As awards season kicks into high gear and the advertising world goes into reflective mode mulling over the best work of the year, we at Boards also take the opportunity to collate our annual It List. As with previous years, this year's list notes the people, companies, products, trends and technologies that have made the advertising landscape a fascinating one to inhabit for the last 12 months. As always, we thank those of you who took the time to jot down your thoughts as to who or what we should include, and for those of you who made the list this year, thanks for doing what you do so well. Onwards...

Advertainment
Here we are now, entertain us
Okay, we admit it. Since BMW Films we've been frankly bored to tears by a lot of what's termed branded content, as it tends to fall victim to half-baked creative, poorly thought-out ideas and heavy-handed product placement. But a sea change took place this year: incrementally brands are taking a back seat, promoting brand values rather than products. Instead of overt pack shots they're creating entertainment portals - much like music event sponsorship - letting the brand's affinity for creativity garner consumer attention. If that sounds like a free pass for agencies to create brand-free weirdness, as well as seeming financially risky and frankly sacrilegious to the gospel of advertising, it certainly can be, but it's a response to the increasingly high bar consumers place on entertainment coming from all sources. The most notable recent success was Cadbury "Gorilla" (pictured, getting ready for his close-up), Juan Cabral's latest addition to pop culture. A gorilla drumming to Phil Collins has nothing to do with chocolate, complained many in Adland. "Who cares?", countered the British public, with 10 million plus YouTube hits and countless spoofs, and, crucially, a bump in sales proving the point. Other fine examples: eBay's online short films currently making the rounds of the festival circuit; Zune Arts' continuing series, Schweppes' Film Festival, Liberty Mutual's "Responsibility Project", and Scion's Want2BSquare efforts. They're all taking the bold move of employing creative filmmakers to make films infused with brand value. The age of the brand as arts patron is fully upon us. EW
AKQA
From online to everywhere
With offices in America (San Francisco, New York and Washington), Europe (London and Amsterdam) and Asia (Shanghai), the 700-person strong AKQA has made its mark with innovative interactive work and a sharp digital focus. This year, the company solidified its advances into non-digital terrain, establishing AKQA Film (a filmed content division) and even creating radio work. "We're asking ourselves, 'Are we a digital agency?'" said New York ECD Lars Bastholm in our March '08 issue. "The struggle becomes to define the new type of agency that's not 'either/or'." Bastholm says the way to think of AKQA, at least for now, is as a strategic entertainment and technology company. But this doesn't mean the company is turning its back on digital. Its "job recruitment" site for the Coca-Cola "Happiness Factory" franchise (pictured) brought Psyop's animated characters further into the realm of entertainment with a clever, colorful online premise. If the early awards show accolades for their immersive Halo 3 web experience, part of the game's massive launch campaign orchestrated by McCann Worldgroup/T.A.G. San Francisco, are any indication, the shop that was named as one of Fast Company's "50 Most Innovative Companies" this year will find itself in more and more agency and client rolodexes this year. Good thing its name begins with 'A'. BW
Amber Music
Re-Inventing the Classics
We used to think, and maybe a little ironically, that there are some songs that are so incredibly awesome, they need not be touched. During childhood, it was the deceptively educational yet undeniably catchy "Dem Bones"; Duran Duran's "Hungry Like The Wolf" provided the soundtrack for romantic conquests in the '80s; and the salsa dance craze of the '90s, plus that old Burger King commercial, would be nothing without The Blackout-All Stars' "I Like It Like That." But how horribly wrong we were. Music production powerhouse Amber Music tackled all three with rearrangements as addictive as the originals. For Nomis "Damn Boots," the bouncy track took center stage, narrating the chain of events that lead to a soccer star's downfall. Composed by Will Bates and sung by former LCD Soundsystem guitarist/percussionist Phil Mossman, the entire track was completed in less than 24 hours. Then there's the studio's reworking of the Duran Duran classic sung by none other than cult classic himself, Bruce Campbell. Old Spice "Hungry like the Bruce" (pictured, right) found arranger H. Scott Salinas nailing the seedy, piano barman vibe to hilarious effect. Not to be outdone, the animalistic orgy of Orangina "Naturally Juicy" was spiced up even further by Colin Smith's and Simon Elm's fiery take on the '90s salsa hit, and for its raunchy effort got a music-adaptation nomination at the Clios this year. The company also won a silver Clio for its chugging sound design for Brand Jordan "Engine". CC
Anomaly
Talkin' 'bout an evolution...
