Ellenbogen Creative Media wins their second consecutive Bronze Telly award for the production of a promotional video for the Ted Gibson Advanced Academy. The 35th annual Telly Awards this year accepted 12,000 entries spreading from all 50 states and several countries with categories ranging from internet and online programs to segment or promotional pieces and sales. Founded in 1979, the Telly Award is a prestigious award designed to recognize exceptional performance in video production in areas such as cable TV commercials and programs, videos and films.

Winners represent the best work of some of the most respected advertising agencies, production companies, television stations, cable operators, and corporate video departments in the world. Ellenbogen Creative Media CEO, Jeremy Ellenbogen, is honored to be chosen among the select few, “We strive for perfection everyday with every project we take on here at Ellenbogen. Being recognized by the Telly Award judges really proves that we are producing stand out videos for our clients. We’re very excited to be recognized again this year!”

The Ellenbogen Group shot a three-minute promotional video encapsulating the importance of inner and outer beauty and how hairdressers have a strong responsibility to share their knowledge gained from the Ted Gibson Academy. Various crafty camera angles and close-up shots representing models, hairdressers and product effectively demonstrate Ted Gibson’s vision, “Beauty is individual.” Ellenbogen Director of Photography, Zoltan David, directed the shoot in New York City, “We wanted to capture the energetic, fun and creative atmosphere that always surrounds Ted Gibson and his team. This video was exciting from the start to the end, we made sure to capture the hairstylist’s focus and the model’s stillness, conveying a certain individuality, uniqueness, and work ethic that goes into each one of the designs. It was truly a great project to be a part of!”

Putting Ted Gibson’s vision in the video was a task Ellenbogen delivered with ease. The Ellenbogen Group took a whole different approach while working on effects and graphics to jazz up the video. To appeal and engage desired demographics, techniques were incorporated to bring hair and style to life. This video has been used through social media, at trade shows, on websites and has gotten tremendous feedback as a result!

Ted Gibson, owner of The Ted Gibson Academy, explains that he wants hairdressers to not only be educated, but also be able to implement a vision. Gibson couldn’t be happier for Ellenbogen’s accomplishment, “I absolutely love working with Ellenbogen! They are always able to bring my vision into reality and I trust them to bring my message across in a beautiful, artistic way. The video they created for my Ted Gibson Advanced Academy was absolutely incredible! They deserve a Telly Award and so much more!”  Jeremy Ellenbogen says, “Ted Gibson and his team are sending a valiant message that beauty is individual and we were excited to help him get that message out! We are incredibly honored to work with Ted and his team and to have been awarded the distinguished Telly Award for this latest promotional video.”

Ellenbogen Creative Media is a Kingston, NY based video production company with clients from all across the United States specializing in web videos, television commercials, training and promotional videos as well as video crew coverage for news events, press conferences, point to point video conferencing and corporate functions. Visit www.ellenbogenmedia.com

The Ted Gibson Academy is based in New York City with locations in New York, Florida and Dubai. Ted is a popular celebrity hair stylist, successful salon owner and innovative hair product developer. Visit www.tedgibsonbeauty.com

The Metropolitan Vacuum Cleaner Company, Inc. or MetroVac for short, a third-generation family-owned business out of Oakland, New Jersey is celebrating 75 years of business. Together, Focus Media and Ellenbogen Group helped them commemorate this milestone by creating a long form documentary reflecting the history of this successful business!  Our crew, working with Focus Media’s Bridget Clark and Lisa Kelly visited the factory to get a sneak peak behind the action at MetroVac.

Alex Pearson, videographer and editor explored the factory with lighting and sound technician Brian Dyke and production assistant Samantha Noldy. The team first had a hands on look at the products including vacuums made for both carpet and wood floors, handheld vacuums for messes around the house, an air compressor for cleaning delicate spaces, and they also saw a demonstration of the sucking power of the vacuum by simply attaching the vacuum to a blank wall.

For the documentary, Focus Media and Ellenbogen Creative Media wanted to portray the dedication and family aspect of the business. The team interviewed several family members as well as employees of MetroVac about what it is like working for a company that has been in business for 75 years. “It is really great to see such dedication and love within the company” said Lisa Kelly. “Plus, we got to see some really cool products!” Videographer, Alex Pearson, was also impressed with the factory, “There is a lot going on at MetroVac! Seeing the production line, filled with employees working on products made and sold here in the United States is a great thing to see!”

