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 iPad is a dream. Got it?

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.

As one who has lobbied hard for some brave soul or souls to create a soundstage in Kansas City, I am thrilled that StagePort has opened just across the street from T2 +Back Alley Films. And I’m not alone – all the local film makers, productions houses and agencies – in and outside the Crossroads Art District have welcomed this new addition.

Jeff Owens, a genius set designer and veteran member of the film community was responsible for building out the 12,500 sq. ft at the back end of the building that houses OfficePort and JavaPort. There is no one better than Jeff to take this on – and his involvement will guarantee StagePort’s financial success. He will be working alongside Jon Trozzolo in managing the facility that includes one large stage and two smaller ones. Jon and Jeff are co-owners of the facility, along with real estate partners Michael Edmondson and Shaul Jolles.

Lots of folks have considered this undertaking – but it was hard to make the numbers work when you consider the investment in the build-out, which is why it made such sense to get Jeff Owens involved. He is not only well connected and well respected within the film community, but he has the “chops” to do the work himself. It took a little longer for Jeff to take on such a large role in the construction process, but it made the investment more palatable. And Jeff got the community involved before the construction began – by contacting a large number of the people who would use it and asking them what they wanted in a soundstage. He brought in the best people to advise on acoustics, lighting, etc. – took that information and created a facility that would meet the needs of the customers who would use it. Pretty smart – pretty impressive.

That kind of homework – focusing on user experience and listening to customers and potential customers and building or creating what they need, instead of what you want – is really a critical component of business success today. I applaud their efforts and wish them much success.

StagePort is located at 208 W. 19th Street, in Kansas City, MO. For more details about StagePort, there’s a great article in the Kansas City Star. And, if you want to find them on Facebook or stalk them on Twitter, I’m sure they’d love the attention.

A new web series, FCU: Fact Checkers Unit is generating buzz.  Samsung’s new Android phone the Galaxy S will be promoted via the new web series, hyped by NBC Universal as “the world’s first globally distributed web series.”

Hype aside, FCU is breaking new ground. FCU: Fact Checkers Unit is being distributed on multiple platforms in many countries.  Here in the US,  it will appear on NBC.com, Hulu, and Syfy.com along with the video-on-demand service. Mobile phone carriers like AT&T, Verizon and Sprint will deliver the show to smart phones and FCU will be available for download on your Xbox 360 or PlayStation 3, and iTunes.

FCU: Fact Checkers Unit will appear in the United Kingdom, Singapore and Japan via Syfy Channel and Sci-Fi Channel in Australia.

Based on the short film of the same name that appeared at Sundance in 2008, FCU: Fact Checkers Unit will be available in an unprecedented number of platforms and regions.  According to social media blog Mashable, the series follows two celebrity fact checkers:

The series will follow two zealous fact checkers for the magazine Dictum; in each episode they will attempt to verify a fact about some celebrity the magazine is covering. For example, they must determine in the first episode whether or not 90210’s Luke Perry really believes his house is haunted by ghosts.

Each of the eight episodes in the series’ current order will feature some celebrity. The celebs named so far include the aforementioned Luke Perry, Jeopardy’s Alex Trebek, legendary rock guitarist Dave Navarro, model Karolina Kurkova , Scrubs‘ Donald Faison, NCIS‘ Pauley Perrette, Friday Night Lights‘ Zach Gilford, and Napoleon Dynamite himself, Jon Heder.

The show features the Samsung Galaxy S featured prominently in every episode. For example, it’s used to record a bedroom overnight in the first episode to document potential paranormal activity.  If this venture is a success, look for more “globally distributed web shows” coming soon. Here’s a trailer for the series:

Not unlike most businesses, ours has undergone many changes over the course of the past several years. And our strategy has guided it at times and tried to keep up with those changes the rest of the time. This post was inspired by David Bowie a veritable master of change. Listen to the song while you read this post and you’ll see why I was inspired.

Take Two used to be known mostly in the Kansas City market for our post-production work. In order to keep up with a changing industry, we created Back Alley Films to do original film production and motion graphics design. We then created our Integrated Experience Lab to focus on emerging digital and multi-platform work: things like augmented reality, interactive design and experiential design. We’re now known as T2 + Back Alley Films and, while our client base still includes Kansas City based companies, it has expanded to include clients all over the world.

Change has been a great opportunity for us to reinvigorate our business, reinvigorate our staff and completely reexamine our business model. As a result, it has literally changed the way we do everything.

These days, from the very first moments of working with a new or prospective client, the people that we bring to the table is an eclectic group — and a strategically formed one. No longer do we rely on our new business development team — or our producers — to do all the work, instead, we bring the talent to the table. We combine the strategic and the creative thinkers – for a new age of strategic/creative thinking. That means our team, our creatives, our brand experts, our interactive and experiential design teams, our mobile technology team and our social media strategists are part of just about every project or idea, from its earliest inception.

The reality of our business – and any business, really – is that change IS the reality. And in this case, we’re finding that change is making us better at what what we do. It’s creative services — but it’s broader than what it used to be. I bet it’s happening everywhere. What about you? How are you changing the scope of the way you do business? Our generation will be defined by this. Let’s talk about it — and learn from each other.