Hotspur and Argyle

We are hugely excited to announce the addition of multimedia collective Blind to the Hotspur & Argyle roster. Set up in 1995 Blind have crafted beautiful campaigns for clients like Sony, Honda, Amnesty International, Volkswagen and Xbox 360. World class practitioners in 2D and 3D animation, AFX, Editorial, Live Action, Vfx stop motion, CGI and motion graphics, Blind’s best known UK commercial to date is the widely lauded Imagination for the Audi A7, a stylised journey through the mind of an automotive designer for BBH that was inducted into the permanent collection at the Museum of Modern Art in New York. Click the still from Imagination above to see Blind’s current reel.

As well as work across commercials, broadcast, film, web and branding they have made stunning music videos for the likes of Gnarls Barkley, The Raveonettes and Justin Timberlake which can be seen by clicking the stills below.

Blind’s countless awards include two Creative Arts Emmy’s from the Television Academy of Arts & Sciences, numerous Promax BDA awards, Addy’s and Telly’s and a D&AD pencil for their title sequence for the short film Crank Calls.

So you can see why we’re excited…

Richard Swarbrick- renowned for beautifully immortalising British sports icons like Gareth Bale, Wayne Rooney, Stuart Broad and Andy Murray – has turned his attentions to the NBA and one of its biggest stars. Luol Deng plays small forward for the Chicago Bulls but the British theme continues because he will also be a key member of the Team GB basketball squad at the forthcoming London Olympics. Richard’s unique style has gone down a storm in America where Deng himself has been distributing it’s YouTube link via twitter.

It’s all happening for the ever-industrious animator who created the Hotspur & Argyle Christmas card, recently featured on ITV’s Ad Of The Year show with his Sun campaign and is currently immersed in several new projects.

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.

David C. Kerr, back from a stint directing the highly acclaimed ‘Fresh Meat’ for Channel 4, has plunged head first into a frenzy of commercials making. First up, this charming comedy of confusion for Tesco and the latest ‘Call of Duty’ game, described in the Daily Telegraph as ‘the biggest entertainment launch of all time in any medium’ (!). Characteristically deft handling of casting and performance are in evidence alongside classy photography from Ray Coates and editing from Simon Willcox at Loaded Dice. The script was conceived by Red Brick Road’s Anthea Goodrick and Rose Lang, agency producer was Ben Honour and Adam Lyne produced for Hotspur & Argyle.

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.

Martin Aamund has followed up last year’s acclaimed Jack & Jones spot with another startlingly stylish execution for the same brand, currently adorning Scandinavian TV screens. It can also be found on the Jack and Jones website, featuring extra footage, where it serves as an interactive guide to ‘staying safe’.

Scripted by &Co’s Thomas Hoffman and Martin Storgaard the film was shot in the remarkably US-urban environs of Riga, Lithuania. As with the previous spot, Mattias Rudh was the DP and it was cut by Anders Albjerg. Sound design is by Goldfish. Not one to sit back admiring his own beautiful work for too long, Martin is currently in his native Copenhagen with producer Danny Fleet making a Johnnie Walker spot for BBH New York. Watch this space for that one.

David C. Kerr’s Fresh Meat breaks 10pm 21st Sept on Channel 4

Look out for David’s new comedy “Fresh Meat”. Starring Jack Whitehall and Joe Thomas and written by Peep Show creators Sam Bain and Jesse Armstrong, its already going down a storm with the press;

"Smart, sympathetic and pretty much adorable from the get-go" - The Guardian

"Brilliant new comedy drama" - The Sun

"It has hit written all over" - The Sunday Times

"Brilliantly observed. Excellent Cast" ***** - Heat

Richard Swarbrick has directed four new ground-breaking commercials for The Sun’s football coverage through agency WCRS.

In a departure from The Sun’s traditional style, painterly, impressionistic animation combines with a haunting music track of Swarbrick’s own creation and a contemplative voice over from Sun Football columnist Terry Venables to strike a cerebral tone.

A 30 second commercial and three further 20s complete the campaign which was conceived by WCRS creative team Jonny Porthouse and Andy Lee. Agency Producer was Lizzie Mabbott and Danny Fleet produced for Hotspur & Argyle.

To see the first ad featuring Wayne Rooney’s overhead-kick goal for Manchester United against Manchester City last season, click here.

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…

Richard Swarbrick- compulsive animator, sports nut and genius – has fashioned this delightful tennis piece out of nothing more than wool and felt. The result of hours of painstaking work, the film is based on a classic Wimbledon rally between Tim Henman and Magnus Gustafsson. Photography was courtesy of the brilliant Haarala Hamilton.

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

Richard Swarbrick’s latest animation is a stunning celebration of Barcelona’s 5-0 thrashing of arch rivals Real Madrid last year. Commissioned by Sky Sports for their coverage of the return match in Madrid, the beautiful and vividly colourful film portrays what many regard as one of the most complete performances by any football team in history. Prominent among the protagonists are coaches Jose Mourinho and Josep Guardiola and star players Christiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi.

Similar in style to Richard’s celebrated film of footballer of the year Gareth Bale, this latest execution was longer in the making because of the extra colour and more detailed close ups. Richard worked closely with Sky Sports producer Luke Arthur and was working right up to the Day before the game when the Sky team departed for Madrid.

To see more of his personal work, get in touch with Danny Fleet at H&A HQ.

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.