“75 years and three generations is a huge milestone because most companies don’t make it past the second generation,” said Vice President of Marketing, David Stern. “Working with Focus Media and Ellenbogen Group was a great experience because they are excellent at what they do!” Focus Media’s Bridget Clark says she always loves working with Ellenbogen Group, “They capture our vision perfectly, offer ideas to take things to the next level and always come out with a great final product for the client.” Focus Media has the vision, Ellenbogen helps brings it to life!

President and CEO, Jeremy Ellenbogen loves working with family businesses, especially those celebrating milestones because Ellenbogen Group is also a family business. “It’s so important for the employees to be happy in any business and it is clear that the employees at MetroVac are proud and happy to be part of the company.”

Tech talk: The crew came across minor challenges shooting this video, such as, fluorescent lighting in the factory coupled with a noisy environment; but they were able to find a solution by using soft lights and a boom mic to produce a great looking HD video and audio. As always, Ellenbogen Group went to any length to get the shots that Focus Media needed and completed editing in just a few days of post-production. A Canon DSLR camera was used to shoot and the video was edited using FinalCut Pro X.

On April 25^th the Ellenbogen Group was at the Garden Plaza Hotel in Kingston, New York to shoot and broadcast the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network’s (ACSCAN) Community Talks Cancer Legislative Breakfast talk show. The topic of this year’s talk show was new developments taking place in New York in quality of life and palliative care.

The Ellenbogen Group sent a crew of two camera operators, an audio engineer, director, tape operator, teleprompter operator and a producer to shoot and webcast the talk show. The talk show was webcasted live over the internet as well as recorded for the Time Warner on demand channel.

The talk show was hosted by radio personality Ward Todd and featured experts and elected officials talking about all facets of palliative care. After Ulster County Executive Michael Hein made his opening remarks a range of topics relating to palliative care were discussed. United States Congressman Chris Gibson updated the audience on the palliative care bill HR 1339 as it makes its way through congress. Dr. Joel Mandelbaum shared examples of palliative care, while New York State Senators Terry Gipson and Cecilia Tkaczyk spoke about New York’s role in pain and palliative care. New York State Assemblymen Peter Lopez and Kevin Cahill explained how New York State is working towards a unified system of pain and palliative care. The talk show wrapped up with ACSCAN Legislative Ambassadors Sandi Cassese and Neil Eisenberg explaining how the audience both in the room and online could get involved and support ACSCAN.

During the production of the talk show there were the usual obstacles to overcome but there was also a challenge that was unique to this shoot. “The whole crew was in the same room as the talent and audience”, director Brian Dyke explains, “Usually I’m directing in a production truck or a control room and I can be as loud as I want but in this case I learned early on that I had to whisper my directing cues.” Being flexible in any production situation is very important as President and CEO Jeremy Ellenbogen points out, “Being able to produce a show in any environment is one of our specialties. With our ATEM switcher, the Livestream broadcaster and an internet connection we can webcast a show from any location a client needs, indoors, outdoors, anywhere.”

In the end the talk show was a great success. ACSCAN was able to get its’ message out about palliative care to the live audience and the audience online. The broadcast was also archived on the Ellenbogen Creative Media page at www.livestream.com and can be watched anytime.

The Ellenbogen Group was honored to be part of such a great event and looks forward to the opportunity to be part of it again next year.

Our crew packed their bags and left snowy, cold New York for a video shoot in sunny, warm West Palm Beach, Florida!

We’ve been working with Dr. Jay Ajmo of PGA Dental for a while helping him promote his dental practice and the Prettau Implant Bridge.  Dr. Ajmo is a strong proponent for video marketing and has seen much success with the addition of web videos on his site.  “The folks at Ellenbogen never fail to impress me!  The quality they put out is top notch.  My videos are standouts!  Potential patients being able to see me, listen to my passion for dentistry and see what they’re in for beforehand is a big plus for them and ultimately me.”  And that is why videos are so important.  Videos allow patients a tiny step into your practice.  And of course, you want to put your best foot forward!  That’s where The Ellenbogen Group comes in!

