Locked in a Vegas Hotel Room...

Congrats Marcus!

Luscious International Director Marcus Hamill's short Film for Jameson Whiskey, 'Viva Las Possum' wins Best Film at 'Giggleshorts International short Film festival' in Toronto.

'Giggleshorts' is the worlds largest comedy short film festival, and the award tops off a great year for 'Viva Las Possum', which also took out the 'Audience Choice Award' at 'Newtown Flicks', and was an Official Selection at 'Hamburg International Short Film Festival', 'Inter - Film Berlin', 'Soho Rushes London', 'Shorts Toronto International Film Festival' , 'Perth Revelations International Film Festival', 'The Australian Film Festival', 'St.Kilda', 'Dungog' and 'Heart of Gold International Film Festival'.

EEWWWWLLLLLLLLLL!!!!!!

Viscious Xmas Greetings

We have a few Luscious stars that have been patiently waiting all year to make their on-camera debut.....



Luscious office will be closed from Thursday 23rd of December until Monday 10th of January 2011.

Any enquiries during this time please email talk2us@luscious.com.au or if it is urgent call +61 418 530 925.

Thank you for all your support throughout 2010. It's been a pleasure working with you and we look forward to seeing you again in 2011.

Dennis Hopper's America in the 1960's

We stumbled upon this Tashen Books Dennis Hopper tribute and had to share.
Not just a talented actor, Filmmaker and artist, Dennis was also a photographer and documented the "real" 1960's America.

Viscious Sebastien Navigates International Waters

Luscious International’s director Sebastien has just finished directing Amnesty International’s latest TVC and the first one ever shot in Australia.

Spearheaded by marketing and communications company gHO Sydney,Creative Director Renee Murray chose Luscious International’s Director Sebastien to bring this hard-hitting and confrontational TVC to life.

Bringing the topical issue of Asylum Seekers into the spotlight, Sebastien collaborated with both Amnesty and gHO In order to deliver credibility and sincerity to the TVC.

Crucial to this TVC was getting the right performance from the actors. Sebastien actually started his career in Los Angeles as an actor. Given his personal hands on acting experience, Sebastien has a unique sensibility to the acting process and as a result draws out genuine and captivating performances.

Murray explained “the performances were so important to this shoot and I honestly don’t feel we would have got near the performances we got without Sebastien. With his experience in acting he was able to pull the best out of our
actors”

Sebastien explains, “it was a challenge bringing in real refugees for the casting and hearing their stories and having to make them revisit their pain for the performance, although this was beneficial for me as a director to understand the complex nature of this topic and how best to portray it on screen”.

Sebastien explains, “Although I like all styles and look to balance my work, I’m definitely drawn to darker themes and concepts. I find the stakes are higher in those types of scripts, which often makes for a better story”.

To see Sebastien’s latest reel or meet him – please contact Luscious on 9326 3400 or talk2us@luscious.com.au

EVENT - ART + AFFORDABILITY?!

Yes - art does come with a cost - usually time, sweat and money. And not necessarily in that order.

This weekend Sydney-siders can enjoy the work of up and coming artists for a small price at Sydney's Affordable Art Fair.

Showcasing artwork from Australia's most promising artists at the Royal Hall of Industries, Moore Park all weekend.

Head on down and turn that frown upside down:) - tickets $20 at the door

EVENT - Young Bloods - Hot Not Next

Sam Bryant's Big W World

Viscious born director Sam Bryant just completed a colourful and vibrant TVC for Big W through Luscious International.

Launching this week, Sam worked together with IdeaWorks’ Louise Mahoney, Sam explains “I wanted to capture the Big W message – LIVE BIG FOR LESS by creating a world that was visually big in spirit”.

The background artwork was created by award winning Melbourne artist Merryn Trevethan. Bryant was inspired by Trevethan’s artworks which depict the real world in a colourful, stylised and playful way. Sam brought Merryn along as part of the team to help bring this Big W world to life.

This unique and distinctive looking Big W re-branding, will be played out across all media, catalogues and in store.

To see Sam’s latest reel or meet the man himself please contact Luscious Marketing Director Teall Barnes on 02 9326 3400 or teall@luscious.com.au

Come on summer... quit frontin

Photo - Ant

Viscious on Branded Content

Marketing Director Teall Barnes discusses how branded content across differing channels is changing traditional production companies.

Digital technology has changed the state of play. Although this does not mean the television commercial is redundant. Instead it actually means it is more important then ever before. With more platforms to view content – it is increasingly important to get your brands commercial message right.

As Australian production companies scramble to produce more stories across more screens unfortunately not enough planning and collaboration is implemented.

We have clients come to us wanting viral campaigns. What people forget is just because a campaign is syndicated online does not make it viral. It has to be a good idea, integrate humor or intrigue and ideally offer interaction for it to be propelled into the viral realm.

Audiences today are clever – they see through branding jargon and expect intimate and targeted messages. Niche communities are popping up all over the web. It is the duty of good media planners and strategists to locate these audiences, research their needs and deliver relevant messages. Then it is the production company’s duty to develop and exploit these avenues for engagement to maximize brand representation and produce impactful messages with relevance to the clients needs.

The main issue facing the industry today is effective planning. With new and exciting channels for communication opening up everyday – the role of the planner has never been more crucial. The importance of reaching fragmented audiences in niche areas is crucial to the longevity and success of any marketing campaign. Also brands must remember that they do not have to be everywhere in order to achieve ROI. Not every product or service requires a microsite, iphone ap, twitter feed and TVC. The choices are vast but this doesn’t mean your commercial message should be diluted. Certain channels suit certain brands. Only the brands that maintain good planning and brand integrity will succeed.

