Freaks & Errors, a film about stamp collectors

For those people who wake up every day wishing there was an action-packed philatelic documentary out there, the wait is almost over. We are currently in production of Freaks and Errors: A Rare Collection, a documentary that reveals a fascinating look at the decidedly addictive hobby of stamp collecting. We are presenting an intimate overview of some of the rarest stamps in the world along with the people who own them, as well as the collectors that who enjoy the hobby at a much more grass roots level. In the film, the stamps themselves take on lives of their own, rivaling those who collect and revere them as we search the many levels of philatelic world, from multi-million dollar collections to those who accumulate thousands of pieces in hopes of finding the one “gem” that will change their collecting lives. A look at this hobby exposes a deep bond that brings people together from foreign places, cultures, histories and economic backgrounds all for the love of these humble receipts for service.

The nucleus of the film revolves around 6 of the rarest stamps currently residing in collectors hands, following their paths to philatelic immortality. Along the way, we are uncovering the myths and facts of the not only the stamps, but their current and previous owners, as well as the opinions of their faithful, but non-collecting family and friends. The film will consist of interviews from collectors, dealers, auctioneers and other members of the philatelic world as well as archival footage that will reveal the more fascinating moments of philately (past and present). Our goal is to give the viewer an experience of the stamp world and insight to the hypothesized collector "gene." We will be updating the blog with our work in progress and plan on wrapping the film up for 2011 release.

Belk "Santa's Secret" Holiday Finale

For the final spot in our Belk trio of holiday commercials, we took an impressionistic approach to the widely accepted Santa Clause theme (and look). This was shot on location at Belk store in Buckhead (Atlanta) Georgia. The cast, crew, client and store employees all showed some serious resilience during 2 nights (meaning all night) of shooting. We'd like to thank all the talented people that worked on these 3 spots.

Belk Holiday Spot number 2

The fairy dust is back in this spot 2 of 3 for Belk Holiday campaign. Shot on location with a fantastic cast and crew, in a house that was made for the holidays. Our hero, Mia was a trooper over this somewhat exhausting 2 day shoot, that can't be said of a few members of the Concentrated team.

Exhale, the holidays are here

Belk Holiday 2009, spot 1 of 3

Holiday x 3

We've brought 2 of the 3 holiday spots we won for North Carolina based retailer Belk to Chicago for production and post-production. The first spot was shot on set at Resolution studios (fantastic job by everyone involved). We were on location for the second one, in a beautiful house, in a neighborhood that had no sidewalks. The house was transformed into a paradise for the Christmas inclined and then, just like the holidays, it all went away. The third spot was shot on location at a Belk flagship store in Atlanta, Georgia. The post work for spot #3 was brought back to the home front to keep this city going. The triptych of holiday magic will be showing in markets across the southern part of this great country, look for them and enjoy the ethereal worlds of imagination that only advertising can create.

More about Concentrated, part of our corporate mantra is that the people in our crew have to resemble us, but us 10 years ago, as illustrated here by one Jon Singer and one Jon-Singer-like production assistant. This makes us look better during the frequent napping that occurs during shoots as well as the blame game when "one of us" eats all the gluten free pita chips. Guess who is who and you will have an exotic stranger email you with a monetary offer that will change your life forever.

New Digs

We've moved to serve us better. This month we moved into new offices in the River West neighborhood of Chicago. By move, we mean we've signed a lease and spend a lot of time looking around where everything should go, instead of in the middle of the floor. We don't know what the loft building (built circa 1900) was before the 80's came around and the word loft was invented, but it does have a magnetic front door for our convenience, a D&D feel at the front entrance and the previous tenants were ticket scalpers, which means they conveniently had phone jacks installed on the wall every 3.5". We are confident that this will help us out when Patrick Hernandez looses his job at Sbarro and starts touring again. Drop by anytime, but call first to make sure we don't need you to bring anything. Concentrated, 700 N. Green St. #106 (Green between Huron and Superior)

Almost Pimps

We just wrapped up a short written by Second City members Brad Morris & Pat O'Brien. Check it out on Funny or Die

There's a place where food and power tools meet and make sweet gourmet love. This place is obviously Iowa. Our crew has teamed up with a band of brothers that share their love of food, machines, booze and debate to create a cooking show that celebrates some of the things that define our country: fried-anything, garages, tequila, drumming circles, hot-rods, cheese, foul language and family.

Over the next couples of months, we will be racking up the miles traveling to Iowa to capture these guys in their natural habitat and bringing you some of the finest culinary moments along with whatever else our cameras can stomach.

We want to introduce you to one of the brothers, Matt, in his garage, smoking, sitting, relishing the moment, with a couple of slaughtered back-up dancers bringing up the rear. Watch for more soon.

change in the air

After realizing that we have to repeat ourselves over and over again or speak so slowly we feel like we're offending people, we've changed our URL to concentrated.tv

You can still get to the site by typing in concentratedcontent.com, but why do that? You'll gain minutes of your life back by just accepting the change and moving forward.

We've included a visual of what you'll see to help ease the transition.

Belk denIM Spot

Summer 2009 and DP Gary Katz is behind the trigger of the Red One camera for "denIM", the latest spot for Red Camel Jeans and Belk Department Stores. This was shot on location at Senn High School in Chicago, the weather was a perfect 60 degrees and rainy, just as to be expected for June. We made up for the chilly weather by making everyone move really fast. A fantastic cast and crew made this shoot a great success. Watch the full spot below.