This is the story of World Champion Boxer, Kassim Ouma - born in Uganda, kidnapped by the rebel army and trained to be a child soldier at age 6. After a decade of warfare, Kassim defected and began a new life in America, quickly rising through the boxing ranks. As he trains for his next world title fight, keeping his demons out of the ring becomes increasingly difficult. A chance to reunite with his family in Uganda hinges on a military pardon from the same leaders responsible for his abduction.
Believe Media and director Bill Price have completed the new series "Random Acts Of Duff" starring Karen Duffy for TLC. "Duff" leads viewers on an random and irreverent look at quirky and wonderful people and places in Manhattan and New York, in a series of short adventures. Designed to work as both interstitials and as stand alone programming, Duff will host and be featured in TLC's Friday night lineup.
coca cola : make it real
This film for Coke, by Vogel–Villar.Rios, is a trip on the "roads less traveled." Four twenty-something filmmakers discover how much they have in common with kids from far flung parts of the country--'cool' is not a place but a state of mind. This branding campaign is particularly fresh. It lives as two 60 second trailers playing both on TV and in theaters nationwide, as well as eight 30 second spots that hang together as an episodic documentary. The media plan is to spread this six minutes of branding across high profile network and cable entertainment programming.
nike film : new ball
A short film by director Carolyn Chen for Nike, this classic coming of age story traces the steps of a young man facing the school bullies with only his developing soccer skills to see him through. Set against gritty urban streets and photographed in brilliant Carolyn Chen style, this heartfelt story is a unique piece in a program of shorts by talented young filmmakers. Designed for online and traditional distribution, you will see why this is crowd favorite and an inspired branded entertainment project.
vertu : listen
"Listen" is a unique non-verbal piece that concentrates on artists, their art, and the creative process from across many different disciplines. Directed by Ron Fricke, who knows a few things about nonverbal films, this will not disappoint his fans or first time viewers. The film was created as a centerpiece for art show openings staged around the world, and the Vertu phones were offered in a gallery setting as technological art. An original approach to brand entertainment, from outside the box.
gmc tv : professional grade
A show created for GMC to run on car-centric channels around the world, this was a very successful way to convey GMC’s commitment to professional grade engineering. Tracing the company from the beginning to its position as a leader in truck manufacture and technology, this piece works as a documentary and as a unique way to interact with the customer for 26 minutes. To measure effectiveness, a truck giveaway was included and drove traffic to a website that was inundated with qualified responses. This has been run many times since, and became a model for other programs that followed.
nike film : marion jones
A film by Nanette Burstein, one of the most innovative and award winning new documentary filmmakers, "Marion Jones” follows the star athlete as she trains and competes in the 2003/2004 track season. The film follows Marion's incredible journey through her pregnancy, her return to competition, and her rocky road to qualify and compete in the Summer Olympics. The film is an intimate look at a very controlled individual as she struggles against all odds to balance the circumstances of her life, her desire to win, and the media attention that ensues.
cadillac : escalade video game
A remarkable program by director Kief Davidson, "Escalade” uses state of the art commercial car photography and then takes the car into a game environment, seamlessly blending the two realities. Once in the game, it becomes a virtual test drive and pits the car and driver against a series of challenges that emphasize the cars abilities as well as the drivers. Escalade is one of those demographic challenging experiences that pay off big time for the bold and the brave.
bmw films
Believe Media co-created the BMW Films project along with Fallon Minneapolis. Now considered a landmark in online branded entertainment, BMW Films continues to inspire innovation in advertising. Originally concepted as a highly interactive experience, the project had layers of conspiracy and user involvement via SMS messaging, fax, and multiple faux websites. While these pieces didn't make the final cut, this type of deep user experience has found it's way into feature film advertising and several large co-branding efforts in the years following BMW Films release.
warner bros. records : blu.monster
Warner Bros. Records and legendary A&R executive Michael Rosenblatt went big with Sub.Bionic's debut release. A serialized interactive rock-opera where each music video is linked together in a narrative of mental health issues, a large blue baby, and uh--an orange. Blu.Monster allows the user to explore the broken logic of Jack. Haunted by the secrets of his own birth and a life disenfranchised, the user is left to piece together the real and the surreal in over 30 minutes of interaction. Viral marketing elements and MP3 downloads were carefully embedded within the interactive. Shot in digital media at broadcast resolution, it was created for scaleable distribution and released on DVD, CD and online.
plateface
Believe Media and Fallon team up once again to explore the possibilities of co-branded entertainment. A simple comedy of naive love and denied longings set the tone for a story-based interactive experiment. Our young lovers suckle Starbucks drinks, give the gift of Nordstrom, and capture it all with Nikon digital cameras. The goal was to balance the story, interactive, brands and products in such a way that each piece ended up essential and necessary. It was paramount that the brands feel like a natural and welcome part of the entertainment; that the interactive not feel gratuitous; and that each brand had a chance to shine in it's own space. A tall order and a successful experiment.