A more aptly named company there isn't, but when Fast Company names you one of only two advertising shops in their "50 Most Innovative Companies" list you know it's good to be odd. New York-based Anomaly wooed us with smart work for new client Converse, but that was just the tip of the iceberg. The company isn't redefining marketing, it's building its own model: dismantling notions of what an agency is, how its relationships work, what it's responsible for and how it's paid. Remuneration is suitably progressive: compensation is agreed up-front or based on sales performance or even IP ownership, thereby sharing liability and success. Key is creating holistic solutions to business problems that are far more wide-reaching than advertising and encompass the entire company model. Sounds like snake oil? Clients including Converse, Coca-Cola and Jawbone disagree, and the company, profitable within its first year, had billings of $20 million in 2007. Take Virgin America: Anomaly created advertising, co-branded flight bags with Burton; and curated the in-flight entertainment, ticketing and plane interiors. Or Eu, an Anomaly-conceived, designed and marketed line of skin care projects funded by VC. The end of 2007 raised a fortuitous conundrum for the shop, the need for more staff to service its clients. Realizing that big agency bureaucracy breeds stagnation the answer was as disarmingly simple and obvious as the company's creative solutions: creating its own direct competitor, Another Anomaly. EW
Breakaway Boutiques
You can go your own way
It was hard not to notice the number of high-profile roster departures and upstart prodcos forming throughout 2007. First, Fredrik Bond (pictured, above) left MJZ's European wing to start up Sonny, London (he's still with the company in the US). A year later, Guy Manwaring left Therapy Films to join him, while Mark Denton opened up London-based Coy! Communications. In the US, a series of Hungry Man defections gave birth to Station Film and O Positive. HSI Productions alumni Paul Hunter and Paul Middleditch left for upstarts Pretty Bird and A WHITE LABEL Product respectively, while far away in Bangkok, top Thai director Suthon Petchsuwan left the roster at Matching Studio to start boutique shop Mum Films. So what's behind this wave of entrepreneurialism? Both Bond and O Positive founder Jim Jenkins had similar answers in last month's "Directors In Demand" feature: it's partially about being choosier with scripts and partially about lifestyle. "It can be hard at a bigger company with a lot of directors. I wanted to have more control of my reel and how it was judged," said Jenkins. "When you're surrounding yourself with creative people, especially directors, you can feed off each other and inspire each other - it's a chain reaction of positive energy," said Bond, whose company Sonny (headed by EP Helen Kenny), has not only rekindled his personal creative drive, but become a serious contender in the UK with a stable of seven directors. KR
Cause Marketing
Putting capitalism to good use
In the year since our last It List, Leo Burnett Sydney and World Wildlife Fund's Earth Hour and droga5's Tap Project for UNICEF won Titanium Lions and expanded nationally and globally, galvanizing people around pressing global issues by attempting to create movements rather than mere PSAs. Capitalism has typically trumped charity in advertising's pecking order, especially on the awards circuit where the legitimacy of unpaid client work is still murky territory. A happy medium seems to be cause marketing - when capitalism helps charity (and vice versa). Hardly a new trend, but one that gained creative momentum in '08 despite a few notable hiccups in '07: Live Earth was derided for promoting hypocrisy when fans learned of Madonna's addiction to private jet travel and Motorola's (Red) campaign lost points for canning a great Jonathan Glazer ad. This year, however, the causes were mostly celeb-free. In the US, restaurants in 16 cities sold branded tap water for $1 to raise awareness for World Water Week, while residents of 24 cities worldwide unplugged electricity for WWF's Earth Hour. There were also new campaigns: Johannes Leonardo's gripping spots for Pangea Day (pictured) used director-driven creative to promote the TED-sponsored global day of film, while Duval Guillaume Brussels' ingenious "The Blind Call" featured a hilarious TV ad encouraging viewers to insert a charitable number at the top of their address books, so whenever their pants accidentally placed a "blind call", that person would unwittingly donate a small amount to the Belgian League for the Blind. KR
Crispin Porter + Bogusky
Risky business
