CATMEDIA Takes Home 3 Wins from the 41st Annual Telly Awards

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Press Release June 5, 2020 –

CATMEDIA is once again a triple winner at the 41st Annual Telly Awards. This year for their work with the Air National Guard’s 194th Wing and DeKalb County Fire Rescue. This marks the second year the creative agency has won for work done with the DeKalb County Fire Rescue. The Telly Awards honors excellence in video and television across all screens and is judged by leaders from video platforms, television, streaming networks, production companies and including Dow Jones, Duplass Brothers Productions, Complex Networks, A&E Networks, Hearst Media, ESPN Films, RYOT, Vice+ and Vimeo. Check out all of CATMEDIA’s Tellys here.

Telly-Awards-Winners-2020

Winning Work

With over 20 years of media and branding experience, CATMEDIA provides full-service creative capabilities that propel brands forward and rise to the top of their industries. By virtue of our top-top notch media solutions and creative services, their clients are able to communicate effectively and deliver their branded message with fine-tuned intent and precision.

This year’s wins are a reflection of the strides CATMEDIA is taking in video production, animation and branded content development. Their work for DeKalb County Fire Rescue has continued to be recognized for their outstanding approach to capturing the fire department and its personnel. This year’s winner was for the Physical Agility Test Training video. The step-by-step video was made to educate future firefighters on how to successfully complete and pass the rigorous test. The video won in the categories for Craft Videography/Cinematography and Instructional Branded Content. Last year they won for the DCFR Recruitment video produced for the department.

DCFR-PAT-video-hose-drag

CATMEDIA also won in the category for Online Commercials for the production of an animation series for the Air National Guard’s 194th Wing. “The purpose of the series is to show the different initiatives of the 194th Wing on the Wing’s website and on social media,” said Amy Ferzoco, Director of Creative Services at CATMEDIA. “Using a mix of animation and photographs we produced five animations, each of which highlight the individual Groups that the Wing is comprised of. We delivered creative treatments, scripts, pre-production, production, post-production, voiceover narration, music and sound effects mixing, and 508 compliances.”

“Pushing Boundaries”

”CATMEDIA is pushing the boundaries for video and television innovation and creativity at a time when the industry is both rapidly changing and heavily impacted by the current crisis,” said Sabrina Dridje, Managing Director of the Telly Awards. “Our theme for this season, Telly Award Winners Tell Great Stories is a true reflection of the diversity of stories the community is skillfully able to tell. Now, more than ever, do we need to celebrate them and those that bring global stories to our attention. This award is a tribute to the talent and vision of these creators.”

Today’s winners announcement caps a year-long celebration of creators around the globe and across all screens. Continuing on from the inaugural Film & Video Screening Tour last season, The Telly Awards toured a selection of Telly Award winning work to London, NYC, Amsterdam and Toronto, culminating with an online event. This year also saw the continued expansion of new categories further to the awards’ recent initiative to rebuild the honors for the multi-screen era. New categories included serialized Branded Content and expanded Social Video and Immersive & Mixed Reality categories, alongside new categories honoring important work in Social Impact and Diversity & Inclusion.

Last year, The Telly Awards attracted more than 12,000 entries from top video content producers including Adult Swim, the BBC, Condé Nast, Complex Networks, Netflix, Refinery29, RadicalMedia, T Brand Studio and Ogilvy & Mather.

The full list of the 41st Annual Telly Awards winners can be found at
https://www.tellyawards.com/winners/2020/branded-content/campaign-branding

About CATMEDIA

CATMEDIA is an award-winning Inc. 500 company based in Atlanta, Georgia. Founded in 1997, the company specializes in advertising, creative services, media production, program management, training, and human resource management. As a Women-Owned Small Business (WOSB), CATMEDIA provides world-class customer service and innovative solutions to government and commercial clients. Current CATMEDIA clients include Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), Office of Personnel Management (OPM), and the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA).

About The Telly Awards:

The Telly Awards is the premier award honoring video and television across all screens. Established in 1979, The Telly Awards receives over 12,000 entries from all 50 states and 5 continents. Entrants are judged by The Telly Awards Judging Council—an industry body of over 200 leading experts including advertising agencies, production companies, and major television networks, reflective of the multiscreen industry The Telly Awards celebrates. Partners of The Telly Awards include Catalyst, LAPPG, NAB, Stash, Storyhunter, NYWIFT, Production Hub, IFP, Social Media Week and VidCon.

