Our creative team had a lot of fun on our latest round of Optimum Wellness. Our team of stylists and technical wizards transformed a turn-of-the-century Victorian home into a bookstore for our latest holiday PSA.

"They honestly made it look like that bookstore from the film 'You've Got Mail,' You, know, the one that Meg Ryan owned." said executive producer John Allen. "This is an amazing group of people so I'm not surprised that they were able to do it. This summer they turned a barren walking trail into a farmer's market. They're just incredible."

The house had at one time operated a business, however it had been closed for several years, and the shelves and walls were bare. Co-art directors Drueann Benson and Lori Allred worked several weeks with director Scott Takeda to find the right shot angles to create the look of a Mom-and-Pop bookstore. They hauled in hundreds of books as well as dozens of crates full of holiday decorations to give it the right look.

"The place even fooled some of the cast and crew," said Optimum Wellness host James Rouse. "In fact, my wife wanted to know if she could buy some of the books on the shelves."

The holiday spot begins airing later this month. It's part of an ongoing series on maintaining a healthy emotional balance during stressful times.

Our full creative team for the shoot included: Dr. James Rouse (founder/host), John Allen (EP), Scott Takeda (creative director/director), LeighAnn Gould (assistant director), Dave Klein (director of photography), Andrew Ahlstrom (location sound), Drueann Benson (art director), Lori Kay Allred (co-art director), Carol Buetel (wardrobe), Brock Sherman (post-production) Zlatko Makic (audio post). On-camera talent provided by Lincoln Talent.

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Scott Takeda begins work this fall on the independent film ER Experience. Filming will begin mid-month starring Jennifer Summers (National Lampoon's Bag Boy), Ben Kroger (Silver City), Jennifer Fiskum (Suburban, Ink) and Tomas Herrera (The Girl Next Door, The Shining).

"It's nice to be working with the same creative team as the film TEXT," said Takeda who was a producer on that feature film. "I think we have an interesting medical show concept for this film, and I can't wait to see what happens when we start rolling!"

Editing will begin later this year with expected release in the Summer of 2009.

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We are thrilled to announce that Peerless Tires has turned to SSC to helm their winter 'Extra Value Days' commercial campaign for the ninth consecutive year (twelfth total). We'll begin planning out the studio HD shoot for mid month.

And we begin production on our 10^th season of PSA production with Optimum Wellness. Fresh off of our Emmy nomination, we are planning the 2009 production that will include more location shoots and a focus on topical issues.

"I think we're all feeling a lot of angst these days with everything that's going on, so we'll be working with Dr. Rouse on tips people can be using to ease tension and stress as a part of living well," said series creative director Scott Takeda. "We'll still have our usual tips on how to eat well, too!"

Since 2000, SSC has produced more than 800 PSAs and spots for Optimum Wellness - airing in markets across the western half of the US.

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Later this month, Scott Takeda heads down to New Mexico to begin filming a guest starring role for the CW Network's newest dramatic series "Easy Money.' He will be playing Dr. Shan Jing, a chiropractor in the fictional Texas town of South Nile.

The series airs Sundays on the CW Network. It follows the Buffkin Family that runs a series of payday loan stores. Laurie Metcalf (Roseanne) stars as the matriarch; and its creators were writers and producer on The Sopranos.

This summer has been an active time for Takeda. He's been up for several studio films and TV series. He is represented by The O-Agency out of New Mexico.

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1956106/

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This fall we begin work on a high-end animation video for our new client, the Western Dairy Association. This video will be part of their PR campaign to explain the benefits of dairy farms in Eastern Colorado.

"We're all kind of excited about this video since we'll be recreating a pop-up story book with this video through 3-D animation," said Takeda. We think this will help the Western Dairy Association reach a younger audience as well as adults too."

