Aaron Allen teaches Bear to play SimAnimals.

Came across this in the kitchen this morning. Now just because we work on brands as advertisers, does not exclude us from being discriminating consumers as well. We have pixelated the name of this product out of respect for anyone trying to make a go of it in this economy. Ironically enough though, the name of this product does rhyme with the word bukkake. Fitting, apparently.

This past Thursday was an exciting day as Portland hosted the world premiere of Coraline.

The morning started with an all agency meeting where Ken Smith introduced the trailer as we munched on button eye donuts. Then director Henry Selick took the mic and thanked us for all the hard work. Calling us some of the most creative group of people he’s been around since his student days at Cal Arts. He assured us that this is where he’d want to work if the whole directing thing hadn’t worked out.

Later that night Coraline kicked off the Portland International Film Festival at the Schnitzer. Wieden was well-represented with everyone who worked so hard on the campaign getting a chance to walk the red carpet and rub elbows with the celebs. After a number of speeches (the highlight being lead animator Travis Knight’s musings on being an anal retentive masochist) we put on our 3-D glasses and had our mind’s blown. The film was spectacular, and the audience responded in kind.

After the screening we all headed over to Art Museum for the premiere party. Not content with mere food, drink and good conversation the folks at Laika brought many of the hero sets from the film over to the ballroom and erected booths where guests could see how different aspects of the film where made and talk to the craftspeople who made them. Good times.

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For those of you who’ve been living under a rock Coraline hits theaters today nationwide. Directed by Henry Selick of Nightmare before Christmas fame and based on a book by Neil Gaiman, it’s the first feature film from Portland animation studio Laika. The film, made right here in Oregon, is the result of tens of thousands of hours of painstaking attention to detail and stop action animation craftsmanship at it’s finest. Which is to say it's a mind-blower.

And for the past several months we’ve had the pleasure of helping to insure the film gets the audience it deserves. So go see it. In 3-D if you can. The technology has come a long way since Jaws 3.

Working on the film has been an incredibly gratifying processes. When we first visited the set and saw hundreds of crew members pouring over dozens of sets we realized how much the process of making the film was part of the story. Every single thing you see on screen was made by hand, so we let that guide the work we created to promote the film.

To give you a sense of the chronology and scope of the campaign check this video.

To build some early buzz among communities we thought would respond to the film, our studio hand built these boxes using the actual assets from the film. A lot of work but much appreciated by the bloggers and influencers who found them in their mailbox.

Wild Postings

 

 

 
Limited edition Coraline Nike Dunks. Nice.

OOH

Interactive Storefronts

We produced a handful of short videos and stop motion banner ads. Here's a few. Watch them all here. 

And we made a kick ass website.

And that's just scratching the surface. So it's no surprise we have a rather lengthy credit list. Here's hoping we didn't forget anyone.

Executive Creative Director: Susan Hoffman, Mark Fitzloff
Creative Director: Susan Hoffman, Mark Fitzloff
President W+K Entertainment: Bill Davenport
Art Director: W+K Five
Copywriter: W+K Five
Designer: Erin Sorenson, Matthew Carroll, Paul Levy, Amy Corcoran, Karen Koch, Katie McGinley, Ademar Matinian, Alice Baldwin, Julia Dickey, Sarah Hollowood, Angie Maurer, Mike Weihs, Loren Boggs, Will Holmes
Studio Artist: Erin Sorenson, Matthew Carroll, Paul Levy, Amy Corcoran, Karen Koch, Katie McGinley, Ademar Matinian, Alice Baldwin, Julia Dickey, Sarah Hollowood, Angie Maurer, Mike Weihs, Loren Boggs, Mark Lundgren, Christin Spagnoli, Joe Limauro
Studio Manager: Maya Roberts
Project Manager: Brian Mork
Print Producer: Kay Zerr, Denise Hanggi, Deborah Hyde
Art Buyer: Mia Chong-Hanssen, Krystle Mortimore, Natalie Flemming
Photo: David Emmite, Chris Hornbecker, Mark Lundgren, Aaron Lee, Kyle Pero
Illustrator: Gian Galang, Paul Levy
Color: Kyle Pero, Pete Lindman, Frazer Goodbody
Proofreader: Brie Spicer, Rachel Miller, Liz Upchurch
Account Management: Ken Smith, Kate Hansen, Kirk Iverson
Strategic Planner: Matt Kelley  
Interactive Strategist: James Keller
Business Affairs: Teresa Lutz
Producer: Jennifer Fiske, Monica Ranes
Editor: Justin Lowe, Tommy Harden, Katie Turinski, Kyle Valenta, Peter Wiedensmith, David Jahns
Dunks Art Director: Gian Galang
Dunks Copywriter: Rob Heppler
Nike Dunk Designer: Gian Galang, Rob Heppler
Interactive Storefront AD: W+K Five, Mike Weihs
Media: Lawrence Teherani-Ami, Chaucer Barnes, Allison Spagle, Alex Dobson
Digital Director: Sean O’Brien
Interactive AD: W+K Five
Interactive Copywriter: W+K Five, Jimmy Carson
Interactive Designer: Kiem Vu, Eric Hallmann
Executive Interactive Producer: Marcelino Alvarez, Kris Hanson
Interactive Producer: Jeremy Lind, Amy Wanninger
Interactive Studio Artist: Mark Lundgren
Interactive Photographer: Mark Lundgren
Interactive Entertainment Coordinator: Gaia Borgias Brown
Interactive Flash Developer: Destin Young (ourvice), Luis Santi Jr.
Senior Developer: Trent Johnson
Motion Director: Shawn Myers
Interactive Trafficking: Jonnie James
Website Sound Design: Gigeng Productions, Inc
Web Trailer Editor: Tommy Harden
Sound Design and Mix: Charlie Keating
Assistant Editor: Jessica Baclesse
Confirm and Color: Kyle Valenta
Titles: Anouck Iyer, Matthew Carroll
Post Producer: Patty Brebner, Terra Cloyes
Production Company (Stop-Motion & Various Stills): LAIKA, Inc.
Director: Henry Selick
Producer: Claire Jennings, Bill Mechanic, Mary Sandell
Animator: Brad Schiff, Suzanne Twining
Lighting Cameraman: John Ashlee
="font-size: 12px; font-family: Arial;">Data Wrangler: Jacqueline White
Public Relations: Joani Wardwell, Lauren Glazer

Coraline Feature on WK Radio: Coraline, a new film directed by Henry Selick (James and the Giant Peach, The Nightmare before Christmas) opens Friday, Feb. 6th. It is the first animated feature film from Laika House, in Portland OR. Coraline is based on the popular children‚s book by Neil Gaiman, a fairytale / nightmare story about a young girl who finds a passage way to an alternate reality in her home.
Ketzel Levine (of NPR) interviews Julia Oh and Mike Giepert (creatives at W+K), Henry Selick (director) and Travis Knight (animator) for WK Radio.
Check the WK Radio podcast page for archived interviews.

Tune in www.wk.com/radio
Friday, Feb. 6th 10am

Poster: Paul Levy