For customized programming and promotion packages for its half-hour reality show, IFC News Special: South By Southwest, Behind The Badge, the Independent Film Channel (IFC) returned to motion design and branding studio, ZONA Design. The reality show is scheduled to air on IFC website beginning April 17th and on the network the first week of May.

South By Southwest is a one of a kind media conference that brings together the most innovative minds in film, music and interactive. Three industry events ?√Ñ√¨ the SXSW Music and Media Conference and Festival, the SXSW Film Festival and the SXSW Interactive Festival Рconverge each March in Austin during a Texas-sized week.

IFC News, a sponsor of the event, was in attendance to capture all of the festivities, panels, performances, and premieres. To get the insider’s perspective on SXSW, IFC News chose three attendees – a filmmaker with a film in the festival, a blogger who is a Bloggies/Web Award nominee, and a musician performing at the music conference. Each was provided a DV camera and an endless supply of tape and charged with filming their personal SXSW experience including their journey to the festival (packing, planning, flying), their experience at the festival (hotel check-in, smoozing, press interviews, performing, premieres, working the conference floor, eating meals, hanging out with friends, meeting peers, paneling, partying, sleeping) as well as their trip home. In addition to this self-shot video footage, IFC News lensed in-depth interviews with each and additional event highlights. The result is the insightful, informative and entertaining IFC News Special: South By Southwest, Behind The Badge.

“I love projects like this one. There was a great synergy between ZONA and IFC, and they allowed us to be bold,” explained ZONA Creative Director/Designer Zoa Martinez. “I did not want the package to be too Western but it is, after all, the SXSW festival in the Lone Star State. I wanted a spontaneous indie rock ?‚àö√ë‚àö‚â§n roll flavor, and to me, good rock is raw so that is how we approached the programming and promotion packages. The rawness is in the textures, the composition of elements, the haphazardness of negatives and positives, the color palate – white, black, cadmium, sienna, emerald and cyan. It felt like we were creating a digital painting. We used some in-house tricks and digital photography to create multi-layered stills and composited treated images of icons including badges, a cowboy hat, film reels, boots and spurs, and then integrated images of SXSW contestants who became part of the texture of the package. The program open is all about the textures of the festival, the painterliness, the cuttiness, the energy, in the end, creating something at once rustic and crisp,” added Martinez.

Douglas Marshall, IFC Administrator Original Series and Live Events, who co-produced Behind the Badge, said of his experience with the ZONA image makers, “ZONA is amazing! We had a compressed schedule with very little lead time and Zoa and her team exceeded our wildest expectations. The work is better than we had thought possible. It captures the festival vibe – Texas with a rock n roll flavor. ZONA really nailed it. ”

In addition to Creative Director/Designer Zoa Martinez, ZONA seasoned team, known for their distinctive and effective designs, included Executive Producer Dennis Fluet, Designer Agnes Nowkowska and Composite Artist Supara Sophnowasu. ZONA utilized Adobe After Effects, Illustrator and Photoshop, and Apple Final Cut Pro in the execution of this project.

Behind the Badge was co-produced by Douglas Marshall, IFC Administrator Original Series and Live Events and Michael Pressman. Christine Lubrano, Director Original Series and Live Events, was the show Executive Producer.

About ZONA Design:
ZONA Design, founded in 1999, is an award winning multi-disciplined design agency creating results driven work that is bold and direct for all points of contact with the consumer in the general, Hispanic, and youth markets. The company portfolio includes high profile projects for Disney/ESPN Networks, AOL Time Warner Networks, 5Boro Skateboards, Discovery Communications, Encore Media Group, Rainbow Media Holdings, Chrysler, Dodge, and the various A&E Networks.

About IFC:
Launched in September 1994, The Independent Film Channel (IFC) is the first channel entirely dedicated to presenting independent film, unedited and commercially uninterrupted 24 hours a day. IFC’s library boasts a collection of uncompromising stories, character and style. Committed to work struck from the creative vision of cinema’s most compelling filmmakers, IFC also offers alternative films from today’s new and up-and-coming artists. IFC’s exclusive live coverage of special events including the Independent Spirit Awards and Cannes Film Festival, creative on-air festivals and one-of-a-kind original series and specials secures the company’s role as the leader in independent film. IFC Television is one of the fastest growing digital cable networks available nationwide

ZONA Design, Inc. is headquartered in the Empire State Building, 350 Fifth Avenue, Suite 321, New York, NY 10118. For additional information, or to see a reel, contact VP/Executive Producer Dennis Fluet at [email protected] or by phone at 212.244.2900. Visit the ZONA Design web site at www.zonadesign.com. ZONA Design is a certified Minority Woman Business Enterprise from the NYNJ Council (NMSDC) and New York City. ZONA Design is also a 2004 and 2005 Hispanic Trends Magazine Top 100 Entrepreneur.