Marketing Director - Teall Barnes

Viscious talks at Vibewire

On September 24th at 7:30am a blurry eyed Ant McPhail made his way down to the Boiler Room at the Powerhouse Museum in Sydney.

The occasion for such an early rise was the 2010 fastBREAK innovation series.

An exciting addition to Sydney’s event calendar that has sent a buzz through local creative and entrepreneurial communities, injecting life, inspiration and a flurry of fastBREAKing conversation into the Powerhouse Museum’s best-kept secret, the Boiler room Mezzanine.

Ant McPhail one of 3 founding Viscious film directors took to the podium to discuss the topic of POWER.

At each fastBREAK session, on the last Friday of each month, five sharp young industry leaders from various sectors tackle big questions and topics with five-minute responses around themes of creativity, commercialisation, collaboration, connections and conversation.

Innovation is the staple of the fastBREAK menu.

The subject for discussion this time was POWER. Ant took to the stage in front of 100 or so creative minds to discuss power and how it translates, effects and drives his work.



Be sure to check out the vibewire series each month and stay up-to-date with latest news here


Teall Barnes - Marketing Director

An Incubator for Creative Minds

Last night the Viscious team got along to Film Incubator at the Oxford Arts Factory.

The night was a sell-out with capacity crowds and plenty of networking to be had!

Fashion Future made a impressive showing with their glamourous models striking some incredible poses to keep the crowd on their toes.

The Australian Cinematographers Society was also in full force showcasing the 2010 Award winners.

Film Incubator is a film market and licensing expo. It is a great event to meet people from the film, fashion, media and creative industries to explore new ventures and source creative talent.

The Organiser's did a top job on the night with live entertainment and hungry creatives mingling in sleek and electric surrounds.

Viscious Kitty

The Viscious team collaborated with Australian Fashion Designer Kit Willow to create this video showcasing her latest designs.

Six weeks shy of giving birth to her second baby, Kit Willow is sitting this New York fashion week out. Instead, she’s showcasing her collection first on Style.com with Lady Into Cat, a Sharif Hamza-directed, Laura Holmes Produced, Stefan Duscio DOP'd and Viscious production starring two fellow Aussies, the beautiful Emma Balfour and a wild cat to which they fed multiple chickens to get these shots.

This wild cat was the only demanding talent on set. The Director and DOP had to close off the set to capture the striking cat shots, allowing the model to safely interact with the wild cat and produce some stunning footage.

To see Willow's complete Spring 2011collection online visit her website http://www.willowltd.com

England & France

Some old travel pics
Photos - Ant

MOVIE - Stone

Did the late, great Heath Ledger borrow his classic line used in Dog Town: "Wear them with pride, man" from this classic Australian film?

Viscious bites into some Youngbloods

The Viscious collective headed down to Tattlers in Sydney's bustling Kings Cross on Thursday 12th August.
The occasion - the NSW Youngbloods winter party.

There were plenty of red wines, beers and tequila shots flowing which only made our humanly intake of vitamin water between chosen poisons sky rocket!

Although we were unlucky enough to not even get a look into the lucky door prize we were lucky enough to spin the vitamin Water prize wheel and bring up trumps with a case of vitamin water and some funky speakers.

In true Sydney style we ran into some familiar faces and managed to get the party started. Let's just say friday morning was a slow morning although vitamin water did soften the blow.... perhaps they should be endorsing us for this blog entry??

If you're wondering what Youngbloods is and what they do? well they're a body for young people (under 10 years advertising experience) in the advertising industry. They aim is to provide opportunities for young people to learn from business leaders, network with their peers and have a say on industry issues and future direction, all while supporting other young people though Australian charity 'Reach Out'.


Check out further details at http://www.communicationscouncil.org.au/public/content/ViewCategory.aspx?id=561

Viscious gets App Happy

Viscious recently made an iphone app video for The Commonwealth Bank's Property Guide iPhone application. The Property Guide app helps anyone looking to keep on top of the property market make smarter property decisions with 'augmented reality' insights in to almost any Australian home, anytime, anywhere.

CommBank Property Guide app, created by The White Agency and marketed by Viscious, uses 'augmented reality' technology to retrieve past sales history, current property listings and recent sales, is mapped on to a real world view through the iPhone's camera on more than 95 per cent of residential properties in Australia.

The app is supported by data from two industry leader's realestate.com.au, the nation's number one property portal and RP Data, Australia's leading property information and analytics company.

Viscious director Ant McPhail directed this online video to communicate the augmented reality features of this app and also make is accessible to everyone.

According to Mark Murray, general manager consumer marketing, the launch of the CommBank Property Guide iPhone app builds on the Bank's commitment to superior customer service by delivering greater value and enhanced benefits for Commonwealth Bank customers: "Property Guide makes finding your dream home a lot easier while enabling home buyers and sellers to make informed and researched property decisions when it comes to making their biggest financial commitment," said Murray.

Viscious thoroughly enjoyed the opportunity to work with both The White Agency and CommBank in bringing this innovative and relevant iphone app to market.

Sebastien Shoots for Shots

What men want?

Well if we actually knew the answer to that universal question then we wouldn't be telling you!

Instead it's very much a guessing game as both advertisers and marketers scramble through research and development processes to answer this age old question.

Australian Creative recently took on the challenge of asking prominent industry creatives and marketers "What do men want?

Myth 1# Skateboarding + Graffiti equals cool

Myth 2# Men Must be Manly

Myth 3# Men are stupid

Myth 4# Men like seeing their lives mirrored

Myth 5# Serious Stuff isn't funny

In summary the article wrote "beer brands spend a lot of time trying to nail the male mindset, but a lot of other product categories are falling too far from the mark".

Luckily Viscious director Sam Bryant was able to tap into the male mindset in collaboration with the Droga5 smack my porsche up VB Raw competition launch.

View spot here