Damon Albarn was born in 1968 and grew up in Leytonstone, East London. He is one of Britain’s most iconic musicians, best known for being the frontman of Blur as well as the co-founder of the virtual band Gorillaz. Albarn’s latest project Everyday Robots, his solo debut, has just been released. http://www.damonalbarnmusic.com For more episodes of The Creative Class visit www.thecreativeclass.tv
Fred Deakin is a British designer, educator and musician. He is part of the electronic music duo Lemon Jelly, and was one of the founders of design firm Airside. Since 2012 Deakin has set up a new venture called Fred & Company, dedicated to artistic and interactive projects. He currently teaches on the MA Communication Design course at Central Saint Martins, London. www.freddeak.in For more episodes of The Creative Class visit www.thecreativeclass.tv
Stefan Sagmeister was born in 1962 in Bregenz, Austria. He is a New York-based designer and typographer an co-founded the globally renowned design firm Sagmeister & Walsh with Jessica Walsh. Sagmeister has won an accolade of awards and was a long-standing artistic collaborator with musicians David Byrne and Lou Reed. http://www.sagmeisterwalsh.com For more episodes of The Creative Class visit http://thecreativeclass.tv
Marc Hare is a British designer who runs the eponymous English shoe label. After being inspired in the Sierra Nevada Mountains in Spain, his first designs landed in stores in 2009. Since 2012 Hare has opened shop in Mayfair and his collections are sold across stores such as Harrods and Selfridges. http://www.mrhare.com For more episodes of The Creative Class visit http://thecreativeclass.tv
Warner Bros. is set to shoot JK Rowling’s Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them at its studios in Leavesden in the UK. The release date for the film has been set for November 2016.
The Harry Potter spin-off is based on a 54-page textbook set for Hogwarts pupils, which was published in 2001. The book is about the magical creatures in the Harry Potter universe. It purports to be Harry Potter’s copy of the textbook of the same name mentioned in Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone the first novel of the Harry Potter series.
Rowling is writing the screenplay for the new film, which is likely to be the first in a series that follows the adventures of Newt Scamander, who devotes his career to the pursuit of magical creatures. The director or cast for the film is yet to be revealed by the studio.
The news that the film is to shoot in the UK was announced on 2 July by Culture Secretary Sajid Javid at the launch of the Creative Industries Council’s new strategy to grow the UK’s position as a world leader for the creative industries.
The strategy, dubbed Create UK, has recognised five priority areas to work on for the future triumph of the creative industries: education and skills; better access to finance for creative companies; communications infrastructure; intellectual property; and doubling the value of creative industries service exports from £15.5 billion in 2011 to £31 billion in 2020.
MindShift Interactive, an insightful digital outreach agency, successfully completed a comprehensive and impactful digital and social media campaign for HomeShop18’s 360 degree brand campaign “Shopping Makes Me Happy.”
The campaign that explored humor via jokes and memes garnered 100 million impressions in less than a month. It reached out to the Indian consumers, with the first time ever use of WhatsApp marketing, thereby being the pioneers to leverage this medium. The campaign was thoughtfully implemented with a digital marketing mix of social media – Facebook, YouTube and Twitter and an interactive microsite – www.shoppingmakesmehappy.com. The customers were also engaged through HomeShop18’s email subscribers their TV, web and mobile application.
On the thought behind the campaign, MindShift Interactive CEO Zafar Rais states: “Consumers are increasingly making all their decisions through the digital medium, and hence, introducing the mascots through this route was an important part of the launch. With an interactive website launching the TVC and social media and mobile being used like never before, we’ve created a seamless connect between traditional and digital media to take it forward and create buzz, resulting in a MindShift within the advertising space. Being the first to use WhatsApp messaging without being invasive created an innovation within mobile marketing that was very well received.”
The Shopping Makes Me Happy campaign received overall impressions of over 100 million across social media, 200,000 WhatsAppSubscribers and 140,000 YouTube views for the TVC and witnessed over 320,000 unique visits on the microsite, with users being addicted to the unbeatable offers and contests like #18HappyMoments, #HS18Trivia, #ShopForPop and many other routes spread happiness amongst all. The aim of the brand campaign was to strike an instant connect with the effective storyline of Billy and Sunny – two animated protagonists and inform the customers about the credibility, wide range of products available and the best possible price on HomeShop18, a digital commerce platform, in a witty and funny way.
Speaking about the campaign, HomeShop18 CMO Vikrant Khanna said: “We are delighted with the response that we have received from HomeShop18’s ‘Shopping Makes Me Happy’ campaign. The blend of traditional and digital media ensured reaching out to each of our customer segments. The TVC, assured mass reach and digital engagement guaranteed content for all. Using the loveable and clutter breaking cats across digital through a specialized micro site, WhatsApp, memes and engaging contests has ensured success in the form of business impact and buzz for our brand.”