Recycling Video: 5 Ways to Repurpose Your Existing Video Content

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When promoting your brand, creating a continuous stream of engaging, original video content can be challenging; but that’s what your audience has come to expect.

Still, it begs the question: What should we do when production hiccups or uncertain times make shooting a new video impossible?

The answer may come from the content you already have on hand.

Here are five ways to repurpose your existing video assets:

1. Reframe Your Videos for Mobile

Think about your mobile audience.

Chances are if you’ve created video content for a YouTube or Vimeo audience, you probably did so in a standard 16:9 format – the dimensions you’re most likely to see in television and commercial work. While this aspect ratio is ideal for playback on laptops and smart TVs, it’s not as readily consumable in a mobile environment, which means you could be missing out on millions of potential customers.

The solution? Reframe your existing content for mobile.

Vertical video is on the rise, with more and more original content rolling out from studios and influencers every day. The two most popular mobile aspect ratios you’re likely to see are 1:1 and 9:16, with 1:1 being square video and 9:16 being the reverse of the standard 16:9 format we’re used to (think hotdog rather than hamburger).

vertical-video-on-mobile-device-desk

Whichever ratio you choose, by reframing your videos to be viewable on a taller screen, you open your content up to a wider audience.

Can reframing take time? Sure. As much time as shooting a new video? Not by a long shot.

Bonus: If you edit your own videos in Adobe Premiere, the job of reframing just got even easier. Premiere has a new feature called Auto-Reframe that does the heavy lifting for you – tracking the action to intelligently reframe your videos automatically.

Going mobile has never been easier!

 

2. Cut Down Longer Videos into Smaller Pieces

Think long-term with short-form video.

Let’s face it, no matter how interested we are in a topic, there’s an upper limit to our attention spans. It happens all the time. We find the perfect video we’ve been looking for, our interest is peaked, we go to press play, then we see the runtime.

video-editing-on-desktop

We decide we’ll watch it later.

When it’s your brand behind the video, the last place you want to be is in a potential customer’s bookmarks bar. Instead, consider cutting down some of your longer pieces into smaller, more digestible videos.

Think about your content from the user’s experience. Short-form videos are easier to finish, easier to share, and  most importantly – easier to remember.

 

3. Branch Out to New Social Media Platforms

If a piece of your marketing content lives solely on your website, you’re missing out on a huge opportunity for exposure. The same is true if you’re only posting your content to one platform.

Diversity is king when it comes to marketing. The more places you are, the more customers you can reach. And those customers are everywhere.

social-media-on-mobile-device

Over 40 percent  of the world uses social media, with more than 350 million having joined in 2019 alone. With new users materializing every day, the more visible your videos are on these platforms, the better.

If you’ve cut down and reframed your videos as we discussed in the previous sections, then reaching into new markets should be a breeze. Just keep in mind the maximum video runtimes for your platform of choice:

  • Facebook: 240 minutes
  • Twitter: 140 seconds
  • Instagram: 60 seconds
  • Snapchat: 10 seconds

Whichever route you take, take the time to familiarize yourself with the platform, and be sure to share the videos most relatable to your target audience.

 

4. Repurpose Your Videos as Podcasts

Consider releasing your old videos as podcasts. It might seem like these two mediums are as similar as night and day, but you may be surprised by how much crossover you find between them.

If the intent of your existing video is to educate or inform your audience, there’s a good chance the audio may stand up on its own without video support. If that proves true, creating a podcast from your existing content can be as simple as exporting an audio file.

women-conducting-podcast

Can audio content really compare to video? In 2019, 32 percent of the U.S. population reported listening to podcasts on a monthly basis, with the average listener subscribing to an average of six shows. That’s nothing to sneeze at.

Having a regular podcast not only opens this powerful new channel for users to find your content. The subscription-based nature of podcasting also opens up the possibility of reliable listenership for the foreseeable future.

 

5. Repurpose Your Video as a Blog Entry

Speaking of audio, in this day and age, we should all be transcribing our videos for closed captioning purposes. After all, many of our viewers are hearing impaired, and those who aren’t still report regular use of closed captioning to help with everything from overcoming environmental noise to increasing productivity.

If you haven’t yet gotten into the habit of captioning, YouTube is a great resource. Each video you upload to the site is automatically closed-captioned – though it’s wise to look over the final product for accuracy.

