The Nice Shirt Films x Raised By Wolves Party 2013

Last Thursday saw the social event of the season, with a small soiree held at our office. If you were there, we'd like to thank you for coming and making it a very special evening (...and ask you if you know who nicked our new expensive candles??)

 If you weren't there, you missed out on some fantastic food, delicious drinks and some top notch tunes and some convivial socialising. What follows next are a few snaps from the night to give you a sense of what was a magical, liqui-centric evening. 

(thanks to the fine folks over at Black Pig with White Pearls)

There are lots more photos from the night, but due to the various states of inebriation depicted, what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas. 

Debenhams "Coats & Boots"by Stuart Douglas

Stuart Douglas' latest film for Debenhams gives us a romantic, sumptuous glimpse into the department store's stylish collection of winter coats and boots. It is the second of three films Stuart is directing as the store re-imagines its "Life Made Fabulous" campaign with a more visual and cinematic feel.

The exhilarating spot picks up where "Grand Hotel" left off, giving us a fast-paced and luxurious glimpse at the season's latest collections from the Designers at Debenhams. The chic garments are showcased in the film by the assortment of beautiful people who are all intriguingly linked in a frenzied, romantic romp through the streets of Prague Budapest Buenos Aires (!). The much-lauded sketch motif from the first Debenhams film returns in this spot, highlighting each stylish garment's connection to their respective designer's original vision, as we see the elegant clothing magically transform from real life to designer sketch.

The soundtrack to the film is again the infectious "Youth" by Foxes. The stirring song, in combination with the elegantly-shot apparel, the smouldering stars and the compelling scenarios adds up to another highly-polished and enthralling film from Stuart.

Rabbiting On

Jesper's rather wonderfully odd Verisure spot with the rabbits has been going down a storm.

Shots loved it, naming it a Contender, whilst David Reviews loved the spot for its "wonderful weirdness. [The spot is]... the very definition of brave advertising". High praise, indeed!

It even conquered The Guardian's Ad Break, the pick of the week's best adverts from across the globe:

It's always makes us sad bunnies that bar the Guardian's article, you need to pay a subscription to see what Shots et al say about our directors and their work, so to ease you through the pain we made this slightly-trippy, down-the-rabbit-hole(!) Vine:

Getting Vinceptiony with Jesper's new Verisure on the Guardian #vinception https://t.co/1OHhvQtyZl

— Nice Shirt Films (@niceshirtfilms) October 11, 2013

Weird.

"Let's Have a Party"

The food is ordered, the drinks have just gone in the chiller: Nice Shirt and Raised By Wolves are having a little get-together very soon.

After much planning and much careful deliberation, the invitations are winging their way to their recipients now.

If you received yours, we can't wait to see you there. If you didn't, well, better luck next time.*

(*If we missed you out, sorry! We'd love for you to come - drop us a line and we'll see what we can do) 

Verisure "Rabbit Party"by Jesper Ericstam

Jesper emerges from a busy Swedish summer with a series of spots for Verisure. The campaign, comprising of three spots, centre around various family scenarios using a new feature to control their home's security & lighting via some sort of smartphone magic. Jesper brings his typical charm, warmth and slightly off-the-wall humour to these family home-based comedy spots, that recall his recent highly-praised work for IKEA. 

Our pick of the three spots is "Rabbit Party", which sees the mother happily relieved at the message that her son is home safe and sound, with no knowledge of the ensuing feast he has planned for the family pets.

Flamin' Groovy

We're delighted to bring you news of Jon Hollis' success you might have read about earlier.

At the IBC Awards held in Amsterdam last month, Jon's groundbreaking SFX work was honoured with Special Recognition for Pioneering Work in Flame award. The ceremony was arranged by Autodesk, whose Flame software Jon has been using to create memorable work for commercials and features for over twenty years.

Jon receiving his award.

As well as honouring his talent, his contribution towards the creative community was also recognised with the organisers praising Jon for his pivotal role in bringing Flame to the forefront of the visual effects world.

Jon, in his inimitable style, said he was "honoured to receive the honour", which is pictured below in this exclusive snap taken today from his Flame suite.

The award. 

You can watch Jon's pioneering work over at his showreel. 

...and click below to watch a very interesting Q&A with Jon and Caitlin Troughton from the IBC below! 

Forevermark by Liz Murphy

Nice Shirt Films is excited to announce the arrival of Liz Murphy to its growing roster of talented directors.  A young talent belying her large repertoire of work, Liz grew up in Australia and relocated to London four years ago.

Liz, like so many other directors, racked up the plaudits throughout her early years - but no other filmmaker can lay claim to her Canberra Ballet School's Award for Excellence, aged only 9. A creatively diverse development followed: at home where she made her own DIY animations right through to film school, where she directed tender, emotional art films.

Upon graduation, Liz was shortlisted for the CFP-E/Shots Young Director award at Cannes with her first ever job. After winning more awards for Suncorp and conducting a frantic symphony in a marvellous Telstra ad, Liz continued her knack for developing and creating an array of beguiling films including complex stop-frame animation in her intricate RAC and Homebase commercials.

One of the most diverse directors we've come across, Liz's debut collaboration with Nice Shirt is a spot for the Debeers diamond brand, Forevermark.

The spot is a beautiful one; giving us a captivating glimpse into an emotional connection between a man and a woman. Liz encapsulates the affection the couple share with each other with a palette of warm colours, intimate focus and touching performances.

Liz has also recently completed "Heart Lock"; a self-written, self-produced short film about a boy meeting a girl with an intriguing secret. It has comfortably found its place on the 2013 festival circuit, premiering at the Atlantic Film Festival in Canada.

The folk at Nice Shirt commented, "Liz wowed us with her intelligence (she's a self-confessed technical nerd), tenacity and remarkable attention to detail.  She's also very funny and great fun to work with. She is a director with many strings to her bow and we are very much looking forward to developing her talents in this market."