The Critics' and People's Choice: Interactive Agency Deep Focus and Picturehouse Win Two Webby Awards for Pan's Labyrinth Website

The Critics' and People's Choice: Interactive Agency Deep Focus and Picturehouse Win Two Webby Awards for Pan's Labyrinth Website

Take First Place in the Movie and Film Category and the People's Voice Award

BROOKLYN, N.Y., May 10 /PRNewswire/ -- Deep Focus, the New York-based interactive advertising and marketing agency, and Picturehouse, a joint venture between New Line Cinema and HBO, were named winners of two Webby Awards in recognition for the website promoting the film, Pan's Labyrinth. The wins, for Best Movie/Film Website and the People's Voice Award in the same category, are a first for both companies.

Hailed as the "Oscars of the Internet" by the New York Times, the Webby Awards is the leading international award honoring excellence on the Internet, including Websites, Interactive Advertising, Online Film & Video, and Mobile Websites.

"This is a great win for Deep Focus," said Ian Schafer, CEO and founder of the agency. "We are proud to be associated with a client as creative as Picturehouse. This collaboration led to the development of an experience respected not only by our peers, but by our audience. Deep Focus has, and always will continue to produce successful, innovative campaigns that set industry standards, resonate with audiences, and elicit participation."

The Movie and Film category judged finalists on campaign sites dedicated to the promotion, celebration and presentation of films, movies and film culture. The Pan's Labyrinth main site, developed by Picturehouse, allowed visitors to flip through pages of director Guillermo Del Toro's sketchbook and listen to his audio commentary. Deep Focus used that site as a starting point to create the widely popular Journals of Imagination section, which invited fans to create an interactive sketchbook featuring up to 10 of their own artistic creations inspired by the motion picture.

"This is another great win for the entire team that worked on Pan's Labyrinth," said Bob Berney, President Picturehouse. "We are delighted to have won such a prestigious award and proud of all the hard work that Deep Focus and Picturehouse accomplished. The on-line campaign was very important to the success of the theatrical marketing campaign and continues to be critical in the upcoming DVD release."

Picturehouse:
Developers: Nevin Shalit and Chad Ossman

Deep Focus:
Art Director: Eric Stockmeyer
Developer: Jason Garrett
Animator/designer: Jeramie Hildenbrand
Account Executive: Jim Marsh
Account Director: Sabrina Caluori

About Deep Focus:

Founded in 2002, Deep Focus (http://www.deep-focus.net/) develops impactful online advertising campaigns, effective cross-media advertising strategies, buzz-generating virals and websites, integrated promotions, online public relations, word-of-mouth marketing strategies, and good karma for its clients. Deep Focus has launched hundreds of successful (and award-winning) campaigns and strategies for current clients such as HBO, Court TV, Comedy Central, Twentieth Century Fox, The Weinstein Company, Dimension Films, New Line Cinema, Miramax Films, Fox Searchlight, Picturehouse, Universal Music, Interscope Records, Geffen Records, Island/Def Jam Records, RCA Records, Nike and Dewar's. Headquartered in New York, with offices in Los Angeles, Deep Focus, Inc. is privately held with over 70 employees.

About Picturehouse:

Picturehouse is a theatrical motion picture company that produces, acquires and releases feature films. Currently in release is Guillermo del Toro's triple Oscar-winning gothic fairy tale Pan's Labyrinth, which has currently grossed a record-breaking $36 million in North America. Up next is Gracie, directed by Oscar-winner Davis Guggenheim (An Inconvenient Truth) and starring Oscar-Nominee Elisabeth Shue, Andrew Shue and Carly Schroeder (Firewall, Mean Creek); Olivier-Dahan's Edith Piaf biopic, La Vie En Rose; El Cantante, a music-infused biography of Puerto Rican, salsa pioneer Hector Lavoe, starring Jennifer Lopez and her husband, Marc Anthony; Rocket Science, the first narrative film from Jeffrey Blitz (Spellbound) which premiered at the 2007 Sundance Film Festival where it received rave reviews and won the Directing Prize and Francois Girard's Silk, starring Michael Pitt, Keira Knightley, Koji Yakusho, and Alfred Molina.

Source: Deep Focus

CONTACT: Christian Borges of Deep Focus Publicity, +1-718-797-3618, x 249,
or christian@deep-focus.net

Web site:

http://www.deep-focus.net/

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