Atlanta: Artistic Image co-founder Ken Soons recently directed and edited two shoots containing packaging of more than 250 promos, bumps, opens and How-Did-They-Do-That segments for TNT Latin America’s new wrap around show, TNT Movie Club. The campaign, which was created for South America, recently garners a Bronze Award for ‘Entertainment’ at the 2010 Telly’s.

“Each shoot contains an enormous amount of material, with packaging for 12 movies with 15 to 20 promos, bumps and informational features for each film, which were shot twice – once for the program’s Spanish broadcast and then again for the Portuguese market,” says Soons.  “The level of collaboration with producer/senior writer Jennifer Day at TNTLA and producer Lauren Thomas at Turner Studios Productions was key to every stage of the process. Working in tandem with Jenni and Lauren allowed us to maximize the efficiency and creativity of this mega-size package, and create a final product that exceeded everyone’s expectations.”

“Our Senior Director of Operations, Karen Grill, and I had been looking to do a hosted show that would be ideal not only for product placement and sponsorship, but also to give the audience something more in-depth about films,” says Day. “In South America, TNT is predominantly a movie network, so this type of hosted show highlights our strengths as being in-the-know about movies.”

TNT Movie Club features a male and female host watching the show together as they banter about different aspects of the film. Sometimes the segments are set in the kitchen as they chat about interesting aspects of the evening’s film. Other segments take place in living room and office settings, where the pair comment on their favorite scenes, discuss the movie’s special effects and offer up fun behind-the-scene facts.

For instance, the Michael Bay feature THE ISLAND has a chase-action scene in which giant metal spools fly off of a truck and catapult directly into the camera lens. “I always wondered how the director did that,” says Soons. “During the How-Did-The-Do-That segment the hosts give viewers behind-the-scenes insights into how these effects were achieved.”

“Jenni did an amazing job researching the movies and writing engaging scripts that both entertain and inform, while maintaining a natural, conversational tone – and the personalities of the hosts brought them to life,” notes Soons. “We encouraged the talent to adlib, which created some of the best moments – and working with two cameras ensured that we caught them.”

Each scene was shot with two Sony EX3 cameras – one wide and one tight. The file based cameras facilitated tapeless and seamless digital workflow, which allowed for editing and color correction without any generation loss. Soons edited and color corrected the entire package on Artistic Image’s Final Cut Pro Suite. This also made it easy to deliver both HD and SD masters of the show and streamlined the workflow to meet a strict deadline schedule.

Soons, who has directed a long roster of international promos and spots, including other campaigns for TNTLA, is skilled at directing for the global arena, and enjoys the opportunity to work on live-action projects for a mix of markets. The award-winning director brings the eye of an editor to each shoot, enabling him to maximize the efficiency of a project and work with tight deadlines. At the same time the seamless workflow maximizes production value – both during the production phase and in the cutting room.

“Whether I’m working on a project for the international or US market, working together with clients and having an open creative exchange always elevates the work. The collaboration between Artistic Image, TNT Latin America and Turner Studios Productions was seamless and easy. It was a director’s dream.”

“The lion’s share of projects that call upon Artist Image take advantage of our company’s ability to integrate live-action production and visual effects and animation to create high-end design driven spots,” adds Soons. “So it’s always refreshing to shoot a live-action project that doesn’t involve special effects and solely relies on my skills as a director and editor to tell a story.”

Artistic Image has also garnered Telly Awards for its work on campaigns for Ford and Trokar, as well as the graphic segments the crafted for TNT Latin America’s 2009 and 2008 broadcasts of the Academy Awards and The Golden Globes.

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