We spent two days working with Dr. Ajmo and several of his patients gathering interviews, patient testimonials, dental office footage, and high quality photographs .  We utilized a Dana Dolly for added subtle motion to already beautiful shots and spent time shooting off-site for that personal feel to the patient testimonials.  Ellenbogen Creative Media CEO, Jeremy Ellenbogen, talks about pride in our work, “We always put in that extra effort to make our work stand out.  Be it set design, lighting or camera movement, you can tell when videos are done by professionals who know what they’re doing…and when videos are done just to get it done.”  Not only do we create effective videos, we foster great relationships!   “Jay was very hospitable to our crew as always!  Being from out of the area he made us feel welcome and showed us around town!”

Dr. Ajmo received three web videos and three television ads that he is currently running on both Broadcast and Cable.  As soon as he is ready to expand his video library, our crew will be more than happy to make the trip!

Seven21 Media Center is gearing up for a very busy 2014! Construction is underway on the new Ellenbogen Creative Media office space! We are utilizing underused studio space and turning it into state-of-the-art creative suites for our production team!

Transforming over 3,000 square feet of office space is no simple task and has Ellenbogen Creative Media CEO, Jeremy Ellenbogen, extremely busy! “Basically, we gutted our set storage studio, added a second level, planned out for three edit suites, a production suite, conference room, screening room and manager’s office. I’ve had this vision for a while, it’s nice to finally see it come to life!” The plan to bring the whole group together to work in close proximity with each other is a step in the right direction towards expanding creativity. “The new space will allow us to easily work together on projects, do more creative brainstorming and really work like a team! Right now, we are all in different offices throughout the 721 Media Center…although we do have a strong unit…being next door rather than on the other side of the building is going to be nice!”

Our new space will have a modern, trendy, urban loft feel. We are incorporating glass walls, exposed metal duct work, steel stair-casing, and customized LED lighting fixtures – which, of course, will be extremely energy efficient. New furniture is also taken into consideration, and quality ones from stores like office monster can be sourced. The layout was carefully planned to be both comfortable for our staff and client-friendly.

The remodel began the first week of January and is expected to be move-in ready mid-March. Local construction laborers have been working on site non-stop and ahead of schedule! Once we are moved in, we will be hosting an open house and invite everyone to stop by and check out our new home!

For almost a year now, our crew has been shooting various tourist hotspots in Dutchess County to include in the new tourism ad campaign about to launch across New York State! This is the first time Dutchess has used a professional video platform to help promote the county and we are proud to be a part of it by providing three television ads, five long form web videos and a b-roll archive for future projects! From the Hot Air Balloon Festival, Sinterklaas Celebration and zip lining to beautiful working farms and historic State Parks, we shot everything spectacular there is to see and do in Dutchess County! Making your day in Dutchess jam-packed with history, shopping and a lot of outdoor fun!

The tourism board used local ad agency BBG&G Advertising to create and manage the multi-media campaign, who in turn acquired the professional skills of Ellenbogen Creative Media to carry out the video portion needed. We worked on the entire digital platform providing not only exciting video, but still images as well to incorporate into print and web marketing efforts. Gathering all of the assets was a tremendous task that BBG&G Advertising President, Debbe Garry, took part in every step of the way. “There is so much to see and do in Dutchess! The crew and I had a blast visiting the historic homes, museums, farm markets, fairs, unique shops…even the CIA. We’re very lucky to have so much culture and entertainment right at our fingertips! It’s impossible to capture it all…but I think we did a great job representing Dutchess County Tourism!”

Director of Photography, Zoltan David, managed the equipment needed and worked on shot creativity for all 14 days of the shoot. “It was a massive undertaking to plan equipment for both indoor and outdoor shots. Thankfully, most of our work was done on the ground, but we did also charter a helicopter to get some amazing aerial shots up and down the Hudson. It was exhilarating hanging off of a chopper swooping the Walkway Over The Hudson…with only a safety strap holding me in!” Thanks to having the proper gear and ability to utilize an air crew, Zoltan was able to get amazing shots at some truly beautiful locations! Zoltan also sends a special thank you to both Debbe Garry and Nancy Lutz of the DC Tourism office for all of their work in selecting sites and locations, coordinating shoot schedules, and getting permits, people, and props in place! They were both a tremendous help!

