Great news! We received news that MessageMakers has received two 2011 EMPixx Awards. 

The video "7 Million Pounds" for the FoodBank of Monmouth and Ocean Counties, New Jersey, received a platinum EMPixx Award.

"The FoodBank of Monmouth and Ocean Counties fights overwhelming need with an equally tremendous effort," says Tom Lietz, senior video producer. "In turn, that effort is made up of countless smaller contributions of time, money, and food – all working together to help stop hunger. The challenge for this project was to articulate that scale and complexity in an easily understandable way."

This video uses primarily motion graphics to make a point about the impact of the FoodBank on its community. Senior producer Tim Whalen says "Working on '7 Million Pounds' was a labor of love. It took quite a while to illustrate every element and animate them, but I found myself so attached to the project that I just couldn't let myself leave any detail out."

Also winning a gold EMPixx Award was the promo we produced for The Verve Pipe's A Family Album.

Tom notes, "We've worked with Donny Brown [of The Verve Pipe] previously as a music producer on several video projects, so it was a lot of fun to turn the tables and work with the band on their video needs. The documentary / performance format was just such a natural fit for this kind of story. Everyone in the band is just so genuinely passionate about bringing music to kids and families, and that makes our job as producers and storytellers a lot of fun."

The EMPixx Awards is sponsored by the American Pixel Academy (APA), a coalition of professionals and educators in the field of electronic moving pixels. The awards are under the direction of David E. Carter, a multiple Emmy and Clio winner who, as a young ad man, founded the Telly^® Awards, and also edited the Creativity annual for 10 years.