Click here to view the embedded video.

We produced the event, and brought URDB [The Universal Record Database] and Do512.com onboard to help make this event unique. Nine cancer related word records were set that night, and can be viewed individually at BreakCancer.co. We also connected with Omega Broadcast Group in North Austin, who generously donated several thousand dollars of video gear for us to use to capture the event. Their desire to help “break cancer” and raise awareness for the cause provided us with some phenomenal gear, including a 20′ Jib, 1080p HD cameras, and more!

I’ve been a fan of Omega for a while now. Having worked with many gear rental houses during the past 9 years here in Austin, and up in Dallas, and Omega Broadcast Group is one of the best by far. The staff is extremely helpful, they have a phenomenal inventory of gear that’s all clean and in great working order, and the prices are pretty much the best you’ll find. They also have a great studio space with a huge infinity cyc wall that we’ll be shooting on in a few weeks. I realize I’m sounding like a paid spokesman right now, but I assure you that I’m not! Having had many frustrating experiences with quality control and inventory over the years with other companies, I was excited to find Omega. Dave, Gabe, and Robert are great, and will help you out.

-@BBrosTravis

In the meantime, a big thanks to our client, The LIVESTRONG Young Adult Alliance and our partners URDB and Do512. We’re also grateful to the The Bright Light Social Hour for the jams and The Highball for hosting. Thanks to Deep Eddy Sweet Tea Vodka, Omega Broadcasting, CC West Printing, and 44 Doors for their generous donations.

Keep the conversation going: follow @breakcancer and tweet #breakcancer.

We slugged it out with cancer this year – personally and professionally.

As many readers of this blog know cancer took the Butler Bros dad this year. The end of a three year fight.

The Half Full Triathlon was a big success in its first year and has the team at the Ulman Cancer Fund thinking  bigger about the impact they can have in young adult cancer world and beyond.

We fought alongside LIVESTRONG this year as well. From participating in LIVESTRONG Challenge events as fundraisers to designing brand presos and consulting on strategic partner alignment. The highlight though was developing the BREAK CANCER campaign. One awareness raising campaign uniting the 170 member orgs of the Young Adult Alliance via world records with a cancer theme. Partnering with URDB we created a web platform that runs on user generated content and social network sharing. We are very pleased with the launch and look forward to driving it hard in 2011 beginning with a big splash during March at a certain interactive conference. We invite you to set your own BREAK CANCER record with your family during the holidays.

You can learn more about the BREAK CANCER campaign by taking a free online subscription to the LIVESTRONG Quarterly.

We met Randal years ago. He was still a student at A&M. His uncle Creed Ford asked us to work with him while we were creating a pile of work for Rudy’s BBQ. He had a very nice student portfolio and an even better attitude. Randal was the first photographer we had ever worked with who shot exclusively digital. It was an “aha” experience for us. Nothing was lost with a properly exposed digital image and the instant gratification was a powerful tonic. We’ve remained close with Randal through his career and we continue to collaborate with him, like on the rattle snake piece we art directed with him last year (seen in gallery above).

He asked us to design a logo for him 3 years ago, and we just cleaned it up and reissued it to him for his website and this beautiful new paper system.

We believe in a Smoke Free Texas. Second hand smoke is a public health hazard linked to death, cancer, heart disease and respiratory illness in non-smokers. Our work with LEGACY this year has convicted us of these truths.

Last year the team at Smoke Free Texas did not reach their goal of a statewide smoking ban in public places. We believe that their communications can be more pointed and more memorable this year. It’s time to shake up the willing. We offer this redesign of their logo as a donation to this effort. Special thanks to our partner Brett Stiles for his generous donation of time and talent.

If you are interested in helping Texas become smoke free please download a petition or become a fan on Facebook.