Leading the art direction will be print designer Michele Messenger of One-L Design, who will be designing the print component of the campaign. Creative Director Brock Sherman will be overseeing the animation process. Lori Kay Allred helps with field producing, while Scott Takeda writes and produces. Completing the creative team are Dan Dvorak (director of photography), Zlatko Makic (audio post), and Donna Baldwin Talent (VO talent).

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Fresh off of a successful two-month photojournalism show this spring, Reed Photo-Art Gallery announced that they were offering Scott Takeda permanent space within their gallery.

"I'm obviously flattered," said Takeda. "It's kind of one of those things you work for as an artist - to be represented by a reputable gallery. So to be at that stage in my career is a big thrill."

The gallery is currently showing eight pieces in Takeda's collection including some of his best sellers and one of his newest pieces - a sunrise panorama of Machu Picchu.

The gallery is located in Denver's Art District on Santa Fe. The address is 833 Santa Fe Drive, Denver 80204. It's open Monday through Saturday from 10 to 6pm.

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We are happy to announce that we have received an Emmy nomination from the Heartland Chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences. This is our third such nod in four years. This year, our healthy eating campaign for Optimum Wellness has caught the eyes of the judges in the category of PSA campaign. Dr. James Rouse is the creator / host; John Allen is executive producer; and Scott Takeda is creative director / director. The winners will be announced next month.

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The votes are in, and SSC Principal has been elected Secretary of the board of directors for the Colorado Chapter of the Business Marketing Association.

"It's an honor," said Takeda. "The Business Marketing Association is such a great organization for marketing people throughout the state, and it's nice to be able to give back. My hope is to be a good steward for my term and keep it going strong."

The Business Marketing Association is the premier professional development organization for business-to-business marketing. Colorado BMA has been voted the number-one chapter for 13 out of the last 15 years.

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We've started preliminary animation design work to bring a cutting-edge look to a video we are producing our newest client: the Colorado Health Foundation. This high-end animation will help us highlight the care that school-based health centers provide students throughout Colorado.

The art design for this video is inspired by some of the great newspaper photojournalists who work in Colorado. We started this process last month, hiring Pulitzer Prize winning photojournalist Glenn Asakawa to photograph still images in these clinics. We are now in the process of sifting through those images and animating them to give them a 3-D look.

The creative team for this project is: Scott Takeda (Producer/Director), Brock Sherman (art director and post), Asakawa (stills), Dan Dvorak (DP), and Zlatko Makic (audio post). Voiceover talent comes from Donna Baldwin Talent.

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The Short Sirkit Creative team picked up two national Telly Awards in this year's award competition - both in the Corporate Image category. We won for a creative show open for DISH Network and for our image work for Paris based media company ARCHOS. This brings our total Telly tally to nineteen statues. (Say that eight times fast!)

Our ARCHOS video campaign also received the prestigious Silver Key Award from the Business Marketing Association (BMA). The BMA is an organization for media professionals who specialize in business-to-business communication. This is the third such major award for our ARCHOS campaign. Congratulations to all of our team who helped us with some very nice creative for our clients.

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We love repeat business, so it's nice to announce the SSC team will be working on another HD video series highlighting donors to the University of Colorado Denver. This series will show in 2009.

We begin principal photography this month highlighting a major donor who is making a special trip to the campus. Our creative team on this project will be the University's Charlotte Million (creative director) and Catherine Worster (senior producer), Takeda (writer/director), Allred (producer), Dan Dvorak (DP), Brock Sherman (art direction), Jamie Wallace (post production), and Zimage Sound Production's Zlatko Makic (audio post).

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This month, we begin research and scripting for a series of tribute videos highlighting donors to the University of Colorado Denver. They'll be shown at a donor recognition dinner with the Chancellor in April.

"I'm very excited about this project," said producer Scott Takeda. "First of all, we love to do these kinds of feel-good pieces which fit nicely into our Genuine People Stories approach of storytelling. Secondly, I'm excited because we're going we'll be doing some creative production photography with still photographs that I really think will make the client very happy.

