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SET YOUR BRAND TO "STUN"
1/21/05
PRESS RELEASE
By Juice
More than ever, cable channels are competing to own popular culture. It’s no surprise, therefore, that they are turning to Stun Creative, the agency quickly becoming known for its award-winning spots featuring pop culture's favorite icons.
Launched in August 2000, Stun is a Los Angeles-based agency and production company specializing in on-air promotion for cable networks and syndication studios. Co-founded by Mark Feldstein and Brad Roth, the company has amassed an impressive list of clients: Showtime Networks, Disney Channel, Travel Channel, TV Land, NBC Universal, TV Guide Channel, BBC America, E! Network, FX, Fine Living, SOAPnet, MTV and 20th Television.
Feldstein and Roth have a knack for leveraging the talents of pop culture’s favorite, yet underutilized, celebs. When TV Land looks to shoot spots using their classic stable of stars like Adam West (Batman), Roseanne Barr, Cindy Williams (Laverne and Shirley), Sherman Hemsley (The Jeffersons), Alf, Danny DeVito and Christopher Lloyd (Taxi)...they call on Stun Creative. The collaborations between TV Land and Stun Creative have garnered numerous honors, including “Best in Show” at the International Promax Awards for its rap video starring pop icons Mr. T and the late Tony Randall.
This January, when TV Guide Channel was looking to announce the arrival of Joan and Melissa Rivers to their network...they turned to Stun Creative to concept, write, shoot, and post an irreverent campaign that garnered industry-wide attention. “Anytime you can get Joan Rivers to talk about waxing her butt…you know you’ve got a great campaign,” says Feldstein. The series of spots, which aired in advance of the 62nd Annual Golden Globe Awards, was shot by Brad Rushing – the award-winning music video DP for Britney Spears and Eminem – who brought a pop quality to the film. Says Roth, “We love the idea of combining laughs with a stylized look as well…the two don’t need to be mutually exclusive.”
Currently, Stun is a subsidiary of the venerable talk show host’s entertainment company. Povich has taken great pleasure in nurturing this vital business. “I believe that marketing people are the most creative ones in this industry,” he says. “I couldn’t be more proud of the level of work the shop is producing." Feldstein and Roth’s relationship with Povich underscores the duo’s philosophy of combining cultural icons with strong creative.
Co–branding efforts are also becoming a significant part of Stun’s repertoire. As Feldstein has pointed out, “We live on the corner of Madison Avenue and On-Air Promo Blvd. …blowing the stigmas apart isn’t always pretty, but you have to progress.” With an emerging trend toward product integration, cable nets like Discovery Networks’ TLC and Travel Channel have recognized Stun as the perfect partner for their marketing clients: Pepsi, Hyundai, Home Depot, and Hotwire.com.
Stun recently expanded beyond traditional advertising, and has begun producing cable television series and short films. The Fine Living Network called upon Stun to write, produce, direct, and post 13 half-hour episodes of “Radical Sabbatical,” in which people quit their jobs and pursue a dream career or passion. Stun Creative executive-produced Sci Fi Channel's “Inside Taken,” an hour-long behind-the-scenes special for Steven Spielberg’s Emmy Award-winning miniseries. Stun also produced “The Short List,” a highly rated hour-long series for the Travel Channel offering a fast-paced look at cities across the United States. In addition, Stun recently concluded a development deal with MTV.
In the world of short films, Stun’s Feldstein and Roth wrote, produced and directed the Showtime Networks comedy short, “The Swinger.” This three-minute mockumentary starring Chris Elliott screened at the U.S. Comedy Arts Festival in Aspen, and the South by Southwest Festival in Austin. Roth and Feldstein first crossed paths while posting at an edit facility in New York. Feldstein was cutting his short film “Karaoke Knight” (starring comedian and Friars roaster Jeff Ross) for Showtime while Roth was posting a brand campaign for the Travel Channel (starring John O’Hurley of “Seinfeld”). The two saw an opportunity for a new kind of advertising agency – one that brings the production value and creative thinking of the commercial world to the network promotion business. Although Stun has quickly grown into a full-service Los Angeles firm, it maintains a boutique sensibility. Its largest asset is its incredibly creative and talented staff of writers, producers and editors – many of whom have been with the company since its inception. Feldstein and Roth still take a personal approach to each client and project. In fact, not much has changed since the days they shared a tiny office with their desks and computer screens facing one another. They still prefer to write together using a single computer with two keyboards. It is collaboration in the truest sense of the word, as either can delete the other’s words at any given time, a partnership that makes Stun such a unique and effective force in entertainment and brand marketing.
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