Prime Focus brings Hollywood VFX veteran to India
Mumbai, August 3, 2009 - Michael Fink, Hollywood visual effects veteran and
Academy Award winner, has directed his first Indian TV commercial for Lotte
Coffy Bite candy. Fink is president, VFX Worldwide at Prime Focus, India's
leading visual entertainment services company. The Mumbai-based company was
appointed by Rediffusion-Y&R and MAD Entertainment for the toffee brand's
latest TV commercial.
The commercial shows that the Coffee-Toffee argument propagated by the
Coffy Bite brand has moved beyond humankind and into the realm of the
animal kingdom. The ad shows two frogs - Leo and Dino - vying for a Coffy
Bite. Because the frogs needed to emote and converse, they had to be
completely created using CGI and visual effects, with each frog having its
own unique and distinct characteristics.
Commenting on his first time experience directing a commercial in India,
Michael Fink, president VFX Worldwide, Prime Focus said, "It was a
delightful experience to be working on an Indian TV commercial. This is a
tipping point for Indian advertising with increased exposure and
involvement of global specialists in Indian advertising projects. I hope to
be associated with many more challenging projects like the Coffy Bite
commercial in the future."
Mumbai, August 3, 2009 - Michael Fink, Hollywood visual effects veteran and
Academy Award winner, has directed his first Indian TV commercial for Lotte
Coffy Bite candy. Fink is president, VFX Worldwide at Prime Focus, India's
leading visual entertainment services company. The Mumbai-based company was
appointed by Rediffusion-Y&R and MAD Entertainment for the toffee brand's
latest TV commercial.
The commercial shows that the Coffee-Toffee argument propagated by the
Coffy Bite brand has moved beyond humankind and into the realm of the
animal kingdom. The ad shows two frogs - Leo and Dino - vying for a Coffy
Bite. Because the frogs needed to emote and converse, they had to be
completely created using CGI and visual effects, with each frog having its
own unique and distinct characteristics.
Commenting on his first time experience directing a commercial in India,
Michael Fink, president VFX Worldwide, Prime Focus said, "It was a
delightful experience to be working on an Indian TV commercial. This is a
tipping point for Indian advertising with increased exposure and
involvement of global specialists in Indian advertising projects. I hope to
be associated with many more challenging projects like the Coffy Bite
commercial in the future."
Fink's direction of the Coffy Bite commercial follows his involvement on
the recent McDonald's "No Fry Left Behind" campaign for DDB Chicago, which
was shortlisted at the Cannes Lions International Advertising Festival in
June. Fink consulted on the McDonald's spot, which was posted by Prime
Focus in London. The global cascading of skills and talent from feature
films to commercials is a key part of the Prime Focus "Worldsourcing"
business model.
Merzin Tavaria, lead visual effects supervisor, Prime Focus commented, "The
success of this commercial is attributed to the brilliant teamwork between
Rediffusion-Y&R and Prime Focus. The creative idea developed by Rediffusion
was well structured, which allowed us to execute it so realistically. In
the process, we are happy to be playing a role in catapulting India into
the global VFX arena."
"The Coffy Bite commercial marks the globalization of Indian advertising,"
said Namit Malhotra, founder and global CEO, Prime Focus. "We're proud to
be at the leading edge of this trend and hope to see more of this
confluence of the West with Indian advertising. This process was made
possible due to our Global Digital Pipeline business model, which allows us
to leverage our resources and technology from across our global locations
with spectacular results that were delivered on time and on budget."
Minakshi Achan, EVP and executive creative director, Rediffusion-Y&R, South
said, "It's a pleasure to work with a team that supports and executes an
idea this effectively. The idea of taking the Coffee-Toffee argument beyond
our own world was interesting to begin with, and we're pleased with the
level of detailing and realization put in by the Prime Focus team."
"Everyone loves the coffee-toffee argument but we wanted to take the story
to a magical argument. This commercial captures the story most charmingly.
The animation is truly world-class and brings the concept alive through a
level of execution unseen so far," says Kishore Karumbiah, creative head,
Rediffusion-Y&R, Chennai.
Michael Fink received an Academy Award in 2008 for Best Visual Effects for
"The Golden Compass." His volume of work includes prestigious Hollywood
projects such as "Tropic Thunder," "X-Men," "X2," "Lethal Weapon 4,"
"Constantine" and "Mars Attacks!"
