Teamsters Local 399 to go on strike Feb 1

An agency creative just asked me what all this means... Here's my take...

There has been a trend over the last 10 years to not produce commercials in the US anymore, fleeing the States to cheaper pastures overseas. This exodus has mainly been to avoid residuals fees for SAG Actors, not to save money on the production itself. While sometimes that is the case, the savings is generally marginal after travel, etc. With the pending possible strike from the Teamsters in the West, this will put production companies in an even more difficult position of encouraging clients to stay in the US. 

There's a reason that LA is the hub of production for the world-- best crews, best locations, best accessibility to equipment. Is it great to travel to other places sometimes? Absolutely. But it's hard to not think about all the jobs that are affected when you do. It's not just the Teamsters that would be affected by this strike. It's the entire crew. And while all of production should stand united, they are striking for a reason that will not go away. The AICP is asking to change the threshold for what's considered "low-budget" from $75,000 a day to $125,000. On a low-budget contract, day rates can be negotiated with crew members below scale rates. 

Let's be clear: no one wants to pay anyone below scale. No one is really “excited” about low-budget work, but with more and more web work this is the reality of production. The days of getting $250,000 a day for production are gone. The words “nimble” are used on a  daily basis— who can make a scene look like a million bucks for $500 shot on an iPhone? This is our reality, and we need to embrace it or risk becoming extinct. 

Production crews are the ultimate team and no one is diminishing the value of Teamsters— from drivers to location managers, they can clearly be argued as the backbone of the crew. No one is looking for a way to short change their value. We fight everyday to make union crews work for the budget at hand. This provision will create jobs. It will ensure that union crews aren’t a thing of the past. It’s in the best interest of everyone. Let's keep jobs in the US. Let’s look out for each other. Let’s be union supporters by supporting the greater good. 

Chrysler Born Makers

When the Chrysler "Born Makers" boards came to Klaus Obermeyer, there were hundreds of scenes that needed to be shot, and not enough days to shoot them. But Klaus isn't a "we can't do it" kind of guy.  He called in Ken Arlidge and Sam O'Hare, and between the 3 of them, Klaus divided and conquered to get everything and then some. This is why its good have great partners on your roster.

All of the diverse locations would never have been possible with one crew. And those locations that couldn't be found, were created in CG with Sam O'Hare at Parachute.

Aero spreads Holiday magic with Wells Fargo

Always nice to have the family together at the holiday. We at Aero took this to a whole news level with the holiday spot we produced along side DDB-LA for Wells Fargo. Klaus Obermeyer was the director and brought on fellow Aero director Sam O'Hare for his VFX expertise (with the help from his crew at Aero Studios--which is being rebranded as Parachute in 2014!.. more on that later), and Aero alumni Bob Jenkis for the edit.

We do not condone snowmen smoking. It was just bubbles. We swear.

As you can imagine, it's not that snowy in Southern California in October... or really anywhere in the world. It's that sweet spot of entering spring in the Southern Hemisphere and still too autumnal in the Northern. So... With a mix of practical FX and movie magic, the winter landscape was born! We did a break down to show what was shot and what was CGI. Klaus oversaw the production from start to finish with Sam creating the pre-visualization with him and finishing all the VFX.

Nom nom nom nom nom. 

The shoot took place over one night and one day and the VFX took 4 weeks. There were a few late nights...

Sam O'Hare and Jesse Holmes (VFX lead) catch a nap. Totes adorbs. 

You can excuse the snoozy-ness when you consider this is what they'd been doing...

 Before...

 After!

 Kinda sad...

Magical!! and he got a new hat. Thanks, CGI. 

Other credits include Siggy at Company3 LA did the color grade; Jeff at Eleven Sound was the sound designer and mixer; HUM music scored the beautiful track.

Fun tidbits from the shoot... The dog was AMAZING. Her name is Jules and everyone wanted to take her home. The kids are really that cute. There were 28 horses in this production, and they were treated better than most people. And they really do like carrots... a lot.

From all of us at Aero Film, have a very happy holiday and we wish you the best in 2014!!!

Klaus Obermeyer in Alaska

Aéro Film has been to Alaska quite a few times. Sam O'Hare shot the Alaska Communications campaign last year (and this year... stay tuned). Klaus Obermeyer has shot there for many years with Warren Miller films, Chevy Silverado, and just went back for a project that will remain nameless for the moment. (I'm all about suspense today...) 

It's no mystery why Klaus keeps going back-- it's one of the most stunning landscapes in the world, and right now, one of the best places to shoot snow. 

 The Aéro jet and Daniel Zatz helicopter with Cineflex system.

Klaus in the glaciers of Valdez in his Obermeyer jacket. 

 I mean, come on. 

 Klaus, back to his roots, filming pro skiers.

Gorgeous. And the mountains are nice, too. 

Thanks to Mark Reid for capturing these photos. See you on the mountains!

Snowy August

Ahhh August. The perfect time to shoot some snow. It’s perfect winter weather in the Southern hemisphere, but won’t be for much longer. So if you’re promoting snowy holiday times or winter Olympics extravaganzas, times a tickin’! September/October marks the black hole of “no snow anywhere except for really annoying places.” (Technical term.)

Our resident snow expert, Klaus Obermeyer, knows this all too well. He’s a native of Aspen, Colorado and grew up skiing and snowboarding from the time that he was knee high to a grasshopper. (At 6’8 I don’t believe he was ever that small… but suspend disbelief for the sake of my metaphors….) Klaus’s father, Klaus Sr, was the founder of Obermeyer ski wear and inventor of the parka, so the whole family has snow in their genes (and often in their jeans, too).

Klaus Sr and Klaus Jr

Klaus starting shooting film on the side of a mountain. Shooting his daredevil friends and working with filmmaker Robert Fulton (who’s remarkable and has his own amazing life story .) This isn’t tripod and dolly work—this is Klaus skiing down a mountain without poles, holding a film camera. Often backwards. Klaus has shot an Olympic skier on a slalom run. The skier looks amazing and the technique makes even a veteran skier think, “Amazing!” But then you think about the fact that Klaus was skiing right beside him, holding a film camera, going backwards… without poles, and thinking about framing. There’s no Olympic category for that.

Of course the Klaus Cam was also born out of necessity for shooting snow. Being able to shoot action close ups with out touching virgin snow was impossible—until the Klaus Cam with its ability hang a camera on a long line from a helicopter and get full 360 pan, tilt and roll that’s all gyrostabilized. (Imagine a technocrane, steadicam and a helicopter had a love child.)

See the best of the best here! 

Obermeyer Ski Wear