"I'm also pleased to be welcoming back producer/director Lori Kay Allred on this project. She'll be handling most of the shoots, and we've missed her for the past two years because the folks at HGTV have been using her directing talents on a couple of TV shows."

High-Definition shoots begin later this month. Our creative team on this project will be the University's Charlotte Million (creative director) and Catherine Worster (senior producer), Takeda (writer/director), Allred (producer), Dan Dvorak (DP), Brock Sherman (art direction), Jamie Wallace (post production), and Zimage Sound Production's Zlatko Makic (audio post).

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The prestigious New York Festivals just awarded our creative team with an international Silver World Medal for the image work we produced for ARCHOS - a leading maker of portable media players based in Paris. We share this award with Lively Marketing, the agency who brought us this amazing project.

Now in its 50^th year, the New York Festivals recognizes the world's best creative work in advertising and programming. The Film and Video Awards Gala was presented on Thursday January 31^st at the Tribeca Rooftop - a spectacular 15,000 square foot penthouse featuring panoramic views of the Hudson River, Empire States Building, and SOHO. Other winners included the BBC, Sesame Street, MSNBC, and HBO.

This is SSC's third World Medal, previously winning a Gold and Bronze in 2002. We've also won two finalist selections in 2001.

Click to see our award winning work!

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We are running against the clock to put together a stockumentary for V2K, a fast-growing national window fashion company. This video will be shown on several financial planning websites around the country to introduce investors to the upside potential of owning stock in this company (VTOK).

"The CEO and Chairman at V2K have learned that it's hard for them to explain to investors what their company does. Most investors just see that they sell window fashions and ignore the fact that they are poised to dominate this very fractured industry that has $15 Billion in sales a year." said producer Scott Takeda.

"We'll be putting our usual Genuine People Stories approach to this video to generate some legitimate excitement around this growing company."

Helming this "stockumentary" are Scott Takeda (producer/co-writer), Larry Isen (talent/co-writer), Dan Dvorak (DP), Brock Sherman (art direction), Brandon Russell (post production & animations), and Zimage Sound Production's Zlatko Makic (audio post).

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SSC's Scott Takeda has been named producer for the feature film TEXT. He'll report to executive producers Jennifer and Ken Maskrey - a husband-wife team making their second feature in two years.

TEXT is a coming-of-age film that follows two high-school seniors (Sarah and Parker) who believe that good things happen to good people.  When a sudden tragedy hits Sarah's family, she and Parker search for answers and eventually come to terms with the loss.  The film stars Hanna Hall (Halloween, Virgin Suicides, Forrest Gump), Jonathon Trent (Transformers 2, The O.C., Cold Case), and Reggie Bannister (Phantasm).

"This has been a lot of fun," said Takeda. "We've been able to take advantage of the writer's strike in Los Angeles and have lined up an amazing cast with great screen credits. And everything is falling into place quite nicely. I'm sure this will be the first of many films I produce."

Principal photography will begin at the end of the month and run two-weeks at locations around the Denver Metro area. The crew includes Brian McCulley (director), John Crockett (1^st AD), Rachel Levine (2^nd AD), Stephen McKissen (DP), Dave Higgins (2^nd DP), Jarrod Austin (AC), Tom Cassetta (sound), Alden Rogers (boom), Marissa Peden (wardrobe), Jennifer Summers (set dresser), Alicia Leonard (makeup), and Marion Clark (effects makeup).

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Denver's largest photo-art gallery will unveil a group show featuring four of the Rocky Mountain region's top photojournalists, including SSC principal Scott Takeda. Featured in the January Photojournalism show are three other award-winning photojournalists including two-time Pulitzer Prize winner Ken Papaleo.

"This is such an incredible thrill to be in this show," said Takeda. "Ken is a genius with the camera; Tyler Stableford captures some stunning contemporary images for Outside and Men's Journal; and Richard Durnan mixes such a humanistic style with his documentary travel photography. It's nice to be part of this group.