Once your video is transcribed, it’s ready to reach a whole new audience. But you can take this process one step further.

By reformatting your transcriptions as blog posts, you can create unique written content to help drive more traffic to your website.

Simply by having the text on your page, you improve your SEO by increasing your content’s searchability. And by adding your own flair to each post, you can connect to your audience on a more personal level.

Don’t forget to embed your video at the top of the blog. After all, it’s all about the content.

In times when producing new content is difficult, it’s helpful to know there’s always more we can do with the materials at our disposal. The most important thing is to think outside the box and keep creating!

Need help developing a strategy? Check out our blog Customer Engagement: The Go-to-Guide For Developing Your Strategy

Learn more about how we can help you to leverage your existing content by clicking here!

ABOUT US

CATMEDIA is an award-winning Inc. 500 company based in Atlanta, Georgia. Founded in 1997, the company specializes in advertising, creative services, media production, program management, training, and human resource management. As a Women-Owned Small Business (WOSB), CATMEDIA provides world-class customer service and innovative solutions to government and commercial clients. Current CATMEDIA clients include Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), and the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA).

Stay Connected with CATMEDIA:
For more information, please visit CATMEDIA

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Making a Movie: The Release and How We Got Here

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On June 11, 2019 the movie Apocalypse Island was released for public distribution. The film is now available to order on Amazon, and available to by as a DVD at Wal-Mart, and BestBuy.

apocalypse-island-movie-poster

This news for many people at CATMEDIA was joyous. It meant this project that many of us worked on for years and cared tremendously for was finally being set free. It could finally be seen by all of the people we had been jabbering on about it to for all this time.

The movie has been especially close to my heart and I am beyond thrilled to see this success for it. On the credits, you will see my name listed as Director, among three names as Screenwriter, and you will see it is based on a play I wrote called Mnemosyne— which many who followed this will recall was Apocalypse Island’s original title. From start to finish, I was involved in this project for three years. Then got to hear tidbits of news from the company selling the film for another year.

Embarking on the journey

As most good stories start, it all began on a rainy night. I was watching TV, and I saw a promotion for a show— I couldn’t tell you the name of it— but there was something about a cult living on an island. A thought crossed my mind, one that didn’t often strike me: There’s a better way to do this.

apocalypse-island-movie-scriptThe basic premise of an isolated, apocalyptic cult hidden away on an island mixed with a story I had heard on NPR years before. The premise of the story was about rats having memories implanted to help them solve mazes and to test their reactions to things they had never seen or experienced before. This story, of course, begged the question: what happens when you do this to people? Putting these ideas together, the idea that this cult could be controlled and manipulated through the use of memory altering drugs. What can you trust to be true? How would the characters question the things they once held as absolute truths?

I spent a few months typing out a very rough, very unfinished play originally meant to be performed on stage. It was clunky, long, but and amoebic in structure, but it there was a good idea in there, and some interesting characters. Luckily, I wasn’t the only person to think so.

What’s the movie about?

Apocalypse Island is a southern-gothic thriller that delves into the world of a mysterious, sequestered commune. It follows the story of Cam, the son of Pastor, the tyrannical, yet charismatic leader of the island. When Cam’s sister Reilly falls ill, he must find a way to get her to safety or watch her die. Together with his friend Hannah, Cam discovers the sinister nature of the island. A harrowing game of memory and manipulation unravels—revealing that things are not always what they seem.

Bringing a movie to life

Catherine-Downey-Nia-PeeplesWhen Catherine Downey, CATMEDIA’s CEO, my boss, and my mother said she wanted to produce it as a movie, I blew her off. It sounded like hot air to me. After all, this wasn’t anything like anything CATMEDIA had ever done before and the idea of making a movie with my mom took me a while to adjust to. But she kept bringing it up and kept wanting to discuss the story. Almost a year after I had started writing the first draft, I said, “Sure. When else will I get the chance to do this?”

on-set-of-movie-with-cast-apocalypse-islandAs a company, we sprinted through pre-production in eight months. Major parts cast, crew assembled, locations locked, and equipment acquired. It was a feat that required a titanic amount of hard work from an extraordinarily driven team. The first unit of the shoot took two weeks. First edit two months. When Catherine and I went to the American Film Market that November in Santa Monica trying to get a grasp on what to do next, we walked away understanding exactly how far away from finished this thing was.

