A busy fall.

We've had a busy autumn.

The Massage Therapy Association of Manitoba has been active with a multi-media campaign designed to raise awareness of their application to become the 24th Regulated Health Profession.  We're now in the planning to celebrate Massage Therapy Week in late October.  Looking forward to having the opportunity of helping Manitobans engage in the discussion.  Watch for a Winnipeg Free Press front section

Working on post-production of the new Just Slow Down spots.  I do believe it will be one of the best yet.

Renovations at Grant Park Shopping Centre are absolutely amazing.  Today it was announced that Glitz (formerly from Academy Road) will be relocating to Grant Park later this year. We put the finishing touches today on a contest/mailer for the neighbourhood that reflects our dynamic new communication design.

We've been active creating new packaging for Bothwell Cheese.  The folks over at Bothwell are developing some very exciting new flavours like Jamaican Jerk and Chai Tea.  I cannot wait to try these new flavours.

Now we're developing a video for the Canadian Cancer Society.  It's certainly an emotional subject and I will be doing all I can to do it justice.

Massage Therapists and Just Slow Down are on air right now and the 2012 Know Your Zone campaign will be starting shortly.  Having some fun getting the Santa Claus parade float together.

Just Slow Down - Aftermath

Took a somewhat different approach with the creative this year for Just Slow Down.  I thought it would be interesting to shoot the entire message from the perspective/point-of-view of a driver who was driving at an excessive speed, ultimately crashing into a parked vehicle.  The result is a tragic loss, and the driver must face the world through the eyes of a guilty person.

Once again I am indebted to Cinematographer Adam Sliwinski.
His extensive experience, artistic talent, and remarkably his confidence in me help me explore new ideas and approaches with each new project.  This year we were joined by First Assistant Director Robert Lee.  http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0498108/
How humbling to "assisted" by this entertaining and exceptional professional.



It takes a lot of teamwork to pull a production like this together and I owe a debt of thanks to everyone on the team including:

Sue Burns - Production Manager
Brett - Stunt Coordinator
Robin Lindala - 1st Camera Assistant
Bree Hawkins - 2nd Camera Assistant
Joao Holowka - Lighting/Grip
Tim Freestone and his amazing team - FX Coordinator
Dino Schiovone - Audio
Hersh Seth - Locations Manager
Don Greenberg - SFX Makeup
Angie Lindsay - Makeup
Shea Kosokowsky- Props/Wardrobe
Allan Hawkins and Kazu Tani - indispensable Production Assistants

On camera we were thrilled with the participation of Matt Enns, Mikey Tucker, Yana Sigurdson, Wendy Fyfe, Glenn Odero and all the extras.

Wonderful SFX makeup by Don Greenberg. 

At Wojcik's.  Flowers by Cosmopolitan Florists. 

For our "crash" we were privileged to have the assistance of Jim McKendry.  Thanks to Jim we had the support of several of Winnipeg's dedicated fire and paramedic professionals.

Another vote of thanks to Richard Wojcik from Wojcik's Funeral Chapel.  Richard also kindly agreed to appear in the spot.

Thanks to Tyler at the Misericordia Hospital and Vicki who also appeared in the spot.  

And thanks to Kevin Chimnoski from the WPS for attending the crash scene.

Picante Advertising Demo Reel 2009

I stumbled upon this Demo Reel this afternoon.  It contains much of the work we produced for the Saskatchewan Credit Unions from 2000 to 2009.  It's a wonderful trip down memory lane to revisit the many different locations and people we employed for some memorable commercials.  I'm proud of the work of core team which consisted of myself, Keith Neimor, Adam Sliwinski, Sue Burns, Olaf Pyttlik (composer), and Tony Wytinck. 

A night to remember.

Winners of 3 Awards for Just Slow Down for the Winnipeg Police Service

.  Pictured here are Kirk Van Alstyne, Mark Hodgson, moi, Steve West and Lori Dyck

My daughter Shea and husband Allan.  So nice to have family support.

The first of the 4 awards.

Winner of the award for Best TV Commercial under $20,000.  City of Winnipeg Public Works for Know Your Zone.  Pictured here:  Yours truly, Ken Allen, Steve West and Lori Dyck

Four Signature Awards!

 

WARNING - Lengthy Blog Post - Delayed acknowledgements, thank yous and an indulgent summary of a memorable evening!

