LiquidTreat.com, Feb. 9, 2009
Pop Culture
There are plenty of creative baby-making ideas in The Kama Sutra, but The Kinda Sutra appeals to the confused kid in all of us. This documentary short chronicles childhood misunderstandings about where babies come from: The stork? The poop chute? Little pollywogs in the lake that swim into girls? In a series of interviews, adults admit to these misguided theories from their growing-up years, then each comical scenario plays out through animation. The real birds-and-bees info in the film comes from the mouths of well-informed babes. Watch the excerpt at www.thekindasutra.com.

AdRants.com, Jan. 26, 2009
'Kinda Sutra' Exploits Reproductive Trial-and-Error
...With help from Stardust Studios, director Jessica Yu of Nonfiction Unlimited produced "The Kinda Sutra" as an entry to Sundance's Documentary Shorts section. In it, a handful of brave adults admit how they were told babies were made....

Animation World Magazine, Jan. 26, 2009
Explore the Kinda Sutra Through Animation
...Produced by Nonfiction Unlimited, Yu's directorial home for commercial projects, THE KINDA SUTRA represents a collaboration with many well-known commercial production industry companies and individuals, including Stardust Studios, Lost Planet Editorial and editor Kim Bica, and many others. The project's exec producer, Loretta Jeneski of Nonfiction, noted, "The idea all along was to bring together some great talent from the commercial industry to help realize Jessica's vision. From the beginning we knew we wanted to make something special and get it into Sundance. Everyone got behind that idea and put everything they had into making the project great enough to fulfill that very lofty goal."...

Computer Graphics World, Jan. 21, 2009
Documentary Filmmaker Jessica Yu Debuts Short Film
..."Creating the puppets for Stardust to animate was also a very involved process," Reifke continues. "Each moving part is a separate illustration that was penciled, watercolored, inked, then scanned and rebuilt in the computer. The animation came out great, and I think it does a great job of maintaining the two-dimensional feel Jessica wanted. Overall, I like to think we stayed true to the original 'Kama Sutra' while also infusing it with the uniquely comical twist Jessica wanted."...

Digital Arts Magazine, Jan. 21, 2009
Oscar-winner shows The Kinda Sutra at Sundance
..."After realizing that Jessica wanted a true representation of the original Karma Sutra and getting my hands on a copy, I found the illustrations to be truly beautiful, and things started flowing nicely," Reifki began. "It was daunting to recreate such ornate decorative elements because it required so much more time and effort, but it was definitely worth it. The book's paintings lack true perspective and therefore have a very flat quality, which I mirrored. The colours in a lot of the original art tend to be faded and drab so I took the liberty of making them a little more contemporary and vibrant by taking cues from the set created for the interviews....

TAXI Design Network, Jan. 21, 2009
NEWS: Stardust Studios: Sundance Short "The Kinda Sutra"
...For Stardust West's executive producer Paul Abatemarco, after getting Degan's original call, he and his colleagues, including design director Neil Tsai and producer Megan Kennedy, also were eager to enlist in the project....

BlogLive Sundance 2009, Jan. 20, 2009
Nonfiction Unlimited’s Jessica Yu Returns to Sundance Film Festival with Documentary Short, The Kinda Sutra
...“I had seen a clip where the animated elements were illustrated by Nate Reifke and the animation was performed by Stardust. As soon as I saw that, I said, ‘We have to get these people.’ I just felt that they would totally get it and they could create what I wanted — and they did.”...

Current.com, Jan. 20, 2009
Provocative new documentary short debuts at 2009 Sundance Film Festival
...Produced by Nonfiction Unlimited, Jessica's directorial home for commercial projects, "The Kinda Sutra" represents a collaboration with many well-known commercial production industry companies and individuals, including Stardust Studios, Lost Planet Editorial and editor Kim Bica, and many others....

SHOOT Magazine, Jan. 20, 2009
Nonfiction Unlimited's Jessica Yu Returns To Sundance Film Festival With Documentary Short, "The Kinda Sutra"
Colorful, Mixed-Format Project Reflects Artistry of Numerous Top Commercial Industry Players

SHOOT, Oct. 20, 2006
Barbara Kopple Creates Buzz with Shut Up and Sing:  Nonfiction Spots and Longform Helmer Captures Strength of the Dixie Chicks
For the first time in 14 years, a documentary played during the Toronto International Film Festival's Gala Presentations, which are typically reserved for fiction films on the way to the Academy Awards. The film, Dixie Chicks: Shut Up and Sing, co-directed by Barbara Kopple of bicoastal Nonfiction Spots and Longform and Cecilia Peck, received a seven-minute standing ovation from the 2,000 who attended last month's screening.  "We were all just so terribly happy and so excited," recalled Kopple, who has been with Nonfiction Spots since 1995 and is an Academy Award winner.....

