A division of Silver Platter founded in 2005,
UMDlab TV acquires, produces and publishes
a diverse range of content for videogame platforms
and handheld viewing. Generally the #1 download channel at Sony
Connect, UMDlab TV will soon be
available on Xbox Live and other platforms /
devices.
Client - FOX Cable Networks
At Silver Platter, we designed and produced a
limited-edition series of 150 PSPs branded for FX
Network. Each PSP was packaged in a custom Logitech
case and came pre-loaded with exclusive content on the
Memory Stick. The premiums were given away to contest
winners as part of an unique marketing promotion.
At Scope Seven we are experts in producing DVD
Games. For the past few years we have pioneered amazing
new tools and techniques to do things on DVD that i
would have long ago said were impossible. As the
Executive Producer and Media Architect of such projects
for bEQUAL, Music & Brands, DreamWorks, Mattel, and
Disney i oversee the concept and execution of DVD Games
and now Interactive TV.
Editor's Choice Award from IGN.com (9.5
out of 10)
and WINNER - 2006 DVD Awards with Leonard Maltin - Best
PSP / UMD Movie
Label - SILVER PLATTER
"Sets a new standard..." is what
IGN.com had to say.
Studio - New Line
At Scope Seven, Jesse and i produced the menus and a
game for the Wedding Crashers DVD, though the
sexy trivia game was sadly never included. The game
prompted players to choose a girl (one of the above)
and answer trivia about The Rules in order to win a
date. We also did the UMD version. Test your knowledge.
WINNER - 2005 DVD Awards with Leonard Maltin - Best
Game Play
Publisher - bEQUAL
Licensor - DREAMWORKS ANIMATION
As the Executive Producer and Media Architect at
Scope Seven for this
award-winning DVD Game based on the popular film, i
was responsible for all aspects of the production /
team including game design, writing, music, video
editing, menus, programming and QC.
In the summer of 2005, we founded Silver Platter, the indie
UMD label. Based in Venice, CA the company acquires,
produces, converts and releases a diverse range of
content selected specifically for handheld viewing.
We know the audience is not
watching feature-length movies and instead is away
from home ...on a skateboard, in a car, plane, or
with friends. Whether 16 or 35 years old, they are
looking for an entertainment experience that is as
fun to watch for 5 minutes as an hour - and over
again.
Client - Paramount Digital Entertainment
Someday, a DVD Magazine will come together, succeed at
newstands and usher in a new form of publishing. Until
then i will have to be satisfied producing some of the
coolest prototypes. Working with (now defunct)
Paramount Digital Entertainment at Scope Seven, Al Cota
and i conceived and designed a digital version of VIBE
magazine.
Robert Norton has unique ideas for media and i was
pleased to work with him on the Skies DVD which started
the Colorcalm series. Scope Seven (then Comchoice)
supported the project which i produced, including
the first Pantone video color
matching.
WINNER - 2004 AEGIS Award of Excellence -
Promotional/Sales
WINNER - 2005 Videographer Awards - Special
Events/Business
Client - Comchoice, now Scope Seven
This campaign was a spoof on the eHarmony ads and
featured our own Jim Comber as "Doctor Norm Al Promo",
a guru in the art of DVD Matchmaking. Jesse directed
and i executive produced the campaign, which you can
watch here.
Michael Dean and i met through
Craigslist when he was asking for help in authoring
a DVD (for free) of the film he had just completed -
D.I.Y. or DIE: BURN THIS DVD - How to
Survives as an Independent Artist (which he
produced without copy-protection and encouraged
people to dupe). Afterwards, we decided to produce
something together and fell on the idea of Ambient
Media based on Photography. Michael contacted
Steve Diet Goedde, a renowned
erotic photographer. The three of us, with a lot of
help, self-produced and self-distributed this DVD before
recently selling it to MVD.
Check out Michael's latest movie on Hubert Selby Jr at
their MySpace page and his
books too. You can still buy
Living Through from Steve or Amazon.