Campaign is just getting rolling. I expect there to be much more hilarity ensuing as the kiosk goes out after dark. The brilliance is, once you record a rap about designating a driver it would be pretty stupid to drive drunk. You don’t want to make that other movie. The one they shoot through the windshield of the police cruiser…

We didn’t know we were making “brand films” then. We were collapsing the strategic planning discipline with the creative development discipline out of necessity. We had just formed our shop and the budgets were small. It was just Marty and I, a Canon GL2, a 35mm still camera, going crazy on a road trip. We put the money into original music and post. In the end, we discovered a method of working that is very hands on and frankly we’ve never walked away from. We just gave it a name – Brand Film.

So what is a Brand Film?

It’s a strategic, stylized documentary about your brand. The story is authentic and compelling because you, your product and or service is authentic and compelling. You do your part. The film does its part. Your narrative already exists. The emotion is there. It is all waiting to be captured by us in high definition. We use our deep understanding of messaging to outline the films potential plot, cast real people and draft the questions we will ask the cast. We scout the locations. Then it’s the discipline of production and the skill of film making. In the end, you receive much more than a strategic 3-5 minute film that deftly communications your value to the world. You also have content that can live:

• Online (your home site, promotional micro-sites, blogs, podcasts, e-mail, social networking sites, affiliate sites)

• On air (TV spot, infomercial base content, radio spot from audio, press outreach, EPK, and b-roll for news media)

• On the road (sales kits, investor relations materials, trade show presence)

Today we are an ad agency and production company under one roof. We’ve refined our process. We added partners across the production spectrum. Our Brand Films benefit greatly from the world class film talent Austin hosts.

We would love to hear your thoughts and feedback on what we are producing. We have a LinkedIn group for this express purpose. We believe that now, more than ever, Brand Films are a brilliant marketing investment. Please challenge or support this notion with your experience…

The first conference call is almost over but the project is just getting started. Brian Gourley (executive producer and passion player) + The Butler Bros. + Jeff Nichols + Scott Bomar + some of the most amazing musicians on the planet are getting together to make a movie. The piece will help tell the story of the Ponderosa Stomp before it’s too late…

Thanks to Jacob Blickenstaff for the shot.

In the United States and most Western countries, diet-relatedchronic diseases represent the single largest cause of morbidityand mortality. These diseases are epidemic in contemporary Westernizedpopulations and typically afflict 50-65% of the adultpopulation, yet they are rare or nonexistent in hunter-gatherersand other less Westernized people. Although both scientistsand lay people alike may frequently identify a single dietaryelement as the cause of chronic disease (eg, saturated fat causesheart disease and salt causes high blood pressure), evidencegleaned over the past 3 decades now indicates that virtuallyall so-called diseases of civilization have multifactorial dietaryelements that underlie their etiology, along with other environmentalagents and genetic susceptibility.

- American Journal of Clinical Nutrition

Rip is officing in our space as we prepare to help him launch a marketing website that will support sales of his new book, The Engine 2 Diet. It advocates eating a plant-strong diet full of fruits, vegetables, legumes, whole grains, nuts, and seeds. The diet has been medically proven to cause dramatic reductions in LDL cholesterol (that’s the bad one) levels in as little as two weeks. Weight loss is another, more visible, and perhaps more motivating benefit.

When we look at the issues facing our country and world The Engine 2 Diet rises to the challenge in so many ways. We are proud of Rip for making the telling of this story such a huge part of his life. The book hits stores on the 25 of February. The site we are creating will launch January 1st. Keep an eye on your news stand for major stories about this book in early 2009.

Jeff Manning is a limited edition person. Wicked smart yet a dude. Cocksure yet self effacing. A boy from Boston who fits right into Texas. You get the idea. A walking contradiction. Oh yeah, he also likes to wear pink. To celebrate this we gifted him his own limited edition (2 issue) pink Butler Bros tees. He wears them proud and dares people to comment. Soon he will be our neighbor as the Lance Armstrong Foundation heads east in 2009. Jeff does great work keeping the LAF connected to the outside via the web. We look forward to working with him in 09 to help put the beat down on cancer.