Forever Welcomes Builders Club to Collective Launched by FutureDeluxe and Tendril
April 25, 2024
Smith & Foulkes’ Latest for Honda
Nexus directors Smith & Foulkes‘ history with Honda is long and award-laden (we ran Honda “GRRR” on the cover of Stash 03 in Nov. 2004) and this latest pair of spots, which break today thru agency RPA, finds the directing duo’s signature charm and gentle humor applied to the launch of the HR-V Crossover. [Watch]
Smith & Foulkes: “It’s Payback Time, Cancer”
Nexus directors Smith & Foulkes brew up two-minutes of apocalyptic fun for a serious cause in this broadcast and cinema spot boosting awareness for Stand Up To Cancer, the partnership between Channel 4 and Cancer Research UK, billed as a ‘killer night of fundraising.’
Smith & Foulkes: “The initial brief was to turn the table on cancer, depicting the disease as a civilization spreading aggressively – unable to prevent its own Armageddon in the style of a disaster movie.
“The main challenge was how to visualize the cancer cells. We wanted to steer away from the obvious route of showing cells as a bunch of grotesque alien germs, but we were also acutely aware of not making them too human or cute.”
“We also had to find a way to illustrate the new therapies, drugs and scientific breakthroughs that are fighting Cancer. We wanted their arrival to be initially magical and mysterious. so we used a glowing blue orb, an unexplained light descending upon a shadowy world.
“Disaster Movies rely heavily on vast visual spectacle and a cast of thousands, so working within our time constraints we decided to recreate this using 2D matt paintings to show a sense of the city without having to model every building.
“This gave it an illustrative and richly textured feel. Modeling and animating our cast in 3D gave us the flexibility of performance we wanted, and made them stand out from their environment.” [Watch]
For Conor Finnegan “Life Begins at Breakfast”
Nexus director Conor Finnegan leverages the charm and subtle humor of his multi-award-winning short film “Fear of Flying” for this gentle peek at a wooly, puppet-populated woodland thru London Agency Sunshine for Dorset Cereal. Conor Finnegan: “It was a tight enough schedule from initial go-ahead, with just [Watch]
Is Wonder the New Vimeo?
On March 13th the media world erupted with news of Wonder PL, a new online video platform aimed directly at Vimeo and YouTube. Like Vimeo it offers an ad-free experience for viewers and subscription-based hosting for video creators ($300/year for unlimited streaming) plus monetization tools.
We believe the upside of Wonder is the opportunity for content providers to reach a wider (non-industry) audience like they can on YouTube while maintaing the uncluttered viewing environment of Vimeo.
Yes, it will take time for Wonder to build that reach and for the motion industry to tug free from Vimeo’s near-monopoly, but there’s no denying the reality of a serious and thoughtfully designed alternative video platform is exciting.
Now that the initial Launch euphoria has eased, we asked Wonder founder Sofia Fenichell three questions:
Stash: What was lacking in the current online video world that inspired you to start a new platform?
Sofia Fenichell: A carefully thought out video platform that unearths and makes it easier to discover and share quality video content. Quality content is sitting on the shelves globally everywhere. There is the wrong perception that high quality content isn’t worth watching because it is not necessarily viral. That’s not true. Also, we believe the 30+ demographic has largely been underserved when it comes to online video. We are very focused on lifestyle categories across Knowledge, Food, Culture & the Arts, Home & Family, Entertainment and Wellness that might appeal to this demographic.
Stash: Currently all your content is curated. When will Wonder allow uploads from new users?
SF: We will be allowing uploads from new users at the end of April. We can’t wait! However, if you have great content, write to us because we are selectively bringing on new content providers.
Stash: Wonder looks poised to compete directly with Vimeo. Tell us the top three reasons content creators should switch to the Wonder platform.
SF: We have invested considerable resources in making sure the Wonder Platform is the best platform on the market:
1. Through our partnership with Ooyala, we built a custom player that enables the fastest video loading and high quality streaming. We want the viewing experience to be perfect.
2. We have created a set of tools to enable content providers to monetize their content via commerce, and soon VOD and PPV.
3. Our platform offers the best consumer experience across mobile and web giving content providers a means to reach consumers they were previously not able to reach and also to target them by demographic profile and interest graph. No one is doing this in the same way we are.
Contact Wonder at hello@wonderpl.com [Watch]
Stash 104 Hits the Streets!
Stash 104 continues our 10-year obsession with archiving exceptional animation, VFX and design work. 104 adds another 90 minutes of motion inspiration and insight to the Stash permanent collection of over 4,000 films and behind the scenes features, with creative and production notes, toolkit and links for every project [Watch]