Client - Howard Dean for America 2004
Presidential Campaign
In 2004, Steve Reiss called asking if i
would work on a DVD (the first ever in this regard)
for then Governor Hoard Dean's Presidential
campaign. The DVD was distributed via door-to-door
volunteers and featured pointed videos detailing Mr.
Dean's stance on issues as well as documentary
pieces on his background. Check out Steve's vpix images too.
Project - 27 Miles in 24 Hours - Malibu, CA
"27 Miles" is a 90 minute music video / documentary /
lifestyle program that captures the fun, frenetic life
of the sexy, young denizens of Malibu, Ca. Driven by
the sounds of local bands the program is A Day In The
Life, all happening in one eccentric 24-hour window.
Here is a trailer / spot we created for Spy
Optic, one of the sponsors.
Client - YouthAIDS
YouthAIDS 2nd Annual Benefit Gala in NYC
YouthAIDS Video PSA Campaigns with Eve and Quincy Jones
Working with Andrew at Luxe-Media, i had the opportunity
to direct my first live event, a charity fundraiser
in New York City. Presenters and performers included
Ashley Judd, Blair Underwood, Timbaland, Wynonna
Judd, Joss Stone, Jin and many more. The evening
raised over $1.4 million for the charity. Later, i
produced a series of presentations and PSAs featuring
Eve and Quincy Jones discussing safe sex.
Director - Stephen Norrington
Studio - Palm Pictures
Patrick Anding and i co-produced and authored this
truly unique DVD for Stephan Norrington's The Last
Minute. Working directly with Norrington, we
skipped the standard menu system and Backward Heroes designed an
immersive, interactive world on the DVD that
mimicked the film itself. Here is a gallery of the menus.
Label - RIDGE ROAD / UNIVERSAL MUSIC
I have had the pleasure of working with Melissa and WFL Management on her
last 3 DVDs; Live...and Alone, Lucky Live and The
Greatest Hits: The Road Less Traveled. Michael Simon has directed each
of these projects. Generally i produced the DVDs but on
Live...and Alone i also got to design the package
and tour poster, seen above left. The DVD was
Awarded Double-Platinum Sales Status from the RIAA
and i got my first platinum DVD.
WINNER - 2002 DVD Pro Discus Award - Best Special
Features
WINNER - 2002 DVD At Its Best - Gold Ring Award
WINNER - 2002 DVD Awards - Navigation Design and
Implementation
Director - Hironobu Sakaguci
Studio - SQUARE PICTURES / COLUMBIA TRI-STAR
As the Executive Producer and Creative Director at
ZUMA, i led a production team in Hawaii, LA and NYC for
almost a year in creating this groundbreaking DVD. Here
is a link to an article from
Millimeter by Kristinha Anding about the Special Edition. Darcy Dahl was
the designer of these amazing menus.
Client - Kenneth Cole
When Kenneth Cole opened their flagship store at
Rockefeller Center in NYC, they hired ZUMA to design,
build and install WebDVD interactive
shopping kiosks. Darcy Dahl designed the hypnotic
videos and i produced the hardware / software.
Client - Nickelodeon
Many ActiveDVD clients also hired ZUMA to design and
produce their presentations. This Kids Planning Guide
for Nickelodeon was part of a print, DVD and PPT
package that we produced for their Upfront sales
presentations.
Client - TIAA CREF
It was rare to get to shoot film for a CD-ROM project.
Working with director Tarquin Cardona we produced a
captivating series of vignettes that were used in TV
commercials and a Financial Planning CD-ROM. Users
would associate with a type of investor through
watching the footage and then would be led into
retirement planning tools we created.
Client - Calvin Klein
This prototype for Interactive TV was
actually a WebDVD that i produced for Calvin
Klein at ZUMA. Viewers could watch the fashion show,
either full screen or with product information, and
then click on outfits to purchase the products.
Ahhhh someday...
WINNER - 2001 DVD Awards – Best Interactive Feature
Studio - MIRAMAX / DIMENSION
Developed by ZUMA for the Ultimate Edition Box Set,
this unique concept and technical solution for settop
DVD re-editing allowed viewers to easily create a
playlist using only the DVD remote control. This
implementation later was expanded into LibraryDVD™.
