The Directors and staff of Hotspur & Argyle wish you a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.
Please click Santa for a salutary salutation. (Play loud).

UPDATE: ‘FRESH MEAT’ HAS WON THE BEST NEW BRITISH TV COMEDY PRIZE IN THE BRITISH COMEDY AWARDS 2011. CONGRATULATIONS DAVID!

The brilliant ‘Fresh Meat’ has been nominated as “Best New British TV Comedy”, “Best Comedy Drama”, and “Best Comedy Actor” (Jack Whitehall) in this year’s British Comedy Awards. This pleases us greatly because Fresh Meat’s lead director is our own David C. Kerr. Tune in to Channel 4 on Friday at 9pm to see how he gets on.

As more gadget-obsessed readers will know, the long awaited launch of Samsung’s Galaxy Note – a game-changing cross between a smart phone and an iPad – is upon us. And, fittingly, adorning its website are demo films that elevate the whole genre to a new level of polish and panache. Director Theo Delaney, production designer Toby Stevens and DP Theo Garland converted one colossal floor of a brand new Greenwich office block into a contemporary airport terminal complete with lounge, departure gate and coffee outlet before filming the story of an enthusiastic Galaxy Note user who shows curious fellow travelers its remarkable capabilities. The films were conceived at Partners Andrews Aldridge by creatives Carole Eppleston and Helen Sharp, creative directors were Paul Snoxell and Dan Northover.

Richard Swarbrick’s latest Wimbledon Restring film is a tribute and good luck message to Andy Murray. Once again meticulously recreated with nothing more than wool, felt and a small button, this film features Murray’s brilliant through-the-legs winner against Croatia’s Ivan Ljubicic. Richard was ably assisted in the frame by frame execution by Rebecca Budds. The magic moment is shown in a wide and then replayed in two closer angles. Photography was again courtesy of the inspirational Haarala Hamilton. Meanwhile, Richard is immersed in his first major advertising campaign which will emerge soon…

Les Freres Moustache have just completed this beautiful film for Lacoste’s iconic L12.12 polo shirt web site. The boys filmed all the models against green screen before selecting the frames they liked and combining them with the pop-up magazine which they created entirely in 3D. Post production was by Digital District in Paris, the soundtrack is Truman Peyote’s ‘New Wife New Life’ and the agency was BETC Euro RSCG 4D.

Click the image to watch the ad

We are delighted to welcome director Richard Swarbrick to Hotspur and Argyle. Richard’s stunning animation of Gareth Bale’s performance for Tottenham Hotspur against European Champions Inter Milan has been a viral sensation in recent weeks, clocking up over 400,000 views on YouTube alone. As a result he has been showered with offers from all corners of the media and is currently working on new commissions. Although entirely new to advertising, we think Richard’s remarkable craftsmanship, taste and deft judgement mean he has a huge amount to offer. He is also versatile, and is particularly adept at combining live action with his distinctive animation techniques. Click here to see the beautiful Bale film featuring a poignant soundtrack of Richard’s own creation. To see more of his personal work, get in touch with Danny Fleet at H&A HQ.

Kirk Baxter arrived in London from Sydney in the late nineties as a a young film editor trying to make his way in the world. His first job was a Mirror commercial written by Kevin Thomas and Tony Barry and directed by Hotspur & Argyle’s Theo Delaney, then working at Tomboy Films. He did a beautiful job and it was the first of many projects they worked on together. Kirk quickly established himself as a star on the London editing scene before moving to New York and then Los Angeles where he began working with David Fincher. And now he is Kirk Baxter Oscar-winner having bagged the biggest gong of all for his work on Fincher’s The Social Network. Everyone at Hotspur and Argyle would like to congratulate Kirk, not only a great editor but a great bloke too. You can watch the Mirror commercial, which remains one of Theo’s personal favourites, by clicking the image above. We think you’ll agree his potential was there for all to see.

