Client

INFOR is a global software developer with 58 million users and 90,000 corporate customers in 200 countries.

Challenge/requirements

To reimagine a formerly live, Las Vegas corporate team-building event into a Simul-live, streaming, three-day Sales Kick-Off Conference for Infor customers and employees, generating interactive meetings, seminars and study groups simultaneously, in over 180 countries in a global post pandemic environment. The streamed presentations would be viewed by groups in far flung Infor offices across the globe, as well as single, remote customers signing in on laptops or tablets as solo participants.

Solution

Black Watch Productions transformed what was formerly a solo Presenter on stage, with live visuals, music and graphics, into an engaging series of in-depth conversations between key Infor executives, experts and customers. The one-on-one interviews were designed to show off Infor’s beautiful New York City headquarters while keeping viewers engaged with lively conversations that included multiple settings, graphics and visual effects to enhance the digital presentations.

We set up a production center at the Infor offices in Manhattan for two separate shooting schedules including a live, concurrent overseas shoot with participants in Italy, Spain and New York City. Structure and execution employed a single shop approach where all aspects of conceptualization, preproduction, production and postproduction were handled exclusively by Black Watch Productions.

Creative Concept

Taking over the fourth floor of Infor’s New York City headquarters, including the newly redesigned customer service center, we established our video control room in one large meeting room and our production center in another. Since we needed to shoot over thirty different presentations, interviews and panel discussions, we wanted to give the impression that these various elements took place in different locations-not in the same place in the same building.

We engaged production designer, Augie Alexander, who brought in multiple furniture choices, wall art, video screens and set dressing to create the many visually different environments we were able to access by simply shifting the cameras around the available spaces. A full production staff was onboard, including make-up, wardrobe, production managers and assistants, all of whom kept the very tight schedule running at peak efficiency.

Michael Prince headed up the postproduction team. Mike organized and scheduled cutting 30+ 3-camera segments, and produced final cuts of over four hours of material in 5 weeks. Matt Yeager joined the team to create promos and a “hype” video to open the event and get the viewers excited about what the 3 days had to offer. The goal was to substitute virtual content for what would have been live presentations and generate the same level of interest and excitement to Infor’s global employees and clientele and our team was very successful in achieving that goal.

Live Action Shoot

Black Watch Creative Director, Monica Anderson directed the entire enterprise, which consisted of two three-camera, live switched video crews, along with a production designer, prop people, and production personnel. We did one stretch of shooting over ten days in December, 2022, and came back for a shorter session in January of 2023, where we moved to another section of the floor and created all new backgrounds.

Monica conceptualized and scripted the 3-day event, working closely with the Infor’s senior directors of Global Events and Sales to focus the messaging, and teamed up with DP Dan Karlok, who brought the concepts to life, lighting and choreographing the multiple location shoot days.

Each session was shot on 4K with three cameras, all tethered to a central control room that contained a technical director who did the live switching of the 3-camera feed. We also recorded all three cameras as isolated feeds. There was an audio engineer and a video shader as well as a video utility person who set up all of the confidence monitors and video materials that were used in the presentations. The final result was a huge success on all levels, prompting collaboration and positive feedback across all time zones. Our delivery-on-promise provided the impetus for more production projects throughout the coming year.

Timeline

The project spanned November, 2022 through January, 2023 with a screening date of February 7th. Black Watch produced all postproduction, graphics, animation, music, scripting and voiceover work, as well as assembling the entire three-day program and uploading individual pieces to the streaming service.

Results

The Simu-live three-day program was streamed globally to Infor offices, employees, customers and clients beginning at 8am in Singapore on February 7, 2023. The show went off without a hitch and was roundly praised throughout the organization. Portions of the segments we created have since been edited and repurposed throughout the ensuing months on various platforms.

Client

CHOOSE NJ/STATE OF NEW JERSEY

Challenge/requirements

In 2018, the State of New Jersey restored the film and television tax incentive programs that had been defunded for the previous eight years. In 2020, the governor expanded the incentives and extended them through at least 2028. The Covid 19 pandemic knocked out much of 2020, following a booming 2019, and a concerted effort was needed to jumpstart the program, once restrictions were eased and shooting resumed.

Filmmaker Attraction

Solution

Create and produce a Filmmaker Attraction Video for the State of New Jersey that would entice producers and studios to bring their projects to New Jersey to take advantage of the newly expanded tax incentives, as well as all of the inherent attributes of the state itself. Get New Jersey native Danny DeVito to be the face of the video.

