It’s been a big week for Gregg Helvey and the crew at Kavi. We’ve been fortunate to be involved in shaping the website for Kavi for the last several months. (read the story here) I just got a quick update on what’s happening and thought you’d want to check it out too.

Kavi is on the shortlist for the Oscars!! Having won the Student Academy Award® gold medal, Kavi qualified for Oscar 2010 consideration, and “The 10 List” was announced on Friday. Of the 10 shortlisted films, three to five will be nominated on Feb 2nd for an Oscar in the “Live Action Short” category. Fingers crossed!

Upcoming Screenings for those in the DC Area
December 15, 2009 – 6PM – Screening for the House Committee on Foreign Affairs – 2172 Rayburn House Office Building – Washington DC 20515 (open to the public, please RSVP to anna@kavithemovie.com)

Pick up Kavi for Christmas
The official DVDs are finally here! They’re perfect holiday gifts or stocking stuffers, too! Click HERE to purchase a copy for $10 online.

We’re pulling for you Gregg!! Check out the Kavi website

Today marked the launch of the latest Deidox film “Deidox | Dawn” This film is an expansion on the Deidox brand with it’s previous 3 films showing jobs and people in the midst of the struggles. The latest film gives a profile of Dawn, a mother of three discovering her unexpected purpose. I’m quite sure that this is a role that we are constantly surrounded by and yet don’t take a lot of stock in. Check it out for yourself and see what you think.

Also launching today was an update on the homepage of Deidox. Since it’s inception, the Deidox site has been bleeding edge with big visuals, slick java scripting and a powerhouse of Search Engine Optimization. With this launch the entire Deidox team wanted to see if there was a better way to communicate all that Deidox is about and what they’re doing.

We needed to convey the message that there were many films and what they were about. After spending some time research what was available in the java script banners we decided on a player that showed the main pictures but allowed large buttons for the other panes. Many times the additional buttons don’t show enough area or are automated to only show a certain point. We wanted more control over it, and found it with our selection.

For this project Portnoy Media Group was again allowed to collaborate early on to guide and research from the early stages of filming Dawn’s story. This allowed the sensitivity and the strategy to walk through the launch. Also in the mix for this project was the incredible work of Out:think Group (Their recent projects include: the redesign Guy Kawasaki’s Alltop Blog, Hugh MacLeod’s Gaiping Void site and Shark Tank’s Barbara Corcoran’s site). Tim Grahl and Joseph Hinson were instrumental in making the launch happen and were massive collaborators in the design and layout. After initial designs were agreed upon, the guys at Out:think went right to the heavy lifting transforming the site to the beauty that it is now.

We also spent time adjusting the individual film pages. There was a lot of thought put into what would provide the best user experience and bring the least amount of visual fatigue. A fair amount of comparison was made with other websites that offered digital distribution. The aim was to keep everything with in a click or two to make sure that the user experience was simple, although the technology wasn’t.

Huge thanks to the guys at Out:think for another job well done and also thanks to the guys at Deidox for allowing Portnoy Media Group to be involved.

Online voting has begun and we need your help. Here’s what you can do:

1. Go to http://www.damah.com/theater
2. Choose Deidox|Lindsay
3. Vote for the film

1st place would mean $5000 and some more exposure for Deidox. Even better, the money would allow Chronicle Project to tell more Deidox stories in the future.

Please vote for Deidox | Lindsay, and check out the other films while you’re there too. The film is also embeddable for blogs, to be shared on facebook, etc. I think the great part about this short is that Lindsay is the real deal!

If you like the film – Vote for it now!!

Next Release Deidox | Dawn

On September 15 the next film in the Deidox series comes out. It’s called Deidox | Dawn, telling the story of a reluctant mother of three that discovers her unexpected purpose. Then, in October Chronicle Project will release Deidox | Li Yang, offering a rare glimpse into the underground church in China. Also, in conjunction with a partnership with Out:think Group, there’s some adjustments happening to the Deidox website – there was an adjustment when the third film (Deon) was released as well.

If you’d like to be involved in the webcast with the filmmakers talking about the process of making these shorts, a preview of the new release and a Q&A – please email me or contact me via Twitter.

We’re proud to be so close to this amazing project as it continues to take shape. Which Deidox film is your favorite?

2 Months ago I got the chance to sit down with upcoming director, Gregg Helvey. We talked about message, social media in film, and personal branding. He struck me as a talented guy getting ready to launch his thesis film, a lot happening and a very bright future. Last month I got a chance to see Gregg’s work at the Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles and was absolutely floored. His film, Kavi, is an incredible snapshot into the life of a boy and his family at the brick kilns of India. This 19 minute piece is full of great camera movement, believable characters and fantastic pacing on this narrative film.

After watching the film, (It won the audience award at the IFFLA) myself and the Media Group partners (specifically Outthink Group) were quick to snap into work to make sure that as many people as possible could hear about this movie. Using social media to augment the film impact and using the gorgeous design of Blue Ember to enhance the web presence of www.kavithemovie.com

The journey of collaboration only got sweeter as we got word that Kavi had been nominated and then won the Academy Award for Best Student film. Huge Congratulations go to Gregg Helvey and his crew for such a tremendous win!
You can also see Director of Photography John Harrison’s work in Deidox )

Check out the Trailer below

If you’re running the LA Marathon make sure you register with Child S.H.A.R.E. Marathon team and help over 17,000 kids in the foster care system in the Los Angeles area.

Child S.H.A.R.E. contracted Portnoy Media to coordinate the shoot, editing and launching the final product to the world. We had a great time putting it together and did the whole project from start to finish in about 5 days. Getting access to William Fitzsimmons’ music was a total bonus – my sincere thanks to him and Brick Wall Management.

Click here for the official press release