Seriously, Just Slow Down

Yesterday, we shot video interviews with Tyler Burnside and Michael Johnston, two young men from Swan River who were involved in a horrible crash exactly one year ago today.

Michael and Tyler were in the back seat. Their good friends Adam and another Tyler were in the front....Adam was driving.

Tyler acknowledges that he felt Adam was driving too fast - perhaps showing off a bit for his friends in his new car.

It was a bitterly cold, snowy night and the guys were travelling on Bishop Grandin. When passing another car, the car slid towards the ditch colliding with a light standard. The car was completely cut in half and the roof was torn off. Adam was thrown from the vehicle. Michael was able to get out of the car. Both Tylers were trapped for quite awhile intertwined together and amongst the twisted metal, shattered glass and electronics of the former vehicle.

Michael suffered a severe cut to his leg and was treated in hospital for cuts and bruises. Tyler broke one leg, his hip and his spine. Adam was pronounced dead on the scene and the other Tyler shortly after arriving in hospital.

Through the interviews, Michael and Tyler take us through what it was like on that night, and how it has affected their lives since.

Michael is attending university in North Carolina taking chemistry on a full scholarship. Tyler had his interview to enter Med School at U of M while still confined to his wheelchair.

They were somewhat concerned that people would misunderstand and think the collision was the result of 4 young crazy party guys misbehaving which wasn't the case at all. These were 4 real people who had families, and lives and hopes and dreams for the future.

It was clear they missed Adam and Tyler every day and think about that night every day. It was especially poignant with today being the 1 year anniversary of the tragedy.

The Winnipeg Police Service and Picante certainly want to thank Michael and Tyler for taking the time to participate in the Just Slow Down campaign. We are certain that their message will help people, especially young people, take the message more seriously. We also sincerely send our condolences out to the families of Adam and Tyler. We're sure today must be a very difficult day for them.

The new Just Slow Down campaign will launch on January 31 - so stay tuned.

A fresh, new year.

So many exciting things on the horizon.

We're keeping busy with Sunrise Credit Union. Sunrise is looking for good people so fab Human Resources Manager Kaydee Deremiens is working hard on recruitment. Sunrise is also hosting a number of one-day seminars on the Current and Future Agricultural Outlook. Admission is free - a great service from the folks at Sunrise.

Tomorrow I'll be interviewing and videotaping two young men who lived through a horrifying experience. Nearly two years ago they were in the back seat of a vehicle involved in a terrible collision. Their two friends in the front seat didn't survive. They are anxious to participate in the Just Slow Down campaign. It will be difficult but I'm sure their message will be very impactful.

We will launch the new JSD campaign on January 31. Staff Sergeant Mark Hodgson will be on Richard Cloutier Reports on CJOB that morning. I love the Just Slow Down campaign as I believe we are engaging the public and making a difference.

We're looking forward to getting started on a project for the College of Physicians and Surgeons. And soon we'll have a final design for the Medical Laboratory Technologists of Manitoba campaign.

Other than that....getting started on the Grant Park Shopping Centre spring campaign, working up some exciting new labels for Bothwell Cheese, finishing off a project for Lansard Roofing and getting into a whole new area with a multi-faceted security company.

My prediction for 2011? Companies and organizations will gain confidence in a growing economy. We will continue to consult on how to leverage online for cost-effective results. My hope is that great creative will make a comeback as advertisers recognize the value of investment spending on this aspect of their marketing plan.

Picante will continue to deliver experienced, honest and sincere service to our valued clients. And 2011 will be an exciting one full of surprises and prosperity.

Happy New Year to you All!

Oh My!

Here it is December already. I'd say it's about time for an update.

Sunrise Credit Union continues to keep us busy with lots of interesting projects. We've redone all their informational brochures, created hats, golf towels, calendars, newsletter, another special newsletter, recruitment ads, Mobile Services support material etc etc. The fall Gold Rush campaign was a big success and the branches had great fun decorating and getting behind the promotion. Picante provided some spicy hospitality at the recent annual meeting held at the Inn at the Forks in Winnipeg. Each of the guest rooms received chips and salsa along with some fiesta candies.

We'll get working on a new RRSP campaign right away.

Grant Park Christmas is in full swing. The campaign is largely Facebook ads and special Bells & Whistles event nights. We'll be monitoring this closely to gauge the response. The GP budget is modest and we wanted to stretch available dollars as much as possible. We developed beautiful new winter-themed banners for inside the mall. I love the graphics on this whole campaign.

Nice job Char!

Picante recently was successful in winning the confidence of the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Manitoba. We will be developing a brand identity, a video, website and support materials for MPAR - the Manitoba Physician Achievement Review. Right now they are reviewing a number of new logos that we've developed...then we'll move forward on producing the rest of the project. Such lovely people over there. We're delighted to be working with them.

Wouldn't be right to not mention MOVEMBER. Picante embraced his incredible program to help raise awareness of Prostate Cancer. We coerced my better half Allan along with City of Wpg Communications Manager Steve West, John Doherty from Cotton Candy, friends Pablo Szajt, Perry Stovel, Jorge Salazar, Tony Wytinck and others to the Picante Man-Friends Movember team. Together we raised over $1,000. Thanks so much guys for joining in.

We're in process of development of a new reality-based fitness television show. It's called

Total Meltdown and will feature 6 teams of 4 competitors, vying to win competitions and points, while losing fat. Plans are to go to air in Spring, 2011.