Marco Pierre White stars in Hotspur & Argyle’s new campaign for Bernard Matthews Farms directed by new recruit David C. Kerr. The first of the campaign’s three commercials, for agency Isobel, features the great chef lunching with actor and Spandau Ballet veteran Martin Kemp.

The shoot took place at the Michelin starred Yorke Arms restaurant near Harrogate in Yorkshire and reunited Marco with head chef Frances Atkins – the two were kitchen-mates at the nearby Yew Tree in their younger days. The naturalistic style called for a huge amount of footage which was beautifully distilled by editor Andy McGraw at Stitch. The delicious photography was the work of DP Rob Hardy, H&A producer was Danny Fleet, Denise Robinson took charge for Isobel and the whole idea was cooked up by creative directors Rob Fletcher and David Alexander.

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.

Ice cream, magic and warm snuggly cosiness are the ingredients for our romantic new commercial for Ladbrokes. Directed by Theo Delaney, the ad demonstrates a new app and features the unique voice over talents of Fonejacker‘s Kayvan Novak. It was conceived by M&C Saatchi creative Joe Miller and partner Tristan Cornelius who contributed Smokey Robinson-esque backing vocals to the syrupy-smooth soundtrack. Theo Garland provided the warm and welcoming lighting and the Editor was Scott Crane of The Quarry. Danny Fleet produced for Hotspur and Argyle, with Peter Montgomery taking charge for M&C. Hand artistry was performed by our very own Tom Mallion. Pictures of his contortions can be found here on our facebook page. To view the commercial, click the image above.

l to r Ronnie Corbett, Matt Lucas, David Walliams, David Kerr

We are delighted to announce the addition of BAFTA winner David Kerr to the Hotspur & Argyle directors roster.

David directed BBC One’s Christmas campaign, starring Matt Lucas and David Walliams with Gary Lineker, Tess Daly and Ronnie Corbett which broke at the weekend. Among the other comedy legends he has worked with are Steve Coogan and Vic Reeves. He has twice been nominated for the BAFTA Best Comedy Award, winning in 2007 for his work on the first series of ‘That Mitchell & Webb Look’ which was described as “the best sketch show in a decade” by The Guardian.

Most recently he directed the BBC prime time kitchen-based comedy ‘Whites’ starring Alan Davies.

A Cambridge graduate with a first-class degree in Classics, David was
born in Northern Ireland, but is now based in London. Click here to see his reel.

Here at Hotspur & Argyle we favour a roster of the perfectly formed but modestly proportioned variety. This has always enabled us to attend fully to our directors’ special talents. (And indeed, their Special Needs). So we don’t normally expect to figure in ‘Top Production Power Houses’ lists or anything like that.

But we do confess a quiet satisfaction at our recent number two placing in Televisual’s most commissioned London production companies. We must, as they say, be doing something right.

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.

We are delighted to announce the addition of the brilliant Manuel Werner to the Hotspur & Argyle roster. Manuel brings with him a distinctive visual style honed making high-end commercials across Europe, collecting a string of awards along the way. His considerable technical prowess stems from a remarkable range of experience prior to his directing career including a stint as a flame op, work in casting and spells in the production and camera departments.

Click here or on the image to watch Manuel’s reel and you’ll see why we are so excited.

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.

Recent H&A signings Les Freres Moustache are up for the Young Director Award at Cannes 2010 and they’ve been interviewed by legendary Shots journo Lindy Stout for the YDA blog. Click on the poster to read what they had to say.

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.

Every year we issue our official songs of the year collection. This year’s is really good. Here it is. And here is the link through to Spotify. Hope you like it.

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

This is Kevin Curtis’s micro documentary on British Olympic high jumper Dorothy Tyler. The teenage Curtis used to deliver Dorothy’s newspapers. Now his film tells her amazing story and it’s won him a place on the shortlist for the Bahamas Islands Film Challenge which will invite 14 British filmmakers to produce short films about life in the Bahamas this coming February. The challenge is being seen as a direct response to Australia’s ‘Best job in the world’ campaign that aimed to find the ideal person to care for a paradise island. Anyway, devotees of Kevin’s often, er, ‘edgy’ work will be struck by the touching and informative tone he sets here. The man is versatility personified.

..

Hotspur & Argyle CEO Danny Fleet is well known as a genial industry doyen, sage, uber-producer and trophy-winning surfer. But he is also widely recognised in another world altogether. It’s the world of green motoring. A recent glance at the stats for his vlog ‘Danny’s Contentment’ revealed that it gets an average of 20,000 video views each month. And that’s not counting YouTube! Such is his standing in this crucial field of green technology that he is regularly invited to car launches and motor shows the world over to cast his respected eye over new models and concept cars. In fact, he’s just back from Paris where he gave Renault’s Twizy ZE Concept the once over. So if you are pondering a politically correct motoring purchase, you know where to go for the low down.

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.

The latest Contentment Worldwide contribution to Current TV is ‘The Fear’, a stylish and pithy look at how and why alcohol makes you wake up in the middle of the night with the screaming abdabs. Written and directed by wunderkind MJ Delaney, the pod will air as part of Current’s ‘Wasted Britain’ season. It follows previous pieces authored by Sam Delaney which resulted in an historic meeting between him and former US vice president and Current supremo Al Gore.

We’ve won a Shark. Not a man eating fish that we’d have to find an enormous tank for, but an award from the venerable Kinsale Sharks advertising festival. It’s for our FA Respect Programme film Two Rays starring Ray Winstone and Ray Winstone and we are very pleased.