Making a movie that’s “Marketable”

nia peeple on setThe first thing that became obvious was that we needed to boost the film’s marketability. It’s something most artistic minds don’t like to ponder. However, the fact is we wanted to see success for this film, and we weren’t going to achieve that without a little star-power. Scenes had to be rewritten, and a second unit of production planned. Ultimately, we were so lucky to cast Pretty Little Liars actress Nia Peeples in the movie as a lurking antagonist and shadowy businesswoman.

nia-peeples-apocalypse-island-movieOne of the coolest moments of my career will probably always be standing in downtown New York City and getting a phone call from Nia Peeples, talking about the shoot we were about to do the following week and planning a time to go over her thoughts on the script and her scenes. Another highlight will be debating with her over phone about how to adjust the scenes, and then pulling my hair and realizing, “Crap! She’s right about everything, I’m going to look like such a newbie on set.”

I would like to think I didn’t look like a newb but you’ll have to ask everyone else what they thought.

Several of the scenes we re-shot in the 2nd unit, many members of our team were excited to have a second go at. And the new additions pumped a new energy into the story. And we knocked it out in four days.

The Final Edit

Apocalypse-island-clipThis time around, the edit moved much more quickly. Working with LeftDigital, we put together a cut we were proud of. BareKnuckles Creative, who are probably some of the coolest guys around, did the sound edit, something that I (as a first-time filmmaker) didn’t understand was as important as it was until we had it. CG Effects were done by Jason Wynn to supplement some shots that needed a little extra something. And Scott Glasgow composed and produced our score. These people really are responsible for pulling the final edit together and making this movie what it is.

When we returned to AFM in November of 2017, this time with a plan and meeting set up with several people interesting in representing the movie for sale. We ended up signing with Summerhill Entertainment. It was their recommendation we change the name of the film to Apocalypse Island. The following year during AFM 2018, they signed a deal with Wild Card, and here we are today!

It’s been a hell of a ride, that’s certain. There is a whole team of people I wish I could write individual articles for. It took a village, and I’m glad and honored to share in this success. Now— go get some popcorn, turn out the lights, and have a movie night with Apocalypse Island!

About CATMEDIA

CATMEDIA is an award-winning Inc. 500 company based in Atlanta, Georgia. Founded in 1997, the company specializes in advertising, creative services, media production, program management, training, and human resource management. As a Women-Owned Small Business (WOSB), CATMEDIA provides world-class customer service and innovative solutions to government and commercial clients. Current CATMEDIA clients include Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), Office of Personnel Management (OPM), and the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA).

Stay Connected with CATMEDIA:
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CATMEDIA a Triple Winner at the 40th Anniversary of the Telly Awards!

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CATMEDIA announced today it’s DeKalb County Fire Rescue Recruitment: Answer Your Calling video has had a triple win at the 40th Annual Telly Awards. The video’s been named Best Online Commercial in Craft Editing, General Public Interest/Awareness, and Craft Directing.

This will be the fifth Telly Award for CATMEDIA. The Telly Awards honors excellence in video and television across all screens. Judged by leaders from video platforms, television, streaming networks, production companies. Including Vice, Vimeo, Hearst Digital Media, BuzzFeed, and A&E Networks.

FROM THE TELLY AWARDS

“CATMEDIA is pushing the boundaries for video and creativity at the time when the industry is rapidly changing,” said Sabrina Dridje, Managing Director of the Telly Awards. “This award is a tribute to the talent and vision of its creators and a celebration of the diversity of work being made today for all screens.”

PULLING IT TOGETHER

“We’re so honored to receive recognition from the jury for our work on this project. The DeKalb County Fire Rescue Telly Award Winner Silver and Bronzeis an outstanding and diverse fire department, that really offers so many opportunities for growth and development to its firefighters. Therefore, we wanted to create a video that conveyed that message,” says Brittany Hester, Director/Producer.  Today’s winner’s announcement caps a year-long celebration of the 40th Anniversary of The Telly Awards. Throughout 2018-2019. The Telly Awards celebrated four decades of honoring the video and television industry. Whether through its inaugural international screening series or its online video interviews with industry experts.

