Monday September 14, 2009
While Jess Scully was studying Journalism and Law at the University of Technology, Sydney, she helped develop and launch STU, a monthly magazine showcasing the talents of emerging Australian creatives. She then took on the role of editor of Yen, a bi-monthly glossy title bridging the divide between art, design, style and social issues, before launching Hotpress, a monthly music magazine again placing local musicians, filmmakers in an international context.
Jess is currently the Artistic Director of the Creative Sydney festival, Creative Director of the Qantas Spirit of Youth Awards, editor of the Creative Cities East Asia project and interview editor of the Hijacked series of photography books.
http://www.creativesydney.com.au
http://www.creativecities.org.uk
http://www.summerwinter.com
http://www.soya.com.au
Words by The Groop
Monday August 24, 2009
Taken from http://www.markpollard.net.
Greetings and thanks for checking out my writenings.
I launched this blog in late January 2009 because I was sick of not writing stuff. You see, I used to write a lot – maybe 2,000 words a week for magazines like 3D World and Inpress and my own baby Stealth Magazine (this little interview I did with Flavor Flav even made its way into Vice Magazine – the original one in Canada – some time in 1999). And then I took a break and buried myself in my work world.
Well, I’ve managed to dig myself out of that myopia and, to be honest, you can probably blame young Julian Cole for it. I met him at a conference. He reminded me of me… ages ago. He was wearing sneakers and a cap, for one. That used to be my thing. And he was the young guy that got rolled out in front of the old school to let them know what was new in the zoo. Again, I used to get paid for that. But, more importantly, his youthful zest snapped me out of my crusty work-world and gave me the kick I needed to get back into writing, thinking and communicating. So, thanks, big man. I’ll see you at TED one day.
Where I work and what I do
I currently work at McCann Sydney (the lovechild of McCann Erickson and MRM Worldwide) as the Strategy Director. That means I help companies solve business and brand problems with ideas. If you’re curious about my work history, please check out my LinkedIn profile. If you’d like to find out about the McCann story and whether we can work together, email me (markboogie [@] gmail.com).
Happy to speak at your event
I’ve spoken at Ad:tech, guest lectured for ADMA, and presented at Ignite, Marketing 2.0 conference, the NSW Knowledge Management Forum, universities and a bunch of other events. If there’s anything on this website that you’d like me to talk to an audience about, all you need to do is ask.
If you want something that’s ready and packaged, I give you:
- Social media (aka Don’t use social media)
- Twitter. WTF? (a story about Twitter for personal use)
- Online communities (aka 7 things hip hop taught me about community)
Anyway, my aim here is to write stuff that makes you think.
And to have you write back – and make me think. Fair deal?
Catch you on Twitter.
Words by The Groop
Monday August 17, 2009
Nash Edgerton knows his craft from both sides of the camera from his work as an actor, stunt performer, editor, producer, writer, and director. Since his short Deadline, which took out the top prize at Tropfest in 1997, Nash has directed a number of award‐winning short films and music videos. The action packed trailer for Tropfest called The Pitch was followed by the horror thriller Fuel, the stunt‐driven Lukcy and the twisted drama Spider, all shorts that screened to acclaim locally and abroad at festivals including Sundance, Berlin, Telluride, Aspen, Sydney, Melbourne, Pi Fan, St Kilda and Flickerfest.
His career in music videos has won him various awards and ARIA and MTV nominations for work with leading Australian and New Zealand artists including Ben Lee, Eskimo Joe, Missy Higgins, Evermore, Toni Collette, Shihad and The Sleepy Jackson.
Collectively Nash’s films and music videos have won more than 50 awards around the world.
Nash’s film making career began at he age of 18 as a stunt performer. Since that time he has earned over 100 film and television credits on productions including The Matrix Trilogy, Star Wars II and III, Thin Red Line and Superman Returns. He is also an accomplished editor. In 2005 Nash edited and produced the acclaimed film The Magician written and directed by Scott Ryan.
In 2008 Nash’s first feature film The Square was released in cinemas around Australia, where it was nominated for 7 AFI Awards – including Best Film, Best Director and Best Original Screenplay. It will be released in the US in 2009. Most recently Nash has directed the music video for Bob Dylan’s “Beyond Here Lies Nothing”.
Words by The Groop
Sunday August 9, 2009
It is with great pride and a whole load of relief that we can happily report that The Groop’s submission for the Extra Cheese exhibition, “Zoetron” – a modern take on the zoetrope – was a success amongst the gallery goers at the Saatchi Gallery in The Rocks, last Thursday. Enjoy the pictures. It’s like you were almost there.
Words by The Groop
Tuesday July 28, 2009
Ben Briand’s award winning work is often praised for its unique approach. He possesses the ability to form delicately crafted visual images whilst also generating honest warmth from the characters that exist within its world. The result is often emotional as well as visually striking.
In 2007 he won the coveted major prize for the Optus ONE80 Project in its first year. His result was the critically acclaimed one-hour film ‘Hammer Bay’ produced in conjunction with MTV.
In the last 12 months alone, Briand has helmed a variety of distinct projects featuring Cate Blanchett, The Vines and Public Enemy. He has directed distinct commercial campaigns for clients such as Telstra, Sony Ericsson, Westfield, Toyota and Ballantines Whiskey to name a few. Most recently, Briand collaborated with Australian fashion designer Brenda Harvey to create a distinct set of short films and photographic installations. This series marked the debut launch of her high-end accessories label Benah.
With a background in fine arts, Ben is a creator of commercials, films, music videos and video installations.
Ben is represented by Cherub Pictures in Australia and most recently has been signed to Moonwalk Films in France.
