Ultrabland, a full-service creative boutique, recently provided editorial, postproduction and original music for second and third quarter Food Network Nighttime promos (‘Way More Than Cooking’) as well as 60- and 30-second Food Network HD launch promos (‘Where Food Lives Large’).

“In an effort to raise awareness and position our new nighttime programming, ‘Way More Than Cooking,’ Ultrabland created exciting and energetic spots that helped elevate viewer perception that the network is more than just ?‚àö√ë‚àö‚â§dump and stir’s programming at night,’ says Michael Adley, Food Network Vice President/Creative Director. “Using existing footage of programming and our new on-air look, Ultrabland was able to seamlessly weave together montages that highlighted adventure, personality and competition into dynamic, music-driven representations of our expanded primetime programming.”

The promos open with attention-getting white-on-green graphics featuring stylized spinning sun rays and graceful curlicues which paint on the screen as the voiceover declares, ‘Food Network Nighttime is way more than cooking,’ the cablenet new primetime slogan. That statement triggers a series of bold type animations – Exploration, Challenge, Personality, Culture — which characterize the network programming. Clips from the show, fading to black, illustrate each word. Then a quick-cut clip montage — ranging from shots of a horse race and palm tree-lined beach to a bottle-juggling bartender, a drive across the Brooklyn Bridge and a glimpse of a neon Welcome to Las Vegas sign — punctuate type animations demonstrating that Food Network is Way More Than Cooking.

“Food Network had seen the promos we’ve done for HBO and was looking to bring the same type of big-feel branding to promos for their nighttime programming, as well as the launch of their new HD service,” adds Editor Victor Masnyj. He and Ultrabland Executive Producer Heidi Bayer teamed with Food Network’s Adley and Greg Neal, Vice President of Creative Services, to create a campaign designed to take the highly successful channel to the next level.

Masnyj also cut 60- and 30-second versions of the HD promo, ‘Where Food Lives Large,’ to launch Food Network new HD cable service which was unveiled June 2006. Clips of Bobby Flay grilling against a backdrop of the Brooklyn Bridge are intercut with iced cakes that look like they’sre gift wrapped, examples of pastry-tube artistry, shots of parachuters, whitewater boating, a grape harvest, al fresco dining, a rodeo, disco, and the California coastline. The diverse montage of images is punctuated with pre-existing, lava lamp-style graphics supered with adjectives — Richer, Tastier, Bigger, Decadent, Every Day — evocative of the HD network program offerings.

Executive Producer Heidi Bayer also acted as Copywriter for the Food Network HD campaign and wrote the slogan, ‘Where Food Lives Large.’

“Heidi structured the scripts around the images, allowing us to break them up with graphics and type hits which showcase what viewers can expect from the new HD network,” notes Masnyj. “Food Network gave me so much great HD footage to choose from that it was easy to make the promos big and exciting.”

Victor Rice supplied Masnyj with a music track to cut to then, after Masnyj had a fine cut, he passed it back to Rice for sweetening and mixing. ‘Victor score has the big feel of movie trailers but doesn’t take itself too seriously,” Masnyj remarks.

‘We wanted the viewer to get closer to the food. Feel the emotion of the competitions. See the best in food programming like never before,’ notes Adley. ‘Ultrabland really captured the essence of that and made you want to take a big bite out of the screen.’

About Food Network
Food Network (www.foodnetwork.com) is a unique lifestyle network and website that strive to be way more than cooking. The network is committed to exploring new and different ways to approach food – through pop culture, competition, adventure, and travel – while also expanding its repertoire of technique-based information. Food Network is distributed to more than 89 million U.S. households and nine million website users. Food Network can be seen internationally in Canada, Australia, Korea, Thailand, Singapore, the Philippines, Monaco, Andorra, Africa, France, the Caribbean and Polynesia. The E.W. Scripps Company (NYSE:SSP), which also owns and operates Home & Garden Television Network (www.hgtv.com), Do It Yourself (www.diynetwork.com), Great American Country (www.gactv.com) and Fine Living (www.fineliving.com), is the manager and general partner.

About Ultrabland
Ultrabland is a uniquely specialized creative boutique dedicated to the art of creating high-end promos. Its award-winning talent provides seamlessly integrated editorial, design and music services to some of the industry’s most prestigious networks, including HBO, Showtime, NBC, CBS, Nickelodeon, Cinemax, Sundance Channel, MTV, USA, Lifetime, VH1, CourtTV, and Sci Fi Channel. For more information, contact Ultrabland Executive Producer, Heidi Bayer, at 646.638.2830 or visit www.ultrabland.com .

CREDITS:
Projects: 2x :30 Third Quarter Food Network Nighttime image promos;1x :60 and 1x :30 Food Network HD promos. Client: Food Network?‚àö√묨‚àÇGreg Neal, VP of Creative Services; Michael Adley, VP/Creative Director. Other Food Network Credit: JC Cancedda, Design Director; Karen Goodwin, Director of Production & Operations; Joanne Tang, Production Assistant. Editorial Company…Ultrabland/NY: Victor Masnyj, Editor; Heidi Bayer, Executive Producer. Online Company…Ultrabland/NY: Victor Masnyj, Editor; Heidi Bayer, Executive Producer and Copywriter. Original Music Compnay…Ultrabland/NY: Victor Rice, Composer. Audio Post Company…Ultrabland/NY: Victor Rice, Mixer.