Mind Smack Talent Garner Series of Promax Awards and Nominations

The post-production division of MindSmack (www.mindsmack.tv), one of the foremost digital media and post-production houses in NYC, received a series of awards and nominations at the 2012 Promax Awards, held in Los Angeles in mid-June. Editor Dan Fisher brought home a Promax Gold Award for his contribution to the integrated marketing campaign for Syfy’s hit show “Face Off.” Three projects that Senior Mixer Brian Rund contributed to brought home Gold, Silver and Bronze Awards; and Editor Paul DiNatale had two project nominations at this year’s show.

 

Rund’s projects received a Gold Award for HBO’s “Boardwalk Empire” Season 2 promo; a Silver Award for Nickelodeon’s “Bubble Guppies” launch campaign; and a Bronze Award for the History Channel’s “Swamp People” Season 2 cinema spot. MindSmack Editor Paul DiNatale received two Promax nominations for HBO’s star-studded “How to Make It in America” music video (featuring Luis Guzmán) and USA’s “Don’t You Forget About Me” music video for “Psych.”

 

Editor Dan Fisher’s Promax Gold was the result of his collaboration on an integrated campaign for Syfy’s “Face Off.” The vision of Creative Directors Joe Loskywitz, Will Lee and Brian Everett; and Directed by Damon Pablo Escuedero, the campaign included: on & off air spots, digital executions, rich media units, on the ground activations, etc. The goal was to highlight the process of making “Hollywood Movie Magic” while putting the host McKenzie Westmore front and center. She was in the chair for a total of 15 hours and underwent three incredible transformations in a single day including characters of an Ice Queen, Medusa and a Bird creature. http://bit.ly/MK2got

 

“We brought the project to MindSmack because of their track record working on Syfy projects and their amazing Editor Dan Fisher, who had won a Promax Silver for editing the ‘Face Off’ Season 1 launch spot last year,” says Syfy’s Creative Director, Brand & Strategic, Joe Loskywitz. “Dan’s experience, passion and vision make him a perfect editor for these kinds of spots. He fully understands our design aesthetic and seems to naturally understand what we are looking to achieve in edit.”

 

For HBO’s “Boardwalk Empire” Season 2 launch trailer, MindSmack Senior Mixer Brian Rund created a soundscape for the main character, Nucky, which needed to fit Nucky's thought process, as well as the existing atmosphere of the show. Producer Rick DiLoreto, Creative Director Cami Errante and the show’s Executive Producer Terence Winter were looking for a very specific tone for the piece, since “Boardwalk Empire” is set in the heyday of the Prohibition era. “We used many different types of music tracks that were specifically panned and/or we left the music in stereo depending on what that moment called for,” details Rund. “There are countless special effects used -- some shot specifically; and some meant to be felt rather than heard.”

 

“When Brian told us he'd been asked to work on the Season 2 opener for ‘Boardwalk Empire,’ we were thrilled,” adds MindSmack Partner Mike Feuer. “We are all big HBO fans, so to be asked to work on such an important spot for one of their flagship programs is an honor. Brian went through quite a few iterations for the sound design. One was better then the next. When all was said and done, the spot received the Promax Gold!”

 

“Brian’s attention to detail and love of his craft are an amazing thing to watch,” concludes MindSmack Partner Todd Feuer. “He goes into a near trance-like state and when he snaps out of it, the finished piece is always something incredible.”