Yup, they did it again. In 2008, the Miami/Boulder-based idea factory's penchant for risk-taking and brand-focused creativity brought it back to our It List. Factor in its acquisition of market research consulting company Radar, as well as the launching of its own PR division and the hiring of product designers as proof that the shop isn't into "business as usual". As for work, this year, co-chairman Alex Bogusky (pictured) and his shop struck paydirt again with its integrated Burger King/Simpsons Movie tie-in. Interactive offerings like the Dominos "Pizza Builder", which gave users the ability to build their own custom pizza which could then be delivered to them, proved that Crispin gets "utility" as much as it gets "wacky". But there was plenty of wacky too, most notably in the form of the Burger King "Whopper Freakout" campaign. Putting hidden cameras in a BK location and then telling actual customers that the Whopper had been discontinued could've hugely backfired. But nobody died, the agitated patrons got their Whoppers in the end, and the client wound up with one of the most-recalled campaigns of the past six years, according to IAG Research. While not everything CP+B's touched has turned to gold (its dalliance with Nike's running shoe account lasted 13 months), the success rate is still pretty damned impressive. Let's see where it takes its new Microsoft account - "Windows Freakout", anyone? BW
Patrick Daughters
All about the transition
Not only did a certain iPod Nano commercial turn Leslie Feist into a household name, it transformed "1234" director Patrick Daughters from one of the most buzzed-about music video directors to one of the busiest and most name-checked in advertising. In a year when many spot producers were pronouncing music videos irrelevant, the 31-year-old proved it's still possible to cross over. Signed to The Directors Bureau in '06 and to Blink for UK rep a year ago, Daughters started racking up industry accolades in '07, scoring a Grammy nomination, winning best international video for the single-take "1234" at the CADS Music Vision Awards and best director at our very own First Boards Awards. More importantly, he started winning commercial jobs, bringing his penchant for evocative, and sometimes playful visual storytelling with big, emotive pay-offs to spots, such as "The Ballad of Tina Pink" and "Academy of Dreams" for Microsoft Zune. Last fall, he told Boards, "Music videos are all about the transition - they're all about how you get from the small-feeling moment to the big-feeling moment." It's a credo that's manifested in the creepy, lo-fi projections in "Plaster Casts of Everything" for Liars and the feel-good fireworks in "I Feel It All" for Feist. With spots for Motorola and Wrigley's on deck, this could be his time to cross over to spots in a big way. KR
Droga 5
Shaking up the sell
When David Droga (pictured) broke free from his post as Publicis' worldwide creative director to start his own shop, he took pains to tell the press that he wasn't turning his back on advertising. And true to his word, he hasn't. It just looks and feels a little different. Following up the big splash caused by the brilliant Ecko "Still Free" viral with the UNICEF Tap Project, in which New York City restaurants encouraged patrons to pay for tap water with proceeds going to the charity, the agency proved its mettle at dreaming up The Big Idea. And over the past year, forays into the more traditional realms of agency work, such as (gasp!) television commercials, have shown that the shop can do the "old-school mediums" just as ably (see its work for mobile company Net 10 and the Tap Project's second go-round, including "Donnie" and "Break Up"). And then there was the beta soft launch of HoneyShed. The online shopping portal, a joint venture with Publicis and Digitas with a content partner in Smuggler, was promoted as a cross between MTV and QVC. With its cast of short-short sporting girls and dudes with ironic facial hair, it's definitely skewed towards the hipster with a bit of disposable income. Reviews have been decidedly mixed for the site thus far, but even the most scathing pundits have awarded droga5 kudos for trying to shake up the art of selling. BW
Scott Duchon, Geoff Edwards
T.A.G., they're It
If anything is emerging as a veritable awards juggernaut en route to The Croisette this year, it's the exceptionally integrated Halo 3 launch campaign from T.A.G., the creative/strategic arm behind all things Xbox at McCann Worldgroup, San Francisco. The campaign, dreamed up by CDs Scott Duchon and Geoff Edwards, incorporated some of the more memorable TV spots of the year ("Diorama", "Enemy Weapon"), an incredibly immersive web experience built by AKQA, and everything from postage stamps to touring exhibitions. With the game grabbing an estimated $170 million in sales on its first day of release, it could be argued that the Halo Nation would've bought the damn thing regardless of the ads. But with the launch for Halo 3 being touted as perhaps the biggest entertainment launch in history, Duchon and Edwards' vision gave the story of Master Chief an impact beyond the hardcore gamer set. Of course, the two CDs are no strangers to awards buzz and accolades. While at TBWA\Chiat\Day, San Francisco, they were part of the team behind brilliant work for adidas ("Carry", "Unstoppable"). Moving to McCann-Erickson in 2005, the team brought its artful approach to spots for the Xbox 360 launch ("Jump Rope", "Water Fight"), a style that's been evident in their other Xbox work, including "Cops and Robbers" and "Mad World" for Gears of War. Adding their flights of fancy for Zune to the mix ("Ballad of Tina Pink", "Academy of Dreams"), we think it'll be some time before the halo surrounding this team fades (sorry, couldn't resist). BW