This year also saw the continued expansion of new categories further to the awards’ recent initiative to rebuild the honors for the multi-screen era. Consequently, new categories included serialized Branded Content and expanded Social Video categories. Last year, The Telly Awards attracted more than 12,000 entries from top video content producers. This includes Condé Nast, Netflix, Refinery29, RadicalMedia, T Brand Studio, and Ogilvy & Mather.

Winner – DeKalb County Fire Rescue Recruitment: Answer Your Calling Video, has been named Best Online Commercial for – Craft Editing, General Public Interest/Awareness, and Craft Directing

Here is the full list of the 40th Annual Telly Awards winners.

ABOUT CATMEDIA

CATMEDIA is an award-winning Inc. 500 company based in Atlanta, Georgia. Founded in 1997, the company specializes in advertising, creative services, media production, program management, training, and human resource management. As a Women-Owned Small Business (WOSB), CATMEDIA provides world-class customer service and innovative solutions to government and commercial clients. Current CATMEDIA clients include Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), Office of Personnel Management (OPM), and the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA).

Stay Connected with CATMEDIA:
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CATMEDIA Entertainment Announces June Release Date For Apocalypse Island

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CATMEDIA Entertainment’s has announced that the official release date of their first full-length feature film, Apocalypse Island, will be on June 11, 2019. The film will be available on DVD or for digital rent and purchase. You can already pre-order the DVD on Amazon, Walmart, and Bestbuy now.

DISTRIBUTION

Since 2018, CATMEDIA has worked with Summer Hill Entertainment to facilitate distribution and announced early this year that an agreement was made with Wild Eye Releasing for the North American market (which includes the US and Canada).

WHAT IS THE MOVIE ABOUT?

Apocalypse Island is a drama surrounding a cult hidden away in the island marshes of the Deep South. It follows Cam, the Pastor’s son, as he seeks to save his sister’s life from a mysterious affliction. In the end, he discovers the true nature of the island he calls home, that of his father, and how unreliable the mind and memory truly are.

CASTING NIA PEEPLES

nia-peeples-apocalypse-islandMost noteworthy, the film stars Pretty Little Liars’ actress Nia Peeples as Claudia, one of the film’s most dynamic characters along with a riveting breakout performance by Dean Kostlich in the role of Pastor.

“After 30 years of primetime TV and films running the gamut in terms of budget, name value, and quality, it’s always refreshing to step into a company of filmmakers who are fresh and imaginative, and inspired rather than jilted. The experience of enthusiasm and “dream-making” can be intoxicating. It reminds me of my beginnings.” – Nia Peeples

WOMAN-PRODUCED

In addition to being the company’s first narrative feature film, Apocalypse Island is also a woman-produced film.

“Historically, the movie and production business has predominantly been a man’s world. The fact that a small woman-owned company has been able to finance, write, and produce a movie is phenomenal. Not just produce any movie, but produce and score a full-length feature film that we are proud of.”

When asked about the challenges of producing an independent film, Downey says, “Being completely independent limits you in terms of budget, but frees you in terms of how you tell your story.”

BEHIND THE STORY

William Warren, who co-wrote and directed Apocalypse Island, says the story was the culmination of two different ideas he had been working on for some time.

“Years ago I heard a story about scientists who had implanted memories into lab rats, and the idea stuck with me. Years passed and onescene-outside-apocalypse-island night I was watching TV and a promo came on for a show about a cult on an island. I thought—I can do something like that. So I opened up my laptop, and about 10 months later I had a very rough, very long play typed out. Little did I know that three months later I would be producing it as a movie.”

KEEPING IT LOCAL

As a testament to such a booming film industry in Georgia, Apocalypse Island employed mostly local crew and talent. As well as being shot on location within the surrounding Savannah and Atlanta metropolitan areas.

Check out our social media!

Like us on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram to stay up to date on the film’s progress.

DVD and digital sales begin on June 11, 2019. You can already pre-order your DVD copy on Amazon, Walmart, and Bestbuy.

ABOUT CATMEDIA

CATMEDIA is an award-winning Inc. 500 company based in Atlanta, Georgia. Founded in 1997, the company specializes in advertising, creative services, media production, program management, training, and human resource management. As a Women Owned Small Business (WOSB), CATMEDIA provides world-class customer service and innovative solutions to government and commercial clients. Current CATMEDIA clients include Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), Office of Personnel Management (OPM), and the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA).

Stay Connected with CATMEDIA:
For more information, please visit CATMEDIA

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