After viewing the hours of footage and hearing the crew talk of the fun adventures they captured each day, Ellenbogen Group CEO, Jeremy Ellenbogen, reflects on life in the Hudson Valley. “Living in the Hudson Valley, you tend to take for granted the beauty that surrounds us. Working on this project really gave us a greater appreciation of the area! ‘Everything right in your backyard’ is not an understatement! Capturing all of this and creating web videos so people outside of our area can see what we have to offer is the best tool a tourism board could have on their side! There’s nothing better than strong visuals to help tourism efforts!”

Spanning over 14 days of shooting and using all of our crew, we utilized every camera in our inventory including GoPro cameras, a drone helicopter, a chartered helicopter and the talents of Dutchess County residents and employees! This was definitely a large undertaking, but one we were able to have fun with and capture the essence of history and fun that is Dutchess County!

Seeing what a great tool the videos are providing to be, The Ellenbogen Group has been contracted to shoot even more footage in 2014! We are excited to continue our relationship with both Dutchess County Tourism and BBG&G Advertising!

For more information on how you can have ‘Your Day In Dutchess!’ visit: www.dutchesstourism.com

A Cut Above The Rest

One of the more recent, and exciting, projects we’ve been working on for the past few months here at Ellenbogen Creative Media is a series of instructional videos for Milady, a part of Cengage Learning. For those that don’t know, Milady is one of the world’s largest education publishers for the beauty and wellness industry. We were very excited to be a part this prestigious project.

When we went into contract last summer to create the next set of videos for their ‘Turning Trends Into Money’ series, we put our ‘A Team’ into place and began the critical pre-production process. Extensive planning was needed to coordinate everything from talent casting, location scouting, and salon equipment acquisition to crew and gear preparation as well as craft services arrangements! Production Coordinator/Producer, Amanda Popovich, took the lead on this end. “It really is amazing how much behind the scenes work goes into one production…let alone a three day shoot on location in New York City with a crew of five! Fortunately, our team here has a great working relationship and with everyone pulling together, doing their part to perfection…it becomes a seamless production with a very happy client!”

Suzanne Mulroy, Video Product Manager for Milady, couldn’t agree more! “This was the first project we worked on with Ellenbogen Group. New vendor relationships can be hard, trying to feel each other out, see how the team operates and hope it’s a fit. And it was! The team on-set was great to work with, very professional and eager to please. As for the post production process, we couldn’t be happier with the results! Alex knew exactly the look we were aiming for and delivered high-energy, informative videos!”

Senior Editor, Alex Pearson, has a special connection to the ‘Turning Trends Into Money’ project. “Working with Suzanne was awesome! We were given an edit schedule with definite deadlines…I only missed one! Suzanne was completely understanding. I mean, I tried to edit in the hospital when my twins were born…but my wife requested I stop! I even wanted to name them Carlos and Berry [The lead stylists in the videos], but my wife said no.”

Ellenbogen Group CEO, Jeremy Ellenbogen, is proud of what the team delivered. “Spending three days on set in NYC with the area’s leading stylists, Carlos Cintron and Berry Bachen, was a test to our creativity, professionalism and dedication. And we shined! We also learned a lot about hair! You should check out the videos…they’re really good!”

Our crew used Sony EX3 and Canon 5D Mark III DSLR cameras, KinoFlo Diva lights, Dana Dolly, 3 monitors for client viewing, wireless audio rack, and a Black Magic Atem.

As the video quickly becomes the preferred communication method, Milady hopes to use Ellenbogen for all their East Coast video production projects, and we welcome the opportunity. This current Ellenbogen project is Coming Soon to the Milady Education Network (www.miladyednet.com).

For short story writer and author John Covenant, Ellenbogen Creative Media helped one of his lifelong dreams come true: to see his book, ‘The Tree That Dreamed’, come to life though video animation.  With only the words of the story and beautiful illustrations, our editor, Andy Pidanick, was able to make ‘The Tree That Dreamed’ come to life!

Andy was glad he was put on this project saying, “Being able to help John see his vision come to life on screen was very rewarding to me!  The video we created for him was just a teaser for his KickStarter project, but gave John a look at what the bigger picture would be.  And he loved it!  Once he reaches his fundraising goal, we will animate the entire book into a short film.  It’s pretty exciting to be a part of it!”

