Blink (production company)

Blink
Industry Advertising, Music Video, Animation, Interactive, Design, Fashion,
Founded 1985
Headquarters London, United Kingdom
Area served
 Global
Key people

Managing Director:

James Studholme
Website http://www.blinkprods.com

Blink is a British production company and creative studio producing commercials, music videos, animations, art and fashion films.[1] It is composed of Blink Productions, BlinkInk, BlinkArt, Colonel Blimp and White Lodge. The company's head offices are based in Soho, London. Blink is headed by managing director, James Studholme, and represents a total of 48 directors and artists across its five divisions.

Blink was named Production Company of the Year by Campaign Magazine in 2012[2] for the second consecutive year, having previously held the title in 2011 and 1997.[3] Blink was also chosen in 2011 for the same accolade by Televisual Magazine.[4] In 2013, Blink was named Production Company of The Year at the British Arrow Awards, as well as a winning a total of 12 gold and silver awards for its commercials.

Overview

Blink is known for discovering and developing new creative talent,[5] and in the past has launched the careers of many successful directors. These include Ivan Zacharias, Doug Foster, Dominic Murphy, Kevin Thomas, Trevor Melvin, Dougal Wilson, Steve Reeves and Paul Gay. Blink's current roster of directors is drawn from a diverse range of backgrounds and many work across various disciplines, which is reflected by the fact that a number of directors and artists are represented by more than one division of the company. The divisions are well integrated and collaborate frequently on productions falling outside of conventional television commercial production. James Studholme has said that in creating these subdivisions, Blink is well positioned to reach beyond the realm of traditional advertising and navigate the "uncharted terrain where brands and culture collide".[6] Blink's peers within the advertising industry have credited the company's success to a "clever diversity of a brand giving it greater longevity and taking full advantage of an expanding marketplace".[7]

History

Artist Bob Lawrie founded Blink in London in 1984 as a vehicle for his creative art and directing projects. Initially founded as an animation company doing TV program titles, Channel Idents and music promos. James Studholme joined in 1985 as producer. Blink branched out into live action in 1993 with a Red Stripe commercial for TV and cinema.[6] Studholme bought young directors Mike Bennion and Simon Fellows into Blink. In 2000 Bob Lawrie departed leaving James Studholme at the helm. Since 2004, Blink has launched four specialised sub-divisions in addition to its commercial production company, and currently operates as an all-encompassing creative studio producing commercials, animations, art, music videos and fashion films.

In 2005, Blink extended their reach to the United States. James Studholme and Diane McArter (who previously founded Omaha Pictures) launched a new US production company, Furlined, as founding partners.[8] Several of Blink's directors are represented in the USA by Furlined, who have offices in Los Angeles and New York. In 2010, Furlined launched FMV (Furlined Music Videos) as its music video division.[9]

One of Blink's most memorable projects is Gorilla, a commercial directed by Juan Cabral for Cadbury. The advert first aired in 2007 and features an actor in a gorilla costume drumming to In the Air Tonight by Phil Collins. In its first week, the commercial was viewed over 500,000 times on YouTube and has received over 6 million views since then. Gorilla was voted ITV's favourite TV advert of 2007 and 5th best advert of the decade in an online poll by tellyads.com.[10][11] It has also won numerous top advertising industry awards, such as the Film Grand Prix Lion at the Cannes Lions 2008, Gold at the British Television Advertising Awards (British Arrows) 2008 and Black and Yellow Pencils at the D&AD Awards 2008.[12][13][14]

Blink Productions

Blink Productions has been the advertising-focused division of Blink since the company's founding. Blink Productions currently represents 21 directors and produces high quality commercials with global reach. Some of the brands Blink has produced commercials for include Guinness, Cadbury's, Yorkie, Nokia, Mercedes, Whiskas, Volkswagen, Ikea and John Lewis.

In 2010, Blink produced a commercial with agency Adam & Eve for John Lewis. The commercial was directed by Dougal Wilson and shows a woman ageing 70 years in 90 seconds, accompanied by Fyfe Dangerfield’s cover of Billy Joel's She's Always A Woman. The advert follows a woman through her life, from her birth through school, marriage, having children and becoming a grandmother. A key factor to the advert's popularity is its emotional impact on viewers. Craig Inglis, John Lewis' director of marketing, said "we have been overwhelmed by the volume of responses and how deeply it has affected people. The numerous letters and emails we have received...suggests we have captured the mood of the nation".[15] A week after the advert first aired on television, The Guardian newspaper reported that as a result of the advert's influence, a 39.7% increase in sales on John Lewis' website was reported.[16] To date, the advert has received over 1,000,000 total views on YouTube. The commercial won three Gold awards at the British Arrows in 2011.[17]

