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Mile, a non-profit organization in Saudi Arabi,a has asked Illum to partake in designing a new look & visual style to their successful corporate entrepreneurship seminars titled PALM. The company wants to expand their cooperative reach into multiplemarkets & feel that a fresh style would enhance their market demographic.

The Madinah Institute for Leadership & Entrepreneurship (MILE) is a leading CorporateSocial Responsibility Program dedicated to enhancing leadership capacity & entrepreneurial excellence in the Middle East, North Africa, & Asia. Strategically located in the Madinah Knowledge Economic City of Saudi Arabia;MILE is a non-profit organization sponsored by the Savola Group that has grown into a collaborative initiative attracting participation from global busines sschools, academic professors, management consulting organizations & professional associations.

Should the project be accepted, Illum would spearhead the organization’s complete video marketing endeavors. This would include all video presentations for the corporation,their conference programs, media center libraries & possibly promote live switching into their events expanding their internet reach both to the East & the West. “This would be a wonderful collaboration between our companies & our resources, stated Jerry, our creative director. The Middle East is growing exponentially & we would be honored to be able to assist in Mile’s expansion.”

Robin Wilding, a writer for Animation Career Review, contacted Illum for an interview with our Creative Director, Jerry Chambless.  The interview’s purpose is to give aspiring animators & design professional’s perspective on the projects that are being produced in the industry, what employer’s value in employees/contractors & to show that smaller studios have success in this industry.

Jerry was asked about Illum’s focus, aspects of dealing with clients, qualifications the studio looks for in a team member, recommendation on education & schools catering to the industry, project challenges, etc.  Jerry was happy to speak with Robin & share some of his thoughts on Illum’s path.   “Other than what we received from our instructors & the college job recruiting office, there was not a lot of information on our chosen field.  We would basically hound the studios coming in for presentations & recruitment for information & critiques.  Now you can find out a great deal about a company from the web & the more information that is available, the more one can formulate a decision on their career goals.” stated Jerry.

Animation Career Review launched in February of 2011 & is projecting over the next 12 months to become the authority site in the animation & design industry for aspiring professionals seeking information on education, salary & employment stats, software & technology & other aspect of the industry.

Visit http://www.animationcareerreview.com/articles/jerry-chambless-discusses-animation-career-success-illum-productions to read the interview.

Illum will be listing its services with Thumbtack.com, a virtual marketplace for companies looking to expand their reach into other states or markets.  Based out of San Francisco, Thumbtack is touting its concise verification of companies & their services as one of its several traits for standing out in a virtual sea of internet marketing companies.

Illum is listed with several online marketing & service provider companies for their Animation & Production services, but wanted to expand it’s Design Division’s reach.  Illum plans on expanding its website with their Print & Advertising portfolio in the near future & felt that partnering with Thumbtack would benefit in their expansion.

To learn more about Thumbtack, visit Thumbtack.com

Jerry blocking out a scene with Doug Frasure

Our independent feature film, Beautiful Noise, has been accepted into the Sarasota Film Festival for its world premiere.  The rough cut impressed the panel of judges & the festival’s artistic director, Tom Hall who with the festival’s programmers has scheduled Beautiful Noise to be showcased an unprecedented 6 times over the 12 day event.  This means that if every show & every seat gets filled, we will have set a festival box office record of over 1,500 viewers.

Artistic director Hall informed our director, Steve Tatone, that the committee is prepared to add additional screenings if the demand is present.  The team is really excited over the news & feels honored to be represented by their home town in such a fashion.

The premiere of Beautiful Noise’s first screening at the festival is April 9^th at 7:00 p.m. in downtown Sarasota at the Hollywood 20 theatres.  After the first viewing, Steve Tatone will conduct a Q & A session for those who would like to stay after & learn about our film.  For more information about Beautiful Noise & the Sarasota Film Festival, please visit www.sarasotafilmfestival.com.  Tickets officially go on sale on March 18^th.

Jerry, our creative director & the film’s production designer & first assistant director had this to say about the honor, “I am, as well as my crewmates & the actors, very humbled & excited about the festival’s warm reception to our film.  I hope that this aides in the recognition of Sarasota’s film community to the rest of the industry that we have a great deal to offer here.”  If you would like to learn more about the film, visit www.beautifulnoisethemovie.com.

Illum is partnering up with Studio 26 Weddings to produce a commercial for the Anna Maria Island Wedding Festival.

The commercial will consist of animated elements that create a wedding flip book. The flip book will house multiple images of various wedding festivities, cakes, couples & outdoor fun while informing the viewer of the 4th Annual Festival.