"The last time I was in a similar show was in 2005 and 2006 in Detroit, Michigan, when I participated in the annual Visions of the Sacred photojournalism show. I wasn't able to attend that opening, so it will be nice to be able to show my work closer to home."

Takeda will unveil several new images including a stunning 180-degree panorama of Machu Picchu and a painting-like image of spring tulips. He'll also be showing several bestselling images from his Search For Thor Sabbatical to Asia-Pacific.

This is his third show on the prestigious Denver Art District. This current one runs through March 15^th.

www.reedphotoart.com

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Wow, talk about a fun ride! We feel very fortunate to begin our ninth year in partnership with Optimum Wellness. Since we started this partnership in 2000, we've produced more than a thousand spots and promos now airing in major TV markets from coast-to-coast.

"Our quarterly productions of PSAs is kind of a highlight for our creative team," said producer John Allen. "I think it's because we all believe in the core message that living well is in our control, and if we follow some simple lifestyle tips, we can live healthy, fulfilling lives."

As we begin our ninth season, we are looking at new avenues to spread the wellness message to a broader audience. Our team for the 2008 season is the usual creative bunch: Dr. James Rouse (creator/host), Scott Takeda (creative director/writer), John Allen (producer), Dave Klein (DP), Andrew Ahlstrom (sound/gaffer), Drueann Benson (wardrobe/stylist), LeighAnn Gould (production management), Brock Sherman (art design), Zlatko Makic (audio post), and Jamie Wallace (post production).

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We're excited to begin production on a cool-new look for Peerless Tires For Less - one we feel will continue to drive winter sales for this long-time client. A team of art directors and animators are working on a series of winter graphics and animations to help deliver the message.

"The winter time is a big buying time for Peerless, so I'm really excited to create a look that I think will help them move more units," said Takeda. "The star of the spots will still be the tires, but I think the call to action will have more urgency."

We'll begin our HD-shoots in mid-month with a crew that's been on this campaign for the past eight years. Takeda writes and directs; Dave Klein will handle the camera; Andrew Ahlstrom will gaff and work audio; Annie Hamilton runs the casting; and LeighAnn Gould will manage the production. The host is courtesy of Donna Baldwin Talent.

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Your boss says you need to create a B2B video.so now what? Where should you start? And what's involved? Find out on Thursday, August 23^rd when SSC principal Scott Takeda delivers a presentation to the Business Marketing Association as part of its on-going 'Breakfast Roundtable' series. His discussion is titled 'Video Production 101 - Things You Gotta Know Before Hiring That Producer.'

"I'm basing it off a presentation I used to give to clients and account executives when I was Executive Producer of Sales at CBS-4," said Takeda. "Back then, I was focused on B2C commercial production, but there's a lot of similarities with B2B video like the two Production Pyramids. And I can't wait to tell the group about some new technology that allows us to give clients more bang for the buck at fairly reasonable prices. Plus, I've got a lot of great examples to show them, so it should be a lot of fun."

If you'd like to get a preview of Scott's discussion, you can see a condensed version of his talk on the BMA's online newsletter for September.

http://image.exct.net/members/1982/Before%20Hiring%20That%20Video%20Producer.pdf

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This month, we begin work on a series of image commercial spots for Christopher's Dodge World out of Golden, Colorado. They are the nation's largest 5-Star Dodge dealership.

As their go-to commercial production team for nine years, we'll be introducing a few new wrinkles for their summer campaign including HD-24P. Our creative team includes Scott Takeda (creative director/copywriter), Dave Klein (director of photography), Andrew Ahlstrom (lighting), Annie Hamilton (casting director), Zlatko Makic (audio post), and Jamie Wallace (art direction). Actors are courtesy of Donna Baldwin Talent and Big Fish Talent.