Encyclopedia Pictura
San Fran surrealists
It might seem odd to put a directing duo in our It List that reportedly expended Björk's $200,000 music video budget in four months, and then asked their production team to work unpaid for five additional months. But when all is said and done, it's hard not to imagine agency producers salivating at the thought of working with San Francisco-based directing duo Encyclopedia Pictura (a.k.a. Isaiah Saxon and Sean Hellfritsch). After all, they've actually managed to live up to their own hype. Björk's "Wanderlust" sees the Icelandic pop star hurtling down a river on the back of a yak toward the mouth of a forest god amidst a mix of live action, CG, puppetry, miniatures and illustration. While a painterly attention to detail and mysteriously surreal storytelling was apparent in earlier videos for Grizzly Bear and Seventeen Evergreen, the duo's technical adroitness is evidenced further by their homemade stereoscopic 3D camera, which artfully elevated "Wanderlust" above the recent crop of hokey 3D visuals. Repped by Ghost Robot in the US and Strange Beast in the UK, Encyclopedia Pictura's penchant for psychedelia, classic (and perhaps even kitschy) Hollywood influences and fantasy-mindedness make them obvious candidates for cult status. We're dying to know what they'll do next, which is why they're on this year's It List. KR
Experiential Design
See me, feel me...
The mouse? How 2006. This year saw a host of new Minority Report-style applications for movement technology, using the wow factor to woo audiences into engaging with brands. Realizing that interaction is as much about experience as pretty websites, agencies and brands have rushed to hire experience and interaction designers to bolster their creative departments. After previous successes with their Saturn installation at NextFest and the Adobe CS3 launch in 2006, Obscura Digital and Goodby, Silverstein & Partners' massive multi-touch interactive wall for HP impressed attendees at the technocrat D5 convention. The Helsinki Insitute for Information Technology's (HIIT) Citywall project (pictured) similarly democratized technology, empowering citizens to learn more about their city through an interactive touch wall that allowed users to move, enlarge and play with images gleaned from Flickr or uploaded. The Alternative's Orange storefront screen in London leveraged valuable media space to offer entertainment and news at the wave of an arm, while TBWA\Tequila's work with Augmented Reality for Infiniti, "projecting" cars onto cue cards, confounded consumers at car shows. All these examples flipped the interaction model on its head: what was once private, personal, indoor, mouse-based and abstract became outdoor, social, and public while based on the notion that interaction should be simple and intuitive. The result: richer, more engaging experiences for consumers, who'll consequently spend more time with the brand. EW
Fallon, London
World (and drum)-beating work
"We are sucking on their exhaust, gentlemen," London adblogger Scamp wrote of Fallon, London after the agency launched its new work for Budweiser UK. Directed by Harmony Korine, it was trademark Fallon: top creative helmed by a great director that refined the brand's image into a subtler, authentic Americana that played better to a British audience. There were snipes at the London office's output this year, to be sure: Cadbury "Trucks" was not the home run its predecessor, "Gorilla", was; Sony "Foam City" lacked the sparkle that has covered much of the brand's trailblazing creative, and with digital set to overtake TV in the UK as the biggest adspend in 2009, where, oh where, is the digital work? Quibbles aside, Fallon's output (far more than a one-man show) consistently stood head and shoulders above the pack: start with the undisputed British ad of the year Cadbury "Gorilla", then add the blockbuster Sony Bravia spot "Play-Doh" (pictured), the super smart Sony Walkman "Music Pieces", the sweetly successful Skoda "Cake" and more consistently strong work for Orange and Ask.com. The embarrassment of creative riches saw the agency scoop Campaign Agency of the Year for the second year running, sweep every awards show in London (including a rare D&AD Black Pencil for "Gorilla") and, importantly, notch up a 150% year-on-year rise on billings, with new accounts Eurostar, Asda, Budweiser and of course Cadbury. EW
Greig Fraser
Photographic Eye
