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Everybody Counts!

Once a decade, the Census Bureau fulfills a count of every person living in the United States, collecting vital data that decide how taxpayer dollars come back to our communities.  With such a task at hand, Maestro Filmworks joined the Bureau’s “Get to the Count” initiative to raise awareness and call our city to action.  

 

An accurate and complete census helps businesses,

community leaders and elected officials

determine where to put resources for hospitals,

emergency services, schools, roads, and more. 

You count!

 

Now more than ever, as evidenced by the pandemic and racial injustices, it is clear just how critical it is to be counted so that the communities most in need can get the proper resources allotted to them. We hope that the census and the recent activism around reform is a winning combination to begin real change we so desperately need.

Whether you are inspired by humor or by sentiment, these clips will get the message out!  

Directed by Rob Jennings • Animated by Andrew Czudak

Directed by Kris Mendoza • Edited by Rebecca Schwartz

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Humbly Home for NRF

NRF is the largest retail trade association in the world, and we were hired by Deloitte to create a faux spot for a fictitious company in order for them to use in a Cyber Security training for the world’s largest retailers at NRF’s recent conference in NYC.

The spot was used to establish a make believe company in a session with top cyber security experts in the retail field, with additional training videos that would outline important security protocols and recommendations to keep consumer information safe and secure.

As always, thanks to our great cast & crew for the work on this spot, make believe or not!

Starring: Erin Sanderson, Giancarlo Mariutto, Rachel Yong
Director: Charles Morabito
Producer: Kris Mendoza
DP: Bill Burke
AD: Joanna Shen
2nd AD/PM: Steve Sklarow
Art director: Mike Mizrahi
Gaffer: Paul Bradburn
AC: Weston Fahey
2nd AC: Joanna Shen
Sound mixer: Rich Mach
Art PA: Kate Feher

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Clinical Pathways for CHOP

The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia is consistently among the best in the world and has been the birthplace for countless breakthroughs and dramatic firsts in pediatric medicine. Built on a foundation of delivering safe, high-quality, family-centered care, the Hospital has fostered medical discoveries and innovations that have improved pediatric healthcare and saved countless children’s lives.

To this end, we were honored to have the privilege of translating CHOP’s thought leadership for their Clinical Pathways into video form. This first installment of a larger campaign centers around the basics of managing a fever for both new parents and parents of young children. We are looking forward to diving into the rest of the campaign but are proud to present this first installment. Directed by Charles Morabito, Design & Animation by Andrew Czudak.

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Print and Cut! – Conlin’s Copy

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Conlin’s Digital Print and Copy Center has been a family owned and operated company since 1980.  To help celebrate this legacy,  Maestro Filmworks dove right into the day with the team, capturing the vast spectrum of their expertise.  The company has been expanding quickly over the years and generations.  For us, that meant plenty of large machinery, intricate systems, and dynamic community interaction to capture.

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Check out the finished project and learn more!

Director: Jo Shen
DP: Weston Fahey
1st AC: Eurica Yu
Gaffer: Paul Bradburn
Art: Kate Feher
Sound mixer: Frankie Mills

Narrative Short Films For Cyber Security

Narrative Short films for Cyber Security

The last few months, we’ve been grateful for the opportunity to combine corporate, commercial and narrative filmmaking into a few very exciting projects for one of our top clients. Due to the sensitive nature of the subject matter and client relationships, we’re unable to post the final videos or too many details about the project, but we essentially set out to produce some short narrative films about diabolical cyber hackers being fended off by elite government agencies in order to paint a picture of a cyber attacks, a looming and very relevant threat in today’s business and political landscape.

To rise to the task, Maestro scaled up to a full crew, with director Charles Morabito at the helm and Bill Burke as Dir. of Photography. We filmed every where from in studio, to 30th Street Station, to Center City corporate offices, to our neighbors offices at 215 Marketing, and the USS United States in South Philly which doubled as our “abandoned hacker lair.” Hoping to be able to share some version of the project in the future, but in the mean time, enjoy some behind the scenes photos below which were posted to our Instagram account.

Scouting all day at some epic locations.

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Cyber hackers in full swing. On set aboard the SS United States. #maestrofilmworks

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Behind the scenes from a recent film. SWAT team preps to storm an abandoned cruise ship. #maestrofilmworks : @ssharrington

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DNA Simple

DNA Simple: “Speeding up science with you”

We are happy to announce our recent collaboration with a local Philly based startup in the Healthcare & Science field. DNAsimple is one of the most buzzed-about companies in the fascinating area of genetic research, and it has been fantastic for us to collaborate with such an exciting client.

DNAsimple is “the match-maker of the genetic research world”, matching-up interested users with relevant DNA research studies that are seeking donors. Their streamlined platform is free and easy to use, 100% anonymous, and automatically informs you any time you qualify for a study. For nothing more than the completion of a home saliva kit, all donors are fairly compensated any time they decide to contribute to a study.

The mission of DNAsimple is to enable donors to double the pace of genetic research, bringing cures and treatments to millions of people much earlier than they could otherwise be provided. The combination of cutting-edge scientific research with an intuitive, easy-to- use platform is what has helped DNAsimple gain such great buzz in a competitive, burgeoning field. Co-founder and CEO, Olivier Noel, was featured on the 2017 Forbes Magazine 30 Under 30 list for Science, in addition to prominent write-ups the company has received in BuzzFeed, The Boston Globe, and Philadelphia Magazine, among others.

The Maestro team produced a video for DNAsimple which will be used by the startup on their website, social media, and eventually even in a broadcast spot. We couldn’t be happier with the final product, and with the fact that we helped to contribute to DNAsimple’s goal of furthering the field of genetic research, and ultimately improving the lives of millions of Americans.

DNAsimple has been featured in stories by multiple media outlets, often touted as a leader in the emerging biorights movement. Visit dnasimple.org to learn more about the cutting-edge research going on at DNAsimple, or to sign up today.

Check back at the Maestro blog soon as we’ll be highlighting some of our most exciting projects yet!

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Run Signature by Brooks Running

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.

Director: Charles Morabito
Producer: Kris Mendoza
DP: Bill Burke
Gaffer/utility: Stephen McPeak
Editor: Ed Cipolla

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Elevate by Psych Congress


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!

Producer/Director: Kris Mendoza
Animation & Design: Andre Czudak

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BNY Mellon – Hamilton Week

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.

Producer/Director: Kris Mendoza
DP: Bill Burke
Gaffer: Nathan Vitale
Grip: Stephen Harrington
Sound: Adam Zelinski
PA: Artina Nimpson