McHale Barone + Rogue Creative: two worlds collide; the story of how a music-for-commercials shop met an animation studio - Open House - Brief Article

Post,  June, 2002  by Ann Fisher

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NEW YORK -- Chris McHale says he keeps on top of his game by "keeping his pencil sharp." In this case, McHale has done it by uniting his successful music and radio commercial production house, McHale Barone with Rogue Creative, a new animation and live action production company created earlier this year by former MTV Commercials founder/executive producer Nick Litwinko and former MTV Animation producer Pete Reichert, who is based in Seattle.

I started getting a little concerned about business last year in the spring, I could see the recession in my bottom line," says McHale. "After September 11, when all of us went in the toilet for about 60 days, I read about Nick starting something. This is a creative soundtrack company --we do music for films, radio commercials comedy, sound design, effects -- and I've always had the desire to grow the company into the pictorial area It occurred to me that the natural extension of our core work would be animation because often animation starts with soundtracks. I pitched the idea to Nick and he agreed with me.

McHale Barone's production facilities are on the 6th floor at 30 Irving Place, and Rogue Creative moved into the empty 7th floor loft space in February. The companies will function independently and do projects jointly, as requested by clients, McHale envisions an informal introduction period for existing clients to get used to this whole new realm of services.

"We're looking for opportunities," reports McHale. "One of my interests is to work a little outside the commercial realm. We're developing some non-commercial projects, maybe an animation [TV] series, over the next three or four months. We're not presenting one big edifice to our client It's important that we function independently so the producers don't feel pressured. I've done that for 10 years with my radio/music company. I get hired to do music and I get hired to do radio. It took a long time for clients to get comfortable to hire me to do both [as well as copywriting]. It took a long time for clients to feel comfortable with all those services. I think we'll go through the same process," he says.

THE GEAR

McHale Barone's audio facility has three major studios with Digidesign Pro Tools/24 Mix Plus systems. Studio B houses a Yamaha O3D, has 64 tracks of audio and is designed for surround sound. Studio C is a mix-to-pix suite combining Pro Tools with the latest music and post software, and a fully integrated MIDI facility connected to a machine room of D-2 and Digi Beta machines.

Rogue Creative brings Apple Final Cut Pro uncompressed workstations with Pinnacle Targa cards. Full Beta, 3/4-inch and 1/2-inch decks are there to start. It is a Mac-based shop with G4s running Adobe's After Effects and Photoshop. It does finish digital ink and paint on small projects in-house. Its creative style is diverse, from stop motion to cel to CG. The vast talent pool culled from past MTV work is freelance based, with dream teams assembled particular to each job.

The animators recently finished their fifth spot for Oxygen network as well as a three-minute mini-movie for Nissan for TBWA/A/Chiat/Day which was distributed on CD to dealers. It was created in a 2D and CG anime style, with traditional cel done in-house and in conjunction with LA's Rhythm & Hues.

Rogue Creative recently completed Nike Shocks, a spot for Weiden & Kennedy in Amsterdam. All stop motion, it was shot on Sony digital cameras, then fed directly into the Macs, composited in After Effects with Alias/Wavefront Maya 3D particle effects, It remained in the digital domain until the PAL and NTSC conversions were made. The spot aired in London theaters. Other Rogue clients include PlayStation and 7-11

Recent McHale Barone TV work includes the Budweiser Neighbors jingle and a song for a Cox Communications.

"With Rogue we're in development on some concepts and scripts to pitch to networks and it's important for our commercial work that we stay as active as we can in other fields. My music production has improved so much because I did [a recent] record project. It just keeps raising the bar. I have the same thought with Rogue -- it just improves the writers that are here and the producers. They just start thinking in broader terms, creatively. The commercial work is all,' Can you write me a great hit song and can I have it by 10 o'clock?' You've gotta be ready."

MAKE CONTACT

McHale Barone

212-253-2920

www.mcbone.com

Rogue Creative

212-475-4466

www.rogue-creative.com

30 Irving Place

New York, NY 10003

Clients:

Budweiser, PlayStation,

7-11, Nike, Nissen

Principals:

Chris McHale, Joe

Barone, Nick Litwinko,

Pete Reichert

Equipment:

Digidesign Pro Tools, Yamaha 03D, AIW Maya, Pinnacle, Adobe After Effects, Apple Final Cut Pro

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