New VW Beetle Confronts Fictional Urban Myth in Former ILM CG Artist's Newest :30 Spot
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LOS ANGELES (Apr. 25, 2003) -- Emerging director and accomplished feature and commercial VFX supervisor Andrew Hardaway (whose VFX credits include several of the multi-award winning BMW "The Hire" short films, plus Mike Nichols' "Angels in America" and John Frankenheimer's "Path to War") has just finished his latest spec commercial.
Entitled "New Mags," the spot takes Hardaway's visual-oriented storytelling approach to a new level - with support from an A-list of industry players including Jeff Elmassian from Endless Noise, JD Smyth from Rock Paper Scissors, the VFX and animation talents of the team at Radium LA, the talents of colorist Beau Leon at the Syndicate, special assistance from production company Headquarters, and many others. The new :30 is currently being screened at major agencies and production companies and is also entered in a number of global competitions.[an error occurred while processing this directive]
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Hardaway compiled an amazing list of feature credits as CG artist for Industrial Light & Magic from '96 to '00, and he described "New Mags" as a fictional urban myth conceived as a package of three spots, wherein a particular urban myth confronts the Beetle in each. "In this first one," Hardaway explained, "a giant mag ball rolls around in the wee-hours finding older Beetles and updating their mags to the latest model year."
In terms of the caliber of his collaborators, Hardaway cites the lessons he's learned by working with the industry's best. "You're only as good as the people you put around you, and on this project, I was fearless in that regard. Based on the strength of my first spec spot, I was able to get the industry's leader in terms of car prep, Shelly Ward Enterprises; I got a fine actor from a large casting session; I was able to get a great producer, Nadine Brown; I was able to get the crane and crane crew from Dean Goldsmith, widely regarded as the best in the industry. I honestly feel that everyone who touched this project all along the way is the very best at what they do, and all of their talents contribute to this spot's distinct flavor."
"When Andrew came in and screened the project for us, suffice to say we were very excited to have a chance to work with him," explained Endless Noise executive producer Celia Williams. "He had a very strong point of view, he knew precisely what he wanted, and he was also very articulate. His focus, maturity and the quality of his work literally blew us away."
A graduate of the acclaimed Southern California Institute of Architecture, Hardaway's early live-action commercial art direction career led him to ILM. There, his experience working on blockbuster projects (among them, "Star Wars - The Phantom Menace," the Special Edition releases of "ET" and "Return of the Jedi," "Men in Black") fueled his return to spot-craft as a director intent on developing spots that seek a perfect balance of forward-thinking story executions and, when necessary, transparent visual effects.
Hardaway is a member of the Directors Guild of America, and also served as second unit director on "Path to War."
Hardaway's project keys on "New Mags" included producer Nadine Brown, director of photography Kevin Ward, production designer Joel Lang, casting director Pamela Starks and VFX supervisor Aladino Debert.
About Endless Noise
Commercial music and sound design company Endless Noise composes and produces innovative and cutting-edge music and sound designs for feature films, television programming and commercials. Building on its Grammy, Emmy, Clio, AICP, London International Advertising, International ANDY and International Monitor Award- winning accomplishments and its solid track-record working with leading entertainment companies and ad agencies, Endless Noise offers the proven ability to create the perfect music and sound design for the world's most ambitious projects. For more information, please call executive producer Celia Williams (celia@endlessnoise.com) at 310.860.1202 or visit www.EndlessNoise.com.
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