Cultivate.Media

When you're in training, nuthin' stops you! Todd Kapostasy directed this 3-min film celebrating the Grand Re-Opening of the LA Rams Youth Football Camp, with the Rams' Andrew Whitworth on hand to welcome the film's protagonists. In "More Than a Field," two young boys wake up at 7am sharp to train...only their usual training ground is closed for renovation. Welcomed by the community around them, the kids train at a local boxing gym, a Firestone shop, even a local laundromat and movie theatre, until the new camp is open for business. #commercialdirector #commercials #advertising #commercialproduction #football #NFL Carolyn Hill Toni Saarinen-Jorden Helen O'Brien Stuart Wilson Mark Thomas

If you're NOT in Cannes this week, Monday morning can look like this... but as this spot from Emmy-winning director Todd Kapostasy points out, there's a better way: ZipRecruiter. #commercialdirector #commercials #advertising #commercialproduction Carolyn Hill Toni Saarinen-Jorden Helen O'Brien Stuart Wilson Mark Thomas

What's your WHY? As in, why put up with holidays, family, fireworks, roses, and ball droppings??? Amazon Prime has the answer... well, J.K. Simmons has the answer, in the form of this spot from Cultivate's newest addition, 9-time Emmy-Award winning director Todd Kapostasy... It's for Prime Video & Amazon MGM Studios and National Football League (NFL)'s Black Friday Football and it offers us a glimpse of what Todd does so, so well - have fun with family, and show people doing what they do, with flair and style! #commercialdirector #commercials #advertising #commercialproduction Carolyn Hill Toni Saarinen-Jorden Helen O'Brien Stuart Wilson Mark Thomas

“While I think it would be somewhat expectant for me to say that Todd is a terrific storyteller (which he is), there’s just a lot more nuance to it,” said Cultivate.Media Managing Director/Executive Producer Mark Thomas. “Be it a wink that turns into a smile, or a heart tug that turns into tears, he brings a sensibility to the work that is both clever and captivating.” WELCOME Todd Kapostasy to the family! Stuart Wilson Toni Saarinen-Jorden Carolyn Hill Helen O'Brien #commercialdirectors #productioncompany #advertising #filmmaking #brandedcontent

Our new Viewpoints section, beginning with an article by our Managing Director/Executive Producer, Mark Thomas: #commercialproduction #commercialdirecting #advertising #productioncompany

In "Zoe," director Ryan Johnson highlights another student who has been successful using GT.school's program. Johnson weaves together a narrative from Zoe's educational pursuits along with dynamic scenes of her wrestling pursuits. Director: Ryan Johnson DP: Ben Rutkowski Editor: Ryan Johnson #commercialproduction #realpeople #education #commercialdirector

"I wanted to highlight students who were successful using GT's program, but also include footage of their main hobby or passion," says Cultivate director Ryan Johnson of his campaign for GT.school. "I handpicked Zoe and Mark for these spots for their personality and their educational improvement from GT, but also for their unique abilities in wrestling and racing track bikes." (featured today is "Mark") Director: Ryan Johnson DP: Ben Rutkowski Editor: Ryan Johnson #commercialproduction #commercialdirector #lifestyle #productioncompany #realpeople

"In the best way, this job was a really challenging puzzle," says Cultivate's Jon Schwartz about this spot for Nevada Energy, created by R&R Partners/Las Vegas. "We previz'd the entire spot beforehand in Blender and immediately began figuring out how to make those shots a reality. Given how much our characters in the spot are interacting with letters that are fully CG elements, we knew that precision was key to making sure these 3D letters and words looked like they were truly in the scene. "In our 3D software, we measured each and every word so that our art department would be able to create the practical elements that our talent would interact with and that everything would properly align. For example, there are several scenes where our characters lift up large 3D block letters. In reality, they were usually lifting one small piece of wood or foam core, and it was really important to me that we knew what our talent would be grabbing onto once that practical piece was transformed into a CG letter. "We did things like that for almost every shot, ad-nauseum, but, when we got to watch it all come together in post, it was extremely gratifying. "On top of all of that, we also shot with a motion control arm to inject the spot with as much dynamic and interesting movement as possible. That was crucial for making sure our CG letters had dimensionality, but added another layer of difficulty when aligning things with our previz. To keep track of where our CG objects were on the day of our shoot, we first created a grid in our previz software that eventually translated to our real world set. This ensured that we always knew where our CG letters were, even when we couldn't actually see them on the physical set. "Without my DP, Patrick Ouziel, and VFX Artist, Joey Deutsch, sitting with me for hours on Zoom during the previz process, none of this would have been remotely possible." #Previz #VFX #commercialproduction #commercialdirectors

Today we celebrate the work of Cultivate's Eric Van Wyke >>> Half a decade spent between the vastly varied worlds of Berlin, Paris and Barcelona have greatly influenced this award-winning American Director’s style in crafting immersive and emotionally impactful content. With an uncanny knack for weaving a cinematic narrative into everyday life, Eric’s work has taken him around the globe for clients such as BMW, Smart, Converse, Kleenex, Camel Active, Patagonia and the Abu Dhabi Government. Featured here is one of his spots for The a2 Milk Company, created by The Escape Pod in Chicago, shot on location in Seaside, OR. Seamlessly blending together elements of sport, fashion and lifestyle, Eric thrives on producing authentic, story-driven pieces with a raw and vibrant visual energy. Born in Nebraska, Eric’s goal was to make it to the big city (which at time was Lincoln) but ahead of that he and some friends made what turned out to be a life altering trip to Europe, and the rest (as they say) is history. Eric believes that telling stories is the best job in world…and he’s always excited to help tell a new one! #commercialdirecting #brandedcontent #lifestyle #adventure #family #filmmaking

Brooklyn-based Ryan Johnson - who joined the Cultivate family last fall - is a Tisch grad who distinguished himself out of the gate, winning the coveted Young Director Award at Cannes with 2015’s Nike “Buckets,” following it up with Jordan “Limits Like Fears” and a nomination at the shots Awards. His sports, travel, and documentary chops have taken him all over the world since, helming projects like this one for Storyhunter. “Ryan’s work is unique in the context of the vast majority of documentary commercials,” said Managing Director/Executive Producer Mark Thomas" in SHOOT Magazine / SHOOTonline at the time of Ryan's signing. “The way he engages with real people is at a deeper level than many, and the storytelling techniques employed are very much his own.” #commercialproduction #commercialdirector #travelphotography #documentaryfilmmaking