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April 2009

STREET SMARTS: SÜPERFAD DIRECTS PROTEGE SHOE LAUNCH FOR KMART AND DRAFTFCB

KMART premiered a commercial that launches its exclusive arrangement with Protege, a brand new shoe brand created with NBA star Al Harrington. The spot was directed by Justin Leibow of Süperfad for Agency Draftfcb and features Harrington presenting the philosophical ingredients that make up his new, high performance basketball line at an accessible price point.

To approach the commercial launch of this unique line for retailer Kmart, Süperfad started with the premise that the shoes are an authentic expression of their origin. The spot combines live action sequences of Harrington both on court with him presenting photo-real animated elements that deftly come together to create the Protege. The Protege begins as a reflection of Harrington's upbringing, drawing upon hundreds of details frame-by-frame, moment-by-moment.

Protege was designed so that basketball players of all ages and income levels can have high quality, top of the line shoes just like the pros wear. Retailing for $34.99, the shoes rival those at 3-4 times the price and are personally wore on-court by Harrington and other major players.

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PSYCHIC BUNNY HELPS PRODUCE ICT'S BILATERAL NEGOTIATION GAME FOR THE US ARMY

Hybrid production studio Psychic Bunny is excited to announce that ELECT BiLAT, one of the largest efforts to which the firm has contributed its game design and writing services, is being deployed for training. Developed by the University of Southern California's Institute for Creative Technologies (ICT), BiLAT is a 3D game environment and bilateral negotiation simulator with emphasis on cultural sensitivity for use by the US Army. ICT tapped Psychic Bunny to develop the story, characters, and pen over 40,000 lines of dialogue for virtual characters, as well as to produce live action scenarios and additional course materials featured in the game.

In BiLAT, players must decode intertwined scenarios about building civil society in an unnamed Iraqi town that involve improving local markets, shoring up the health care system, maintaining the power grid, supporting local law enforcement, and cleaning up endemic corruption in the area's government. The scenarios were based on real life stories as well as information gathered from subject matter experts and other resources.

For Psychic Bunny, the project represents the full scope of its capabilities from production, to animation and story development and writing. "We started out small, writing content for the software simulation," explains Psychic Bunny Partner/Creative Director Jesse Vigil. "But from there our ideas and work spider-webbed outward to include fundamental aspects of the game design itself, interface design, collateral including a fast-play card-game version, and a series of short films intended to accompany the software experience itself."

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KINKA USHER & NTROPIC BRING WEALTH OF KNOWLEDGE IN QUIRKY CAMPAIGN FOR KGB

Ntropic was commissioned by The Brooklyn Brothers to complete a comedic eight-spot campaign for kgb (Knowledge Generation Bureau), the world's largest provider of directory assistance and enhanced information services. Working closely with Director Kinka Usher, Ntropic delivered sleek VFX of compelling intricacy, as well as futuristic interior and exterior settings, rendering an ambience instrumental in conveying kgb's uncanny omniscience and stylish identity.

Offering a behind-the-scenes glimpse at kgb's hi-tech facilities, the witty spots follow a prospective agent and "knowledge" prodigy, from the grueling interview (steeped in pop trivia that must be answered at lightning speeds) to orientation, before concluding with her inaugural street assignment alongside her token chauvinistic partner and rival.

"We were brought in to help create the world and buildings that these people operated in," explains Andrew Sinagra, Creative Director of Ntropic. "Kinka had defined ideas about the style of the building exteriors and the walls, which were created from books - and played on the idea of people surrounded by knowledge."

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COMPANY X & DETOX CREATE LUSH ANIMATED VIDEO FOR NAT KING COLE

EMI Records tapped Company X to produce a promotional music video for RE: GENERATIONS, a remix album featuring modern interpretations of jazz legend Nat King Cole's indelible work. The album features a diverse cast of artists including daughter Natalie Cole, will.i.am, Bebel Gilberto, Stephen and Damien Marley, The Roots, and TV on the Radio, among others. Company X and its production arm, Detox, directed, edited and animated the video, which includes 2D stop-motion, 3D and After Effects.

Set to a remix of Cole's "Lush Life," produced by Cee-Lo (member of Gnarls Barkley), the video embarks on an array of contrastive animated portraits of Cole, inspired by classic album cover artwork, and evoking the heart and soul of the venerable jazz singer's craft and guise. Terence Ziegler, who co-directed with Barney Miller, Owner/Editor of Company X, also handled the 3D animation and After Effects, creating around-the-world iconic imageries, as well as graphic transitions.

"We came up with many of our ideas on the fly, marrying the type treatment, graphics and sequences together," says Miller. "Some of our transitions were done in editorial. There is a red line throughout the piece, which serves as a unifying graphic element, and represents the journey that Nat takes in life. We had an idea, a track and rhythm; it was a different way of working. We were able to work more intuitively using our graphics as footage."

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