Full Sail Film graduate Jeff Pinilla was recently honored at the 2011 PromaxBDA Awards with a Gold award for an innovative print campaign he created for CW affiliate WPIX-11 in New York City. Jeff has been with the station for over a year as a producer and editor in charge of promotional spots for their daily programming, and developed the campaign to rebrand their local news team.
“I wanted to do a full-blown spread of our news cast like a Rolling Stone or Vanity Fair cover," he says. "Something along the lines of what my favorite photographers do."
The resulting images feature a stylized ensemble of their news anchors in front of a black background, surrounded by scattered newspapers, snow-filled television sets, and vintage office furniture. It’s a striking portrait, and a far cry from the promotional material you typically see for local news.
“The whole reason behind this campaign is that I wanted a picture you can’t just copy,” he says. “Every other news station uses two heads smiling with a different logo at the bottom. I wanted something that screamed a vibe, where you know exactly who it is when you see it.”
The images were blown up and used prominently throughout the New York subway system, which generated strong feedback. Based on that success Jeff submitted the campaign to the Promax Awards under the category of Consumer Print Ad, and would eventually win the organization’s highest recognition.
“Promax is basically the Oscars of [local and National TV] advertising,” he says. “They’re open to every local TV station, TV network, and advertising agency in the USA, so it was a huge moment for me. My boss just let me fly with the project, and if it wasn’t for him giving me the opportunity to experiment, we wouldn’t have won this award.”
In addition to Promax, the ads have also received positive coverage from the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, MediaPost, and Adweek. Sharp eyes can also catch Jeff's work in the background of an episode of the FX series Louie.
“It’s just cool to know that people are admiring the picture,” he says. “I remember the first time I got on the subway, I saw this guy looking at it kind of nodding his head because he really liked it. That was a great moment.”
* To learn more about Jeff Pinilla’s career at WPIX, read his career profile: www.fullsail.edu/news/grad-news/2010-08-05-jeff-pinilla-grad-profile