About Prime Focus Limited (PFL)
Prime Focus Limited is India's leading integrated end-to-end post
production and visual effects services house. It offers a comprehensive
spectrum of services ranging from visual effects, digital film lab (digital
intermediate, high-resolution film scanning and film recording), telecine,
editing, motion control and High Definition production.
Currently PFL employs nearly 1800 people and operates out of facilities in
Mumbai, Chennai, Hyderabad, Goa, London, New York, Winnipeg, Vancouver and
Los Angeles. PFL's full service capabilities empower filmmakers, ad
filmmakers and television producers with the latest tools and techniques to
refine their work in the post production & production environment.
For more information on Prime Focus Limited please visit:
www.primefocus.co.in
Production Credits:
Brand - Coffy Bite
Creative agency - Rediffusion-Y & R, Chennai
Production House - MAD Entertainment
Producer - Sunil Manchanda
Director - Michael Fink, President Visual Effects Worldwide, Prime Focus
Post production House - Prime Focus
VFX supervisor - Merzin Tavaria, Chief Creative Director, Prime Focus
the recent McDonald's "No Fry Left Behind" campaign for DDB Chicago, which
was shortlisted at the Cannes Lions International Advertising Festival in
June. Fink consulted on the McDonald's spot, which was posted by Prime
Focus in London. The global cascading of skills and talent from feature
films to commercials is a key part of the Prime Focus "Worldsourcing"
business model.
Merzin Tavaria, lead visual effects supervisor, Prime Focus commented, "The
success of this commercial is attributed to the brilliant teamwork between
Rediffusion-Y&R and Prime Focus. The creative idea developed by Rediffusion
was well structured, which allowed us to execute it so realistically. In
the process, we are happy to be playing a role in catapulting India into
the global VFX arena."
"The Coffy Bite commercial marks the globalization of Indian advertising,"
said Namit Malhotra, founder and global CEO, Prime Focus. "We're proud to
be at the leading edge of this trend and hope to see more of this
confluence of the West with Indian advertising. This process was made
possible due to our Global Digital Pipeline business model, which allows us
to leverage our resources and technology from across our global locations
with spectacular results that were delivered on time and on budget."
Minakshi Achan, EVP and executive creative director, Rediffusion-Y&R, South
said, "It's a pleasure to work with a team that supports and executes an
idea this effectively. The idea of taking the Coffee-Toffee argument beyond
our own world was interesting to begin with, and we're pleased with the
level of detailing and realization put in by the Prime Focus team."
"Everyone loves the coffee-toffee argument but we wanted to take the story
to a magical argument. This commercial captures the story most charmingly.
The animation is truly world-class and brings the concept alive through a
level of execution unseen so far," says Kishore Karumbiah, creative head,
Rediffusion-Y&R, Chennai.
Michael Fink received an Academy Award in 2008 for Best Visual Effects for
"The Golden Compass." His volume of work includes prestigious Hollywood
projects such as "Tropic Thunder," "X-Men," "X2," "Lethal Weapon 4,"
"Constantine" and "Mars Attacks!"
About Prime Focus Limited (PFL)
Prime Focus Limited is India's leading integrated end-to-end post
production and visual effects services house. It offers a comprehensive
spectrum of services ranging from visual effects, digital film lab (digital
intermediate, high-resolution film scanning and film recording), telecine,
editing, motion control and High Definition production.
Currently PFL employs nearly 1800 people and operates out of facilities in
Mumbai, Chennai, Hyderabad, Goa, London, New York, Winnipeg, Vancouver and
Los Angeles. PFL's full service capabilities empower filmmakers, ad
filmmakers and television producers with the latest tools and techniques to
refine their work in the post production & production environment.
For more information on Prime Focus Limited please visit:
www.primefocus.co.in
Production Credits:
Brand - Coffy Bite
Creative agency - Rediffusion-Y & R, Chennai
Production House - MAD Entertainment
Producer - Sunil Manchanda
Director - Michael Fink, President Visual Effects Worldwide, Prime Focus
Post production House - Prime Focus
VFX supervisor - Merzin Tavaria, Chief Creative Director, Prime Focus
