Filming “Americano,” the story of an unlikely patriot.

Maestro Filmworks

Maestro Filmworks is excited to be producing the short narrative film, Americano. Teaming up with the Philly-native writer and director, Tim Viola of Consurgo Films, (consurgofilms.com) our crew filmed for 4 days throughout Philadelphia, from Independence Hall in Old City, to the Racquet Club of Philadelphia in Rittehnouse, to Race Street Pier along Columbus Boulevard, to Gryphon Café in Port Richmond.

americano-5

 

Focusing on a Syrian refugee, the film follows his journey working for a statesman in order to receive a signed deportation appeal. After being betrayed, he embarks on a mission to find the truth and stay in the country. Written even before the unfolding of the 2016 election, this film touches on the every day struggle of thousands of refugees fighting for their own American dream.

 

On February 1st, a Kickstarter campaign was launched to help fund this campaign. After 28 days, over $20,000 dollars was pledged to the project, surpassing the original $15,000 goal. With a supremely talented cast and crew, as well as a leading man who is the son of a refugee, principal photography took place from March 25-28 with a pickup shoot weekend at the end of April to wrap on the film.

americano-6

 

Be sure to keep an eye out for progress regarding this project, as we will be posting more about when we head into post production.

 

Facebook page: facebook.com/americanofilm

Instagram: Instagram.com/americanofilm

americano-8

Gaining market recognition. Award season is upon us.

Maestro Filmworks

 

awards-1

 

The 2017 awards season is upon us, and Maestro Filmworks is seeing great success. Below are the awards we’ve won (so far):

Elevate by Psych Congress

ADCP Louix Award – Art Director’s Club of Philadelphia

2017 Best Corporate Video

Watch Here: https://vimeo.com/188305125

 

Making an Impact That Matters – Deloitte

AVA Digital Awards

2017 Platinum Winner – Viral Video for Company

Watch Here: https://vimeo.com/122474228 

 

Head of the Charles Regatta – BNY Mellon

AVA Digital Awards

2017 Gold Winner – Documentary

Watch Here: https://vimeo.com/142299836

 

Financial Technology – Deloitte

AVA Digital Awards

2017 Honorable Mention – Marketing

Watch Here: https://vimeo.com/198229503

 

Elevate by Psych Congress

Hermes Creative Awards

2017 Platinum Winner – Medical Category

Watch here: https://vimeo.com/188305125

 

Project Cavite – Foundation for International Medical Relief of Children (FIMRC)

Hermes Creative Awards

2017 Honorable Mention – Non-Profit Category

Watch here: https://vimeo.com/186507056

 

awards-2awards-3

trophies1

Office & studio renovations complete!

Maestro Filmworks

Our office renovations are finally finished! After beginning in January, we have expanded our studio to have an additional 900 square foot standalone space (finally, space to do cartwheels and our jobs!)

Our new state-of-the-art studio features a freshly renovated interior with smart office features and way more natural light. We’ve also included super important things such as a communal snack bar and two bathrooms. At Maestro, we believe in the importance of having the right creative spaces available for our staff in order to cultivate the most lively creative collaboration. We also added a new conference room and client meeting area which features vintage film and Philly décor.

These new digs allow for open collaboration and a more easygoing workflow for our growing team. With the new upgrades to our space, we have enhanced our technical capabilities and efficiency, while giving our team more room to do their thing.

 

PPS New Studio-1 PPS New Studio-2 PPS New Studio-3 PPS New Studio-5 confroom-1 confroom-1-2 confroom-1-6

Designing creative spaces

Maestro Filmworks

Maestro Filmworks is happy to announce some new upgrades and renovations to our workspace! As a creatively driven team, we believe in always pushing our limits and spurring creativity in new directions. As our company continues to evolve, so must our work environment. That is why we will be expanding our current studio (Philly Photo Studio) to a new 900 square ft standalone space next door.

IMG_0403

Our new state-of-the-art studio will feature a freshly renovated interior, which we have been hard at work designing. Our team will also benefit from new smart office features and way more natural light. At Maestro, we believe in the importance of having the right creative spaces available for our staff in order to cultivate the most lively creative collaboration.

We’re also adding a new conference room and client meeting area, which is being designed with a vintage film and historic Philadelphia theme that we are very excited about!

After the renovations, we’ll be hooked up with some powerful smart office features, including Amazon Echo, smart lighting and thermostats via Philips Hue and Nest, and wireless HDMI meeting spaces for easy, wire-free collaboration. Our edit suite and office will also be getting a makeover, allowing for more workstations and an improved work-flow. With new gear comes new creative horizons to explore!

We are committed to providing our growing team with a work environment that will inspire creativity and new ideas. With the new upgrades to our space, we are enhancing our technical capabilities and efficiency, while giving our team more room to develop projects and collaborate.

We can’t wait to share our upcoming work with you, developed in our new and improved space. Check back for more updates and images of our new digs!

IMG_0540

IMG_0640

IMG_3389

IMG_0442

IMG_0589

Run Signature by Brooks Running

Maestro Filmworks

In September, we hit the ground running at the ‘Philly Rock n’ Roll’ Marathon Health & Fitness Expo with Brooks Running where we were on hand to capture their new “Run Signature” mobile tour.

—

They created an innovative “Run Signature” mobile tour that analyzes a runner’s body mechanics and prescribes the right shoe for them based on their anatomy, running style, and fitness goals.

