectic, exciting variety throughout the evening. The films are showing Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday evening at Fringe Central (1730 Broadway), and admission is $10 with your Fringe button.

So get your artsy on and check out these film screenings! We at t2 love supporting local filmmakers and artists of all kinds, so go on, check out all there is to offer this week at the Fringe website. And if you’re truly inspired by what you see, attend the weekly IFC meeting at the Westport Coffee House, every Wednesday at 7:30 pm. Maybe you’ll see your own name up on the screen next year!

Google has become a major success story, but one place where the company has never caught their footing is in social sites. According to this CNN article, users spent 62% more time on Facebook than on Google last month, and viewed more than twice the number of pages on Facebook as they did on Google.

Google’s answer to that problem: Google+. The site aims at specializing friends into a bunch of different sub-categories. For example, on Facebook you simply have “friends,” but with Google+, users are able to split friends up into categories such as “family,” “friends,” “baseball team,” etc. The information you share with can be set up so it is only seen with selected groups. This will allow Google+ users to have a little more privacy on the site.

Right now Google has only opened up the site to a few select users, while others simply must wait for an invite.

We’re still waiting on our invite….

In real terms, it is a system to apply realistic movement and physical attributes in animation.

According to Motion Boutique’s website, “Newton interprets each 2D layer as a rigid body in a real environment. Once simulation is completed, animation is recreated in After Effects with standard keyframes.”

Motion Boutique released a video with demos to give onlookers a quick glance of what Newton can do. It mostly shows some text effects and flying beads, but nonetheless, it’s unique and happening in After Effects.

There has been no word so far on how much Newton will cost or when it will be released, but by subscribing to Motion Boutique’s newsletter, you can stay informed on pricing and release dates.

We here at T2 + Back Alley Films see Newton as a big game-changer in the graphics world.