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BITS & PIECES www.postmagazine.com 4 POST MARCH 2017 LONDON & NEW YORK CITY — Papaya Films (www.papaya-films. com), a creative production company based in Warsaw, Poland, recent- ly completed a major international expansion with new offices in London and New York City. Founded in 2006 by Kacper Sawicki, Papaya has completed more than 650 commer- cial campaigns spanning broadcast, online, mobile and virtual reality (VR). Since its inception, Papaya has ex- panded considerably, with a reported annual growth rate of 18 percent. With this expansion, Sawicki will continue in his role as executive producer in the Warsaw office with managing director roles in London and New York. Wojtek Skiba will serve as executive produc- er in London and Tomek Kulesza as executive producer in New York. The London director roster includes Brent Bonacorso, Marc Wilkins, Juan Flesca and Matt Eastman; the New York tal- ent lineup includes Antoni Nykowski, Bartosz Dombrowski, Maria Makowska and Julia Rogowska. "Papaya has seen steady success over the years and has gained more and more recognition throughout Europe, and with our international client roster we decided now was the right time to move to the next level," says Sawicki. "We've hit the ground running in both London and New York thanks to our stellar leadership and deep talent roster. Having a greater presence in Europe and now in the US means we will be able to better serve our brand clients, further our push into original content and reach new heights." BLINDPIG AND ABSOLUTE POST GIVE CLARKS SHOE A REDESIGN LONDON — Clarks recently launched a new campaign that is shaking up perceptions of the brand with a radical redesign of its flagship shoe, Nature. The updated design gives the 30-year-old model a new lease of life while retaining the same craftsmanship of the much-loved original. Creatively executed by animation and production studio, BlindPig (www.blindpig.tv), sister company of Absolute Post (www.absolutepost. com), the film follows the journey of the shoe's transformation, revealing the time-honed process unique to the shoe manufacturer, as well as its pioneering use of cutting-edge technologies. Using a unique blend of animation and live action, the ac- tion-packed film follows the Nature IV shoe on a step-by-step journey through its redesign and rebirth. "As a heritage brand with roots going back to 1825, it's sometimes overlooked that Clarks has been at the forefront of technological discoveries but, they've actually been 3D printing for 20 years now and were pioneers of design trends such as the air-filled rubber role, so it was important for the new film to reflect this," says Ric Comline, cre- ative director, BlindPig. "The creative team at Clarks had a strong vision of what they wanted to achieve, so as creative collaborators, our job was to take that idea and translate it into a fully-formed concept and something visually captivating." BlindPig worked closely with Clarks to realize the concept, han- dling the project all the way through from production, audio and post, with all of the elements being devel- oped simultaneously side by side. According to Comline, "One of the greatest challenges was build- ing the shoe in animation and doing justice to the product. It was a real treat to visit the Clarks factory and witness first-hand the exclusive hand-crafting technique. The CG team at Absolute Post explored photo-real texturing and lighting to get the materials to accurately reflect the specifically designed elements of the shoe. To best achieve this, we experimented with a combination of Cinema 4D and Maya, harnessing elements of each, such as the interactive capabilities of Cinema 4D and the photo-real capabilities of Maya." PAPAYA FILMS EXPANDS TO LONDON AND NEW YORK Sawicki Kulesza Skiba