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We feel very fortunate to be producing more Biography-style documentaries for General Motors. Continuing on this feel-good series that we started five years ago, we will be showing the philanthropic efforts of GM’s top dealers. This year we highlight Irma Elder of Troy, Michigan (the #1 Saab dealer) and Tom Durant of Grapevine, Texas (the #1 Chevrolet dealer).

Shoots begin later this month as we start whirlwind two-week turnaround for these corporate documentaries. They will be shown at GM’s Dealer of the Year program in Manhattan in June. Running the show is our usual GM team: BI Worldwide’s Dawn Martin (Executive Producer) and Meggan Pope (Executive Producer), Business Theatre Consultant’s Randy Easterbrook (Creative Director), The Idea Factory’s Lori Kay Allred (producer), Scott Takeda (senior producer/writer), Woodard Productions’ Pat Woodard (producer/writer), Guy Hernandez and Brian Tiell (DP), Runaway Train’s Brock Sherman, Bryce Button, and Jamie Wallace (post production), and Zimage Sound Production’s Zlatko Makic (audio post).

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We are thrilled to be working on some high-end demonstration videos for international debut of the Generation 5 media player from ARCHOS — a leading international designer of portable media player based in Paris, France. The marketing team at ARCHOS wanted to put a human face and upbeat emotions to their image. So we will be using energetic, hip actors and jazzy animations to demonstrate this media players amazing capabilities.

Leading this creative team are the talented folks at Lively Marketing. Terri Lee is Executive Producer and Roman Brohl is Producer. Helping them are Scott Takeda (Co-producer/Director), Brock Sherman (Art Director and Post Supervision), Natisha Walton (Associate Producer), Dave Boersch (DP), Annie Hamilton (Casting Director), Drueann Benson (Set Designer), Jenece Amella (Makeup). Talent is provided by Big Fish Talent, Donna Baldwin Talent, Maximum Talent, and Radical Artist Agency. Our HD shoot will be done at the Comcast Digital Media Center.

Look for these Genuine People Story videos to be playing on the Generation 5 media player when it hit the shelves of electronic stores later this spring!

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This month, we begin field shoots on corporate documentaries for six divisions within General Motors. We are producing best practice segments of the nation’s top dealers. Our goal is to document what makes them so successful. These segments will be shown at national dealer meetings later this spring. We will be working with Frontline and Dateline NBC crews as we fly off to Florida, Texas and various other states.

We are happy to add Pontiac and GMC to our list of automotive clients. Returning from previous years are Buick, Saab, Cadillac, and Hummer.

Our 2007 creative team is very talented and deep: BI Worldwide’s Dawn Martin (Executive Producer) and Meggan Pope (Executive Producer), Randy Easterbrook (Creative Director), Scott Takeda (senior producer/writer), Pat Woodard (producer/writer), Kimba Langas (writer), Mike Simon, Dan Dvorak, Guy Hernandez, David W. Roberson, Hank Bargine, and Ben McCoy (DP), Brock Sherman (art direction and post supervision), Ryan Welborn and Jamie Wallace (post production), Zlatko Makic (audio post).

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Knock, knock. Who’s there? A whole buncha-laughs. A whole buncha-laughs who? A whole buncha- (uhh...errr) Okay, so we’re not talented comedians. However we worked with some very talented comedians at the US Comedy Arts Festival in Aspen this winter. And we laughed all the way.

Comcast, Diddio.com and Runaway Train Productions brought us aboard to produce funny video on-demand field segments for their comedy competition show Accidentally Famous. MTV-personality Andy Milonokis hosted the show that featured judges like Nora Dunn (from Saturday Night Live) and Jaret Reddick (Bowling for Soup). Together, they judged the best new comedians from across the country. So who won? Find out when Accidentally Famous airs this spring on Comcast Video On Demand and Diddio.com.