In 2011, Dougal Wilson repeated his success for John Lewis and Adam & Eve with The Long Wait, a commercial screened in the run-up to Christmas. The advert tells the story of a young boy counting down to Christmas Day, set to a cover of The Smiths’ Please, Please, Please Let Me Get What I Want by Slow Moving Millie. The advert was awarded 3rd place in Creativity Magazine's Best of 2011 TV[18] and it was watched over 4,000,000 times in total on YouTube[19] since it aired in November 2011. The advert was written about extensively online and like Wilson’s previous work for John Lewis, its success was credited to its emotional impact. Kathryn Westcott of the BBC wrote “If your heart hasn't been melted by The Long Wait then it is made of flint”.[20] The commercial was named Commercial of the Year and won four Gold awards at the 2012 British Arrows,[21] as well as winning In Book at the 2012 D&AD Awards, where Blink director Adam Hashemi's commercial for haircare brand VO5 also won two Yellow Pencils for Direction and Use of Music.[22]

Colonel Blimp

Colonel Blimp was founded in 2006 as the music video production arm of Blink, and has since become one of the world's leading music video production companies. The company was named in homage to Powell and Pressburger's 1943 film The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp. The division represents a roster of 19 directors and has produced music videos with international reach for artists such as Coldplay, The Streets, Björk, U2, Tinie Tempah, Kelly Rowland, Unkle, Professor Green and The Maccabees, incorporating both traditional and experimental filmmaking techniques.

In 2012, Colonel Blimp added several new directors to its roster, including acclaimed choreographer and director Trish Sie, who is known for her longstanding partnership with OK Go and is responsible for many of the band's most popular videos.

BlinkInk

BlinkInk was founded in 2004 to produce live action, animation and visual effects-based multidisciplinary work including music videos and commercials. BlinkInk's focus is on using unconventional visual techniques, spanning from puppetry to computer graphics. The division currently represents a roster of 12 directors drawn from a range of backgrounds such as art film, video games and architecture.[23]

Their notable projects include commercials for Cadbury, Google, Nokia, Peugeot, Mercedes and Carphone Warehouse, and music videos for Arctic Monkeys, Muse, Crystal Antlers, Kap Bambino and Keaton Henson. In 2011, Simon Willows’ advert World Party for Cadbury Fingers was nominated for a British Arrows Craft Award.[24]

In September 2012, Blinkink announced a new alliance with New York based production company Hornet Inc. The partnership was created to extend the reach of each companies' roster transatlantically, with Blinkink directors represented in the USA exclusively by Hornet Inc and vice versa.[25]

BlinkArt

BlinkArt was founded in 2009 as Blink's non-traditional production arm, in response to the increasing desire of brands to interact with consumers through innovative methods.[26] Blink Art represents 11 artists creating work across several disciplines including print, installations and exhibitions. Some of BlinkArt's clients include Wallpaper Magazine, Wired Magazine, Dazed & Confused and MTV.

In 2012, BlinkArt was commissioned by advertising agency Saatchi & Saatchi to create a monument representing the history of Guinness from 1759 to the present day. The sculpture was designed and directed by BlinkArt's David Wilson and consists of a carved wooden plinth and floating light sculpture suggesting the recognisable form of a dark pint of Guinness topped with white foam. A team of carpenters, illustrators, designers and artists spent a month creating the monument, which is on display at the Guinness Storehouse in Dublin, Republic of Ireland.[27]

White Lodge

White Lodge was established in 2011 as Blink's dedicated fashion imprint, creating premium content for fashion brands. Prior to launching White Lodge, Blink had undertaken two commissions from Yves Saint Laurent to promote their Autumn / Winter 2008 and Spring / Summer 2009 collections. The two films, shot by Chris Sweeney and Sarah Chatfield, replaced YSL’s traditional catwalk show, marking the first time the house had chosen to showcase their collections on film rather than with a presentation.[28] The series of 7 films were selected by Dazed & Confused as one of the creative highlights of 2009[29] and were screened online by SHOWstudio.[30]

Since its launch, White Lodge has worked with a number of premium fashion brands including Halston, Henry Holland, Lulu Guinness and Kenzo Paris. In 2011, a series of five films by White Lodge artists Lernert & Sander for Fantastic Man magazine[31] featuring pieces by Prada, Dries Van Noten and Hermès won the Best Art Direction prize at the A Shaded View On Fashion Film festival at the Centre Pompidou[32][33] and was selected for the New York Fashion Film Festival.[34] White Lodge collaborated with the British Fashion Council, TEST magazine and film maker and curator Kathryn Ferguson to launch Fash/On Film, the first fashion film initiative to receive official backing from a major national fashion council.[35] The initiative is aimed at promoting fashion film and offers curated screenings, panel discussions and mentoring schemes.[36]

