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Thursday, 30 March 2006 | Levent OZLER
Zero 2 Sixty Has Signed Aggressive
for Exclusive Commercial Representation
Aggressive, the Directorial/Design duo a.k.a. Dan Shapiro and Alex Topaller, has signed with the New York-based commercial production company Zero 2 Sixty (0:2:60) for exclusive spot representation, it was announced today by President/Executive Producer Doug Robbins.
Shapiro and Topaller have know each other since their school days. The two shared an interest in the arts and, about five years ago, Shapiro, who had a strong photography background, and Topaller, who had a fine arts, painting and illustration background, teamed to do some Internet animations and quickly moved into 3D work for the Internet. In short order, they were freelancing at G2 Worldwide, the brand development and design arm of Grey Worldwide, where they directed a number of projects including a brand education campaign and 8 outdoor adventure spots for Players, 16 spots using video/motion graphics and photography for Lucky Strike, six photography-based animated Olympic PSAs for the Muhammad Ali Foundation, and were responsible for the 3D and video compositing for a Dunhill spot, among other assignments.
Shortly, the duo, now officially known as Aggressive, moved into the music video arena and, through the Saline Project (New York, NY), a directorial collective, created the visual effects and compositing for a number of CG heavy music videos including Eminem's Like Toy Soldiers (Shady Records), Sugarcult's She's the Blade (Artemis Records), The Hives' Two Timing Touch (Interscope Records) and The Roots' Don' Say Nuthin' (Geffen Records).
Under the Aggressive banner the duo next directed Lil Rob's Summer Nights (Upstairs Records), the first music video for the emerging Chicano Hip Hop industry; created an animated DVD for NY editorial house, The Well; created show opens for ESPN, TV One and HBO Family through Carbon Design (New York, NY); directed a documentary, "US Army Careers," through Mullen (Wenham, MA); and completed the design and editorial assignments for the television pilot "Lucky Shopping Worldwide" through Urban Advertising (New York, NY).
In addition, Aggressive worked closely with 0:2:60 Director and Visual Effects Designer/Editor Thor Raxlen at Chelsea Digital where they designed elements for Miller TV spots and directed CG production for a Miller Lite internet campaign; directed a CG end-tag created for all Champs Sports ads, designed show promo graphics for MTV's "The Reality Show," and created effects for Hershey's "Take Five."
Aggressive came to the attention of 0:2:60 in January when they began working with Guerilla FX, the postproduction finishing boutique recently launched by Raxlen and Robbins. Here they have exercised their design and VFX directorial talents on a number of projects including the MTV promo "Storm Corps," "Adidas Flight Crew" for Champs Sports, "FastAccess DSL" for BellSouth, and a V8 "Fusion" commercial.
"'Aggressive' applies both to our style and to our production method," explained Dan Shapiro. "Stylistically, we admire and strive towards a harder-edged and intense flavor of work; ideas that break clichés and convention, with an aesthetic and conceptual intensity that drive a message across powerfully with a flash of teeth (and often a twisted sense of humor). This doesn't necessarily mean our work is all urban-grit and heavy metal however, and we love taking an established, conservative convention, and redefining what it could be."
Alex Topaller added, "The other side of Aggressive is our attitude towards production itself (which shows stylistically in our work as well). Coming from a background of lower-budget 'renegade' production, we tackle our projects intensively and in all aspects, bringing together whatever resources and techniques we can to get the concept across above and far beyond expectations. We will mix techniques, from high-end CG, to live shoots, to still photography, to hand-sketched illustrations on torn pieces of paper, as well as styles, often referencing fine-art and other mediums in preference to contemporary industry trends. Using desktop solutions like 3DStudio Max and After Effects rather than more rigid solutions, we have a highly dynamic and goal-oriented workflow, where it doesn't so much matter how its done, so long as it looks excellent in the end. And finally, there's the aggressively uncompromising, often fanatical, work ethic and dedication to quality that consumes us and fuels us when we engage an idea."
"Agressive's teaming up with 0:2:60 represents an exciting new path. They are a dynamic duo with a different sensibility and vision. In an ever changing creative landscape, they embody our industry's bold new direction, " explained Doug Robbins.
On joining Robbins and his team Shapiro and Topaller agreed that they have found a good home with 0:2:60. "We feel the grittier, off-kilter style and character of our work complements their roster of directors, and the company's fervor for branching into new areas of the marketplace. Together, we can vigorously pursue new and exciting opportunities that arise as commercials lean increasingly towards non-traditional creative approaches and executions."
Although Aggressive's main focus will be on a directing career, Shapiro and Topaller will continue to do editorial and effects work at Guerilla FX as well.
Aggressive (Shapiro and Topaller) joins a creative 0:2:60 directorial team which currently includes Mark Claywell (storytelling/dialogue/contemporary visuals), Robert Mowen (effects oriented), Glen Owen (situational comedy/broad-based humor/people), Thor Raxlen (storytelling/visual effects), Munier Sharrieff (storytelling/comedy), "Zo" Wesson (people/dialogue/slice-of-life/situational/environmental projects) and Emmy winning Director/Cameraman Larry Gebhardt (sports oriented visual style).
Dan Shapiro, 25, attended Babson Business School (Babson Park, MA) for two years, then studied art and music at Bergen Community College (Paramus, NJ) before earning a degree in anthropology from Rutgers (Newark, NJ). Alex Topaller, 23, attended Bergen Community College (Paramus, NJ) for two years and spent a year at Bet Zalel (Jerusalem, Israel) studying art. Both make their homes in Fairlawn, NJ.
0:2:60 is headquartered at 121 West 27th Street, New York, NY 10001.
http://www.0260.com
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