Brandcast Media

Sleep deprivation but not getting too grumpy yet….

The results of the Televisual annual top corporate video company survey are in, and Brandcast Media  are proud to have been voted no. 25! We have been placed in the top 50 for past 3 years in a row,  going from strength to strength every year, and this year is our best position to date.

Televisual announced their top 50 in the latest edition of their magazine. To be awarded a place  companies are judged across a number of criteria. Scores are awarded for a company’s size (turnover  as well as permanent staff numbers) and also its reputation among its peers and any awards won at  annual IVCA Awards and New York Festivals International Film & Video Awards.

The energy seen in the top 50 companies is a great positive sign that ‘green shoots’ are beginning to  show in the corporate video production world. No one would say it’s been easy, but with the results of  surveys like this, we can show that even in tough times, we can continue to achieve year on year – the  only way is up!

Well done to everyone who was placed in the top 50. Next year we’re aiming for number 1!

To read more about the awards and look at the full list of companies in the top 50 visit the Televisual website.

On the weekend of 20th – 22nd May 2011, Charlie Janki Kelly and Emily will travel to Fort William to conquer the UK’s highest mountain, climbing the strenuous 4406 feet (1343 metres) to the peak of Ben Nevis and back down again… all in aid of the Wellington Appeal which raises essential funds for the British Red Cross and the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation. Please sponsor us! Link is here: http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/team/Brandcast

Working hard in Milan

Well it had been nearly a month since we’d been on a plane and there was a big oncology meeting, so we really had to go to Milan. None of us wanted to, but when you are the agency that manages the digital content for a leading cancer journal, there are some burdens that you just have to bear and excellent Italian food and wine aside, this was definitely work. I mean obviously there was a bit of sunshine and we did spot Rutger Hauer in one of the restaurants, but mostly, we filmed high quality interviews and round table discussions with leading European oncologists at the 35^th European Society of Medical Oncologists (ESMO) meeting in the Fiera Milano conference centre… And drank a beer or two with the locals in the bar, by the hotel.

My Lords, Ladies and Gentlemen… last night we attended the third match in the burgeoning boxing career of Mr Jasset Ormsby and with a healthy measure of alcohol, a smattering of sporting violence and a dash of controversy, what a night it turned out to be. In a river front Vauxhall venue, a card of the highest quality had been assembled, with the standout match being 2^nd on the line-up.

J, as the lightweight legend is affectionately known, was paired with a tough Irish battler called Ian, but came out like a whirlwind in the first, keeping his guard high and forcing the Irishman back against the ropes. The crowd roared and the match looked like it would not last the 3 rounds.

In the second the spirit of the Irish returned and he landed some heavy blows, but neat footwork and some aggressive advances kept J out of the corners and although his guard slipped a couple of times, his superior fitness and strong jaw saw him through.

Despite obvious tiredness, both men showed their quality in the third, with a clinical first minute followed by an attacking flurry from each, which lasted to the bell. The match was close, but those watching were in no doubt to whom the honour went. However, the referee, who may have been distracted by the bikini clad board girls, saw it differently and announced a draw.

J accepted the decision with good grace, but his corner and the crowd were indignant. He was robbed, but he emerges the moral victor and both men have agreed to a rematch…so watch this space!

If anyone here at Brandcast Media suddenly needs mouth to mouth resusitation or has a video camera land on their foot, we know who to turn to: Janki is now a fully qualified Heath and Safety Monitor. Plasters at the ready.

Applied Works have created these interactive graphics and applications to further enhance various stories or features on The Time’s iPad app. The Times has been steadily commissioning the studio responsible to create easily digestible, interactive info-graphics for their digital readers and my, don’t they look slick. The Times should be commended on its continuing efforts to engage a digital readership via interactive, onscreen applications.

The Times: iPad infographics by Applied Works from Applied Works on Vimeo.

The app can be downloaded from here.

Our new member to the Brandcast family popped by to the offices, baby Quinn.

It all became too loud for Jerome this week so he decided to don his ear-defenders. They suit him, no?

EPIC. Who said TV advertising is dead? Needs several viewings to appreciate the complexity of what Nike have done here. The gauntlet has been well any truly thrown down to other sportswear manufacturers (any just about anyone else) in the run up to the World Cup.

Brandcast get involved with yummy chocolate cake on a friday arvo, perfect way to end the week. Happy Birthday Lily! Have a lovely weekend x

After a tiring 12 hour flight from Miami, Janki has been partied out Miami style. Her holiday included the magic four S’s- Sun, Sea, Sand and Spring Break! Think she may need another holiday to recover

We’ve been pretty busy in the video studio over the last year and have just read that we’re in the Televisual Top 50 Corporate TV companies (giddy heights of 45, steady there). Now there’s a target for 2010. Bring it on.

However much you tell people what you’re about, there’s nothing like showing them.

That’s why we encouraged the London Handel Festival to make a video of a typical major production of the Festival in rehearsal. We filmed some great music and heard what the stars, the artistic director and his colleagues have to say about Handel, his music and his place in the life of London (his adopted home for 50 years, and the place where he died).

We picked Theodora – one of the last and greatest of Handel’s oratorios whose theme – dear to mid-eighteenth century novelists – was that of a virtuous damsel in distress. The setting for this production was the great church of St George’s in Hanover Square, where Handel himself worshipped, and where the London Handel Festival has its home. The result, we hope you will agree, is astonishing and curiously moving.

Handels Theodora from Charlie Grieve on Vimeo.

We’ve recently finished shooting and editing some films for Kazakh metals and minerals company ENRC with our chums at Phoebus. Covering a country the size of Western Europe had its challenges – quaffing the local horse-flavoured vodka was just one. Genuinely hospitable people although the local jimmy-jibbers out of Almaty didn’t seem to have the sense of humour gene switched on – I guess a 24hr car journey to the first set up isn’t very funny. Astana extraordinary – bit like ancient Rome meets Dubai. And the wild apple forests were gorgeous – Marco Polo knew his apples. Check out our little behind the scenes clip put together by J.