News

Fast Company Celebrates 100 Most Creative People in Business

The afternoon following AICP in New York, Raz PR attended an event held by Fast Company magazine to fete "The 100 Most Creative People in Business." The June 2009 cover story by Mark Borden included at #79, Digital Domain's Ed Ulbrich, as well as some familiar names from the animation/visual effects/motion graphics universe, such as Karin Fong from Imaginary Forces, Kyle Cooper from Prologue Films, and Jim Jannard from RED Camera. You can check out all 100 at: http://www.fastcompany.com/100/


Ed Ulbrich, President, Commercials and Executive VP of Production for Digital Domain, speaks to attendees of Fast Company's "100 Most Creative People in Business" event in New York City on June 10, 2009

Fast Company Editor-in-Chief Robert Safian introduced the day's speakers, which included Ed Ulbrich from Digital Domain wowing the audience with an edited version of his TED talk about "The Curious Face of Benjamin Button." Other speakers included Karin Fong showing Terminator 2's "Machine Vision," Dr. Pier Giulianotti from the University of Illinois giving us a fascinating look at the future of robotic surgery, and a panel of speakers which included Noah Brier from Barbarian Group, Simon Collins from Parsons, and MIT Media Lab Presidential Fellow Neri Oxman, who graced the cover of the June 2009 issue. It's undeniable to those who passed the magazine by on the newsstands that Ms. Oxman embodies brains and beauty in equal (and some would say, enviable) measure. It's women like this (and not just the celebutante du jour) who should be gracing the covers of fashion rags more often.

AICP New York 2009

On June 9th, Raz PR headed east to NYC to attend the AICP Show. While the recession was an unavoidable topic during the post-screening cocktail chatter, it was at least reassuring to know that it's hardly affected the quality of creative output. The work we saw in the MOMA theater was as funny, heart-wrenching, thoughtful and provocative as ever. And there's at least one silver lining in the state of the economy -- traveling and staying in NYC for business is finally affordable again. (which means you'll be seeing Raz PR back in the city very soon.)

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All Atwitter About NAB 2009

We’re back from NAB 2009 in Las Vegas, which was an incredible show for RazPR despite the widely reported plummet in attendance.  The week started early Sunday with the Autodesk press conference, where the big news was Flare, a new software-only companion product to Flame containing many of the powerful VFX toolsets of Flame and Inferno at a fraction of the price.  Autodesk’s Bruno Sargeant and team did a great job. Hordes of journalists twittered and blogged about the news before the event was even over.  The Autodesk User Cocktail party later that evening was an elegant affair and a lot of fun. 

 

Monday morning started with the AJA press breakfast, and the official launch of the Ki Pro, a portable digital disk recorder that enables full 10-bit Pro Res files to be acquired directly from camera using anything from a JVC or Canon Camcorder to a kit from ARRI or RED.  The press release also marked the debut of Io Express, a cool cross-platform portable I/O device ideal for monitoring and mastering in file-based workflow environments.  AJA's KONA LHi, XENA LHi, Support for Adobe CS4 Apps, and Hi5-3G and HDP2 mini converters were also introduced.  Over 50 journalists from all over the world were captivated by presenters Richard Townhill, Apple’s director of video applications marketing, and Nick Rashby, president of AJA.  New AJA product marketing manager Bryce Button created the stunning launch videos.

 

Packed crowds checking out Ki Pro at the AJA booth during NAB

Frantic Films also launched Deadline 3.1 from its booth on the show floor and company president and creative director Chris Bond charmed several journalists with news of the company’s latest products and visual effects projects, including recent work on “Dragonball: Evolution” and “Watchmen”.

 

Everyone at NAB, including journalists, attendees, technophiles, publicists and exhibitors alike all seemed to be twittering from the show.  It was pretty incredible to behold the power of Twitter as a very effective PR and marketing tool.  New product and event news spread like wildfire, and our clients’ booths were packed.  Live twittering from press conferences, press meetings and booths provided an instant way to gauge industry response to the show news and made it clear what was resonating with audiences.