Creative concept

Black Watch Productions, Inc. wrote a script that not only highlighted the new tax incentives, but also emphasized the incredible advantages of using New Jersey as a filming destination. We spoke with seasoned, veteran filmmakers, members of the NJ Film Commission, state assembly members, mayors, and developers who are building state of the art studios throughout the state. We peppered the interviews with historical footage of the birth of the film industry in New Jersey, gorgeous footage of the vast variety of locations and images from some of the current blockbusters that have been shot here. We also highlighted the veteran crews who live here, the incomparable Film Commission, the new film infrastructure that is emerging and the compressed logistics that make filming in New Jersey so easy to do.

Live action shoot

We shot our first series of interviews in December, 2020, at the Choose NJ offices in Newark and did three more days of interview shooting, two at Supor Studios in Harrison, and one at the Hill Theater Studio in Paulsboro. We shot Danny DeVito’s part in Los Angeles, once the availability of the Covid vaccines allowed for the requisite travel and shoot. Our DP, Dan Karlok, did a one man band set up in Danny’s house, and Monica Anderson directed via zoom on an Ipad.

Timeline

The finished video was delivered and has been on the NJ Film Commission’s website and social platforms since November.

Results

In 2021, production expenditure in the State of New Jersey exceed $500 Million dollars, and is on pace to pass that number in 2022.

Client

BBC AUTO

Challenge/requirements

The BBC was looking for content for its new website, BBC Auto, a platform that featured, you guessed it, stories that were designed to feed the British fascination with all things automotive. Anchored by BBC staples like Top Gear, they were looking for a series that was particularly American in appeal.

Solution

Create and Produce Real Live Test Drive, a web series highlighting real life test drives of new vehicles by real (non automotive professional) people.

Creative concept

We were recommended to Jonathan Schultz, an editor/producer at BBC America, by some colleagues there for whom we had done projects at Food Network and Nickelodeon, among other places. Jonathan had come to the BBC from a stint as the automotive writer for the New York Times, and was charged with creating content for the BBC Auto website. He had an idea for a web series that would involve ordinary people test driving new cars from a nonprofessional, non-technical point of view. After a couple of brainstorming sessions, where we worked out things like scope, logistics, format and budget, we came up with the name, Real Live Test Drive, and a series was born.

Live action shoot

The pilot featured a mom from the New Jersey suburbs who was chosen to test drive a Buick Enclave, a large, premium SUV. This vehicle was in stark contrast to the petite driver and her two small children, but they loved the roomy feel of the car as they drove around town and on the highway. The pilot went over very well and we were given an order for five more episodes for the first season. For each show, we were given the car by Jonathan and we found the drivers. We did the entire production, as well as the postproduction. Monica Anderson directed most of the episodes, all of which were shot by Dan Karlok.

We had a wide variety of test drives-an art student driving a Scion in Brooklyn, a fisherman in New Jersey, going off road in a Land Rover, a rock climbing couple in San Diego with a Hyundai and capped off the season with a rainy drive on a windy road in a Mercedes 250SLK roadster. Season two was sponsored by CarFax, although there was no difference in the production approach or editorial content. We did six more episodes, going from Brooklyn in an electric Leaf to the beach in a four door Fiat with a quartet of actors.

Timeline

We pretty much did an episode a month, with a short break between seasons. We used a very diverse group of drivers and stayed true to the creative concept throughout.

Client

INFOR

Challenge/requirements

To maintain corporate communication with customers and employees all over the world in the midst of a global pandemic and unilateral shutdown.

SOLUTION

Pandemic Production; Studio shoots, Remote Live Action Productions throughout the United States as well as overseas, Virtual Global Conferences; Multi-Camera live streaming panel discussions with top executives

Creative concept

Once it was determined that the 2020 Inforum Conference was going to have to be a virtual one, the decision was made to work up a conference-like environment in the Manhattan headquarters of Infor. A 44’X12’ LED Wall was brought in and a stage was built to go with it, and now we had a virtual production studio at our disposal. We needed to substitute virtual content for what would have been live presentations, and generate the same level of interest and excitement to Infor’s global employees and clientele.

Live action shoot

Hook and Loop creative director, Peter Gagnon directed the entire enterprise, which consisted of a full four camera video crew, along with wall technicians, prop people, and production personnel. This was in August, 2020, the first production we mounted after the lifting of the shutdown due to the Covid 19 pandemic.

We employed a Covid compliance officer, who took everyone’s temperature and made sure that everyone observed the current protocols. We also hired a company to come in and disinfect everything each night between shooting days. The end result was a big success on all levels and provided the impetus for more production projects throughout the coming year, including another virtual production shoot that featured two top executives getting immersed in a variety of virtual environments, augmented with live props, wardrobe and set dressing. We did several multi-camera executive panel discussions that were live streamed throughout Infor’s global network, one of which we were able to include a participant from Finland via zoom, so that he was, in effect, a live, fully interactive member of the panel.

