Swimming with Sharks

There are few things that surprise me anymore while working for Aero as lots of crazy things happen in our offices and on our shoots.  (I mean "good crazy" not "angry with a hatchet crazy."  Just to be clear.)  So, yesterday I’m reading through emails and I get one from Lance O’Conner, Owner and EP of Aero who’s in the Santa Monica office.  There are a LOT of exclamation points and words in the subject line that aren’t fit for a classy blog such as this.   Lance is a spirited man, so I took it with a grain of salt… Until I saw the photos and put it all together.

Let me explain:  Aero director, Klaus Obermeyer, decided to hang out with some great white sharks. No, this is not code.  And no, not in a Kevin Spacey/crazed assistant sort of way either.  I mean this LITERALLY. Klaus was in shark infested waters. On purpose. What’s more insane... I wasn’t at all surprised.

Let me explain further: When I first met Klaus, I knew he was a pretty ballsy kind of guy.  It was 2003 and I was still on the agency side of life, and was shooting a surfing spot with him. On Day 2 of knowing Klaus, we’re on a boat off the coast of Tahiti. (It’s a tough gig, but someone’s gotta do it.) Behind us, we were towing a small speedboat that we were going to use for the shoot. The speedboat was owned by a local who ran surf camps and was a good friend of Klaus, who is also an avid surfer (of course). 

Clockwipe to 45 minutes into the trip to our location when a HORRIBLE storm hits. It was basically the beginning credits to Gilligan’s Island. We were all getting tossed around like popcorn in a hot popper and unlike the passengers on the SS Minnow, I'd not packed a years worth of clothing for a 3 hour tour.  In short, panic set in, which was not at all quelled when Lance leaned over and told me, “Just don’t fall in the water, there are sharks out there.” AWESOME.  (However, on this trip I learned that even though I’m not a strong swimmer, I am GREAT at hiding in the corner of a boat and whimpering.) 

The situation only got worse. Two minutes later, the speedboat comes untethered from our boat. The owner looks near tears, as he’d been saving up for this boat, and it was the first time taking it out, and now it’s about to be lost at sea. So what happened next, you ask?  KLAUS JUMPS IN THE WATER.  When I heard a giant SPLOOSH, I poked out from my huddled position and yell to Lance, “Did the director just jump in the shark infested water during a giant storm?!?” Lance replies, “Oh sure! He needs to get his friend’s boat.” I quickly envisioned the mounting paperwork explaining to the production insurance as to why we couldn’t shoot since our director was eaten by a shark… But, like all ballsy heros, Klaus emerged from the water unscathed with the speedboat safe and sound and I swear I could hear a John Williams score in the background. Later on, like any good producer, I questioned Klaus about why he thought jumping into water with sharks was a good idea and he brushed it off, “Oh, they’re just Tiger Sharks…” Oh sure, like that makes it a Koi pond, mister.

Back to the present… lunch time at the Aero office. Skip Short (another Owner/EP in Santa Monica, and helicopter pilot) goes for an afternoon fly in his chopper. He calls Klaus saying that he’s spotted some sharks off the coast. Klaus runs out of his house, gets in his boat and Skip guides him from the sky to the point in the ocean where the Great Whites are swimming. Klaus then kayaks out to them (because you can’t just motorboat up on a shark, you know.) 

Here are the photos…. There aren’t words….. 

I'm just glad he didn't jump in... but I haven't opened up today's emails yet.  I'll keep you posted.

I See London, I See France....

When Klaus Obermeyer was devising the idea for the Klaus Cam, I can say with about 99% certainty he never thought, “This will be great for an underwear spot!” But this latest Fruit of the Loom spot from The Richards Group is not your average undies commercial.   It’s epic.  It’s gorgeous.  It’s hilarious.  And it's running in cinemas starting today!

Watch the full commercial HERE!

If you thought being a Fruit of the Loom band member was a cushie job, think again.  Being able to wear a fruit suit and a leotard in the heat of Death Valley can’t be easy.  But these guys are pros… and this is why Febreze was invented. 

It was an amazing shoot as you can imagine. Here are some highlights!  Thanks to Ron Henderson, from The Richards Group, for his amazing photographs.  

If only all clotheslines had this view, 

doing laundry wouldn't be so bad.

Klaus and Rachelle Wood in Mantan de Oro in Los Osos, CA

FOTL Band: They do their own stunts. 

Gorgeous shot of Rachelle.

There really isn't a "bad" photo of her.

I knew I should have bought stock in clothes pins...

Klaus flying the helicopter.

(Never mind the Band-Aid...)