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We are honored to be a corporate underwriter for Colorado Public Radio — the Denver Metro Area’s local National Public Radio outlet. As part of our mission to support organizations that help people help themselves, we have pledged a portion of our 2006 earnings to public radio during the holiday season. To get a list of all of our self-empowering causes please click on our philanthropy link.

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We are thrilled to announce that we have won the prestigious Emmy for Original Music Composition for our U-Hills Plaza commercial. The creative team of Maureen Coleman (creative director/co-lyricist), Scott Takeda (director/co-lyricist) and Jerome Gilmer (composer) won the top prize for the catchy commercial jingle at the 2006 Heartland Chapter’s regional Emmy competition. This is Maureen’s first Emmy, Scott’s third, and Jerome’s seventh.

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This month we begin working with Peerless Tires For Less on their annual Extra Value Days commercial campaign. This will be our seventh year at the helm and our first shooting this campaign on HD-24P. We feel like the film-look we get from the high-definition camera will give these spots the extra visual spark they need. Special thanks goes to Dave Klein for his HD experience, Annie Hamilton of Hamilton Casting for her keen insight on talent, Robert Springer for his postproduction genius, Andrew Ahlstrom for his sound management skills, and Carol Beutel for her attention to the details. Donna Baldwin Talent provides the spokesperson.

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For the second consecutive year, we are honored have received an Emmy nomination from the Heartland Chapter’s regional Emmy competition. This year, our quirky image spot for U-Hills Plaza is up for the top honor in the Original Music Composition category. Maureen Coleman is the creative director/co-lyricist; Scott Takeda is the director/co-lyricist; and Jerome Gilmer is the composer.

We’d also like to give huge Emmy applause to senior producer Lori Kay Allred. She received an Emmy nomination in the individual-craft category of directing. Lori directed a fun and fresh set of dental commercials for SmileLine. For her HD shoot, she utilized on-camera talent, green-screen technology, and unconventional props to create a memorable and eye-popping campaign for the client.

Founded in 1947, the Emmy Award rewards the highest excellence in television. Winners for this year’s contest will be announced in October.

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This month, we finish our seventh season of Optimum Wellness with another HD shoot at our standard LoDo loft location. This caps off our most successful season to date where we’ve completed more than 100 PSA spots and promos for markets ranging from Seattle to L.A.

We’ve already started planning for our 8^th season. Once the temperatures start to drop in a few months, we will be shooting our first outdoor winter spots for OW. Later this month, we begin scouting for picturesque winter shots to kick off the new season. Also, we are working with creator/host Dr. James Rouse to create a new series of self-help PSAs designed to help viewers set and accomplish goals. We’ll be updating these PSAs throughout the year.

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The Short Sirkit Creative team picked up four national Telly Awards in this year”s award competition. We won a Bronze Telly for our commercial spot for U-Hills Plaza, as well as three Bronze Tellys for our B2B work for Saab, MSN, and General Motors. This brings our total Telly tally to seventeen statues. (Say that twelve times fast!)

We are also honored to have received the prestigious Gold Key Award from the Business Marketing Association (BMA). Our internal communications video for BellSouth picked up the top prize. The BMA is an organization for media professionals who specialize in business-to-business communication. This is our fourth Gold Key Award.

(Click here to see a five-minute video of our award-winning work for BellSouth.)

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For the fourth year, we will be producing Biography-style documentaries on GM dealers who set high standards of excellence in philanthropy. These videos will be shown at the annual GM-Dealer of the Year banquet in New York City later this month.

Reuniting for this project will be our usual GM team: BI Worldwide’s Dawn Martin (Executive Producer) and Meggan Pope (Senior Producer), Business Theatre Consultant’s Randy Easterbrook (Creative Director), The Idea Factory’s Lori Kay Allred (producer/writer), Scott Takeda (writer) Mike Simon (DP), Runaway Train’s Brock Sherman, Bryce Button and Ryan Wellborn (post production), and Zimage Sound Production’s Zlatko Makic (audio post).