“Run Signature is the result of years of research Brooks conducted in partnership with Professor Dr. Gert-Peter Brueggemann, Director of the Institute of Biomechanics and Orthopedics at the German Sport University of Cologne, and Prof. Dr. Joseph Hamill, Director of the Biomechanics Lab at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. The team discovered that all runners, including those at the highest elite level, have their own unique way of running and that embracing their natural movement can keep them more comfortable, efficient and happier.

Brooks is now bringing the science out of the lab with a custom Run Signature mobile application which analyzes data from key motion zones. By completing a squat and short run, the application identifies the degree of change as more force is applied to the body. The degree of motion signifies the level of support needed to keep the runner’s body in its preferred position. 1

For more information on the mobile tour, click here to see the extended video and read more about the Run Signature technology on the Brooks Running website here.

Elevate for HMP Communications

Maestro Filmworks

Recently, we had the pleasure of working with HMP Communications to create an animated teaser for Elevate by Psych Congress. Elevate is a seminar run by experienced healthcare professionals, and is designed to teach and empower participants to improve their knowledge and care for mental illness patients.

Psych Congress had just recently revamped their visual identity, which made us all the more eager to bring their aesthetic to life. We were given a significant amount of creative freedom on this project, which allowed us to push limits of how typical corporate animations can present themselves. Quick turn around times encouraged us to work smarter and more efficiently, from the initial storyboarding to the motion graphics animation and post production. The end result was a fluid and cohesive piece that we’re proud to share!

BNY Mellon – Hamilton Week

Maestro Filmworks

Did you catch the ‘Hamilton’s America’ documentary premiere on PBS last month?
Check out the teaser we filmed that aired before the documentary on BNY Mellon’s involvement with the film and how Alexander Hamilton founded the Bank of New York, known today as BNY Mellon.

BNY Mellon – Hamilton's America Teaser from Maestro Filmworks on Vimeo.

Alexander Hamilton created the foundation of our United States financial system by founding one of the very first banks of the United States, BNY Mellon. One of Broadway’s most popular tickets in town, “Hamilton: The Musical” has highlighted and popularized this story and our client BNY Mellon has sponsored a documentary called “Hamiltons America” which aired on WHYY and PBS this October.

We filmed Gerald Hassell, the CEO of BNY Mellon flipping through the very first bank ledger of the Bank of New York in 1783 — one of the first banks in the United States and founded by Alexander Hamilton. It was really awesome learning about the early history of BNY Mellon and getting to see close and personal, the signatures of John Jay, Henry Knox, John Adams, John Jacob Astor, just to name a few.

FIMRC: Project Cavite

Maestro Filmworks

We are super excited to share a short film that we just wrapped on, entitled Project Cavite. Our Executive Producer & Founder, Kris Mendoza, documented his experience while on a medical relief mission in the Philippines this past August and produced a mini documentary on his time there. For more on the project, read the short message from Kris and check out the video below!

Every so often, there comes a project that changes you — whether it’s the subject matter, the circumstances the shoot may have endured, a learning moment, or the impact you were able to make along the way. In the case of Project Cavite, it was all of the above.

In August of 2016, my wife, Melodee, my future sister-in-law, Norilene, and I all had the opportunity to go on a medical mission with the Foundation for the International Medical Relief of Children or FIMRC, a Philadelphia based organization that has a vast global reach with sites in Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, India, Nicaragua, Peru, and Uganda as well. It was a destination close to home for all three of us, as we got to go to the Philippines for 10 days to help medical and social workers on the ground in the rural provinces outside of Manila.

Our family vacations to the Philippines usually include shopping at malls, visiting touristy attractions, and lounging on the beach with a tropical cocktail, so to come to the Philippines with an entirely different mindset and purpose was refreshing. It was equally inspiring to see the resilience and resourcefulness of the Filipino people and what they are capable of with very limited resources. To visit the impoverished areas and be able to make an impact in our short time there was nothing short of fulfilling and to see another side of the Philippines that we aren’t used to seeing, and still finding the beauty of the country is an unforgettable experience altogether.

I was lucky enough to tag along as a non-medical volunteer and document the daily happenings and be able to tell the story in the best way I know how. The short film below is a culmination of our 10 days onsite, operating as volunteers with FIMRC. I highly recommend the experience to any one looking for global volunteer opportunities, as they really did a great job in organization and local logistics during our time there.

Special thanks to FIMRC for the opportunity, Maureen, our field operations manager on site, and to our Senior Editor, Edward Cipolla for really helping to craft the narrative in the edit room.

-Kris Mendoza, Executive Producer, Maestro Filmworks

To support the great humanitarian work FIMRC is doing, please visit the following link:
http://www.fimrc.org/give

Project Cavite from Maestro Filmworks on Vimeo.

Director/DP: Kris Mendoza
Editor: Ed Cipolla
Graphics: Andrew Czudak
Music: Premium Beat

Connecting the dots to go Outward

Maestro Filmworks

Recently, we worked with a Canada based gaming company called NineDots to create a trailer for their game, Outward.

Outward Game Trailer 2016 from Maestro Filmworks on Vimeo.

Delving into the world of video games was a refreshing change of pace for us. We collaborated with NineDots and NineDots CEO, Guillaume Boucher-Vidal and his team on the script and also animated their game’s logo for the spot. We had the opportunity to work with NineDots animators and artists to direct and capture game footage. It was our first time creating custom animations through in-game footage and it was super awesome living in a completely made up world!

We greatly enjoyed collaborating the Nine Dots team. They certainly gave us room to enjoy a lot of creative freedom in putting this trailer together which definitely made it fun and exhilarating to work on. And to top it off, the Outward trailer was well received online, garnishing over 25k views on YouTube!