Wasn't that a party?!!  The site was the Winnipeg Convention Centre for the 2011 Signature Awards.  Although we were nominated for 5 awards, I had a healthy respect for the competition and didn't want to count on anything.  

With the wildly positive Ken Allen!

My husband Allan and I were joined by Ken Allen from the City of Winnipeg Public Works.  He was the client who enthusiastically encouraged me to think outside the box for the City of Winnipeg Overnight Parking Ban campaign which became Know Your Zone.  Ken was abuzz, with a confidence that his campaign WAS going to win.  Oh well,  I couldn't dampen his enthusiasm so I quit trying.

My daughter Shea, Mark Hodgson and yours truly

Also, Staff Sergeant, Mark Hodgson was able to attend.  I do give much of the credit for the Winnipeg Police Service Just Slow Down campaign to Mark as he thoughtfully went through the process with us to determine strategy and generally put a lot of trust in what we had to say.

Steve West, Manager, Corporate Communications with the City of Winnipeg attended as well.  Steve was with the Winnipeg Police Service at the very beginning of Just Slow Down.  He was such an ardent supporter of Picante right from the get go...I believe playing a major role in us being hired in the first place following a vigourous RFP process.  Steve was important to Just Slow Down being as strong out of the gate as it was, enthusiastically interacting with the public on our JSD website.  Then he moved over to the City of Winnipeg and led the Corporate Communications team as we built Know Your Zone from the germ of an idea into the multi-media public awareness campaign it became.

Mark Hodgson and Steve West

Kirk Van Alstyne is an officer with Winnipeg's finest, who works on the front lines with Photo Enforcement.  His presence at the event was very important to me.  Part of what we hope to achieve with JSD is greater public approval and acceptance of photo radar as a safety tool.  I'd like to think we're making Kirk's job just a little bit easier.

The magnificent Lori Dyck with Wildfire Online added to the sparkle at our table.  Lori, along with our intrepid media director Kathryne Grisim, has been an intricate part of the success of both KYZ and JSD.  Lori built the original JSD website and devised the Tell us your Thoughts section.  And she received extensive kudos from the client and the city IT department for her cooperation in building all of the complicated elements of the online portion for KYZ.  A quick thank you here to Amanda Buhse and Shaun Gray - involved in the original development of the graphics for Just Slow Down.

Great friends Ken & Marnie Stuart were also on hand to cheer us on.  We already had a pretty lively table but Ken & Marnie always make things just a little more festive.

And lastly, due to a last-minute seat availability, my daughter Shea came to support her momma.   I warned her that it could be a long and somewhat boring event but she was enthusiastic about wanting to share in the evening. (Thanks to Graham and Julia from Los Chicos who let her have the night off from her shift to join us.)

Well.  It was most definitely not a long and boring event.

It began quite early with the very first television category.  Best Television Under $20,000.  I believe there were 5 nominated commercials in this category.  I was surprised (Ken Allen was not) when they called the name PICANTE as winner of the category for Know Your Zone.  I managed to get up to the stage - it was a bit challenging to get my mouth to work - more of a nerves issue than a wine issue I assure you....oh, maybe a bit of a combination of both.  Luckily I pulled it together and managed to thank Ken by name as he deserved.  I attempted to return to my seat but was captured and led off to get the official photo done off to the side.  Unfortunately, as I was making my way back to the table I heard ...."and the winner is PICANTE ADVERTISING again.

I had to check with the gang at the table to find out what we had won before going up to accept.  It was Best Television over $20,000 for Just Slow Down.   How lucky could we be??  That both clients in attendance were going to go home with an award!

Lori Dyck, moi, Denise Meilleur, and Shea

I thanked Mark by name - should have thanked Steve - so sorry Steve.  I was a bit flustered.  But made a brief speech about doing great work for clients who put genuine trust in their agency as the Winnipeg Police Service has definitely done with us.

After the official photo I had a few more minutes to relax and enjoy the show.  And then in the category of Best online advertising single or series....PICANTE ADVERTISING Just Slow Down Webisode.  We've just passed 150,000 Youtube hits on this webisode and I'm very proud of that.  This time I had the presence of mind to thank the organizers of the event.  I should have and wish I had made a shout out to Tony Wytinck and the crew at Midcan, and Olaf Pytllik and everyone at daCapo productions who put so much work into creating the actual "show" of the 2011 Signature Awards.  They deserve a ton of recognition and I had the forum and didn't capitalize on it.  I'm bummed about that so I humbly give them a huge THANK YOU here on my lowly blog.