Klaus Cam at the Dumont Dunes in Baker, CA

When in Rome...

Aero Film excels in client services.

Time to shoot the underpants...

Klaus looking bad-ass.

(Again, never mind that Band-Aid...)

Klaus and his Cam fly off into the sunset.

CREDITS

Cast:

Rachelle Wood: Female muse

Brandon Quinn: Male pants wearer

Rad Daily: Apple, piano

Wayne Wilderson: Purple Grapes, bass

Richard Horvitz: Green Grapes, guitar

Gene Steichen: Leaves, drums

Agency Creative team:

Creative Directors

Ron Henderson and Dennis Walker

Producer:

Sheri Cartwright

Post Production:

Charlieuniformtango 

http://www.charlieuniformtango.com/

Editor:

Jack Waldrip

Go Little Sandpit, Go!

Director, Sam O'Hare's short film, The Sandpit, continues to be the little film that could. We at Aero are excited, honored and humbled by our latest news: The Sandpit, was awarded a Prix Ars Electronica Award of Distinction!  

The Prix Ars Electronica is an award for creativity and pioneering spirit in the field of digital media. Internationally renowned artists from over 70 countries participate in the Prix Ars Electronica, establishing itself as a barometer for trends in contemporary media art. Past winners include Pixar, Digital Domain, Industrial Light and Magic, and Blue Sky.

494 projects from all over the world were submitted for the Computer Animation/Film/VFX category. The entries were reviewed by 34 jurors to select this year’s prize winners based on Aesthetics, Originality, Excellence of execution, Compelling conception, and Innovation in technique of the presentation. 

Sam’s film is in good company. The grand poobah award, the Golden Nica, was awarded to Arev Manoukian for his short film, Nuit Blanche. (Make sure to watch the making of this film as well - amazing!) The other Award of Distinction went to Jean Christophe Lie for the film, The Man in the Blue Gordini. 

There were 12 Honorable mentions in the same category. To name a few, Weta for Avatar; Pixar for Up; and the animated Academy Award winning short,  Logorama.  Human Music created the score for Logorama as well as The Sandpit, so hopefully in addition to being an amazing music house, they are also a good luck charm for Oscars.

Sam commented, “It’s incredibly flattering the that jury valued the work of independent film makers like myself and Arev. To have my work stand beside Pixar and Weta’s is truly humbling. Those films were technically and creatively stunning. I never thought The Sandpit-- created on the computer in my home office-- would stand beside these huge productions.”

This years festival will be in Linz, from September 2-11th. The official awards ceremony will be part of the Ars Electronica Gala set for September 3, 2010 in Linz, Austria, and Sam will be presenting his film to the delegation on Sept 5^th.

Klaus & Oceana: A Love Story

It's a gross understatement to say that Aero director, Klaus Obermeyer, has always been a nature lover. Klaus grew up in Aspen, Colorado, where skiing and snowboarding were considered a way of life.  (I wasn't this lucky.  I grew up in Pennsylvania where not running over Amish buggies was considered the state pastime. But I digress...)  When Klaus started directing he moved to Malibu, California, and like a true character in an 80's film, he learned to surf, kite surf, wind surf, dive, etc.  It was then that Klaus fell in love with the ocean and all its natural inhabitants.  (Emphasis on "natural."  Ahem...)


Klaus wanted to combine directing with his love for the ocean.  He can now free dive for 2 minutes, which means diving without air tanks.  WITHOUT.  AIR.  TANKS.  (I get heart palpitations just typing those words!)  By holding his breath for 2 minutes at a time and not having air tanks on his back to create bubbles and noise, he's able to swim up right next to the creatures he's shooting without scaring them and therefore, his footage is quite amazing, unlike what a normal diving film crew would end up shooting.


It was a natural step for Klaus to get involved with Oceana. He has shot his first PSA for them all around the world in Tahiti, CA, Mexico, and the Caribbean.  He works for Oceana in tandem with Pete Zuccarini who is another underwater Director of Photography specialist. 


His newest venture with Oceana is a PSA campaign with Adrian Grenier from HBO's show, Entourage,who is also GQ's Gentlemen's Fund Ambassador for Oceana.  The PSA promotes awareness regarding the problem of over-fishing blue fin tuna, which you can watch here.  

This PSA was shot in Mexico and make sure to check out the behind the scenes footage shot by GQ and Nautica and the article in GQ itself!  And last, but definitely not least, World Oceans Day was this past Tuesday, June 8th, and La Mer also used Klaus’s footage for their own web video promoting the event.


Phew!  Klaus is a busy boy.  I hope you take the time to watch his work as it's truly his passion and not just his job.