References

  1. ↑ "Production Company of the Year: Blink". Brand Republic. London. 15 December 2011. Retrieved 1 March 2012.
  2. ↑ "Production Company of the Year: Blink". Campaign Live. London. 14 December 2012. Retrieved 15 December 2012.
  3. ↑ "Production Company of the Year: Blink". Campaign Live. London. 15 December 2011. Retrieved 1 March 2012.
  4. ↑ Creamer, Jon (16 November 2011). "Blink Tops the Commercials 30 Poll". Televisual. London. Retrieved 1 March 2011.
  5. ↑ "James Studholme". Campaign Live. London. 2009. Retrieved 1 March 2011.
  6. 1 2 Hobson, Rebecca (21 October 2011). "London's Accidental Adman". London Loves Business. London.
  7. ↑ Creamer, Jon (November 2011). "Peer Poll Top 10". London. p. 7. Retrieved 1 March 2012.
  8. ↑ Pytlik, Mark (1 February 2006). "McArter and Studholme launch Furlined, celebrate Blink's banner year". Brunico Communications Ltd. Retrieved 1 March 2012.
  9. ↑ Knight, David (19 October 2010). "Furlined officially opens music video division FMV". Promo News. London. Retrieved 1 March 2012.
  10. ↑ Smithers, Rebecca (11 December 2007). "Beating the drum: Cadbury gorilla is voted favourite TV ad for 2007". Guardian News and Media (London). Retrieved 1 March 2012.
  11. ↑ "ITV Ad of The Decade". tellyads.com. London. 20 December 2009. Retrieved 1 March 2012.
  12. ↑ Williams, Eliza (22 June 2008). "Cannes Lions 2008 - The Winners". Creative Review. London. Retrieved 1 March 2012.
  13. ↑ "D&AD Awards 2008". Retrieved 1 March 2012.
  14. ↑ "Gorilla". British Arrows Awards. Retrieved 1 March 2012.
  15. ↑ Franics, Nick (12 January 2011). "She’s Ad Us All In Tears". News Group Newspapers Limited (London). Retrieved 13 March 2012.
  16. ↑ Wiseman, Eva (2 May 2010). "John Lewis’ ‘spend it before you die’ ad puts sales up 40%". Guardian News and Media Limited (London). Retrieved 13 March 2012.
  17. ↑ "British Arrows Award Winners 2011". British Arrows. Retrieved 5 March 2012.
  18. ↑ "John Lewis: The Long Wait -- Best of 2011 TV #3". 14 November 2011. Retrieved 1 March 2012.
  19. ↑ "John Lewis The Long Wait on YouTube.com". Retrieved 1 March 2012.
  20. ↑ Westcott, Kathryn (22 November 2011). "Ad breakdown: The John Lewis Christmas Ad". BBC News (London). Retrieved 1 March 2012.
  21. ↑ "British Arrows Award Winners 2012". British Arrows. Retrieved 3 April 2012.
  22. ↑ "D&AD Awards 2012". Retrieved 21 April 2012.
  23. ↑ "BlinkInk directors list". Retrieved 8 May 2012.
  24. ↑ "Finalist: Best Model Making". British Arrows Awards. Retrieved 5 March 2012.
  25. ↑ Arrant, Chris (20 September 2012). "Blinkink and Hornet Join Forces". Cartoon Brew. USA. Retrieved 29 October 2012.
  26. ↑ "BlinkArt directors list". Retrieved 8 May 2012.
  27. ↑ Williams, Eliza (18 September 2012). "Guinness: Made of More". Creative Review. London. Retrieved 13 October 2012.
  28. ↑ Williams, Eliza (23 January 2008). "YSL Ditches The Catwalk in Favour of Film". Creative Review. London. Retrieved 4 April 2012.
  29. ↑ Bubble, Susie (April 2010). "Fashion Loves Film". Dazed Digital. London. Retrieved 4 April 2012.
  30. ↑ Pilati, Stefano (24 January 2008). "Collection Homme A/W 2008". SHOWStudio. London. Retrieved 4 April 2012.
  31. ↑ "Fantastic Spin #4 In Viktor & Rolf". FANTASTIC Man. London. 15 September 2011. Retrieved 4 April 2012.
  32. ↑ "A Shaded View On Fashion Film Program". ASVOFF. London. Retrieved 4 April 2012.
  33. ↑ "Best Art Direction Prize - Fantastic Man Serie - Lernert & Sander". Vogue Paris. Paris. Retrieved 4 April 2012.
  34. ↑ "New York Fashion Film Festival". New York. 2011. Retrieved 4 April 2012.
  35. ↑ Hinson, Laura (2011). "Fash/On Film". British Fashion Council. London. Retrieved 4 April 2012.
  36. ↑ "Fash/On Film". London Fashion Week. London. 9 February 2012. Retrieved 4 April 2012.

External links

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