 

We closed out NAB with the AJA VIP party at Club Jet.  Over 1500 partiers let their hair down and a great time was had by all.  Who knew what a few poles in a club could do to help many an engineer unabashedly get in touch with their inner stripper?  The music, the crowd, the energy—everything was perfect—do a search for the live Twitter feeds from the party to prove it! 

 

As the show came to a close, it was no surprise to see AJA sweep all major show awards (Videography Best of Show, DV Best of Show, Broadcast Engineering Pick Hit and TV Technology Star Awards) for their newly launched Ki Pro—and we have a feeling that there will be many journalists coming out of the woodwork vying to review early releases of this product!

Recap of F5 in NYC

I'm freshly back from NAB in Vegas, but wanted to rewind the clock a bit and talk about my great experience at the first F5 fest that took place in NYC April 16-17.

The brainchild of the uber-talented and ridiculously nice Justin Cone from Motionographer, F5 brought together some of the most inspired creative minds in the business, including Ed Ulbrich of Digital Domain, who walked the audience through the company's Academy Award-winning work turning Brad Pitt into a man who ages backward for The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. (disclaimer: Ed/DD's a client, so I've heard him speak about this process numerous times already - despite that, it never ceases to amaze. I'm not the only one captivated - do a Twitter search for "Ed Ulbrich + F5" to see what I mean.)

Ed Ulbrich of Digital Domain speaking at the F5 Fest. (Image from http://www.f5fest.com/blog/)

The nearly 20 speakers also included Rachel Maddow from MSNBC's "The Rachel Maddow Show," who pondered the topic of missplaced nuclear weapons, Charlie White examined teen pop culture as artform, The Blackheart Gang entertained and enlightened us in all their non-sequitur glory, and Prologue Films showed some breathtaking film title sequences -- "Six Feet Under" is one of my all-time favorite shows, and I always looked forward to sitting through the show open. Check out F5's live blog of the event at: http://www.f5fest.com/blog/

While in NYC, I also got the chance to meet up with some members of the media, including Stuart Elliott from the New York Times, Ann Diaz from Creativity, Stephen Price from STASH, Shanna Green from Promax/BDA's Daily Brief and Dzine.tv, and Danny Edwards from Shots, who all graciously took time out of their busy days to meet, eat or have a drink with me.

Hopefully Justin and his super team of volunteers will orchestrate a follow-up in 2010. F6, anyone?

2009 Award Season Wrap-Up

The other weekend, Raz PR had the pleasure of attending the VES Awards at the Hyatt Regency Century Plaza in Century City, an event widely considered the harbinger of who will take home the Best Visual Effects Oscar at the Academy Awards.

In addition to snagging the VES Award for Outstanding Visual Effects in a Commercial for Bacardi "Sundance,” Digital Domain’s pioneering work age-reversing (a seemingly ageless!) Brad Pitt in “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” was recognized with four VES awards, including Outstanding Visual Effects in a Visual Effects Driven Motion Picture (VES’ equivalent of best picture). Once again, the Visual Effects Society predicted right. Digital Domain was the winner the following Sunday night as Digital Domain's Eric Barba took to the stage to accept the Oscar on behalf of the Button visual effects team.

Autodesk’s VP of the Digital Entertainment Group, Stig Gruman, also presented the first-ever student award to Sandy Widyanata and Courtney Wise, who created their short film, "PLASTIC," as a graduation project while studying at the Australian Film Television and Radio School. That film, along with the rest of the student award nominees can be viewed at http://www.youtube.com/autodesk.

Congratulations to all the winners!

Happy Holidays from Raz PR!

Whether you're based in Montréal, Sydney, New York, Amsterdam, Overland Park, San Francisco, Auckland, Paris, Mumbai, Winnipeg or London, or you're right here in Los Angeles (where it's not 72 degrees and sunny, for once!), we hope you're staying warm and safe. Happy holidays from Raz PR.

(Taken at the Wiredrive holiday party. Thanks for the photo, Erika!)