The commercial will air over several local cable channels across Southwest Florida.

Illum has been contracted by Dale Ryan, NHP to create a virtual architectural presentation for the crown prince of Abu Dhabi. The presentation will consist of several images of an existing structure in Europe that is part of the Sheffield Winter & Peace Gardens. It will also present an imagined structure utilizing the same archetype as the European structure that will become an addition to the existing Gymnasium on the palace grounds.

Dale Ryan is an entrepreneur that designs architectural buildings all over the world, most recently in Thailand that utilizes curved laminated recycled lumber creating stunning curvilinear shapes that is structurally more resistant to monsoon winds. The corporation also designs & manufactures composite rail ties for the railroad systems & is in concept phase for a revolutionary project that will span across many business sectors.

Illum is excited about this endeavor & looks forward to a long, mutually beneficial relationship with Mr. Ryan & his corporation.

Jerry has been asked by the William G. & Marie Selby Foundation to be a mentor/partner to the selected student from the Computer Animation department at Ringling College. Each year in December The William G. & Marie Selby Foundation sponsors The Selby Scholar Symposium for students in the Selby Scholarship Program. The program was created in 2000 & 35 students are selected annually from Sarasota, Manatee, Charlotte and Desoto counties.

Each student receives one third of their financial need up to $7,000 per year. They are chosen by a panel of community members based on demonstrated financial need, academic performance & leadership potential. As one of the student’s scholarship requirements they must attend this symposium where they will be paired with a community leader from their field of study. “I enjoy assisting in the futures of such talented & driven students so I am honored the Foundation selected me to partner with Michelle Le.” stated Jerry.

The symposium lunch features a keynote speaker to inform both the students and community leaders about 21st Century trends in the workplace and community service. This year the guest speaker is Beverly Alter, a professional trainer in career counseling techniques, world of work value & personal marketing campaigns. Beverly is a recognized keynote speaker & workshop facilitator for national conferences throughout the U.S.

Jerry has been invited to speak at Ringling College’s Networking & Mentoring Panel for their Professional Communication & Presentation class.  The class is to assist students in their preparatory skills in the job market.

The ‘Fishbowl’ is designed with industry professionals in a circle & the students surrounding the professionals.  The moderator presents the professionals a series of questions followed by the students pertaining to mentoring & networking in business.  This gives the students an opportunity to discuss the rigors of working in the business world, how networking helps business practices & the benefits of an industry mentor & how they can help shape their future careers.

Hosted by Eric Paul Engel, executive director of Ketchcom Development, Inc., & professor for the class, the Networking & Mentoring Fishbowl takes place on the Ringling campus on November 17^th.  The seminar is part of the colleges Professional Communication & Presentation curriculum.

Jerry states, “I am happy to be a part of this seminar & share my networking & mentoring experiences with the students.  I feel it is important for them to develop these skills along with their artistic abilities; it will help them to become more well-rounded business people.”

Illum’s Animation & Creative Director, has been asked to speak at Suncoast Polytechnical High School during their Job Shadowing program.  Suncoast Polytechnical High School is a technology magnet high school for students throughout Sarasota County. The school’s college-preparatory curriculum is integrated within an economics & business core.  SPHS students study subjects as diverse as Architectural Drafting, Practical Nursing & Commercial Foods and Culinary Art.  Other programs, such as Biomedical Science, Game Art and Animation, & Geographic Information Systems Technology, are offered exclusively to SPHS students in addition to the standard Florida high school curriculum.

Jerry will be speaking to the Game Art & Animation students which will be comprised of 10^th & 11^th grade students.  Jerry had been involved with the high school since its inception & had a hand at assisting in the original curriculum.  Since the school had opened its doors, Jerry worked closely with Cathie Janssen who teaches the program.  “Cathie first approached me & my company for a real world approach to complement the existing syllabus.  We worked through basic animation principles, exercises & how the software could compliment them.”  states Jerry. “Now I have been asked to come address the students, which is exciting to me because I will get to see how they have grown in the program & how I had an indirect hand in their education.”

Gas America Services Incorporated is teaming up with Illum Productions to expand their commercial broadcast initiative.

Gas America is family owned & has been operating in the Indiana & Ohio core since 1916 with 89 locations.  They are looking to expand even further into their demographic & through a series of broadcast commercials they hope to achieve their goal.  Illum was asked to put a fresh spin onto their identity by converting it to 3d & animating the identity for their multimedia branding throughout their broadcast & web production initiatives.

The company hopes to release their commercials by the end of the year.