Client - Yoko Ono
Among all of the types of clients i have worked with
over the years, fine artists always are the most
demanding - in the best way possible. They have an
attention to detail and even an awareness of detail
that makes for a very collaborative client. For
her retrospective Yoko Ono worked
with us at Tape House and ZUMA to restore her original films and video
artworks. The resulting DVDs were used as
exhibit masters and limited edition works.
Client - NUON
Though barely released to consumers, it
was an honor to be chosen by NUON as a beta tester and
developer. The technology added new features to a
DVD player such as playing 3D games, enhanced DVD
navigation and some access to DVD-ROM content. We
produced the "pack-in" DVD that was included with
every new player.
Client - Whitney Museum of Modern Art
Working with artists such as Shirin Neshat (work pictured
above) and Isaac Julien also included assisting
(with art-geek pleasure) in the installation of
works for shows such as the Biennial and The
American Century. At ZUMA, we would transfer and
restore films, produce the DVD masters and build
control systems for exhibits.
Client - PRIMEX / NASDAQ
When NASDAQ launched their Primex Trading Service, ZUMA
was hired to direct and produce the campaign which
would be used on laptops and also played on the
building-sized screen in Time Square, NYC. Cinnamon and
i worked with Herb Strauss to painstakingly bring
financial trading systems to life.
WINNER - 2000 DVD Award – WebDVD Excellence Award
Clients - GUESS / RCA RECORDS
The promise of Click-to-Buy, or turning viewers into
shoppers, has never quite come together. But this
project by ZUMA did receive a 30%+ direct response rate
when we distributed Web-connected DVDs and CDs
featuring Tyrese in GUESS clothing. Users clicked
directly on outfits in the music video and to buy
clothes on the purchase page.
WINNER - 1999 Best New Software Product –
Presentations Magazine
and WINNER - 2000 DVD Standing Ovation Award
At ZUMA, we were working with advertising agencies,
broadcasters and corporations to archive their
videos. Inevitably, people wanted to use their
videos in presentations...but there was no simple
and effective way to access an interactive DVD from
PowerPoint. So we created ActiveDVD. Here is
a link to the original sales slick (6.2MB PDF).
Client - Federal Law Enforcement Training Center
- FLETC
Dobbin and i built these crazy kiosks at ZUMA for
FLETC. The touchscreen systems
used a DVD-ROM and custom software we developed to
playback videos and record user interactions for
training purposes. Carlo and i both got to go to
FLETC, which was stealth.
Label - SONY MUSIC
At ZUMA, we produced the multi-lingual hit music DVD
for JLo (then fully-named Jennifer Lopez). The DVD for
Jennifer Lopez: Feelin' So Good
featured dual navigation and content in both English
and Spanish.
Client - Maltbie Associates
At ZUMA, i loved to get involved with the museum
installations and for UKBM i spent a month in Lexington
working with Maltbie and Lars Peterson of ScharffWeisberg. We designed the
software and hardware for over 20 exhibits including the
centerpiece Surround Theatre with a 15 monitor
synchronized show produced by Arthur Rouse.
WINNER - 1999 DVD Awards – Most Unusual Title
Director - Bob Bejan
Publisher - CHOICEPOINT FILMS
ZUMA Digital co-financed this unique DVD project which was an
adaption from an earlier interactive movie theatre
venture. Patrick and i laboriously authored this
first interactive DVD-Video movie. You can still
find them for sale on here.
Pioneer released their DVD-V7400 industrial DVD player
and a lot of our presentation clients at ZUMA
starting using the players in their boardrooms. The
only problem was the remote control supplied with
the V7200...it was really complex for presentation.
So i designed this controller for the DVD player
which provided simple access to the most common
functions plus a touchpad for mouse control. Here
are the original circuit boards.
Client - GUGGENHEIM MUSEUM
As an artist myself, i was always eager at ZUMA to collaborate and
contribute with fine artists and museums pursuing
digital media. By far the largest such endeavor was
Premises at The Guggenheim Soho
(before Rem Koolhaas, whose work was in
Premises, turned it into a pretty cool Prada store). You
can still find ZUMA listed as a sponsor at the
bottom.