Lastly, my daughter Shea has developed a new concept to help kids in poverty. It's called

Fuze thru Shoes. Students from her high school and surrounding schools will be encouraged to donate a pair of their own gently used shoes. Shea will photograph each student with their shoes and then we'll be taking them to a small village in northern Peru. The kids there will be photographed with the shoes and the photos will be brought back to the original donors here in Winnipeg. The idea is to create the connection for the local kids - so they can see that they really are making a difference. McNaught Cadillac has agreed to sponsor the program and I must say, I'm darn proud of her.

Well, that was a bit strange.

For awhile there I wasn't able to access my blog. Zounds! So how could I update everyone on what's been shaking at Picante?

Much of July/August was spent working very hard on a large new business pitch for Tourism Saskatoon. Despite putting together an amazing presentation (even if I do say so myself) we unfortunately were not successful. We certainly know we gave it our all - but it was not to be. Rumour has it we made it to the last two ....and lost out to a rather large Toronto agency. So, we still feel we can hold our heads high - and we sure know we would have done a great job for them. Of course we wish them well. My deepest thanks to Kath, Lori, Eric and Ken who really came through for me putting in hours and hours of work. And thanks to our cheering section...we had a lot of people rooting for us and it meant a lot.

Onward and upward.

Two recent events I wanted to mention here. Kaydee Deremiens from Sunrise Credit Union and I enjoyed a fabulous Banjo Bowl together watching the Bombers kick the Riders. (Bombers haven't been doing so well lately I'm afraid.

And some special clients Mark and his wife Connie from the Winnipeg Police Service and John and Jamie from Grant Park Shopping Centre, joined Allan and I for the Grape Stomp fundraiser at Mona Lisa Ristorante. Funds were being raised for the Human Rights Museum.

We had a most exceptional time.

Keeping busy with Sunrise and Grant Park Christmas and we have another new business pitch we're working on. The Massage Therapists are back on the air with their television campaign and the Police spots will be back on in early October. We won't launch the new ones til February. We have a really groovy campaign running right now in nfl football on City TV for McNaught Cadillac.

So things are hummmmmmming along.

A dandy day in Brandon.

It was a beautiful, warm day for a drive and my buddy Tony Wytinck and I had so much to catch up on the miles just flew by. We headed out to Brandon to shoot new video clips for the Sunrise Credit Union "Get to know us" campaign for the new Brandon branch. Branch Manager Mike Brolund, Ag and Commercial Specialist Randy Kuz and Personal Loans and Mortgage Specialist Cheryl "Charlie" Gunning did a fantastic job in front of the camera. Kept their cool and their sense of humour throughout.

The "Get to know us" campaign will launch this Saturday followed up by the exciting new Gold Rush deposit campaign on September 11th. So many exciting things going on at Sunrise.

A quick mention here of those who have allowed us to rehearse our presentation....Doug and Nancy, Kim, Tony and looking forward to tomorrow to a fab get together with Jamie from Grant Park. I feel like we have so much fan support heading into our big game. It is especially gratifying to hear the kind votes of confidence from many of our current clients who are genuinely wishing us well. Enormous and profound thanks to Jamie, Mark, Steve and Kaydee.

Dream Team

A dream team to create the new Winnipeg Police spots and having a similar experience working on an exciting new business pitch. What a pleasure it is to collaborate and explore with seasoned professionals. Kathryne Grisim, Lori Dyck and Eric Olson. We're creating and conversing and experimenting - it is about as enjoyable as it can be. And the results are incredible. We'll present next week and then await the final decision. Not only would it be wonderful to win the business but the business itself is fresh and exciting. So wish us luck!

In the meantime, we headed off on a perfect day for a Texas Scramble golf tourney in Treherne, Manitoba with the Sunrise Credit Union crew. We had a riot. Congrats to Kaydee Deremiens, client extraordinaire for her amazing win on Ladies Straightest Drive.

Thanks to the organizers for a fun event and thanks to Ken Stuart for getting us our tent in record time!

New spots are coming together.

In so many ways it was a dream shoot. The handpicked crew were there to make sure everything ran smoothly, looked fantastic and we all worked as a team. No egos, disagreements or frustrations. The cast (some were children and/or relative newcomers) did not disappoint at all. The clients Mark and Ray were on hand to help things go smoothly and even the weather cooperated.

And while I have directed several smaller projects, I would say this really was my first big-production Directorial debut. I am very, VERY happy with the result.

Ultimately, I think we're going to create something incredibly special here. Sincere thanks to Co-Producer/Director of Photography extraordinaire Adam Sliwinski. I could not have done this without you.

Additional thanks to the whole crew - Robin Lindala (first camera assistant), Bree Hawkins (second camera assistant) , Joao Holowka (gaffer), Rick Doyle and T'ai Pu (grip), Alana Pona (1st A.D.) , Ben Wytinck (audio), Shaun Gray (production assistant) , Jen Santoro (makeup), Allan Hawkins (locations) , Kari Casting, Kevin Uttenberg (City Film Office) , Jim McKendry (Winnipeg Paramedics) , Craig Oliphant (extras casting) Michel, Joshua, Lexie, Laura and Eric (cast), all the extras and especially Mark Hodgson, Doug Safioles and Ray Howes from Winnipeg's finest. Thank you for entrusting us with your important campaign.

Shooting was completed on June 27th and then it was off to Vancouver. A truly brilliant job of editing by Trevor Mirosh and the spots are now in the talented hands of Anet and John who will create an original soundtrack.

There may be some controversy when these spots go to air. I showed the rough cuts to Shea and her friends and several broke out crying. They were designed to be impactful and to inspire a new appreciation for the power of a speeding vehicle. I think we have achieved that.