Baby Theo

Introducing the latest addition to RazPR:  Theo Raz Carlson, born November 3rd at 11:55PM (just five minutes shy of an unforgettable election day!)  He is a cute and wonderful little guy and is already quite comfortable hanging out at the RazPR offices, sitting in on conference calls and being held by his surrogate RazPR aunties! 

5D: The Future of Immersive Design

Raz PR joined approximately 1,000 other attendees at the first annual 5D: The Future of Immersive Design conference held at CSU Long Beach October 4-5. Events included the very popular "Design in Flux: Immersive Design and the New Visual Narative" panel moderated by production designer Alex McDowell of Minority Report fame, and featuring Avatar production designer Rick Carter, Harry Potter art director Tino Schaedler, Autodesk's Sebastian Sylwan and EA Games art director Habib Zargarpour.

Our personal highlight? Getting to see the first public viewing of footage from The Watchmen!

72andSunny LA Launch Party

Having outgrown its El Segundo studio, Raz PR client 72andSunny packed up and moved into new digs—10,000-square-foot's worth—this past September, and to celebrate its new home, threw a massive party. A highlight was definitely The Vader Project art exhibit showcasing 95 Darth Vader busts, each designed by a different artist, including Frank Kozik, Marc Ecko, Tokidoki and Robbie Conal. Darth as Carmen Miranda, Darth as Bozo the Clown, and my personal favorite, Darth as Pinhead from Hellraiser. Who knew the Dark Lord of the Sith was such a style icon?

Raz PR at IBC 2008

Raz PR attended IBC 2008 in Amsterdam September 12-16. In addition to some very busy days staffing press meetings on the show floor for client AJA Video, we attended as many parties as possible, sharing toasts with old friends and new.

Boards Creative Workshop 2008

The Toronto-based crew of Boards magazine came out to sunny California this past September for the Los Angeles leg of its multi-city Boards Creative Workshop tour. Kicking off the event was an exclusive dinner at the historic Campanile restaurant, where the staff of Boards and Wiredrive feted the workshop's advisory panel, speakers and VIP guests.

The next afternoon, upon arriving the Freud Playhouse at UCLA, we were told by Boards publisher Russell Goldstein that due to unforeseen circumstances, the keynote speaker--CSI's Anthony Zuiker--had to drop out. But by some stroke of luck, Boards managed to secure Sir Ken Robinson, a master lecturer who has graced the stages of the TED Conference and the United States National Governors Association. And yes, he's also been knighted.

While it would have been interesting to hear the musings of the valet driver-turned-creator of the wildly popular CSI franchise, Sir Ken's talk about harnessing creativity was an inspiration, and provided a great lead-in to the rest of the day. The afternoon also included a talk about "Art, Ads and Authenticity" from Jonathan Wells of FLUX, who shared the stage with Aaron Rose, director of Beautiful Losers, and political street artist Robbie Conal.

The day ended with a closing-night party hosted by Raleigh Studios on their new scenic NYC city block, as revelers ate, drank and conversed well into the evening.

e2 at the California Academy of Sciences

While kontentreal’s e2 is currently in its third season on PBS, RazPR is promoting the series for the second season in a row. If you haven’t seen it, check your local PBS listings for airtimes, or visit www.e2-series.com to stream a recent episode. It’s a great program that explores the innovators and initiatives driving more sustainable approaches to design, architecture, urban planning, energy and transportation.

One of this season’s episodes focuses on the Art and Science of Renzo Piano, highlighting his latest masterpiece, The California Academy of Sciences in San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park. We were fortunate enough to see the stunning building prior to it’s public debut at a very special screening event co-hosted by Autodesk and KQED.

SIGGRAPH 2008

SIGGRAPH 2008 took place in Los Angeles from August 12-14th and we kept busy managing PR efforts for eight clients at the show this year. SIGGRAPH week started a day early with a press open house on Monday at VICON House of Moves that was a lot of fun for all involved. Check out the stories on Hollywood Reporter TV.com and FXGuide TV to get a flavor for what was in store for the journalists that attended.  Monday afternoon our team headed to downtown for the Autodesk press conference where eight new product announcements were revealed. Later that night Autodesk put on a great show at the Shrine Auditorium for its annual user group meeting and party. The room was full and the audience was very engaged.

