What's Happening, Now?

There is nothing like the smell of a new office, except for the smell of an even newer office. After a brief 5 month stint, we are moving off Green Street and moving to a newer, kick-asser space over by Ukrainian Village (Fulton/Damen). The new space will allow us to still talk over each other but now, we will be able to cook a full meal at the same time. Our landing date is May 1st, we will post some pix of our 4 pieces of furniture in a space 3 times the size. Some other benefits: space to do model casting complete with changing area, small area for photo/video shoots or break-offs (anyone needs a little space for either of these, let us know), cell phone service that works, new editing bay, larger more plush drinking area and more direct sunlight will allow office sun glass wearing that will look less contrived. We are also lucky to have the venerable and gracious photographer Fred Stein as a landlord, as well as the equally kind and talented photographer, Art Carrillo as a neighbor.

We just got back from Miami, where we were shooting like it was our jobs. First off was the continuation of our DVD box set for Life Fitness, showcasing the finest in American muscle development, then back-to-back commercials for Belk. The first was Mother's Day, shot in a Spanish Monastery that seemed to be a little lost in South Florida, next was some boat-on-boat action shooting on the high seas of Key Biscayne. All of the back room deals caught on tape by DP Scott Goodman and sound man Chris Nickless who tirelessly followed the production for 4 days, countless hours, all the while dodging non-verbal threats from Gary Katz as he was wielding the 35mm Arricam for the big shots. Keep tuned for all of this white-knuckle action to be posted on our various socials. In house we are editing the bust-a-nut funny sequel to Almost Pimps, along with making plans to head to Northern California to search out an artist named Harley Harley, who started his own country 25 years ago by issuing stamps, Freaks and Errors continues, this should be something.

What's Happening?

Things are kicking along here at Con HQ. We are currently shooting a spot for GE in Rio De Janeiro (Jon won the toss to go down there, sealing the deal with his rendition of Girl from Ipanema, while ice dancing on carpet). Next stop, an equally exotic location, Atlanta, GA for the start of our 6 city tour for Life Fitness and their "Hammer Strength" training clinics. This DVD series will focus on the latest equipment and strength training techniques from major college and high school trainers, I should probably start working out.

Though March does show signs of life here in Chicago, we are headed down to Miami to shoot 2 spots for our favorite retailer, Belk. Keep your sensors peeled for a couple jaw-dropping Mother and Father's day spots (not rolled into one, but separate) coming to the airwaves starting in late April through June. If that wasn't enough, we just wrapped up shooting on another episode of Almost Pimps, watch for details here or continually check our site or Vimeo page: vimeo.com/concentrated

If you don't see it in the next couple of weeks, keep hitting the refresh button, it will eventually appear. This will also give you a chance to watch episode 1: "The Waitress," you don't want to fall behind now: www.vimeo.com/9555855

There is so much in the hopper, remove all your social media ticks and just bookmark us for 2010, more stamp film, more Garage Gourmet, more and more entertainment that will blow your mind.

The Real Thing

We partnered with director Dan Goldberg to create a little beauty piece starring America's favorite soft drink, we hope that it virtually quenches your thirst. Shot in HD on a Phantom camera.

Politicos 2010

Most Chicagoans don't look forward to November, especially in the middle of January, but it is election year and that changes things for some. What better way to show a candidate's dedication and body temperature at the same time, but to shoot a scene for their latest spot on top of a roof? Remove the sun, add a breeze off the near frozen lake and the conditions become perfect for wind burn and a seamless performance. Justin Oberman is a Democrat running for Illinois State Treasurer, he and his team are burning it with one last push before the February primaries and we were happy to help out with their latest spot. On camera we have DP Jon Ellison, assisted by Joe Hoffman. The commercial is running in numerous markets at the end of January: Chicago, Northern, Central and Downstate Illinois.

It doesn't matter which party you support, where we come from, you vote for the guy standing on a rooftop in Chicago, in January, wearing nothing but a suit and a smile. If you read this and vote, you are not only more American than anyone else who doesn't, but you make us want to hang out. Look for us punching the ballot on February 4th, we'll be the ones voting.

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.