The photographer-turned-DP made good use of his eye for evocative, intimate moments with two of the most visually stunning spots this year. It's a feat all the more striking when one considers that those moments don't readily lend themselves to awe-inspiring beauty upon first glance. Take Herringbone's short film "Hands" and Schweppes "Burst", both with frequent collaborator Garth Davis (Fraser most notably paired with the director in the high-flying and high-octane "Cops and Robbers" for Xbox 360). "Hands" takes a subject that's laughable on-paper - a man with freakishly tiny hands - and, with Fraser's deft cinematography that plays with shadows and muted tones, takes it to levels of both pathos and triumph. In "Burst" he stretches a moment that happens quicker than a blink of an eye, the burst of a balloon, and infuses it with a languid, poetic quality. Not surprisingly, Fraser grabbed awards in the Cinematography category at this year's Clio Festival for both spots (gold for "Henri", bronze for "Burst"). Aside from work such as Rupert Sanders' ominous Jordan Brand "Clocktower" and the photographic Nokia "Fairytale", helmed by Mark Malloy, the DP has two features in the pipeline; one with Baz Luhrmann, the highly-anticipated epic Australia starring Nicole Kidman, and Jane Campion's partial biopic of poet John Keats, Bright Star. CC
Nicolai Fuglsig
we tip our pints to him
By turns harshly self-critical and ultra-confident, Nicolai Fuglsig's generally indifferent assessment of his output this year highlights the disparity between his personal ambitions and the industry's perception of him. After all, this was the year the DGA crowned him - some would say belatedly - Best Commercial Director, but, apart from the Guinness epic "Tipping Point", he mostly dismisses this past 12 months as "not his year". Turning from the acutely observed, finely detailed in-camera approach of spots like Sony "Balls", Fuglsig's brand of heightened realism, honed from years as an award-winning photographer, has never been more in demand. That's demonstrated by the honor of being given the reins to "Tipping Point", and a place alongside Kleinman and Budgen on BBDO's recent Monster.com campaign. Never one to rest on his laurels, this year he signaled his arrival in the big all-rounder leagues, branching out into more effects-laden spots like Coca-Cola's battle of the balloons, "It's Mine", and the time-traveling adventure Motorola "The Journey". But by calling the latter spots "little" he gives notice of his ambitions: nothing less than the biggest commercial work and the step up to the big screen. Recently, Fuglsig started work on his feature debut, a Brazilian/American gang film, with two further scripts in the works. EW
Gaming
Not Just for the Kiddies
Whoever thought, back in those halcyon days of playing Pong, that gaming would go from niche entertainment to an influential powerhouse capturing the attention of everyone from casual gamers to major multi-national brands? By now, everyone is aware of Burger King's King Games coup, but it's surely an indicator of how the success and influence of gaming has evolved that AKQA was able to convince a brand as recognizable as McDonald's to remain behind the curtain, only gradually unveiling its sponsorship of one of the most ambitious ARGs to date, the Olympic-themed The Lost Ring (pictured). And what's talk of gaming without mentioning Guitar Hero and now, Rock Band? A phenomena that has stretched into the music and TV industries, the game has not only become a venue for acts to offer their music as downloadable singles but at least one so far, Judas Priest, has offered an entire album. Thanks to the game's relationship with publisher MTV Games, Rock Band has also been the subject of a VH1 Behind The Music mockumentary, and real gamers were given the opportunity to engage in a battle of the bands on Total Request Live. With all of this exposure, and independent technology research and consulting firm Yankee Group's prediction that advertising in gaming will reach the $562 million revenue mark by 2009, with advergames accounting for $312 million, gaming is poised to continue its ascension in the entertainment landscape. CC
iPhone
The "It" thingy
Is it a phone? A computer? A music player? A conversation piece? The Apple iPhone is all that and more, judging by the ravenous hunger for the product in the US and abroad. While it does actually make phone calls, the features that had most people quivering in tech-induced ecstasy upon its launch last June were the 8GB music and video players and the touchscreen desktop, upon which you can open up your web browser and scroll and tap to your heart's content. Just as the iPod has virtually dominated the market for portable music players, Steve Job's crew's latest gizmo has carved out its stake in the crowded smart phone marketplace through typically Apple attributes: sleek, sexy design and intuitive ease of use. The recent arrival of the iPhone Developer Program, with which tech-savvy types can create their own iPhone applications, has added an inclusive element to the offering. At press time rumors of a June launch for the 3G iPhone were still just conjecture, but the buzz includes talk of GPS, video conferencing capability and mobile TV. All this talk makes it hard to wait for the third-gen iPhone, which will doubtlessly give users the capability of beaming themselves to different cities, Star Trek-style. Seriously though, it's cool shit like the iPhone that just might make consumers at large genuinely excited about watching, interacting with and even creating mobile content. BW
Interactive Swedes
World's best at the web?
