Venice, California’s very own Wit Animation Studios has won an ‘Addy Award’ for the State of Florida’s PSA campaign, “Don’t Feed Wild Dolphins†. Celebrating the win is Wit’s CEO/Founder/Director, Jeb Milne, his songwriting partner and Sound Designer, Sean Fodor and actor, Raphael Sbarge, the voice of the dolphin.
A press party is planned for Monday, April 19th at Witzend Live! 1717 Lincoln Blvd in Venice, CA 90291. 7:00 pm red carpet, then 8:00 pm live show.
Tinsley Advertising congratulated Wit Animation for bringing this public message to life about interacting with wild dolphins. http://www.tinsley.com/2010/03/tinsley-advertising-wins-more-addys-than-any-miami-agency/.
“Don’t Feed Wild Dolphins” was selected as the best advertising in Miami by the American Advertising Federation. The event at the be
autiful Adrianne Asht Center featured the best of the best and the campaign won Gold in 2 categories. One for PSAs and the other for the web site.
Headed up by Jeb Milne, founder/creative director/animation director, the Venice, CA-based Wit Animation studio (more like a boutique in its size and feel) has created a number of familiar faces, including one memorable TV spot for the McDonald’s food chain that featured four African-American women enjoying one of the restaurant’s new salads. The spot blended live-action with 3D animation and was so successful, says Milne, that Wit has been asked to produce a follow-up piece.
Wit also produced a TV spot for Post’s Fruity Pebbles cereal featuring the famous Flintstones characters where, for the first time, the company blended 2D with its signature 3D sty
le. The facility also created a virtual alter ego for Counting Crows’ lead singer Adam Duritz in a music video for the Shrek 2 hit song “Accidentally in Love.” The dreadlocked bunny in the video, who bears more than a passing resemblance to Duritz, was Wit Animation’s first foray into the world of mixing CG characters in a live action environment.
Milne’s first job as an independent director/producer was in 1998, when he was asked to create a number of animated spots for the MTV Movie Awards. “It was a really lucky break I got from a friend of a friend,” he says. “It was the first professional job I ever did, and what that did for me and for Wit was it enabled me to call up people and they would listen to me. That was huge. Once you’ve done something like that, it opens doors.”
Once he got a taste for character animation, he never looked back. I know it’s an unusual story, but I’m hoping that somewhere along that journey, it’s given us a different edge or attitude that separates us from everyone else.”
Prior to moving to the states, Milne lived and worked in London for nearly 20 years, following up on a career as a well-known singer/songwriter. Milne’s songs have been covered by Roger Daltrey & The Who, Lulu, Air Supply and his voice is familiar having sung on commercials for Maxwell House Coffee, Coca Cola, and Bacardi Rum.
Lots of action going on at the studio located at 1717 Lincoln Blvd in Venice, CA. Although a studio by day, when the sun goes down it becomes ‘Witzend Live!’, a nightclub featuring Singer Showcases for local and national talent. Jeb’s many friends in the music business have been dropping by to perform along with seasoned and new undiscovered talent.
‘Don’t Feel Wild Dolphins’ link:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x205s21GkUU
~ ~ ~
About Jeb Milne and Wit Animation:
Jeb Milne, Founder/CEO of ‘Wit Animation, a commercial production company creating live action 3D animation TV spots (McDonald’s, Posts Fruity Pebbles , MTV Movie Awards) has won an ‘Addy Award’ for creating the State of Florida’s PSA “Don’t Feed Wild Dolphins”. Milne is also a singer/songwriter whose songs have bee covered by Roger Daltrey & The Who, Lulu, Air Supply and sung on commercials for Maxwell House Coffee, Coca Cola, and Bacardi Rum. www.jebmilne.com www.witanimation.com www.witzendlive.com
About Sean Fodor:
Sean Fodor is an Award-winning music producer, sound engineer and documentary filmmaker (Wit Animation, Jeb Milne, George Lynch, LA Guns, D.I.S.C., Carl Zeiss Meditec, Natarj Tribino, Jaime Gomez, Playboy Playmates). www.westmultimedia.net
About the Addy Awards:
The ADDY Awards are the world’s largest advertising competition with over 50,000 entries annually. Founded in Florida in 1960 it was adopted by the American Advertising Federation, a not-for-profit industry association, as a national competition in 1968. The ADDY Awards is unique among other advertising creative competitions in that it is the only competition that includes three levels of judging: local, regional, and national. Awards presented are Gold and Silver ADDY Awards for professional and student entries. The ADDY award logo and trophy is a stylized “Star A”.