Find out more on his site, here.
Words by The Groop
Monday July 13, 2009
Michael Ritchie is the Executive Producer/ Managing Director of Australia’s most respected production company, Revolver, known for its undying commitment to produce both original and innovative, high end work.
Michael’s career began in the mid 80s, where he worked his way to a sort out position of Head Of Television at Ogilvy in Sydney, at the tender age of 25. After 10 years on the agency side and a successful stint working as a Regional Head Of Television at DDB in Hong Kong, Michael moved in to production joining Sydney based Pod Film, where he was made a partner in 1997. In his time with the company, Michael saw Pod grow to become one of the most innovative production companies in the region at that time.
1999 saw his most successful collaboration, with director Steve Rogers, when he joined Revolver. Since then Michael has received pretty much every international award there is, in the way of recognition at Cannes, D&AD, Clio, One Show and AWARD. He has twice been approached by Baz Luhrman, to produce the only advertising campaigns Baz has ever done – one of which was the Chanel No.5 film, starring Nicole Kidman. He is also the Deputy Chairman of AWARD, the most recognised industry body in this country.
Michael has forged international alliances with some of the most influential production companies in the world, from Biscuit Filmworks in Los Angeles, to Les Telecreatures in Paris. He has produced work for a range of advertising clients, including Nike, Tourism Australia and James Boags, as well as producing music video’s for the likes of Radiohead, The Presets and Beck.
Words by The Groop
Tuesday June 23, 2009
For Mike, what started as an uncertain journey following his heart swiftly turned into a creative adventure that couldn’t have been scripted. Mike landed in Australia two years ago with a laptop, a small bundle of cash and a girlfriend – and today heads up Holler Sydney, has a brand new MacBook Pro and a wife (yes, the same girl he followed). With a client roster that includes Lion Nathan (think Tooheys Extra Dry, James Squire and Boags), Universal Music and Johnson & Johnson, Holler Sydney is now 30 people strong, employing some of the best designers and developers in Australia (no horn blowing – for real!). Interestingly, Mike’s academic background is in zoology, which we’re sure helps on a daily basis – dealing with the monkeys, snakes and muppets that populate aspects of the wider business world.
Along the way, Mike met Claire, who is Holler’s Executive Producer and Mike’s right hand woman (read: technically the boss). After cutting her teeth as a Systems Administrator in various ad agencies, the lure of the world wide web proved too strong, and she hung up her RAM and earthing cables to pursue the more creative lifestyle of building websites. Constantly amazed at what’s possible in the digital realm, Claire can finally say she loves what she does. She’s overseen the development of some seriously awesome websites, and while she may not be able to write ActionScript herself, she knows enough to be dangerous.
Mike still thinks he’s the funniest person at Holler, which is why Claire took over writing this bio. Dad jokes just aren’t amusing.
Words by The Groop
Sunday June 21, 2009
Pete Baker and Luke Crethar are part of the world renowned creative collective, The Glue Society. Based in Sydney and New York comprising writers, designers, art directors and film directors.
Established in 1998 by Gary Freeman and Jonathan Kneebone, The Glue Society’s work encompasses everything from broadcast entertainment, commercials, print advertising, graphic design and books to art exhibitions, live events, installatins and sculpture.
The Glue Society was recently awarded the Hot Shop of the year by Australian Creative magazine and has been included in the top international director’s issues of Creativity magazine and Boards magazines in the US in 2007 and 2008.
Their work has received numerous advertising industry accolades in recent years: Gold awards at the One Show and at the Clio awards in the US, yellow pencils at D&AD in the UK and Gold, Grand Prix and Titanium awards at the Cannes Advertising Festival.
Below is an example of their work, as part of the Miami Pulse Contemporary Art Fair entitled, ‘God’s eye View’, four biblical moments as evidenced by satellite imagery.
Words by The Groop
Thursday June 11, 2009
Photo: SF Bay – Dolphin Club, ian_ransley via Flickr.
The application process for hopeful Groop members required the candidates to turn the tables and ask US a question. After the jump are some of the more thought provoking and hilarious queries.
Words by The Groop
Wednesday June 10, 2009
Photo: Unique, Irina Souiki via Flickr.
So, this is how it all begins.
We received a gargantuan amount of applications which proved to be extremely overwhelming, to say the least. Each application possessed a unique high standard and quality – so naturally, arriving to a shortlist became a difficult task.
However, fourteen final applicants were chosen.
We’re ecstatic about the next sixteen weeks and where they will take The Groop, as well as the amazing array of guest speakers who will be attending the sessions. On this website we will be showcasing output from The Groop, the work of individual members as well as our guest speakers and their work.
Words by The Groop
The Groop Is...
Twitter
remixes http://bit.ly/8JtU6 2009-11-17RT @modularpeople: Circa 1979: Signal to Noise just got Facebooked - http://bit.ly/L42VT - check it! 2009-11-04
RT @modularpeople: Modular presents Circa 1979: Signal to Noise as part of the @Sydney_Festival: http://is.gd/4NvnF 2009-11-04
Can you hear the whispers? http://bit.ly/11ZlNe 2009-10-21
The groop whisper http://bit.ly/45IgRg 2009-10-20
a short film http://bit.ly/39px6Q 2009-10-18
Australian Edge interview with great photographer Carine Thevenau http://bit.ly/DBAd8 2009-10-05
The Groop's own @littlegonzales in the Mona Vale Attic http://bit.ly/9Q3xH 2009-09-30
A sneak peek at what we are up to http://bit.ly/1MKlTS 2009-09-25
What were you doing on Saturday night? http://bit.ly/l566r 2009-09-23
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