monKeyArtAwards

Who Moved My Cheeses?

This burning question, recently posted by one of our nosy readers, has yet to be answered: 

What art directors (if any) have followed Damon to the Promised Land? I haven't heard a peep! Any theatrical freelancers been to the house that Farina built? What's the scoop? Inquiring minds want to know.

Signed, Follow The Leader

If you're like us, the thing you miss most about the old Key Art Awards catalogs (the ones that included the names of the art directors and the copywriters and the photographers and the illustrators who actually created the key art) was seeing which art directors were at which agencies. 

Now we only have the lameness of LinkedIn to keep us up to date on whose what is where.

July 10th Is “Freelancers Put On Your Pants” Day

Okay, all you self-unemployed rat bastard freelancers, today's the day to pull a pair of underpants out of the clothes hamper, suit up and check in with Sheila at ASSME, the American Society of Shitcanned Media Elites.

Can We See Some ID, Please?

Click on image to enlarge.

Sent to us by Orkaan, our friend in Flanders.

Do I Dare Disturb The Universe?

Dear Edwina,

May I suggest a burning subject for your column: Money.

How much are we getting paid?

Is a freelancer making more than a staff AD?

How much is an agent getting from an AD they place?

None of my collegues would answer my questions, but I'm thinking maybe they'll answer yours....

... I so look forward to it!

Signed, A Down To Earth AD.

If you're like us, you know any discussion of salaries is the third rail of entertainment advertising. And yet, because of the anonymous habitat we have created here at MonKeyArtAwards, we have had several requests like the one above.

We know that many of our readers fancy themselves to be professionals and not mere tradespeople, thus putting themselves in the unfortunate position of having to guess what their esteemed colleagues are earning, unlike union workers whose pay is based on a wage scale and therefore know exactly what the person toiling along side them makes an hour.

Given the present economic climate, if you believe any discussion of compensation, anonymous or otherwise, will work to your advantage you are mistaken.

However bad you may hear the labor market is, it's worse than you think. If you are employed, if you are busy, if you have a solid client base whose positions are secure, consider yourself fortunate.

The Two Things

If you're like us, you are a devotee of The Two Things Theory: “For every subject, there are only two things you really need to know. Everything else is the application of those two things, or just not important.” 

For instance, Nicholas Kronos' theory on The Two Things about Creativity: 


1.  God is in the details. 


2.  The devil is in the details. 


 And our own The Two Things about Art Directors:

1. You work for the client.

2. Get over it.

Wash. Rinse. Repeat.

Dear Edwina,

I think it's time to put this style to pasture... or at least move the light source.  It's like the Joel Wayne days of "add noise" and a call it a finish.

With all the talk of shops ripping one another off, people forget someone at the studio had to put them up to the task at some point in the process. After the first round of comps aren't we all wrists anyway?  For all the “creative” in “creative services” there's not much creative, but a whole lot of service.

Perhaps this reflects a new joint-studio directive aimed at visually branding comedies - yeah, I'm certain that's what this is.

Signed, No Mo Glo

And wait! There's more! This just in on impawards.

How Low Will They Go?

The New York Times writes about Orbitz’s move to entertainment advertising juggernaut Trailer Park, which is owned by Lake Capital.

Jeffrey Davidoff, Orbitz’s chief marketing officer, said this about the switch: “One of the things we’re going after is how low is low.” 

We hasten to add that Mr. Davidoff   

was referring to costs, not taste.

“Is There Any Thing Whereof It May Be Said, See, This Is New?” Ecclesiastes 1:10

As we have said before, only god creates ex nihilo, the rest of us hacks just scroll endlessly through impawards waiting for inspiration or lunch time, whichever comes first. 

But, if you’re like us, you’re a little squishy on where you draw the line between a reference and a rip-off. At what point does homage veer off into egregious pilferage? And what is simply the spontaneous resurfacing of a repressed memory?

Click on image to enlarge.

Which brings us to the following challenge posed by one of our readers: 

Dear Edwina,

I’d be very interested in seeing a topic about truly original ideas that have been used in theatrical marketing.  Why not ask for submissions of key art that is not considered derivative of previous art or advertising? It would be interesting to see what pieces are commonly agreed to as being unique.

Signed, Another Anonymous Anonymity

Thank Heaven For Creepy Little Girls, For Without Them What Would Art Directors Do?

Click on image to enlarge.

Our thanks to Valerie for suggesting this creepy little category.

E! Answers A Question Only One Person Bothered To Ask

“Why is Johnny Depp and not Christian Bale on those Public Enemies posters all over town?” 

E! exposes the inner secrets of movie marketing here.