We won't use the old "must be something in the water" line. Okay, we kinda just did. But in truth, we know better. Sweden has been a leader in broadband usage and new technology adoption for years - indeed, it's been reported that a 75-year-old Karlstad woman boasts what could be the world's fastest broadband connection, and can download a full-length movie in two seconds flat. Take that, MPAA! Look at the interactive output from digital shops du jour like Farfar (featured in last year's It List), B-Reel and North Kingdom (creators of the Coke Zero Game site, pictured), and you'll see across the board the unique sense of clean, functional design married with a healthy dollop of tech wizardy and, when called for, understated but cheeky humor. With educational facilities such as Hyper Island and the newly-established Farfar Academy (a joint initiative between Farfar and Stockholm's Berghs School of Communication) available for interactively-inclined students, there should be no shortage of fresh new Swedish talent. "I think the Swedish interactive market will continue to constitute a very good example of quality design and technology," Camilla 'stblom, COO of Fantasy Interactive told Boards back in September. "We will be leaders until someone steps up to the plate and takes us on!" Consider the gauntlet thrown. BW
Johannes Leonardo
Thinking big by getting smaller
In a year that saw many of New York's creative top dogs move across town to new digs, perhaps the biggest question mark hung over Saatchi & Saatchi, New York golden boys Jan Jacobs and Leo Premutico. Credited (alongside Tony Granger) with the creative renaissance that had turned stuffy Saatchi into a top flight agency, but doubtless thinking they'd done all they could at a big shop, they jumped ship at roughly the same time as Granger in November. Ending months of speculation, they opened WPP-backed Johannes Leonardo shortly after with a mandate to provide holistic marketing that would tackle the changed needs of brands and consumers in the new media era. If that all sounds like heard-it-before media-neutral lip service, they immediately dispelled any doubts with stunning work for Pangea Day and soccer brand Nomis; big, simple ideas across different media, and beautifully told. "Tank Driver" for Pangea Day flipped the script on the iconic Tiananmen Square footage of the lone protester, making us take stock of alternative perspectives, while Nomis "Damn Boots" (pictured, left) was a rip-roaring four-minute web tirade against celebrity-endorsed soccer boots backed by a guerilla campaign. Both made the most of small budgets, opting for creative latitude via daring director choices (Woof Wan Bau, The Glue Society, Kosai Sekine, Kris Moyes) and cheap but effective media. If they can extrapolate those qualities to bigger clients - and remember they did just that creatively at Saatchi (think Tide and Wendys) -- expect very big things from JL. EW
Angus Kneale
The Midas Touch
The words VFX and magic have been used side-by-side almost to the point of exhaustion. Thus, to describe the work of The Mill, New York co-founder and creative director Angus Kneale as being touched by magic would be somewhat trite, that is, if it wasn't what he was literally called to do for JCPenney in its Nicolai Fuglsig-helmed "It's Magic". The spot is a dazzling array of classic magic tricks, including the rabbit out of the hat and the disappearing man. Plus, there's a twist on a Houdini favorite in the form of an exploding water-filled phone booth. But that wasn't Kneale's only feat. His work was all over some of the year's biggest and most buzz-worthy spots, including Monster "Daybreak" and Super Bowl favorite Coca-Cola "It's Mine". He assisted Jan Jacobs' and Leo Premutico's new agency Johannes Leonardo and The Glue Society in bringing a harrowing perspective to the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests for global film event Pangea Day. And, let's not forget the tragedy of Skittles "Touch" - directed by Tom Kuntz with Kneale as lead flame op - where the simultaneous blend of comedy and wretchedness hinges on the instantaneous transformation of office objects into Skittles. CC
Ellen Kuras
Declares Independence
