Mode Project

We’re honored that our work for CASA and Doughnut Vault is being considered for TED’s 2011 Ads Worth Spreading competition. Described as “TED’s initiative to find and foster inventive, inspirational, engaging and spreadable advertising in the digital age,”  the competition is in its second year.  TED Is seeking out compelling ads from diverse areas of interest: “social good”, “storytelling” and “brand bravery” are several of the categories from which finalists will be chosen.

We think they’re both Ads Worth Spreading, vote for them if you do too!

CASA “One Boy’s Story” (watch & vote here)

Mode Project created this PSA via EPIC (Engaging Philanthropy Inspiring Creatives), an organization which helps top-tier creative talent join forces with nonprofit clients. The spot tells of an young boy who was abandoned by his parents, but with the help of a CASA volunteer, is adopted into a loving family.

The Doughnut Vault (watch & vote here)

Produced and Directed by Mode Project, The Doughnut Vault documents the sights and sounds of the Chicago boutique doughnut seller. In November, the film won “Best Super Short” at the Second Annual Chicago Food Film Festival.

Mike Diedrich’s documentary “Ballhawks” is up for a number of awards from Midwest Independent Film Festival this year.

There are 4 nominations in all; Best Director, Best Feature, Best Cinematography, and Best Editing – for which Mode Project’s own Brooks Ruyle is nominated for his work on the film. Take a minute to vote online for this great independent documentary and stay tuned for the online/digital release of the film by Cub’s opening day 2012.

Vote for Ballhawks Here

Mode Project is honored to have been a key creative and production partner from the start and we wish “Ballhawks” best of luck at the Best of the Midwest Awards.

On the heels of a complete brand redesign, Gogo, the world’s leading provider of inflight connectivity, approached Mode Project to be a creative partner for post-production on their first national broadcast and web campaign. Mode provided Gogo’s in-house creative team with one-stop service, handling all facets of post-production including creative editorial, motion design, color correction and audio mix supervision. “Rolling out multiple national TV and web spots in conjunction with our rebranding is a huge undertaking…” says Heath Miller, Gogo’s VP, Creative, Brand + UX “…using Mode Project as a one-stop-shop made it worry free.” “We are just as comfortable partnering directly with brands as we are working with agencies, and we’re thrilled that Gogo trusted us with their new campaign,” says Mode’s producer Kate Soczka.

Shot in Los Angles with the Arri Alexa, the spots were edited, color-corrected and finished at Mode’s studio in Chicago. Gogo’s new branding uses simplified designs, clean lines, and has an optimistic spirit which is reflected in Mode’s end tag animations. The spots take a humorous approach and feature a variety of quirky characters who delight in their new found productivity at 30,000 feet. From work emails, to social media, to buying a “chandelier made of the antlers of a gazelle,” Gogo allows travelers to use the internet on a plane as they would on the ground. “We wanted to use humor in these spots and Mode really brought that out in the edit.” says Miller.

We’re proud to have been a part of the UN Foundation’s Girl Up campaign, which was recently spotlighted on the PBS Newshour. Partnering with our friends at LKK Media, a media consulting firm based out of Washington, DC, we did all the video animation for the web, mobile and broadcast components of the campaign.

Girl Up is a campaign spearheaded by the UN Foundation which educates adolescent girls in the U.S. about what life is like for their peers in developing countries. “The idea is to build grassroots support among American teens and tweens to help peers in developing countries stay in school, stay free from child labor, and safe from violence,” says Ray Suarez in his report. Since the launch of the campaign, over 200,000 girls across the United Stated have signed up.

Go Girls!

As a woman-owned business, Mode Project is proud to sponsor and attend the Women in Film 2010 Focus Awards this Thursday evening. The event will honor Emmy Award winning documentary producer Jamie Ceaser, broadcast legend Merri Dee and Chicago-born Hollywood icon, Raquel Welch. Mode Project is proud to support WIF while contributing to the overall success of Chicago as a provider of high-caliber commercial, television, independent and major film production.

We’re working closely with Razorfish and JCPenney these days, helping to produce videos featuring fashion tips and style ideas for women.  Mode Project handled on-camera and voiceover casting as well as sound design for these latest JCPenney web video series, highlighting hot trends for spring and summer.

President Obama signed health care reform into law this morning.  So we dug through the archives and pulled this clip from 2007,  when Obama was battling for the nomination.  Sent the clip to barackobama.com,  and they’ve posted it on YouTube.

We showcased our new 7D test footage – shot outside our office window – at the awesome ProGear event last night.

ProGear invited us to give a seminar on DSLR post work as part of their DSLR Video Nights series.  Mode Project gave DSLR users a crash course in production and workflow for video DSLRs with Final Cut Pro.  This worked out great for us, considering how much we love working with our new 7D.

The ProGear Video Nights seminar is intended to give photographers and videographers an overview of DSLR cinematography.  Subjects range from importing and editing to data safety and Canon equipment.

Mode Project will also be presenting at the last night of the seminar, in which attendees will see an entire 30-second spot go from 3-camera shoot to final product.  Awesome!

Check out the event page here!

We’re happy to announce that Kate Soczka joins us as staff Producer. She will be in charge of client services, bidding and project management for all design, editorial and digital content projects. She will also manage Mode Project’s marketing and business initiatives. Previously, Kate was an Associate Producer at DraftFCB working on agency accounts such as SC Johnson, Qwest and KFC. Her experience on the agency side will bring strategic and creative insights as Mode Project continues to grow. Check out the press release.

Welcome Kate!