Singha Transportraits Wins A Telly
Gertrude Inc. kicked off their Singha Transportraits campaign in Los Angeles and featured world-renowned visual artist Retna and I got to produce these mini-docs for the campaign series!
At the behest of my dear friend, respected visionary and Gertrude, Inc. Co-founder and Creative Director Otis Gibson, I caught up with renowned LA artist Retna to get inside his interpretation of Singha’s Mythical Lion and the origins of his own unique form of artistic expression in this docu-short which received a bronze Telly Award. Learn more at Artsy.net
Singha Beer kicked off their Singha TransPortraits campaign in Los Angeles on October 23, 2010; and enlisted the participation of one of the most unique and sought after “street” artists on the planet, Retna. In this video, Tatu director Charles Little II caught up with Retna to get inside his interpretation of Singha’s “Mythical Lion” icon, an inside look at the brand’s effort to reach consumers at ground level and the origins of his own unique form of artistic expression. Chicago-based agency Gertrude Inc. created and produced the program for Singha Beer, which won 3 Telly Awards (1 bronze and 2 silver) at the 33rd annual installment of the competition in 2012.
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Shooting Nude
Okay, so if you think I had a blast pointing my camera at a trio of beautiful women with no clothes on while wrapped in soft light... Yep, you guessed right!
Chicago-based R&B traditionalist James Benton is one of my favorite young soul slingers these days.
Okay, let’s be honest, he’s also my first cousin. I’ve known James his entire life and it was a complete honor to begin the process of merging our individual mainstay expressions into a single cohesive piece. James and I went around the concept for a while because we didn’t want to simply just “try and shoot some naked sex-shit”. I mean, the song is what it is…but it’s not about sex as much as it is about worshiping the perfection of the female form. Our mothers, daughters friends and foes. The female form has the power to crumble kingdoms or to inspire a hero. It’s with this sort of mindset that we approached shooting NUDE. The models who played alongside JB in the piece, granted after some convincing and detailed pre-visualization, were completely present and really embodied the sentiment that we were after. Even the Gods played along and delivered an overcast afternoon complete with a modest amount of rain. Just enough to help this piece illustrate the lyrics in this tune that much more effectively. We had a wonderful time on set led by Master Cinematographer Pete Biagi and Producer Eric Almond transforming JB’s tiny apartment into a sound stage for the day. Enjoy the video here as well as the imagery and cover art all derived from footage shot on the day. It’s exchanges like this that solidify my understanding of my “greatest gift” and the blessing it is to be able to give it.
Check out the behind the scenes video below.
shot and edited by: Nick Brazinsky
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Is The Housekeeper Here Yet?
Not every sequence makes the journey from page to screen; and such was the case with this deleted scene from King Fantastic's music video: Why Where What
I thought this scene did a great job of setting up the story and introducing our stereotypical-LA-power-couple and streetwise protagonist. But, at the end of the day KF just wasn’t convinced that viewers were interested in listening to all that talking. I really couldn’t argue. Starring Kristina Rose, Woody Thompson, and Amy Williams..
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"Peace" Music Video Wins Best Editing Award
Today marked my first public accolade in the filmmaking world as well as a union of great potential as The Luminaries' music video "PEACE" was honored with the Elevate Film Festival's Best Editing Award.
The Elevate Film Festival is the world’s largest single-screen film festival and challenges filmmakers to produce, shoot, post and deliver a completed film project in just 7 days.
While each film’s premise is devoted to subject matter which is enlightening and beneficial to the planet and mankind. The festival is executive produced by Daryll Merchant and Mikki Willis of Elevate Films. The Luminaries’ “PEACE” video was Directed by Justin Thomas Ostensen, photographed by Director of Photography Gabriel J. Lewis and Produced by Aaron Krinsky and Marc Salomon.