Director - Timothy Greenfield-Sanders
Studio - AMERICAN MASTERS / WINSTAR
At ZUMA i collaborated with Director / Producer
Timothy Greenfiled-Sanders to
realize his unique vision for the DVD release of Lou
Reed: Rock n' Roll Heart. The film won the 1998
Grammy Award for Best Long Form Music Video. Here
are some of his photos from the film.
In the fall of 1996, i founded ZUMA Digital - in
partnership with David Anthony and Jon Silbermann of
JSM Music - as one of the first DVD production
companies. Back then people sort of laughed at you
about DVD. I still keep an early article from USA Today
that introduces the format to consumers. Based in New
York City, ZUMA focused mainly on the non-entertainment
applications for DVD, especially for business and
museum clients. Over the years a wonderful group of
people were involved in producing groundbreaking
projects for worldwide clients such as; GUESS, The
Guggenheim Museum, Miramax, RCA Records, The Whitney
Museum, Columbia Tri-Star, BBDO, Kenneth Cole, MTV,
JWT, TIAA CREF, NASDAQ, TBWA/ Chiat/Day, A&E, WWF,
SF MOMA, CNBC, NFL Films, Lifetime, Showtime,
Nickelodeon, Clinique, Palm Pictures, Merril Lynch,
McDonalds, Revlon, Disney and more.
Soon we were twenty people and involved in a very
unique combinations of products and services including;
software development and distribution, providing
technical support for our software products, archiving
huge video libraries for ad agencies and broadcasters,
producing sales presentations, working with artists
such as Yoko Ono and Nam June Paik, building shopping
kiosks for retailers, and of course authoring movie and
music DVDs.
In late 1999, we sold ZUMA to Tape House and moved
from 19th st. to 44th st. where the company remained
well after i departed just before September 11,
2001. Those five years provided me with a very early
and very effective education in production and
management.
Client - WOW Digital
Photographs by Eric Meola and Chris Rainier
Back when Netscape was the dominant browser, i worked
with WOW Digital in NYC to offer multimedia services to
their fine art and photography clients. This website
was created for a gallery opening featuring the works
of Eric Meola and Chris Ranier, both of which had
photographed the people of Papua New Guinea - Eric in
vibrant color and Chris in b&w.
Project - Hands on Clay CD-ROM
By far the coolest CD-ROM i ever produced was Hands On
Clay by Marilyn Dintenfass. The basic concept was to
teach people about pottery and ceramics. But the
interactivity functionality was the really cool part; a
navigable globe predating QTVR Objects and a system for
throwing pots with your mouse, all programmed in
Director.
How would the TV Show Entertainment Weekly
look as a broadband site, circa 1996?
Long before the AOL deal, Time Warner was already
thinking about how to turn their Pathfinder.com website into a
broadband entertainment and information experience,
but back then there really was no bandwidth. What
started as a website concept i was hired to produce
for Concrete Media, soon turned into
a kiosk - since there was no portable media at the
time capable of holding the 2GB project.
At Bennington, Matthew and i had
gotten one of the first Apple QuickTake digital
cameras and also a developer copy of the QTVR Authoring Studio (which back
then was a series of scripts - no GUI). It took us 3
days to successfully make the first QTVR of our
apartment. From there i continued an interest in the
technology and literally produced thousands of QTVRs
for clients and myself. Here is a gallery of very old QTVR files.
Client - BENNINGTON COLLEGE
Bennington College Viewpoints CD-ROM
Before this, i had never really even used a computer
other than Zork on my C64. As part of a class - that
become a job then a career - a group of students
produced Viewpoints, the first ever CD-ROM college
viewbook. We did everything ourselves under the
guidance of Ruben Puentedura, who was in
charge of the New Media Center and also my
mathematics professor. The CD-ROM (which was Mac
only for the first year) originally was programmed
using Macromedia Authorware Vers. 1 before we ported
it Director Vers. 1.5 i think.