Martin Aamund has just finished this stylish sixty second film for clothing label Jack and Jones. It tells the heart-rending tale of a man treated as little more than a sex object by a stream of young woman. It will straddle commercial breaks Europe-wide. Photography was by Mattias Rudh and music came from Anders Alberg. It was cut by Martin Landquist. Click on the image above to see the film.

Softwar is the latest film from the brilliant Les Freres Moustaches. Made as part of their ‘Lab’ series of experimental work, it’s an entirely computer generated data visualization on the thorny topic of US Military spending. Already attracting a lot of attention, the film has been included in the programme of the prestigious onedotzero_adventures in motion festival 2010, which takes place at the BFI Southbank in November. And it’s not the only Freres offering on display there; the sumptuous showreel opener Thomas Haley, which encapsulates the work of the eponymous war photographer, also features.

Fiendishly clever Hotspur & Argyle directing team Les Freres Moustache have just finished this stylish commercial for O2 in Germany. It’s a lovely piece of work and equally compelling is this brilliant film of the entire shooting process shown at breakneck speed. A captivating portrait of industrious genius at work, it is now officially our favourite ever ‘making-of’.

Click the image to see the ad.

Theo Delaney has directed two new sketches for The FA’s Get Into Football Campaign that he wrote with writer/actor Rufus Jones. They feature the remarkable acting skills of England stars Peter Crouch, Jermain Defoe, Gareth Barry and Shaun Wright-Phillips as well as Sky Sports’ Chris Kamara. Owing to England’s hectic pre-World Cup schedule, Fabio Capello could only spare the players for 90 minutes but both stories were filmed in the time thanks to extraordinary work from the stellar cast. The films were produced for Hotspur & Argyle’s sister company Contentment Worldwide where Theo has blogged on the joys of working with top footballers. To further nourish his football obsession he’s also been podcasting – hear him host the It’ll Go To Penalties World Cup podcast here.

Hotspur & Argyle’s new musical extravaganza for Bernard Matthews has been unleashed. Directed by Theo Delaney for agency Isobel, the commercial was shot over two intensive days in the Manchester Evening News Arena. It was lit by Jake Polonsky, edited by The Quarry’s Scot Crane and features a lavish music track by the legendary Peter Lawlor. The ad was conceived by Isobel’s founding creative partners Rob Fletcher and Dave Alexander who appear alongside Theo in the behind-the-scenes film made up in Manchester. Danny Fleet was the Hotspur & Argyle producer, Denise Robinson took charge for Isobel and post production was by Framestore. To see the ad itself, click here.

Hotspur & Argyle director Theo Delaney has been interviewed for the website creativepool.co.uk. The site, which has over 60,000 members, caters for the needs of Britain’s freelance creative community. It’s the second in a series of interviews with people who work in the creative industries conducted by writer John Fountain. To learn Theo’s views on Cesc Fabregas, Laural and Hardy, bucking broncos and Tony Kaye click here.

Hotspur & Argyle’s recent signing Martin Aamund has made his UK directorial debut with a new Virgin Media film for start up agency The Game Changer. It tells the tale of a company IT man elevated to deity-status after increasing the width of his firm’s broadband. The film’s assured, understated and stylish humour is a recurring characteristic in the work that adorns Martin’s showreel. It was lit by Alex Melman, edited by Leo King at Cut and Run and finished at The Mill. Click the image above to take a look.

To mark World Cup year, Hotspur and Argyle present the Theo Delaney Football reel. This limited edition reel, which features award-winning work for The FA and Coca Cola, showcases Theo Delaney’s particular directorial expertise in the field of the Beautiful Game. It comes in its own specially designed livery featuring the Hotspur and Argyle midfield schemer pictured above. Please get in touch if you’d like one or, if your in a hurry, click here and view it online.

