Beast Editors Tim Fender and Rich Smith Win Big at Ninth Annual AICE Awards

Igor Kovalik, Doug Walker and Lucas Eskin named AICE finalists

 Beast, one of the country’s top editorial facilities, announced today that two of its editors, Tim Fender and Rich Smith, were recognized at last week’s ninth annual Association of Independent Creative Editors (AICE) competition honoring creative excellence in editorial, design and visual effects. Beast San Francisco editor Tim Fender was awarded Best of San Francisco for his work on the U.S. Cellular spot “Calling all Communities,” and Beast Detroit editor Rich Smith named Best of Detroit for his work on “Can Confessions” for Bud Light Lime.

Beast editors Igor Kovalik, Doug Walker and Lucas Eskin were also finalists in the AICE competition. Kovalik was nominated in the Music Video category for Linkin Park’s “New Divide”; Walker had three spots nominated in the National Campaign category for his work on the Electronic Arts-E Sports Brand campaign; and Eskin was nominated in the Montage category for Discovery Channel’s “I Love the World Reprise.”

“Winning an AICE award is flattering because it comes from the editing community, people who know and respect the craft,” said Beast San Francisco editor Tim Fender. “Delivering a spot that is effective for the client—and wins an award—is as good as it gets.”

“It was a thrill to be recognized this way by my peers,” added Beast Detroit editor Rich Smith. “The AICE awards show is so important to us as editors—it gives us a place to shine.”

WINNER: BEST OF DETROIT

• Rich Smith, Beast Detroit
• Bud Light Lime: “Can Confessions”
• Executive Producer: Marie Schroeder
• Agency: DDB
• Creative Director: Mark Gross
• Agency producer: Scott Kemper
• Production Company: Supply & Demand
• Director: Greg Popp
• DP: Byron Shah

WINNER: BEST OF SAN FRANCISCO

• Tim Fender, Beast San Francisco
• U.S. Cellular: “Calling All Communities”
• Agency: Publicis and Hal Riney
• Creative Director: Roger Camp
• Producer: D.P. Odishoo
• Art Director: Joe Bultman
• Copywriter: Michael Whelan
• Production Company: Ruby Pictures. Doug Walker, director/DP
• Colorist/Online: Dave Burghardt, Beast

FINALIST: MUSIC VIDEO

• Igor Kovalik, Beast Los Angeles
• Linkin Park “New Divide” (Warner Bros)

FINALIST: NATIONAL CAMPAIGN

• Doug Walker, Beast San Francisco
• Electronic Arts-E Sports Brand Campaign “Joy” “Push” “Training Camp”
• Agency: Heat

FINALIST: MONTAGE

• Lucas Eskin, Beast Los Angeles
• Discovery Channel “I Love the World Reprise”
• Agency: 72andSunny

Beast San Francisco Gets Twisted for ‘Bright Falls’

Live-action series from agencytwofifteen for Xbox 360 promotes psychological action thriller ‘Alan Wake’

Beast, one of the country’s top editorial facilities, completed work on Xbox 360’s “Bright Falls,” a six-episode series created by agencytwofifteen to promote the psychological action thriller game “Alan Wake.” Directed by Phillip Van for production company Little Minx, “Bright Falls” debuted on Xbox LIVE and on the web on April 27, with two episodes available each week through the game’s launch on May 18.
Shot on the RED camera on location in rural Oregon and Washington, “Bright Falls” is a prequel to the events of “Alan Wake,” telling the story of a reporter named Jake as he arrives in town to interview the creepy Dr. Hartman. In the first two episodes, Jake discovers the woods, hollows and diner that comprise Bright Falls are filled with mysterious characters, setting the stage for the strange events to follow.

Beast used REDCINE X to transcode the raw RED digital files captured from the week-long shoot, converting them to DNX files before loading them onto an Avid system for editing. “As much as we wanted to jump straight into the edit, the first thing we had to think about was data management. Once we had the files in the AVID and synced, we were able to break the footage into separate episodes and start editing,” explained Beast editor Connor T. McDonald.

“This was such a cool project—it’s the kind of thing that got me into editing in the first place,” McDonald continued. “I love cutting commercials, but it was my love of movies and television dramas that got me here. ‘Bright Falls’ gave us a chance to open things up a little and let the characters unfold and develop.”

McDonald shared editing chores for “Bright Falls” with Beast editors Nikki Winig and Brian Lagerhausen. “It was a great experience, much more about storytelling than product,” Winig said. “The biggest challenge, which was the departure from commercial editing, was also the most fun part. From the moment I read the treatment I couldn’t wait to start cutting. The other nice thing was the amount of time we had for each episode, which really allowed us to help build a detailed and nuanced story.”