Not to worry, Christianphiles. If you’re like us, you’re average Los Angeles driving speed allows you ample time to read the entire billing block on most bus shelter art.

A Ray Of Less Expensive Sunshine In Entertainment Advertising

One of our readers sent us this Adweak link announcing Orbitz has moved its creative biz to Trailer Park, calling it a less expensive alternative to Mullen. 

Thieves Like Us

Dear Edwina, 

I stumbled upon this image from a photographer's website and thought you may find it interesting. Looks like plagiarism works both ways... we take from them, they take from us... whatever.  I know I'm going way back, but no doubt this is The Rocketeer (1991).  Of course, if the original poster were referenced in some way, it would be a different story. Even a simple little "thanks to", or "apologies to" line somewhere would work for me.

Signed, Abe Vigoda

Click on image to enlarge.

Illustrator John Mattos has this to say about his Rocketeer art: “I did 3 pieces of art for this project, the art director said ‘Relax and keep it simple; they’ll never use any of this anyway.  

As always, the art director goes unnamed.

They've Got A Little List

Film.com has named it's pick for the worst modern movie posters. 

We don't agree with their inclusion of The Proposal. The poster is good, it's just that it's for a movie that they simply do not wish to see. 

Granted, no two individuals would ever agree on which client-induced atrocities belong on the short list, but how in the world did they manage to overlook this one?

It Could Happen To You

Jobs That Blow: Our Readers' Poll

We here at MonKeyArtAwards are asking our readers to rate the entertainment advertising agencies, past and present. Not by their creative work (we leave that to the prestigious Key Art Awards) but by their company culture.

Which is/was the best and the worst environment to nurture that high-strung, self-absorbed, overly sensitive inner child that it is the molten core of your creative being?

Post a comment below telling us your pick for the Best Shop (“It’s a workers’ paradise!”) and for the Worst Shop (“It’s a soul crushing pit of despair!”)

Ich Bin Ein Berliner

Dear Edwina,

I just read the Wałkuski/Perry post about Ignition Print and it reminded me of a deja vu i had lately - 4 weeks after my one-sheet for Kopf Oder Zahl (Head Or Tails) was featured on www.impawards.com, the quite similar Expendables poster came out. I assumed it to be a coincidence and didn't think about it again until today when i read the comments about Ignition Print happily plundering throughout the entire movie poster history.

Greetings from Berlin,

Marcel Weisheit

www.marcelweisheit.com

Click on image to enlarge.

And who among us has not, on occasion, happily plundered a concept here or there in our checkered careers? Clearly the most crowded collection on this blog is our Monkey see. Monkey do category. For, verily we say unto thee: “He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at Ignition.”

"The Expendables poster also copied my Get Rich or Die Tryin' poster" Comment posted by 50 Cent.

June Is Bustin' Out All Over

Click on image to enlarge.

From Our Archives

A Reader Writes: Quantity Has A Quality All Its Own

And then our reader goes on to say: "Will someone pick a freakin' one sheet already!"

Have You Seen The New Eddie Murphy Trailer?

We’re Xeroxing As Fast As We Can!

One of the many high strung creative types we count among our readers sent us this handy link along with the message: “Hey – I found a great source for upcoming theatrical movie campaigns! Some are so good I just need to put a studio logo on them.”

Meanwhile, another reader sent us this piece of inspired key art along with its inspirations. It looks like Cold Souls has heated up a few comments on impawards, such as the classic: “wow, you can't fart nowadays without someone saying it smells like some else's.”

Click on image to enlarge.

Wałkuski Can Do Wałkuski All By Himself

Imagine our surprise when we received four separate submissions from four different readers as to the origins of the I Can Do Bad All By Myself teaser -- each with a different Wiesław Wałkuski poster submitted as evidence of its inspiration.

Click on image to enlarge.

It's All About The Work

If you’re like us, you dropped your Key Art catalog somewhere along Central Ave. on your way to Little Tokyo for some hot saké and a heaping plate of pufferfish sashimi. 

Luckily, you can see a complete list of winners in the 38th annual Pointy Thingies here.

Friday night's show was a vast improvement over last year's bloated event; but come on, Sandwich Shop -- you must know the names of some of your employees.

We're All Winners Here (Except For The Losers)

If you're like us, you never thought you'd be caught dead east of the 110 Freeway, but a team of wild horses' patooties couldn't keep us from attending tonight's ultra fabulous 38th Annual Key Arts Show! 

After all, according to their advertising it's "a chance for creatives to declare the recession a myth and ask for a big, fat raise." 

And we all know advertising never makes a promise it can't keep.

Pointy Thingy Index