. The conference itself was a relay race of press meetings for clients including AJA, Aguru, Autodesk Media & Entertainment, Digital Concepts Group, Frantic Films VFX, Massive Software, Tweak Software and VICON. Tuesday night’s Massive House Party hosted by Massive Software and VICON House of Moves at LA’s Custom  Hotel featured samba dancers, a burlesque show, synchronized swimmers and was overflowing with fabulous partygoers. A long day of meetings on Wednesday was rewarded with an evening outing with the Autodesk PR team for manicures, pedicures, foot massages and Japanese food at R23.

A highlight of the show was Thursday morning’s game panel “Games: Evolving on an Order of Magnitude” featuring Jeff Lander, TD at Electronic Arts; Steve Sullivan, Director of R&D, Lucasfilm; Martin Walker, CTO of A2M; Lyle Hall, VP and EP of THQ; Steve Theodore, Technical AD at Bungie Studios, and moderated by Autodesk’s very own Michel Kripalani. The discussion was lively and compelling and despite the 8:30AM start time—the room was full and very engaged. As the week closed we were exhausted, but excited to pore over all the great press coverage that our clients garnered—the sure mark of a successful show!

Bollywood & Hollywood

There's been a lot in the media lately about the growing relationship between Bollywood and Hollywood. We experienced this trend firsthand when two RazPR clients, Frantic Films and Post Logic Studios, were acquired by global post and VFX powerhouse Prime Focus Group, based in India. Hear what CNBC had to say about these developments in a segment that featured interviews with Prime Focus Group founder Namit Malhotra and Autodesk Media & Entertainment VP Stig Gruman.

Cannes Do

Congrats to 72andSunny for its Cannes Gold Lion win for Nike's "The Next Level" film directed by Guy Ritchie!

Happy Troika de Mayo

Every year, the Raz-ers trek it to Hollywood to attend Troika Design Group's annual Troika de Mayo fete. With plenty of homemade Mexican food to fill our bellies and an open bar stocked with margaritas and Coronas, the party was a perfect way to celebrate the warm weather and provided a good excuse to battle it out on the Wiis for the Rock Band title.

And every year, Troika taps local artists to create Cinco de Mayo-themed interactive pieces that make use of the studio space and provide party-goers with nice conversation starters. Hey! Dig the dapper electrocuted skeleton!

Iconix Video at NAB 2008

Raz PR client Iconix Video made a big splash at this year’s NAB exhibition with the introduction of the Studio2K, the only point-of-view camera capable of 2K outputs for both digital cinema and stereo 3D applications.  Check out the full story on CNNMoney.com!

Dolphins & Whales 3D IMAX Premiere in Boston

Dolphins & Whales 3D: Tribes of the Ocean recently premiered exclusively at the New England Aquarium's Simons IMAX Theatre in Boston. The film's narrator Daryl Hannah, presenter Jean Michel Cousteau, renowned oceanographer Dr. Sylvia Earle and the filmmakers--Jean Jacques Mantello, Gavin McKinney and Francois Mantello were in Boston to promote the opening. Local CBS, NBC, Fox and cable outlets, the Boston Globe, Herald and other news dailies were a few of the many journalists that covered the lovely event despite the miserable weather!

Daryl and Francois don their groovy 3D specs to prepare for the debut screening

Dr. Sylvia Earle presenting to a packed house of educators

Me between Jean Michel and his son Fabien Cousteau

"Cordova," one of the NEAQ's adorable fur seals

The Next Level of Awesome in WIRED Magazine

"The Software That Will Take Digital F/X to the Next Level of Awesome" reads the headline in Michael Behar's fantastic WIRED Magazine profile of Autodesk engineer-superhero Jos Stam. The article does a beautiful job of showing the face and personality of one of the many real software developer geniuses that otherwise remain largely invisible to the world beyond the geek-o-sphere.