Action Figure News
BMW PDS is Golden
May 13, 2008
Action Figure entered the Austin ADDY's with interview and running footage directed by Mark Miks and edited by Ariel Quintans, for the BMW micro-site relearntodrive.com, where it won a Gold award. At the District 10 Regional Awards in Dallas on April 18th it won another Gold.
ADDY's are judged by tough juries of prestigious peers at the local, regional and national level. They review an enormous range of submissions of print, broadcast, internet and other work to find the best the industry has to offer in dozens of categories. The national ADDY's are in June at the AAF National Convention in Atlanta.
Agency: GSD&M/Idea City
Producer: Aaron Kovan
Creatives: Chad Laughlin and Ryan Martinidale
Client: BMW of North America
"Downtown" Austin Heads South
May 1, 2008
"Downtown" Austin's award winning series about the people, culture and events of Downtown Austin has been picked up by San Antonio's Public Broadcast station, KLRN. The station programmers felt that the shows content would be entertaining and informative for the wider Hill Country audience.
Get Flocked
March 20, 2008
Check out Dan Brown's promotional video for Planet Cancer on flamingoagogo.com. Planet Cancer is a nation wide support group for young adults with cancer.
Director: Dan Brown
DP: Shane Kelly
Editor: Ariel Quintans
Music: Tequila Mockingbird
Boys in the House
March 5, 2008
Tex-Mex rock trio Los Lonely Boys recently recorded their much anticipated third album in our very own East Side Stages. And who better to capture the behind-the-scenes footage during their visit than resident director/prankster Mark Miks. Stay tuned for a peak!
AF Won Two Awards at The Austin Show, 2008 Addy Awards
February 28, 2008
Gold ADDY Award in Online, Micro or Mini Sites for Mark Miks and Ariel Quintans work with GSD&M's IdeaCity on Relearn to Drive for BMW. Silver ADDY Award in Online, Webisodes for Dan Brown, Ariel Quintans and Sandra Guardado's work with FameCast for the Rock Stage Finals documentary.
THE PUNCHES ARE ON FIRE
January 18, 2008
Action Figure accomplice and buddy Cory Kilduff, the TX half of the dirty disco/house/electro duo Ocelot took the recently acquired footage of the AF crew punching each other in the face at 1000 frames per second and repurposed it to his remix of the Robyn track "Be Mine". Since then the "music video" has been blowing up the music blog scene, catching fire from notable music resources as Pitchfork, Stereogum and XLR8R, among at least another couple dozen others. Most recently the video got written up on the local scenester tastemaking webjawn Austinist.com.
Action Figure. Blowing up your face for 2008.
-a
Punch This
December 3, 2007
what happens when director Mark Miks gets his hands on a Phantom HD camera and has a little time on his hands? he lines up the action figure crew one by one and has his way with them...
(Yow! to AQ for the kick-ass edit)
"DOWNTOWN" Receives Three Lone Star EMMY® Awards
October 29, 2007
Austin's Popular PBS Series Features the Stories that Make DOWNTOWN: As Austin As It Gets
Austin, TX (Oct.28, 2007) "DOWNTOWN," a co-production of the Downtown Austin Alliance, Action Figure and KLRU-TV, Austin PBS, won three awards at the 5th Annual Lone Star EMMY Awards on Saturday, October 27. This 10-week series, which airs on KLRU, features unique stories of the people and places that make "DOWNTOWN: As Austin As It Gets."
Since the inception of the series in 2005, "DOWNTOWN" has received six Lone Star EMMYs. This year, the series received awards in the following categories:
• Arts/Entertainment - Program Feature/Segment - Episode 302 "Slam Poets," highlights the poetic brilliance, alliteration and friendly competition of the Austin Poetry Slam
• Texas Heritage - Program Feature/Segment - Episode 304 "The Magi's Gift's Before He Was O. Henry," traces the famous author's Austin connections to the modern-day "O. Henry Pun-Off"
• Public/Current/Community Affairs Feature/Segment - Episode 303 "Experience Caring" highlights the mission of Caritas of Austin, a downtown service organization that works with businesses to help people from all over the world build new lives.