SHOOT, Oct. 20, 2006
Directors Series: Jessica Yu - Divulging Secrets
You wouldn't expect an Oscar ceremony highlight to come from the documentary short award category presentation. But in accepting the honor for Breathing Lessons in 1997, filmmaker Jessica Yu delivered what is now a famous line: "You know you've entered new territory when your outfit costs more than your film."  It was a real moment, most appropriate for a director known for capturing real-life moments—a reputation further advanced in one of her most recent ad endeavors, an 11-spot Secret antiperspirant campaign for Leo Burnett USA, Chicago. The campaign features several sets of real women—a mix of relatives and best friends—revealing secrets to each other for the first time on camera. The work, commemorating Secret's 50th anniversary, was produced by bicoastal Nonfiction Spots, the commercialmaking home to Yu and other noted documentary helmers....

SHOOT, Oct. 6, 2006
Flash Back
October 5, 2001:  Legendary skateboarder turned producer, director and documentarian director Stacy Peralta has joined Nonfiction Spots and Longform, Santa Monica….

SHOOT, Sep. 22, 2006
Street Talk
...Two-time Oscar winning director Barbara Kopple has wrapped her documentary feature Dixie Chicks: Shut Up and Sing and is again available for commercials via bicoastal Nonfiction Spots....

Adland, Sep. 20, 2006
News tidbits from production/editorial land
Barbara Kopple returns to commercials: Bicoastal production company Nonfiction Spots announces two-time Academy Award-winning documentary filmmaker Barbara Kopple is available for commercial shoots, following the completion of her recent documentary feature, “Dixie Chicks: Shut Up and Sing.” Barbara has worked with Nonfiction Spots as a commercial director since 1995. She has worked for the world’s top ad agencies and renowned brands, including Sprint, Target, Applebee’s, Target, and Ford, to name a few. Most recently, she completed several spots for Ogilvy & Mather’s Grand EFFIE Award-winning Real Beauty Campaign for Dove. Click here to find out more about Barbara’s latest commercial reel. 

Adrants, Sep. 20, 2006
Teen Queen Returns, Hollywood Director Returns, Jesus Returns
Oscar winning Hollywood director Barbara Kopple is making the move back to shooting commercials with Nonfiction Spots....

Yahoo! Finance, Sep. 18, 2006
Oscar-Winning Director Barbara Kopple Returns to Commercial Field Following Success of 'Dixie Chicks' Feature Documentary
Bicoastal U.S. commercial production company Nonfiction Spots (http://www.nonfictionspots.com) today announced the availability of two-time Academy Award-winning documentary filmmaker Barbara Kopple to the commercial advertising community, following the successful completion of her most recent documentary feature, "Dixie Chicks: Shut Up and Sing," which she co-directed and co-produced with Cecilia Peck....

Marketing to Women Online, Aug. 26, 2006
Share Your Secret
It was another one of those - Stop - Tilt your head - Stare - Scratch your head - moments.  I was watching a TV commercial for Secret.  One sister confesses to the other sister that she told their parents about her first sexual encounter.   I must admit, it got my attention....  I do like the style of the commercials.  I think the director, Oscar winning Jessica Yu, has a unique perspective and a way of making real people look natural and engaging....

World of DTC Marketing, Aug. 25, 2006
Sisters sex secret: Talk about grabbing attention on a TV spot
P&G are consistently proving that they understand the world of new marketing and how to break through the clutter to engage consumers.  Their latest campaign asks consumers to share their secrets on camera an on a website and the first spot has sex and secrets which are two great ways to perk up interest in a TV commercial. Designed to entice consumers to spill their personal secrets on camera, this ad campaign for P&G’s Secret deodorant drives viewers to the ShareYourSecret.com website where they can enter their own secrets into a public online database. In a spot from the series, one young woman admits to her sister that she told their parents about the sister’s first sex encounter. The project, which shot 40,000 feet of film, was directed by Jessica Yu of Nonfiction Films in Santa Monica.....

