Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/34797
Broadcast Design job anymore he says.“It would be beautiful if people would respect Websites and reels and work.There are no pitch fees. If there are, it’s $2,000 to $3,000, but on many pitches we’ll spend $20,000 of our own money. Last year we pitched for Disney, closer to $40,000. [That was] out of pocket, up against eight really competitive companies, and they didn’t award it to any- one in the end! “It’s survival of the fittest to be honest,” he continues. “Our company is a little over four years old, and we’ve fought really hard to get where we are. But, when you are going up a against a company that is 15 years old, all it takes is one person who is footing the bill to ask,‘Well, what have they done?’” At press time, Thornberg & Forester were preparing to deliver the third in a se- ries of three :10 IDs for the National Geo- graphic Channel.The studio’s work was all- inclusive and involved conceptualizing the design, animating the IDs and delivering music and sound design. “We went through quite a design process for this, and we didn’t have much time either, so we ruled out a lot of things early on,” Matz explains.The IDs couldn’t feature photography or animals that one might expect to see from National Geo- graphic. Instead, the studio was tasked with coming up with abstract stories or narra- tives that metaphorically speak to what the network is about. “One has more of a mathematics/science Thornberg & Forester partners (L-R) Justin Meredith and Scott Matz. The studio created these IDs for National Geographic. NATIONAL GEO & MOVIES ON DEMAND Manhattan’s Thornberg & Forester (www.thornbergandforester.com) is a four- year-old design studio that has worked with Fuse, Turner Classic Movies and Planet Green. Justin Meredith, a partner at the stu- dio, as well as an artist, says he has witnessed a change in business over the years, not to mention an increase in competition. Broadcast design, he says, used to be a larger percentage of the studio’s work, but now represents between 30 and 40 per- cent.“It seems like it is shifting or changing,” he notes.“As far as network rebrands, there is less and less money in it, and a lot of in- house efforts are being done. And the whole way that networks are talking about themselves is changing. So the big rebrands that occur, it seems there are a thousand companies all vying to do the same thing. It’s a pretty brutal process.” Partner Scott Matz agrees. A great Web- site and reel are not enough to secure a 18 Post • June 2011 skew to it, done in an abstract interpretive way,” explains Matz. “One is adventure based, and the last one, Topography, is more about land masses and showing a journey that is pretty abstract. You are travelling somewhere and are on your way to where National Geographic is.” The studio spent two weeks storyboard- ing as many as 15 different ideas, which were later narrowed down to three. “At that point it was all about synergizing the look and feel [so it seems] they are all coming from the same voice.” Thornberg & Forester is a Mac-based studio that often calls on Maxon Cinema 4D for broadcast design work.“Cinema 4D is a really robust tool for 3D in the motion de- sign world,” says Meredith.“It’s really easy to learn and it’s laid out and built in a way that makes sense for people coming from After Effects, as well as designers. It’s something you can pick up quickly. The higher-end [tools], you might need a science degree to figure out. It’s an intuitive program that deliv- ers great results.” Thornberg & Forester also call on Au- www.postmagazine.com todesk Maya for projects that require ani- mated characters. Another client that Thornberg & Forester has been working with is Movies On Demand.The studio has worked with Movies On Demand for nearly three years now, and for the last two campaigns, acted much like an agency, handling copywriting duties in addition to design work. “With all of this technology — Netflix and Hulu and other ways to see movies streaming on the ‘net — it’s been part of our job to help con- ceptualize ideas for Movies On Demand to really position them in this aggressive land- scape of competition,” Matz explains. The two-phase campaign appeared be- fore and after the Oscars, with movie fans from different walks of life talking smack about their Oscar predictions.The goal, says Meredith, was to alert viewers to the fact that Movies On Demand is home to 90 per- cent of the Oscar- and Golden Globe-nomi- nated films.The storyline was shown via live action, and the back half used a modular component that could allow for the inser- tion of different movie clips. “That’s kind of what network branding is,” he notes.“You are creating engines or de- vices for lots of content to fit in while not looking generic. It’s always a big challenge.” REALITY WORK Chris Roe set up Fish Eggs (www. fisheggs.tv) approximately eight years ago, initially keeping it lean by working out of his garage, and later moving into work/living space on Electric Avenue in Venice, CA. He still tries to keep it lean. Fish Eggs is home to four full-time employees who work on broadcast packages — logo design, anima- tion and main titles — for programs that air on NBC, ABC, Spike and Nickelodeon, among others. Most of the studio’s work is for reality programming, but the facility does con- tribute to shows outside of the genre on oc- casion.When Post caught up with Roe, Fish Eggs had just completed work on Combat Hospital, a new ABC show that has yet to air. Their reality work includes Love in the Wild and Miss USA 2011 for NBC;Wipeout and Expedition Impossible for ABC; and Coal and Bar Rescue for Spike. “There seems to be a move toward natu- ralism,” says Roe, regarding what he sees tak- ing place in the broadcast design business. “Using 3D less to look big.” Before the economic downturn, Roe and company worked on programs such as Amer- ican Gladiators and Deal or No Deal.“[They] were these big, glossy, expensive-looking