For the first time, digital marketing explored a new medium in the mix – WhatsApp Marketing, considering the strong penetration it has in India. MindShift Interactive innovated in the campaign by using WhatsApp to spread happiness for users’ on-the-go via amusing memes and jokes through the father-son duo of Billy and Sunny, whilst providing offers to consumers as well. Over 200,000 WhatsApp subscribers were sent daily content. The customers also had an option to subscribe to these entertaining memes, updates on the Caturday Sales and exciting offers and be part of the enjoyable life of Bill & Sunny.
On social media, the witty Billy and Sunny were used to engage with the customers through individual Twitter presence. Their conversations were focused on generic topics like happiness and excitement around shopping, fashion, jokes, etc. The duo interacted with key opinion leaders and digital enthusiasts, as two individuals that were passionate about shopping and spreading happiness through it. On Facebook, the content was intertwined with the theme of happiness and extending to interesting promotions and deals that ensured happy customers. The engagement rate soared up to 45 per cent, while the digital commerce portal saw a total of 30 per cent visits more than the usual days.
On the day of the campaign launch, Homeshop18 conducted a contest to encourage customers to participate by sharing Happy Moments over a period of three days across Twitter, Facebook and the microsite, www.Shoppingmakesmehappy.com using the hashtag #18HappyMoments. The happiest tweets received daily gifts that ranged from a VU LED TV, Nikon Camera, iPad etc.
The total impressions of the campaign were over 100 Million across the digital space, with a total of 320,000 Visits on the website, 200,000 subscribers on WhatsApp and in addition to that, the Shopping Makes Me Happy TVCs garnered a total of 140,000 Views on YouTube.
The microsite continues to offer some of the best deals the brand has to offer and engage customers with happy moments through Billy and Sunny and their fun joining consumers on WhatsApp. The move ensures emphasis on ‘Shopping Makes Me Happy’.
More than 35 years after he was first created out of terracotta modelling clay at a Bristol studio Morph is set to return, this time on the online streaming giant – YouTube.
Animators at Aardman in Bristol have spent five months creating 15 episodes using 150 clay models. They have used the original ‘Morph scales’ which ensure each model contains exactly 162g of clay to create the perfect statuette.
The first episode of the new series will air on Morph’s YouTube channel at 5.15 pm (UK standard time) on 4 July – the exact time the character first appeared on BBC1 on 15 February 1977.
According to a few reports, the return of Morph was made possible by a crowd funding campaign which raised £110,000 from 2,500 fans in a month to fund the new animations.
But the series has been produced using the same traditional animation techniques, which was axed in 1997, in the original series.
Co-founder of Aardman, Peter Lord, was surprised and humbled that even after almost 40 years of Morph’s creation; the little one still has a zealous following, especially on YouTube and Facebook.
As well as Morph’s new episodes, the character will also be used to introduce the programme ‘See Hear’, a show created with deaf or visibly impaired children in mind.
There was an issue as to whether Morph was up to the task, as although he has a thumb, his fingers are merged together, and limiting the amount he can sign. Luckily he can sign “Hello and welcome to See Hear” and one can watch the first of the new episodes via Morph’s You Tube channel on 4 July.
Crest Animation Studios Ltd. (formerly Crest Communications) an Indian animation studio founded by Shyam Raja Ramanna in 1990 is set to be delisted from the Bombay Stock Exchange.
BSE on Wednesday decided to shift stocks of 15 firms to the restricted trading category for not complying with listing agreement rules, from 9 July. The companies would be transferred to ‘Z’ group wherein their scripts would be “settled on trade-for-trade basis”, BSE said in a circular.
In 2000, it acquired Rich Animation Studios in the United States after the failures of The King and I and The Trumpet of the Swan.
In 2001, it had over 500 employees; however, it had three years of losses during which it laid off all but 110 employees. In 2004, it posted a profit and hired an additional 260 animators, and in October 2004 renamed itself to its current name. In 2010, the company released an animated feature film in conjunction with Lionsgate called Alpha and Omega in both 2D and 3D.
BSE said that these scripts “will be transferred to ‘Z’ group with effect from Wednesday, 9 July due to non compliance for two consecutive quarters that is December 2013 and March 2014 for the Clause-41 of the Listing Agreement”.
Under the provisions of Clause 41 of the listing agreement, companies listed on BSE are required to file with the exchange their quarterly results in a requisite format, within 45 days of the end of each quarter.
In mid 2013, the studio had faced a major financial crunch leading to offloading of its employees. The animation sector has always faced a challenge to sustain in the media and entertainment industry and many studios in the past have faced a similar challenge in the past.
In a first of its kind innovation, Nickelodeon and Colors, part of Viacom18 will come together to create the first ever animated integration on television. Nickelodeon’s popular characters Motu Patlu will be seen shaking a leg on the sets of the dance reality show ‘Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa’. Viewers can catch the awesome-twosome on the show on Sunday, 6 July 2014 at 9:00 pm, on Viacom18’s GEC mainstay.