Good things come to those who wait. Take the case of celebrated DP and frequent Spike Lee and Michel Gondry collaborator, Ellen Kuras, who finally sat in the director's chair with her debut film The Betrayal (Nerahkoon), shot over an astounding 23 years. The critically-acclaimed, and without a doubt beautifully-shot documentary tells the story of Thavisouk Phrasavath (also Kuras' co-director), whose father aided the CIA during its covert operations in Laos in the 1970s. Recounting Phrasavath and his family's escape to Thailand and finally New York, the film's tale of war, family, survival and forgiveness was nominated for the Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival. On top of doc filmmaking, Kuras tried her hand at sweding - Gondry's term for the threadbare remakes that were at the heart of this year's comedy Be Kind Rewind - as DP for the film. She'll also join Oscar-winning director Sam Mendes (American Beauty) on his upcoming comedy This Must Be the Place. The spot world wasn't without Kuras' estimable talents. This year saw her team up with heavyweight director Nicolai Fuglsig for two epic spots: Guinness "Tipping Point", which looked like a million bucks times twenty (the spot's rumored cost, which Fuglsig discounted in Boards' May issue); and Coca-Cola's "It's Mine", which debuted during this year's Super Bowl. Kuras also added additional photography to Martin Scorsese's ode to Hitchcock, "The Key to Reserva" for Freixenet and DPed on Gondry's "Declare Independence" for music video maverick Björk. CC
Psyop
Naturally It
They've graced our last two It Lists, but even by high Psyop standards, this was one helluva year. There was the news that had plenty in the biz buzzing - $30 million in financial backing from Israeli venture capital firm Fortissimo. The deal will see the animation powerhouse become Psyop Inc., with shares listed on NASDAQ. "This is a great opportunity for us to continue to grow the business while maintaining our financial and creative independence," said exec producer Justin Booth-Clibborn, now CEO, back in January. That growth has already been in full effect, with an LA office now open. An R&D office in Israel is expected to open as part of the new deal. Will TV and feature work follow? No one's saying... yet. Beyond the business stuff, Psyop continued to amaze with clips such as the strangely sensual "Naturally Juicy" (pictured, right) for Orangina through FFL, Paris, in which woodland animals have what amounts to a horny hoedown while splashing in the fizzy orange drink. Their "Happiness Factory" work for Coca-Cola extended into a sequel ("Happiness Factory: The Movie") as well as a website built by AKQA. Psyop the directorial collective, comprised of Marco Spier, Marie Hyon, Todd Mueller, Kylie Matulick and Eben Mears and repped by Stink for the UK and Europe, also scored with adidas work for the Beijing Olympics and the gorgeous Guinness "Dot", while the LA outpost made a splash with Häagen-Dazs "Opera". Smart, pretty work from a pretty smart team. BW
Rick Russell
He's Your Daddy
It would be easy for Final Cut founder Rick Russell to keep the spotlight on himself, especially with three silver Clios for cutting Absolut "Protest", Guinness "Tipping Point" and Monster "Daybreak". Then there's the short film he cut for first-time director Matthew Brown, The Tonto Woman, which ended up with a nomination at this year's Academy Awards. Plus, Russell's been recognized twice at the 2008 AICEs with nominations for "Daybreak" and Rupert Sanders' Hummer "Don't Blink". But his proudest achievement doesn't appear to be the work he's cut; rather, it's the work from his roster of Final Cut editors that makes Russell's chest swell the most. "My proudest achievement is how many editors we have who have worked all the way up from runner and are still with me 10 years on," he says. One such editor is Jo Guest, who cut the giant Cadbury "Gorilla". In turn, the Final Cut team - now three offices strong with Los Angeles being the most recent addition to New York and London - seems to regard its leader with an equal amount of admiration. For his 40th birthday, Russell received a collage from the London office, created from pictures of each of the crew as kids and an inscription reading, "Who's the daddy?" CC
So Me
Illustrator to the stars
As art director for Paris-based electro label Ed Banger Records, So Me (a.k.a. Bertrand de Langeron) has given record-buyers a reason to, well, buy more records. As the music industry inches ever digital-wards, his colorfully comic-like pop art sleeve designs for Ed Banger acts Justice, DJ Mehdi and SebastiAn have given the label an instantly recognizable - and highly collectable - brand identity. His illustrations have since appeared in Jonas&Francois-directed videos for Kanye West ("Good Life", pictured) and Justice ("D.A.N.C.E."), a Nike campaign for the French market and on a line of limited edition t-shirts for H&M. He's also entered the "serious" art arena with a series of portraits of mustachioed Ed Banger label founder Busy P. So Me is the latest in a long line of artists influenced by skateboard and graffiti culture to cross over into the commercial realm, and part of a new generation of illustrators/artists whose work translates across all forms of media. He's also been ripped off by advertising, specifically TV commercials - the mark of a truly influential It Lister. KR