And it’s been exciting for John as well!  He never imagined the teaser video would be as amazing as it is!  “Andy blew me away with what he was able to do with the raw material I gave him!  He is a true wizard at his craft!  I am very excited to complete this project with The Ellenbogen Group and show the world what I believe is a great story about nature, life and the spiritual connection among all!”

This was an unusual project for us to tackle at Ellenbogen as President Jeremy Ellenbogen explains, “Bringing books to life through video is not something we do everyday here!  With only voiceover and illustrations, creating a visually interesting piece is quite an undertaking.  I think Andy nailed it!”

Andy used the program After Effects to layer and add motion to the illustrations.  We also worked with Tom Desisto of Desisto Music for all of the audio engineering/mixing.  Tom supplied us with a professional voiceover, sound effects and custom music score.

Visit John’s KickStarter page to help him reach his fundraising goal to complete this great project!
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/482336811/the-tree-that-dreamed-audio-e-book?ref=live

Hope is the essence by which The Villa Veritas foundation is based. From their humble beginning, to their steady growth, some forty years later, Jim and Sue Cusack, founders of Villa Veritas, take a holistic approach to the treatment of alcohol and drug addiction.

The “Villa”, a not-for-profit inpatient rehabilitation and wellness center, celebrated their 40th anniversary this year! To keep the legacy going, they are fulfilling their dream of passing on the torch to their employees, some of whom are former patients.

Ellenbogen Creative Media has had the privilege of being part of their journey since the early 1990’s, when Ellenbogen was just beginning their journey as well. Their relationship started when the Villa needed to have their photographs put onto tapes for viewing, then the taping of their first video project “The Road to a Spiritual Recovery.” Ellenbogen and The Villa have grown together! Now, years later, those VHS tapes were converted to digital media for archiving, and the production five videos this year, have brought the Villa into the digital future.

Jim and Sue Cusack, turned to Ellenbogen once again to help them create a promotional video: “Villa Veritas – Past, Present, and Future”. The primary purpose of this video was to let prospective patients know how Villa Veritas can help them and their loved ones. The other purpose was to help create awareness and raise money for their new retreat center.

“The video really helped showcase the dedication, commitment, and passion of the dozens of employees, as well as showcase the natural beauty and amenities that the Villa has to offer.” said Jeremy Ellenbogen, who produced the video.

The Ellenbogen crew interviewed all employees who shared their personal stories. Photography and video were taken at the 40th Anniversary party this year and added to the video project. In addition to shooting the video, Ellenbogen handled the full media package for the Villa project including graphic design, updating their website content, adding new photos, building a YouTube channel for them to start building a social media platform, and using this as an outreach tool. The promotional video was created and Jim and Sue loved the final production! This is now in the duplication process getting ready to distribute.

“We love working with the Jeremy and his team. He really gets our vision and took care of the entire process exceeding our expectations. I could not imagine who else we would trust for our digital media needs.” said Sue Cusack, one of the company founders.

The story doesn’t end here! Jim Cusack has just completed his second book, “Trouble is a Gift”. Ellenbogen will be involved in the creation of the book trailers and a social media campaign to spread the word of hope.

What do you do when you want to introduce a new product but this product is intangible? It can sometimes be difficult to explain. So what are the alternatives? Well, the logical thing to do is to show it!

Stephen Fells, Co-Founder and CEO of Agency Logic, created an empowering web-based tool for real estate agents. Fells needed to create a video presentation for an annual technology conference in San Francisco, but wanted to both, show the software in action, and have actual clients tell their story of success with the product.

Over the course of one day Ellenbogen shot approximately a half dozen interviews, with one of Agency Logic’s clients, Prudential Serls Prime Properties Real Estate. Ellenbogen Senior Editor, Alex Pearson, then transformed this footage into four case study videos highlighting their experience and success with the Agency Logic single property websites and Agent digital profiles.

“We were happy we could meet his tight budget and deadline, and his client, Prudential Serls, saw the video and loved it as well, so much so, that they hired Ellenbogen to produce a video for their upcoming re-branding from Prudential to Berkshire Hathaway!” says Jeremy Ellenbogen, President & CEO of Ellenbogen Creative Media. “We even produced an animation for his logo, to further communicate the brand image. The animation was used on his website and other forms of digital media”

Stephen Fells couldn’t have been happier and was very pleased that the animation of Follr really captured the essence of what the brand and product is and does.