"With all of its unique people, places, folklore and historical landmarks, downtown Austin makes for great television," said Kent Collins, chair of the Downtown Austin Alliance. "We're proud to be one of the co-producers of this wonderful series that paints a picture of what we treasure most about our city."
"DOWNTOWN" has been widely recognized for its depiction of what makes Austin unique. In addition to winning seven Lone Star EMMYs, "DOWNTOWN" has also been awarded the Austin Chronicle's Reader's Choice Poll for the "Best Locally Produced TV Show," and the 2007 Liveable City Vision Award.
For more information on "DOWNTOWN," please visit www.downtownaustin.com.
About Action Figure
Action Figure is an Austin-Based production company specializing in film and digital video, motion and graphic design, interactive, and contact development for television, cinema, advertising, and corporate clientele. For more information, please visit www.actionfigure.com.
About the Downtown Austin Alliance
The Downtown Austin Alliance is a partnership of individuals and businesses devoted to promoting and maintaining a safe, clean, attractive, accessible and fun downtown environment, making downtown THE destination for Austinites and visitors. Providing private sector leadership, the Alliance works with government to develop and implement programs that enhance the business, cultural and residential environment of downtown. For more information about the Downtown Austin Alliance and its programs, call 512.469.1766 or visit www.downtownaustin.com.
About KLRU
KLRU-TV, Austin PBS, reflects, celebrates and inspires Central Texas through creative excellence, community engagement and lifelong learning. Although primarily a television station providing locally produced and quality national programming, KLRU is also a non-profit organization helping to build a stronger community through educational workshops, community outreach projects and public events. Get more information about KLRU at www.klru.org.
Five Lone Star EMMY® Nominations for "DOWNTOWN"
September 20, 2007
For the third year in a row, "DOWNTOWN" has received more EMMY nominations that any other program produced in Austin, Texas. The series received nominations in the following categories:
• Arts/Entertainment - Program Feature/Segment - Episode 302 "Slam Poets," highlights the poetic brilliance, alliteration and friendly competition of the Austin Poetry Slam;
• Texas Heritage - Program Feature/Segment - Episode 304 "The Magi's Gift's Before He Was O. Henry," traces the famous author's Austin connections to the modern-day "O. Henry Pun-Off;"
• Magazine Program - Feature/Segment - Episode 310 "Hip Hop," features Austin's thriving Hip-Hop scene and introduces MCs with a message and B-Boy City;
• Arts/Entertainment - Program/Special - Episode 301 "Urban Transportation, Downtown's 'Wilder' side, The 'Rite' Playhouse," looks at the importance of a comprehensive regional transportation plan, exposes Austin's unique urban wildlife, and celebrates the Scottish Rite Theatre, one of Texas' oldest theatres;
• Public/Current/Community Affairs Feature/Segment - Episode 303 "Experience Caring" highlights the mission of Caritas of Austin, a downtown service organization that works with businesses to help people from all over the world build new lives.
Wild time on the Web
June 20, 2007
relearntodrive.com goes live today. Web viewers can now experience driving the right way thanks to the directing efforts of Mark Miks and editorial finesse of Ariel Quintans of Action Figure. GSD&M agency creatives Ryan Martindale and Chad Laughlin chose Miks to capture the Performance Center driving footage because they knew he was willing to do whatever it took to capture their vision including sending a couple of cameras to meet their maker. The intense performance driving footage came out spot on and was described by BMW as "Far and away the most thrilling driving footage they've seen" you can almost smell the tires burning as you watch BMW's barrel around the track giving the viewer a taste of the intense course work they can expect at the BMW Performance Driving School in Spartanburg, South Carolina. Sunset is anything but serene on the Skid Pad. Take a spin. Have a bag handy. Quintans' cuts between camera will knock your equilibrium.