Our Creative Consigliere Max Joseph helmed this fantastic video we created for TOMS Shoes, which really embodies the spirit of PLAY. We worked with a fantastic choreographer, and dance troop, all genuine TOMS fans, which really brought the whole concept to life.

I remember sitting at Jones on sm blvd, with K$, Hank, and Max, discussing the concept about 6 months ago. Took some time, but here it is.

Ok that’s a really far stretch for a post title. Hear me out though… I recently had privilege of shooting with Puff aka Diddy for our series of Celeb Flip spots on his video shoot for “Coming Home” which took place on a salt flat in the middle of the desert. It wasn’t just the actual shoot experience that made for a cool time, but the journey of getting there was really out of a certain movie (featuring my fellow Xroads alum, Jonah Hill aka Jonah Feldstein. Nice work J!)

It all started back in Las Vegas, where I was on set, for another UC production, that was just as interesting. (Post on that soon to come)

I got the call at 9pm that I if I wanted to shoot with Puff, I had would have to make a call time at 6AM the next day at a Holiday Inn in 29 Palms, CA. WTF!?! I booked it to the airport and rented a car with GPS (thank G_D). And there started my journey. When I looked on Google Maps it seemed simple, 3.5 hours away, no problem. Little did I know, I’d be driving for hours through the Mojave desert on a 2 lane highway. Luckily for me, the entire UC crew was busting ass late night in the office to make deadlines, so I called Henry on the phone to let him know my location. If he didn’t hear from me in 3 hours, then at least he knew where I was and could alert the authorities that I was chopped up to pieces and buried Casino Sam Rothstein style in the desert somewhere.

The Sirius Radio was a serious life saver, specifically BBC Radio 1 (s/o to Gilles P) and Shade45 really pulled me through. I literally drove for 3 hours without seeing one light, not one car passing me in either direction. Fast forward, it’s the next morning, and I’m following a van, driving a half hour on a dirt road to “the location”, where there are 3 helicopters and a full scale production. I must say though, considering how large scale this shoot was for the video, the crew was pretty streamlined. It was blazing hot, and the sun was reflecting off the salt on the ground. But I was ready to get my close up with Diddy.

Diddy could not be more of a professional. and a gentleman. His team, the same way, all pros, all good people, no ego. meanwhile, this is the guy that has really defined an era of music, not to mention, is responsible for shepherding the greatest MC ever to be (B.I.G. RIP). We talked a little bit about the approach to the spot, the length of the final product, how he was going to shoot while in the helicopter (they strapped him in as he hung out the side one leg out of it, no stunt man, WOW!) And he went for it. Puff is a true fan of the product, which really helped. And here you have it ladies and gentleman: the music video in all it’s 3 helicopter splendor!

Friday is supposed to be the fun day at work, so why not spend some of your day watching cool new music videos? Here are some recent favorites.

Twin Sister – “All Around and Away We Go” – Directed by Mike Luciano

Gorillaz – “Melancholy Hill” – Directed by Chateau

Egyptrixx – “Start from the Beginning” – Animated short by Berlin artist A. N. Fischer / Datdatdat

Simian Mobile Disco – “Sweetbread” – Directed by Hans Lo and Jose Otero

Lykke Li – “Get Some” – Directed by Johan Söderberg

Urgent’s friend Alex Gorosh sent us this funny trailer he wrote, directed and edited for Good Magazine. It’s a parody of the Die Hard action films to create awareness about the large number of water-related illnesses in developing countries. The video promotes a product called Life Straw (a portable water filtration device) to be used in places where there is limited access to clean drinking water. Get informed and get humored below:

YouTubers, The Fine Brothers, are attempting an interesting new video series called “Kids React,” where they film kids watching well-known viral videos and then record their feedback. It’s attempting the ultimate combination of cute kids and viral hits. For the first episode, the kids watched “Double Rainbow,” “Two Bunnies Two Cups,” “Snickers Halloween Commercial,” and “Obama Podium Fail.” My initial reaction was that some of the kids they used just aren’t young/cute enough, but after a while I started to appreciate the tween feedback too. Still, younger kids like the girl Morgan are much more hilarious than the older kids, especially the slightly bigoted Jake (watch his part at the end). I don’t think The Fine Brothers nailed it with this video, but it’s still worth checking out.

via Mashable

(via Sean Moller)

Oddball hip hop crew Das Racist just put out a clever music video that also happens to be a kick ass 8-bit video game. Click here to get in some play time while you bump the new track “Who’s That? Broooown” over and over. If you’re not into gaming then check out the regular video below.