For Inforum 2021, we were tasked with producing and shooting all of the customer videos that would be included in the conference presentations. Due to budget, logistical and Covid concerns, we did all of the shoots live on site, but produced remotely from the Black Watch office in New Jersey. We found and vetted vendors all over the United States, as well as overseas locations like Singapore, Hong Kong, the Netherlands, Germany, Spain and the UK. All in all, over twenty videos were shot, all turned out well, and we were able to add even more to out bank of resources gained over thirty years performing full service production services.

Timeline

Our first “pandemic production” took place in August of 2020, just after the complete shutdown was lifted, and consisted of producing a virtual replacement for the 2020

Client

Williams Whittle Associates, Alexandria, Va USO, Washington,DC

Services

Agency Broadcast Producer role; complete location live action production services; Postproduction supervision

Challenge/requirements

In 2003, the USO was an organization trapped in it’s own glorious past; identified chiefly as the vehicle for Bob Hope’s famous shows for the troops that started in WWII. Few if any, of the general public had any clue what the USO represented in the modern world, and most assumed that it was a government agency, not an NFP that relied on donations for its ability to provide services to military service men and women, worldwide.

Solution

In order to revive a beloved, but moribund organization with an identity problem, Williams Whittle Creative Director, Rich Park, proposed a strategy that would cast the USO as an essential service component to today’s military personnel all over the world. The focus was on what the USO was doing today and how they were doing it, assiduously avoiding any mention of the entertainment aspect of the organization. The PSAs were set in the real world with real people doing real activities within the scope of USO services. Williams Whittle also employed an aggressive, unique, proprietary media placement strategy that got these spots played on stations in every market in the country, dramatically increasing awareness and exposure for the USO.

Creative concept

The PSA’s we shot always featured real soldiers and sailors, as well as actual USO employees and volunteers and they were shot on military bases throughout the country. There was always an element of real emotion that the viewer could feel in every spot. We shot, for the most part, two spots a year from 2003 through 2012. The PSAs in the first few years concentrated on getting the public to know the real USO of today. Eventually, the agency identified specific themes to address, and the last couple of years, we produced powerful spots on wounded warriors and the invisible wounds of war (PTSD).

Client

VML/Motorola

Challenge/requirements

To prove that the 21 megapixel Moto X had the best smartphone camera we challenged a tableaux vivant photographer to capture 21 choreographed moments in one shot using only the Moto X.

Solution

Create a tableaux on the Coney Island boardwalk, populate the scene with influencers, actors, locals and extras and hire Ryan Schude to photograph it. Then create a deeper experience with 21 interconnected films across the Instagram grid. We flipped the Instagram UI into a horizontal grid. Every square is a video and part of an interconnected Coney Island story. Post the finished images and videos on a dedicated website as well as on dedicated pages across all social media platforms.

Motorola: MotoX 21 in 1

Creative concept

VML’s idea was to create a tableaux on the Coney Island boardwalk that would be representative of the funky, iconic nature of the place, including amusements, rides and boardwalk local color. This scene would be captured at magic hour with the 21 pixel Motorola phone.

Live action shoot

The shoot was done in October, just after the summer season was concluded, and right before most of the amusement areas were shut down for the winter. This gave us greater access to the businesses that were included in the scope of the project, primarily Tom’s Restaurant and Luna Park, as well as the boardwalk area in front of both. Monica Anderson was the Black Watch producer who worked with VML to put this mammoth project together. The agency hired several internet influencers to appear in the photo as well as in the individual videos. These included Joey Chestnut, the hot dog eating champion of the world, Momo, a famous border collie, Humza Diaz, a teenage daredevil, noted for his climbing heroics, and others. We augmented those by casting over 60 actors, local celebrities and extras.

During the early part of each day, we set up the tableaux and got everyone in the correct positions for the still photo, then shot their video stories; we had two video teams, accompanied by VML creative directors, Josh Maguire and Harsh Kapadia and we were able to shoot 21 videos in those 2 days. At 4pm each day, rehearsal began for the still shot.

We built a 30 foot platform in the middle of the boardwalk and Ryan directed the scene from there. There were many, many moving parts, ranging from a fire eater to flying balloons, to a live dog hiding among a pile of stuffed animals. A photo was taken at magic hour of day one, we made a series of adjustments on day two and took a second photo then, which turned out to be the one that was used. This was easily the biggest, most complicated and most successful project we have ever done up to this point.

Timeline

About six weeks from initial location scouting to 2 day location shoot, which included a five day push due to a hurricane.

Results

Millions of impressions across all social media platforms; Cannes Lions: 2 Shortlisted | Project Isaac: Gold | Facebook: North America Regional Winner | Webby: Nominee