A couple of weeks ago Hotspur and Argyle director Theo Delaney received what at first glance looked like one of those Nigerian scam emails aiming to empty your bank account. But one or two things about it made him think perhaps it wasn’t what it seemed. So he replied with his bank details as requested. Click above and you’ll see Mother’s Christmas message which takes the form of a film telling the rest of the story. It’s getting loads of hits on YouTube and loads of comments too (including Theo’s personal favourite so far ‘Bald men are so freaking HOT, omfg’ from cuteasiangurl5326). Some people seem to think the whole thing is fake. It isn’t.

’nuff said x

It’s done, Betfair’s very own behind the scenes ‘making of’ film for the new Front Room campaign which, following a liberal smattering of ten second teasers, is about to launch proper. A bombardment of thirty second commercials will be backed by online content featuring the further musings of the Betfair five, all directed by Theo Delaney for Albion with art direction by Toby Stevens, photography by Stephanie Hardt and editing from Simon Hargood at The Quarry. Danny Fleet is the producer. Click the pic to find out more.

We love this idea from by Clive Pickering and Albion creative director Andre Moreira. A film festival for films with only one shot. (This is possibly because, looking through Hotspur and Argyle’s extensive archives, we discovered an abundance of such films one or two of which have appeared in the pages of the D&AD annual). We heartily recommend multiple entries, after all its free and the deadline has been extended to October 31st. Not only that, it can all be done online at the strikingly good looking One Shot Film Festival website.

Our teasers for the new Betfair Front Room campaign are on air (and YouTube). We can’t say much more about the campaign proper except that we’re working on it with the brilliant Albion and it’ll be along shortly. Watch this space.

Click on the image to watch the video.

…is the enigmatic title of Kevin Curtis’s heartfelt homage to the celebrated Mercedes ad ‘Presence’ which features Josh Brolin. This film – no less portentous in its philosophical profundity than the original – has provoked much chin-stroking here at head office.

That’s right, Hotspur and Argyle’s shadowy sister organisation Contentment Worldwide is responsible for all the live action footage on Sony’s lavish new Quantum of Solace website. The site invites would-be Bonds to attempt a series of tasks designed to raise sensory awareness to 007 levels. Jake Polonsky directed the action over two days in London.

Dressing up opportunities are limited when you’re a director but the other week Theo got to disguise himself as an accountant before descending into the London Underground to shoot a new Nokia viral campaign for the brilliant Work Club . We dotted five hidden cameras through Jubilee line carriages (including Theo’s briefcase-cam necessitating the matching outfit) and observed the traveling public reacting to the antics of our actors. Also pictured above are Work Club art director Rodrigo Lebrun , actor Steve Burge and writer Nico Tatarowicz . The films are going live this week, so watch this space.

Hotspur and Argyle’s friend and collaborator Jake Polonsky is well known for applying his magical cinematography to pop promos and commercials and he’s also directed a couple of highly impressive shorts. But his mastery also extends to the still image. Have a look at these stunning new landscapes taken in New Zealand. (Always busy, Jake also recently became a Dad for the first time. Congratulations Jake!)

Dandy, artist, author, and friend of Hotspur and Argyle Sebastian Horsley was recently refused admission to the United States. Turning up at Newark airport in his trademark long coat, top hat and gloves he was immediately whisked away by immigration personnel for a spot of rigorous interrogation. After a little on line research they decided to put him on the next plane home on the grounds of ‘moral turpitude’. One of the first things they found that wasn’t to their taste was the H&A-produced ‘The Sebastian Horsley Guide to Whoring’, a very handy user guide which you can access above. Appeals to the US government have so far failed to get Sebastian’s ban lifted. (If you’d like to cheer him up you could always go and buy his breathtakingly hilarious book Dandy In The Underworld, recently anointed as Paperback of the Week by the Guardian).

We like Current TV. The global cable and satellite TV network commissions ‘pods’ from a select list of production houses including Contentment Worldwide, Hotspur and Argyle’s sister company. Which is why they recently invited Contentment’s Sam Delaney, who writes and presents the pieces, to meet former US Vice President and darling of the Green lobby Al Gore, who happens to be Current TV’s owner. And that’s how we get to publish a picture of one of our own pressing the flesh of a bona fide World Statesman.