Later in the evening we were awarded People's Choice for electronic media for the Just Slow Down webisode.  I will admit that we strategized a bit to ensure our own 10 votes were not split amongst the entries.  We decided together that the Just Slow Down webisode was our pick for the winner due to its success in Youtube views.  And the Winnipeg Police Service has been approached by a Driver Training Company in Santa Barbara, California to use it in their program.  We are thrilled that the webisode is doing so well and believe it is helping to save lives.  So - we were rewarded with a fourth Signature Award.

Acknowledgments are scary because you might miss someone out.  But I'm going to try.

Just Slow Down   


http://www.youtube.com/watch_popup?v=H5EyOnccJLg&vq=medium

Adam Sliwinski - Cinematographer extraordinaire.  Thank you for always believing in me.  You told me, "You're a director - so Direct."  Just Slow Down 2011 was my directorial debut.  And it seems to have turned out very well.  But along with the powerful performances, your mastery of cinematography brought my concept to life.  No one could ever know how much you have done for me these many years.  I owe you so much.

The cast - the actors in JSD were amazing.  Cooperative, passionate about what we were doing, local talent.    Poor Josh Sigurdson, I made him cry and cry for cumulative hours in various scenes.  Never once did he complain or give up.  Lexie - you broke everyone's heart when we lost you. Michel - so committed and professional, Anne and Laura - so much emotion and lots more crying, the doctor and all the staff at St. Anne's Hospital, Tara Mangano who made all the arrangements and our two real cops who patiently put up with us.  

The crew including Robin Lindala (miss you so much Robin) Joao Holowka, Conroy Finnegan, Alana Pona, Ben Wytinck and Shaun Gray who production managed with poise and calm.  Allan Hawkins who had all the crappy jobs - street barrier and bogey wrangling.  Jen Santoro for wonderful makeup.

Thanks to the City of Winnipeg Production Office - Kenny Boyce and Kevin Uddenberg.  For helping us set everything up and for forgiving our small transgression.  :)

Jim McKendry and the amazing folks from Winnipeg's Fire and Paramedic Service.

Eric Olson for brilliant storyboards.

Anet Ducharme and John Webster for Faster and Faster - the haunting music that set the stage for the tragedy to come. Trevor Mirosh for your inspired editing and Gary Shaw for incredible colour-timing.

The apres party at Blaze.  Favourite moment - Mark's "Steve" impersonation.  

Know Your Zone








Elemental Motion Media - now CoElemental.  Brad created the look for General Grader and Lieutenant Loader.  And together with Adam Duguay and Simon Burgess, brought our characters to life with a little help from.....

Laurie Mustard and Jim Ingebrigtsen.  I actually conceived of the General and Lieutenant with you two guys in mind.  They couldn't have been played by anyone else.  Thank you for your enthusiasm for the project and for your talent.  Winnipeg is lucky to have you.

Nolan Balzer from daCapo productions.  You are always a joy to work with.  Experienced, professional and so much fun.

I'd like to acknowledge all the nominees and winners who share a passion and love of advertising with me.


A wonderful night for Picante.  A fun evening of family and friends (all my clients are my friends.)  Thank you  so so much.

And thank you Allan for everything.  I love you very much.

Bothwell Cheddars

 Quite excited about the new Bothwell cheddar labels.  We have been working on these for quite awhile to get them just right.  As the flagship product for Bothwell it was critical that these labels would lay the groundwork for all other flavour varieties to follow.  It seems simple now, but choosing to use a backdrop of the passage of time throughout a year, looking over a traditional farmyard, using a unique illustrative style took some doing.  I congratulate designer Charlene Lannoo and our enthusiastic and meticulous client Steven Gettis for just an outstanding final result.  I hope you all agree.

A fresh new product.

We've just developed this name and logo for an exciting new line of skin care products.  The primary ingredient in the body scrubs, lip balm, lotions, hair conditioners etc. is pure coconut oil.  We'll be working on the brochure and promotional materials soon and then I'll know lots more about the benefits of coconut oil which I hear are numerous.  Will keep you posted.  Kokonati is actually the Maori word for coconut and I liked how it sounded and how it looked.  The products are healthy and organic and have no artificial ingredients and that's where the fresh comes in.  I personally love this logo.  Can't wait to try the products when they are ready.