On the integration Viacom 18 Media EVP & business head – kids cluster Nina Elavia Jaipuria said in a press statement: “The power of One Viacom18 gives us enormous opportunities across screens and beyond within the network. Motu Patlu on Colors’ Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa is one such path breaking and pioneering partnership where both the brands have come together to offer its audiences something that is unique and extremely entertaining at the same time.”
From comic books to a television show and made-for-TV movies; Nickelodeon has grown the Motu Patlu franchise by reaching out to kids and parents through innumerable touch points. Nickelodeon continues to extend the franchise further by uniquely engaging with kids yet again. Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa on Colors is one of kids’ favourite shows on TV. Thus, Nickelodeon and Colors have collaborated to create an innovation that is bound to entertain kids and family audiences alike.
Viacom 18 Media SVP, programming & scheduling – kids cluster Anu Sikka added: “I have always believed in the strength of our home-grown animated characters especially because of the amount of flexibility that it allows us. Motu Patlu on Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa is a perfect example of the magic that can be created through such integrations. I am sure that audiences will enjoy such creations which will encourage us to explore more such opportunities for our viewers and advertisers alike.”
In a novel approach, the popular duo will come out of their home, Furfuri Nagar to partner with the youngest contestant Akshat Singh in an innovative dance act. The animated avatar, choreographed by Vivek Chachere, won hearts of the judges and celebrity contestants on the show.
Delighted about the integration Colors weekend programming – head Manisha Sharma beamed, “In Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa, we push the envelope in terms of showcasing innovative themes and challenging dance routines. What’s wonderful about the integration is that it amalgamates live action and animation beautifully. The creatively thought out fusion act that Akshat & Vaishnavi performed with Motu & Patlu was funny and amusing and will be adored by children and adults alike.”
There is some great news for animation fans in India, DMP Animation – the studio based in Gurgaon, Haryana – is finally galloping ahead with its dream Donkey trilogy project.
Speaking to AnimationXpress.com DMP Animation founder Somesh Paliwal says: “We have been working on this project for nearly a year now and things are finally coming together.”
The thought of working around the character of a donkey had crossed Somesh’s mind when he saw the ‘Green Donkey’ campaign carried out by NGO Akshat. “Just the thought of using a character, which everyone believes to be dumb, to propagate remedial measures for bringing a change in the society struck a chord with me,” he expounds.
“Dhenchu, our Donkey is not busy with burgers and Pizzas, facebook and twitter, scams and theft, Our Donkey is neither rich nor poor ,neither the member of parliament nor Hindu or Muslim , he neither belongs to India nor Pakistan , He is neither ‘bhai’ nor any government servant so he is totally “khaali” in putting his efforts towards various untouched issues. Only he demands for little brain from intelligent human race,” he further adds.
The idea of choosing a donkey as the main protagonist was to take the character across the globe and not just focus on the Indian audience. The first feature film titled ‘Donkey in the city’ aka ‘Gadha Shehar Mein’ will be nearly 100 minutes long and is set to release in December 2015.
Somesh reveals: “Our target audience is between the age group of 8-12 years, but it’s a complete family entertainer and the franchise will grow with the audience.”
With a budget of nearly Rs 6 crore on just the production, it certainly seems to be a costly affair. The studio is currently in talks with a couple of distributers to help with the adequate number of screens for the film. “We have already spoken to folks in Northern America and Western Europe markets and are really happy with the response we got at the Cannes Film Festival this year,” exults Somesh.
The studio is targeting nearly 500 screens in India and looking at over 2,500 digital prints of the movie. But, the number is expected to go up as it is also approaching people from the south-east Asian market and the land down under.
The film is made in 3D CGI and has over 50 artists working in bringing the characters to life. The first feature is almost 70-80 per cent through in terms of production, but the studio is yet to rope in the voice cast for the film.
“We are in talks with a few guys from Bollywood, and I will be flying down to US to meet a few actors there as well, but currently we are only focused on completing the production of the feature as of now,” adds Somesh.
He is confident of the trilogy being successful and also becoming a popular character among the Indian and global audience alike. The ‘Donkey in the City’ will be in English as well as Hindi as of now, but the makers are also open to the idea of dubbing it in other languages if the opportunity arises.
Somesh reveals: “We have Fantastic Films International on board as our agents and they are really helping us in taking the film to various markets. We also intend to travel with the movie to Mipcom and MipJunior to see how the international market responds to it.”
And the action doesn’t stop there; DMP Animation is also looking to tie up with a gaming studio in Hyderabad and is currently in talks with a few, to take the engagement with the character to second screens as well. And one can’t rule out licensing and merchandising as well going forward.
Guess other studios can take a leaf out of DMP Animation’s book on how to think out of the box and come up with more unique stories apart from going the mythological way. But, at the same time the makers need to be careful with the striking similarity that ‘Dhenchu’ shares with DreamWorks’ character ‘Donkey’ from the ‘Shrek’ franchise.
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