Jerry Solomon
Epoch's indefatigible exec
True, he didn't partner with a hip young agency and create an online portal that mixed advertising with entertainment, as in droga5 and Smuggler's HoneyShed. But, if a fair amount of emails from readers spanning the agency and production worlds is any indication, Epoch Films' LA-based executive producer Jerry Solomon is "It" when it comes to what's needed in an EP. "He's a huge advocate for the work, and he makes it so damn easy to get the job done," says Ogilvy NY senior partner/director of broadcast production Patti McConnell.. Under Solomon and president/founder Mindy Goldberg's watch, Epoch served up tasty stuff for its agency partners in '07/'08, including recent strong Nike work for Wieden+Kennedy ("My Better" helmed by Stacy Wall) and, of course, the ongoing, and still award-winning, "Get a Mac" campaign for Apple with spots directed by Phil Morrison. This year saw Epoch embark on an international alliance with UK prodco Rattling Stick, bringing its esteemed roster, including co-founders Ringan Ledwidge and Daniel Kleinman, to the US market. The company has another feature about to roll out, Matt Aselton's Gigantic. Directors joining the Epoch roster include Wilfrid Brimo and documentarian George Hickenlooper. And while Epoch's press machine has announced the company's intent to make moves into producing for digital initiatives, it's a safe bet that Solomon, the heart and soul of its West Coast digs, will be dedicated to what he does well - getting the job done right. BW
Stan Winston Studio
Gorillas in Outer Space
Stan Winston Studio has been "it" since the days of simultaneously wowing and scaring the wits out of people with award-winning work on films such as The Terminator and Aliens. This past year, Hollywood again saw the studio at work in the summer's first official blockbuster, box-office smash, Iron Man. But of the 150 spots that the LA-based studio worked on last year, including Monster "Legs" (pictured, a behind the scenes shot), Axe "Chocolate Man" and the ubiquitous BK King, it's the two that undeniably dominated the ad landscape - Halo 3 "Diorama" and Cadbury "Gorilla" - that took the LA-based creature and character effects company into the It List stratosphere. The studio created the miniature figurines for the diorama featured in the Halo 3 campaign, which took on a life of its own outside the TV spot. A making-of documentary created an entire mythology around the work, positioning it as a monument to the "real-life" Halo wars, and its figurines as being painstakingly crafted from face scans of "actual" soldiers. There's also the website, which allows viewers to zoom in and properly salivate over the detailed models. And then there's "Gorilla," the success of which hinged not only on its groundbreaking weirdness but on the believability of its drumming protagonist. After all, if you didn't buy the passion clearly expressed in the face of the Phil Collins-loving primate, then wouldn't the spot have been just another guy-in-a-gorilla-suit gag? CC
VBS.tv
Bringing vice and virtue online
Is it us, or are special needs pets soooooooo adorable? Who wouldn't want to buy advertising on a show all about baby walruses, two-legged dogs and funny bunny hats? You'll find them all on "The Cute Show", one of online web channel VBS.tv's offerings - in addition to more than 45 programs focused on everything from naked women to North Korea. Essentially a media company with an in-house ad agency (Virtue Worldwide), VBS.tv earns a spot on our It List for its visionary approach to online TV. The idea for VBS.tv was born when Spike Jonze asked Vice Magazine's co-founders Shane Smith, Suroosh Alvi and director Eddy Moretti if they shoot their articles, which increasingly resembled something like, as they put it, "60 Minutes meets Jackass." - a mix of streetwise cynicism and gutsy international reportage. The conversation with Jonze sparked the DVD release The Vice Guide To Travel and the documentary film Heavy Metal In Baghdad. Then last summer, with financing from Viacom's MTV Networks, VBS.tv recruited Jonze as creative director, went live and now has distribution deals in the US and Canada. Through in-house agency Virtue (headed up by ex-Fallon strategist Spencer Baim) and production company Vice Films, VBS.tv has integrated brands such as Puma, Harmonix (Rock Band), Colt 45 and Nokia into content and has partnered with CP+B and Arnold Worldwide to shoot spots for the American Legacy Foundation's "Truth" campaign (pictured). KR