MediaBistro's FishBowlLA, Aug. 22, 2006
Secrets of Deodorant Wearers Revealed
Oscar-winning filmmaker Jessica Yu's most recent work is a far cry from her esoteric films. She's directed an ad campaign for Proctor and Gamble's Secret deoderant. The website invited women to be strong enough to share their secrets and then got some of them to reveal all on film, like a reality show....

Advertising Age, Aug. 21, 2006
TV Spots of the Week:  P&G's Revealing a Sister's Sex Secret Ad
Designed to entice consumers to spill their personal secrets on camera, this ad campaign for P&G's Secret deodorant drives viewers to the ShareYourSecret.com website where they can enter their own secrets into a public online database. In this spot from the series, one young woman admits to her sister that she told their parents about the sister's first sex encounter. The project, which shot 40,000 feet of film, was directed by Jessica Yu of Nonfiction Films in Santa Monica.

SHOOT, Aug. 19, 2006
Advertising Agency Initiatives For Vendor Diversity Start To Take Shape; Demand Is Increasing for Qualified Minority And Woman-Owned Prodn. Cos.; Search Also Encompasses Edit/Post, Other Sectors
Vendor diversity initiatives at ad agencies are beginning to pick up positive momentum, with shops such as GSD&M, Austin, Texas, actively seeking and in some cases hiring qualified minority and/or woman-owned production houses for select projects.  One of the architects of the GSD&M program is Anita Laney who served as that agency's staff director of vendor program diversity for three-and-a-half years before opening in November 2005 her own Austin-based independent venture, Professional Partnering Solutions, which specializes in vendor diversity consultation to companies in different sectors, including the advertising industry. Among Professional Partnering Solutions' clients are BBDO Detroit and GSD&M.  Based on the inquiries she's received, Laney expects an increasing number of agencies to proactively pursue vendor diversity in the months ahead. Further underscoring this movement is last month's Omnicom Diversity Summit at DDB New York, during which Laney made a wide-ranging presentation on the subject, addressing such areas as what clients look for and best practices.... This has translated into GSD&M collaborating with such production companies as women-owned Trio Films, Nonfiction Spots, Heather Levine Productions and Digital Voodoo, and minority-owned La Banda Films....

Adweek, Aug. 7, 2006
Not-So-Dirty Secrets
...Speaking of age and major confessions, in a brightly lit spot for Secret Antiperspirant that followed—part of a new integrated campaign with a Web site called shareyoursecret.com—two carefully coiffed 60-ish ladies put their gray heads together and really yuck it up. It's a good thing they're laughing, as one had just confessed to the camera, and only about 20 million people, that years back she had bribed her brother to take her now-chuckling friend to the junior prom. "It didn't seem to matter," she said. "You married him!"  Indeed, the sister-in-law seemed to find the whole thing hysterical; she spends most of the spot loudly cackling. Turns out the sister paid ol' bro Romeo off by doing "all of his chores for the summer." (Now there's a term that really dates you—"chores." What kid does those any more? These days, she'd have to offer at least an X-box.)  It's nice to see this demo represented in a lively way, and it comes off as fresh and credible. (I like the way her line almost mimics the one from Jane Eyre: "Reader, I married him.")  The campaign's bright-white look is attention-getting, in a Dove aesthetic sort of way. The secrets were nicely captured by Jessica Yu, an Oscar-winning director who has publicly spilled a few of her own. When accepting an Academy Award for Best Documentary Short in 1997, she admitted her dress cost more than her film....

Adland, July 26, 2006
Jessica Yu of Nonfiction Spots helps women share their secrets
Nonfiction Spots commercial director Jessica Yu has been working very closely with P&G and the creatives at Leo Burnett, Chicago, on an 11-spot broadcast campaign for a fairly massive campaign promoting the 50th Anniversary of Secret. The project has included recent Times Square promotions, ShareYourSecret.com website, etc. In addition to traditional broadcast channels, the spots along with a behind-the-scenes video featuring Jessica talking about the experiences on the set filming women as they reveal their secrets in the campaign.  Jessica went to great lengths to organize the production and to work closely with the agency and the talent (who are indeed "real people"/non-actors), to ensure that the talent's participation in this experience would be very positive....