(Click here to see an 8-minute sample video.)

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This spring, we begin working on two high-definition projects for DISH Network for their upcoming annual ‘Team Summit’ meeting. Setting the tone for the meeting will be our Power of Choice video. We will show how DISH Network is empowering television viewers by keeping things simple and affordable. We are utilizing high-def 24P cinematography, studio actors and high-end animation to bring this story to life.

(Click here to see a sample of our Power of Choice video.)

The creative time for the DISH Network is: BI Worldwide’s Lynn Jacobs (Executive Producer), Tom Nusbaum (Creative Director), Scott Takeda (Producer/Director), Megan Heffernan (Associate Producer), Dave Klein and Mike Simon (DP), and Brock Sherman and Jamie Wallace (post production) and Zlatko Makic (audio post). On-camera and voiceover talent comes from Donna Baldwin Talent and Big Fish Talent agencies.

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The SSC creative team is once again sharpening its pencils to judge regional Emmy entries. This year, we are selecting nominees and winners in the commercial spot category. The entries will come from the Ohio Valley Chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (NATAS), which covers parts of Ohio, West Virginia, Indiana, and Kentucky.

Our judges will be Jeffery Ford Production’s Carol Buetel, The Idea Factory’s Lori Kay Allred, Kim Yan, and AEC Studio’s Brian McCulley and John Crockett. Scott Takeda will chair.

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Saab is back for more of our Genuine People Story approach to video. This month we begin producing four corporate documentaries highlighting best practice techniques of their top dealers. We will be working with Frontline and Dateline NBC crews to document everything from pre-owned sales to innovative marketing. We start flying crews to Saab dealerships in New Jersey, Florida and California later this month.

In addition, for the fifth year, we will be working with Cadillac to produce similar documentaries for a dealer meeting in May. And we are proud to add Hummer to our roster of automotive manufacturers. We will send a crew to a Minnesota Hummer dealership this April.

The creative team will be: BI Worldwide’s Dawn Martin (Executive Producer) and Meggan Pope (Senior Producer), Randy Easterbrook (Creative Director), Scott Takeda (producer/writer), Lori Kay Allred (producer/writer), Sean McLaughlin (writer), Ben McCoy, Mike Simon, Dan Dvorak, Guy Hernandez and Jim Sicile (DP), Brock Sherman, Ryan Welborn and Jamie Wallace (post production), Zlatko Makic (audio post).

(Click here to see our five-minute video for Hummer.)

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We are working with Daiichi Sankyo Company, Ltd on several business theater videos that will help launch this newly merged company. Daiichi Sankyo became Japan’s second largest pharmaceutical company last year after The Sankyo Company purchased Daiichi Pharmaceuticals. These videos will be part of a business meeting in April that will unveil the new brand look and help launch the U.S division of this company.

We are especially excited to bring our Genuine People Story approach to the video that will launch this meeting. We are working with a New York City taiko drumming troupe to create a rhythmic open that will orchestrate a pre-taped drummer with live drummers performing on stage. The blending of these two elements will symbolize the harmony and synthesis the two merged companies.

(Click here to see our two-minute video.)

We will produce the other videos as documentary style pieces. We will shoot on-location in the New Jersey/New York region over the span of two weeks, interviewing employees from both sides of the new company. We will weave the interviews together to give the new company a unified ‘voice.’

BI Worldwide is the agency. BI’s Adam Kitchell will be creative director with Beth Hathaway as senior producer; Scott Takeda will direct; Kenny Gronningsater will shoot; and Runaway Train Production’s Brock Sherman will art direct and edit. Voice talent comes from Donna Baldwin Talent.

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We are thrilled to jumpstart 2006 with a couple of television commercial campaigns. The first of these two is an image campaign for Boulder Sausage. We will highlight the great taste of Boulder Sausage in a series of warm and fuzzy spots that will run regionally. KUSA-TV is the agency; Scott Takeda directs; Dave Klein shoots, Lori Kay Allred styles the set; and Jamie Wallace edits. Casting comes from Annie Hamilton of Hamilton Casting. On camera talent comes from Radical Artist Agency.

