Sweet Spot Productions has created and produced TV spots promoting SEGA’s “Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games.” These spots will receive massive exposure, as they will be airing during the course of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games.

In the spots, we see the spectacle of an animated Olympic Games stadium from above. The scene then changes to the stadium’s track and field, with Mario, Sonic and many other characters from the worlds of Mario and Sonic getting ready for an Olympic race. The action cuts back and forth between live-action scenes of a typical family playing along with the characters with their Wii controllers in their living room, as Mario, Sonic and their friends compete in a number of Olympic competitions. We hear the announcer say, “As the competition heats up in Beijing, you can compete with family and friends in more than 20 Olympics events with Mario, and Sonic, and 16 of your favorite characters.”  

 Sweet Spot also produced the hand-held video style “Sonic Unleashed--Mysterious Sightings” trailer, including story concept and live-action direction This 90-second promotional trailer made its debut during E3 2008. To view this trailer, please see: http://www.gametrailers.com/player/36096.html

In the “Mysterious Sightings” trailer, we see a series of majestic city skylines from the air, all at night, but with a distinctively ominous vibe. Then, set against a series of disturbing video clips, we hear the announcer’s voice over, as he says, “Over the last six months, a nighttime phenomenon has been witnessed across many cities around the world.” “…in this alley, an abandoned video camera was discovered. The footage was left in the camera, and as you will see, there really is an unidentified creature haunting our cities at night.”

The, “Sonic Unleashed,” logo slams onscreen and another creature sighting is witnessed in the sky, as the voice over adds, “When the sun goes down, a new adventure begins.”  The trailer ends with an enormous Wolf’s paw smashing into a wall, leaving behind the words, “Holiday 2008,” and the promotional web address:  www.sonic-unleashed.com

Logan Parr, SEGA Product Manager said, “It is refreshing to work with an agency who truly understands both the target audience you are going after and the different media (along with their nuances) in order to create a dynamic and impactful campaign. My last project included online videos, TV spots and in-theater trailers, and Sweet Spot Productions maximized the effectiveness of each campaign with their understanding and talent.”

ABOUT SWEET SPOT PRODUCTIONS:

Don Scotti and Joe Takats bring decades of marketing, branding and promotional experience to their company, Sweet Spot Productions. In 2007, the duo was nominated for two Key Art Awards, for their marketing work behind the feature film “An American Haunting” and for After Dark Films’ “HorrorFest” film festival. This year, they won a Golden Trailer Award for Best Film Festival Trailer for “Horrorfest – 50’ Woman’. Before launching Sweet Spot, Scotti spent many years working at legendary trailer house Kaleidoscope Films Group, ultimately becoming that company’s Vice President, while Takats earlier served as Creative Director for Miramax Films, where he won four Key Art Awards. 
 
Scotti and Takats have produced various promotional campaigns for a broad array of feature films as well as videogames, including “SEGA Superstars Tennis,” “Viking: Battle for Asgard,” “Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games,” “Iron Man”, “The Golden Compass” and the main title treatment for “Highlander” for Eidos. Sweet Spot Productions is located at 6860 Lexington Ave, # 120, Hollywood, CA, 90038. The company’s phone is 323/790-1717, and the website is: www.sweetspotprods.com