Media Life Magazine, July 21, 2006
Secrets told: Writ large in Times Square; Women are invited to text in confessions
...The one-day Times Square event was part of a larger celebration of Secret’s 50th anniversary. Also that day, Secret dressed models to represent each decade of the brand’s life. But the centerpiece was the billboards and the text messages that ran across them, says Secret communications director Michelle Vaeth.  “We had a lot of women come through who were very excited and who really enjoyed it. It’s very empowering to be able to share a secret anonymously, but in a big way,” Vaeth says.  She says nearly 3,000 more secrets have been shared since on a special shareyoursecret.com web site. Secret is also following with print campaigns and television spots that are mini-documentaries of women sharing their secrets, created by television and film director Jessica Yu.

DM News, July 18, 2006
Secrets Revealed: New P&G Campaign Goes Public in Times Square
Procter & Gamble Co. celebrates the 50th anniversary of Secret deodorant today by launching a “Share your Secret” campaign with an event in New York’s Times Square that lets women text-message and broadcast in real-time on the Times Square Reuters and NASDAQ screens.  The multichannel campaign features television spots, outdoor ads, anniversary packaging and a campaign Web site -- all centered around Secret’s 50-year history of catering to women. It asks women to share their secrets with Secret and the world.  “We’re really celebrating strong women,” said Michelle Vaeth, a P&G spokeswoman....  Consumer secrets are featured in all the creative for the campaign, including more than 10 national TV ads produced by movie and TV director Jessica Yu, an Academy Award winner in the documentary field....

MarSciTechtainment, June 30, 2006
Share a Bud with Stacy Peralta
...For Father's Day, working through Nonfiction with creatives from DDB Chicago and Budweiser's marketing execs, Stacy directed a commercial honoring the Earnhardt family's three generations of NASCAR success. The stock footage-rich spot ran during the June 18 broadcast of the 3M Performance 400 from Michigan International Speedway -- in which, interestingly, Dale Earnhardt, Jr., finished third. The spot was edited by Stacy's longtime collaborator Paul Crowder, another Nonfiction talent who has a feature of his own blazing the festival circuit: "Once in a Lifetime." For your surfing enjoyment, here are some links to media coverage where you can enjoy the Bud experience along with Stacy....

StudioDaily.com, June 29, 2006
Five Questions with... director Stacy Peralta
Stacy Peralta, documentary filmmaker and Nonfiction Spots commercial director, steps up to answer Five Questions....

Adwired.com, June 23, 2006
Budweiser
Stacy Peralta honors the Earnhardt family's three generations of NASCAR success in this spot for Budweiser via DDB Chicago. Production / Editorial:  Nonfiction Spots. Director:  Stacy Peralta.  Editor:  Paul Crowder.

2-pop, June 20, 2006
Peralta Directs Budweiser Commercial Featuring the Earnhardts
Documentary filmmaker and commercial director Stacy Peralta set out to honor the Earnhardt family's three generations of NASCAR success on Father's Day, in a new spot for Budweiser, which debuted during Sunday's broadcast of the 3M Performance 400 from Michigan International Speedway....

Adrants, June 20, 2006
Earnhardts Honored In Father's Day Budweiser Commercial
Award-winning documentary filmmaker and commercial director Stacy Peralta of Nonfiction Spots and DDB Chicago created a new commercial for Budweiser which honors three generations of the Earnhardt family's NASCAR success. The spot debuted on Father's Day, during the broadcast of the 3M Performance 400 from Michigan International Speedway Using stock footage gathered from The Earnhardt family, Anheuser Busch, The Associated Press, Getty Images, NASCAR and Sports Illustrated, and working side-by-side with his colleague, editor Paul Crowder -- who edited Stacy's documentary features "Dogtown and Z-Boys" and "Ridings Giants" -- the spot collects 50 years of the Earnhardt family's racing legacy and, of course, aligns it with Budweiser's support for auto racing. 

CreativeChannel Newsletter, June 19, 2006
Member News from Around the World
Just in time for Dad’s Day is the new Budweiser NASCAR spot via DDB/Chicago honoring the three generations of the Earnhardt family.  Directed by Stacy Peralta, the commercial drew from over 50 years of the Earnhardt family's racing legacy and Budweiser's long-time support for auto racing.  Another Country weighed in with mixers John Binder and Robert Marshall while Spank Music & Sound Design lent composer Alex Kemp...

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