Having trouble viewing this film? Please allow it to upload completely before playing.

We lifted this :30 out of 32 hours of footage captured for the Brand Film.

Having trouble viewing this film? Please allow it to upload completely before playing.

Founded in 1976 Jason’s Deli is family owned company that currently operates in 25 states with 215 locations. This film articulates the story of the brand. From its humble beginnings in Beaumont, Texas to its growth across the nation. This is the tale of a company that consistently takes the road less travelled in service of people. Sound lofty? Watch the film and see for yourself.

Want to give credit to our collaborator and director / camera / editor Keith Maitland for bringing his intensity and documentary prowess to this process. Tod Campbell for his contribution as a DP at the bulk of our locations. Ben Powell for his jack of all trades impact along the way. To Julian Londono for being more than an assistant editor. To David S Gardner for prepping the edit with the precision of a librarian. David Hamburger for the pitch perfect score. Joe Malina for the color correction. And finally Alison, Parke and Lyman at Stuck On On for helping us finish it all with style.

“Dave Evans is from the future.”

Dave and The Butler Bros are in an alliance of companies. As such we are faced with opportunities that we must agree upon collectively. Dave messaged our entire group recently with his thoughts on working for equity. Once again Dave’s past experiences will change that future that I live in. He gave me permission to share his thoughts here. Perhaps you will find them to be merely common sense but I found them to be very well reasoned and most importantly, full of self esteem. I think this post will be of great value to the many start up agencies I socialize with and the many start up businesses connecting with them. Would love your comments.

My POV on “equity” projects is this: While I may do this same work in my “day job” I view these projects as “volunteer/night job/things I’d like to see happen but realize they may not…” endeavors. So, I have to limit the number of these I am working on. (That number is generally between zero and one.)

As for my involvement–and I’d except the same for all of us–it is constrained by the fact that this is an equity deal. I can balance (but don’t ask my family for a second opinion on this…) a controlled commitment with other (aka ‘paid’) work. (Otherwise, I should not be part of this.)

That said, (insert start up name here) and his team need to recognize that we are all doing some variation of this same balancing act: He is NOT getting a team that is 100% focused on this project, precisely because we have other obligations. That is his choice: His alternative is go and pitch this, seek funding, issue an RFP, and pay for a fully retained team.

As for the equity…it needs to be substantial: We need to be (appropriately for the the role we are playing) equal partners in this with (insert start up name here) and his team (minus the ‘founding’ allocations, of course…). We need to see business plan, and our involvement must be noted in it before agreeing to this.

In summary, we aren’t creating the expectation that we will work for free, and hope something nice happens. There is risk, and with that there must be an offsetting reward. We are offering instead to JOIN his team as equity partners, with a committed eye on creating shared success.

The campaign look we created for this years LIVESTRONG Day embodies the grassroots nature of LIVESTRONG. It’s something to interpret as a talisman in your own fight. Each illustration plays on themes of hope and determination. Many phrases are taken from the foundations remarkable manifesto. It’s all about cancer to be sure. But it’s really about life. The exuberance of it. Share yours with the world this year. It’s gone global.

Special thanks to Brett Stiles for his inspired illustrations.

Having trouble viewing this film? Please allow it to upload completely before playing.

The Ponderosa Stomp is a cultural warehouse. A rock-and-roll defibrillator. A creaky wooden ship helmed by Ira Padnos (Dr. Ike) that sails through the seas of music history and smashes cannon balls through the cliches of American Rock understanding. Stomp founder Dr. Ike is an anesthesiologist by day and and a vinyl hoarding musicologist by night. This New Orleans based Foundation hangs on by bloody knuckles to preserve the past and engage with rocks obscure still-living legends. This film, directed and edited by Jeff Nichols, is dedicated to all those who make this inspiring foundation go.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Having trouble viewing this film? Please allow it to upload completely before playing.

Shot on location in Austin with the co-founder of Jason’s Deli, Rusty Coco. We created this piece to amplify Jason’s PR efforts around their new kids menu which reduced saturated fat, sodium, and calories while adding organics. Additionally all of their food is high fructose corn syrup free, MSG free, and artificial trans fat free. This is an ideal example of our Brand Film content. The ingredients are – a company that is behaving in a very progressive way, the real people that their actions impact and our crew. No actors. Everyone is “playing” themselves and being given the freedom to communicate in their own words. This is where brand communications meet the documentary ethos. We are experts at channeling this interaction.

Jason’s Deli is a thought and action leader in the restaurant chain space. We are honored to help fuel their growth via our services.

This film has no audio. Having trouble viewing this film? Please allow it to upload completely before playing.

This is a 3-D interactive ‘mission’ booth for LIVESTRONG. It illustrates the survivor care and advocacy activities of the foundation. Motion graphics play on flat panel displays which are integrated into the structure of the booth which communicates the ways in which people can join the fight or receive help from the foundation.

People are invited to use a number of custom stamps to create their own piece of ’cause art’ which they can hang on a series of strings that span between the two end caps of the booth. It is both an education and invitation for people who experience it and continues to be a very moving and invigorating experience for participants.