The second television campaign is for Holiday Homes, where we will provide technical assistance to JRA Creative. John Allen will produce a fun series of holiday-themed 30-second spots for this regional homebuilder. Rounding out the creative team: SSC’s Scott Takeda (director), Dave Klein (director of photography), Jeff Harpham (gaffer), Elaine Gates (art director), The Idea Factory’s Lori Kay Allred (set stylist), and Runaway Train’s Brock Sherman (graphics). Editing services come from CPG, and Big Fish Talent provides the actors.

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We are thrilled to be working again with Peerless Tires For Less to produce their annual Extra Value Days commercial campaign. Now in its sixteenth year, Extra Value Days has been a proven winner for Peerless, so we won’t stray too far from the creative formula. We will use the Peerless spokesman to remind viewers that now is the time to be buying those traction-savvy tires that can crew through snow and ice. For the 2005 version of Extra Value Days, Scott Takeda writes, produces and directs; Dave Klein shoots, Lori Kay Allred manages, Robert Springer edits, and Donna Baldwin Talent provides the spokesperson.

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For the second year, Detroit’s Vision of the Sacred has asked SSC principal Scott Takeda to help feed the poor and needy of Detroit. He will donate gallery photographs to an online auction that features the finest works of the world’s leading photojournalists. Proceeds from the auction will support the Capuchin Soup Kitchen of Detroit, which serves more than 60-thousand meals a month – more than a quarter of them to children.

“Scott, thank you for being a part of this event again,” said founder Brother Vincent Reyes. “Your work is beautiful.”

Takeda met Reyes in 2004 while producing a corporate documentary on the philanthropic work of General Motors. Both are former photojournalists and struck up a quick friendship.

“It’s a great honor to be part of this annual online auction. It’s a great cause, and the other photographers that Brother Vincent has lined up are giants in the business. They’ve won Photographer of the Year titles and even Pulitzers. I’m just tickled to be in their midst.”

Visions of the Sacred is the name and theme for the annual fall fundraiser. Each print captures the photographer’s vision of what is beautiful and sacred in the world. The auction begins in late October and runs through November.

To check out the Visions of the Sacred online auction, click here.
www.visionsacred.org.

To see other philanthropic work on this site, click here.
www.sirkit.com/philanthropy.htm

And to see some of Scott’s photojournalism work on this site, click here.
www.sirkit.com/photogallery.htm

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Fast on the heels of their Emmy nomination, SSC principal Scott Takeda teams with creative director/client Maureen Coleman to create another fun and funky commercial campaign – this one animated. (Cartoons!)

This commercial campaign is for the University Hills Plaza, home to Coleman’s ABC Custom Framing and thirty other high-end stores. Like their previous joint venture, this campaign will feature a retro sixties style, reminiscent of the animated show opens (Bewitched) and cartoons of that era. Both feel it will help the spot cut through the clutter on the air and fit the look of the center which was built in the early 1960’s.

For this campaign, Takeda will co-write with Coleman and Joyce Joseph; Coleman art directs; Runaway Train Production’s Brock Sherman supervises the animation; and Jerome Gilmer provides original music.

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Although it’s somewhat of a cliché to say it’s just an honor to be nominated…in our case, it’s really true. We are very honored to have received an Emmy nomination in the highly competitive commercial advertising category of the Heartland Chapter’s Emmy competition. Once again, our quirky image spot for ABC Custom Framing competes for the top prize — this time against three other commercials by the region’s top production houses. Many thanks goes to our client, Maureen Coleman, for giving us the creative freedom to give some spark and life to her marketing message.

As a result, this nomination will be her first. It is also the fourth for director Scott Takeda, the third for writer Lori Allred.

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