PRESS RELEASE
BERLIN
PRODUCTIONS ANIMATES HYGIENE PROMO BP brings life to characters that promote clean hands
through the use of sanitizing wipes
WHITE
PLAINS, NY -- April 11, 2006 -- Berlin Productions (BP) has animated the first of a series
of cartoons that educate children about keeping their hands clean by hand-washing or using
sanitizing wipes. The cartoons are part of a broader campaign that will be launched in
schools and children¹s hospitals.
Animated
in the style of a Saturday morning cartoon, ³The Germ-O-Tron² is the first installment
of The Adventures of Cora & Cory, a series starring two hygiene-savvy children. In
this debut episode, Cory builds the Germ-O-Tron, a robot that is intended to destroy germs
but instead goes haywire and threatens to destroy much more. Together, Cora and Cory defeat
the Germ-O-Tron while demonstrating the value of using hand wipes to prevent the spread
of germs. The cartoon also includes a sing-along that promotes the use of the wipes.
BP
was hired by the film and video production company ACM Productions
(www.acmproductions.tv)
to animate the feature for PDI, the health-care divsion of Nice-Pak Products, the global
leader in moistened wipes. Nice-Pak invented the
³wet-nap² in 1956 and is now marketing Sani-Hands Wipes for Kids, a moist wipe
for children.
Rick
Berlin, president of BP, drew the storyboards for ³The Germ-O-Tron² and felt
a particularly close connection to the project. ³Being a parent,² he said, ³I
see huge value in teaching kids the value of hygiene in schools -- that seems to be where
my kids pick up the colds and stomach bugs and bring them home!²
BP¹s
vice president and creative director Dylan Wood was the key animator for ³The Germ-O-Tron.²
Production, he says, took approximately a month and a half, which included client feedback
and rough cuts; the feature was edited concurrently. The individual elements of the scenes
were created and manipulated in Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop, composited in Adobe After
Effects, and animated in Macromedia Flash.
³The
Germ-O-Tron² is a resounding success, said Bud and Craig Mikhitarian, the principals
-- and brothers -- of ACM Productions (www.acmproductions.tv)
in Ridgefield, Connecticut. ³We and Berlin have never done a project like this before,² they
said, ³and we weren't sure how good it would be, though we had our high hopes. What
we did know was that we and Berlin would put everything we had into this to prove we could
do it. Result: The commercial-quality animation is lighting up the sky over at Nice-Pak;
everyone loves it. Test screenings for kids have been a great success.
Children
are going around singing the song and saying lines from the story
--
all because the animation has brought Cora and Cory to life.²
The
Adventures of Cora
& Cory is being distributed on DVD and VHS, and plans are underway to produce a Spanish-language
version. Life-size characters of Cora and Cory are in development. Their first appearance
will be at a trade show next month, and later, they will visit children in schools and hospitals.
About
Berlin Productions:
Established
in 1982, Berlin Productions is a visual communications firm that produces Web sites, video,
CD-ROMs, DVDs, kiosks, animation, presentation, illustration and print design for corporate,
educational, medical and government institutions. BP¹s clients include Nextel, NASCAR,
MCI, Pepsi, GHI, SoBe, Dun & Bradstreet, Columbia University, Starbucks, Prudential,
Sony, and the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.
Contact:
Steven Klapow
914-683-5759
steven@berlinprod.com |
