After a wild two years, The Balcony Affair has finished its run on the festival circuit. The film capped off its festival run last month with a repeat screening in Rhode Island, where, we’ve just heard, it was honoured with the Audience Choice Award for the evening. Wish we could have been there in person, but alas, our film is more well-travelled than we are!

Following its two-year jaunt around the world with screenings in Locarno, Vancouver, Newport Beach and Rhode Island (just to name a few), the film’s life on the big screen has come to an end. However, its life online is just beginning…

You can now watch The Balcony Affair in its entirety for free on the world wide web!

Thanks to everyone who made this film a reality. We’re pretty darn proud of it.

Congratulations to Pasha Patriki on his CSC nomination for “Air Balloon Circus” in the Short Dramatic Cinematography category. Not only was Air Balloon Circus an exterior night shoot, shot in the dead of Canadian winter, but we also had the pleasure of shooting in record setting cold temperatures that made us rethink our career paths. Will felt right at home of course as he was raised in the mountains of Edmonton by Yetis, but even he at times got a tad chilly. We are really proud of the film and so excited about Pasha’s nomination. In fact, Pasha has a second nomination for his work on Saidah Baba Talibah’s music video, “Revolution”

Way to go Pasha! We’re rooting for you!

It’s been a little over a month since Buyral was launched on the cyberworld. With over  750,000 (real) clicks, press coverage in major blogs, newspapers and newscasts, and making Al Jazeera’s Video of the Week — no joke, check it out at the 22-minute mark! – we couldn’t be happier. Of course this is old news to all you internet-savvy types, but hey, we’ve been busy over here!

When  john st. approached Aircastle this year to create their 2012 Agency of the Year Video, we were a bit skeptical… after the success of Catvertising, how could we possibly live up to the bar we all set so high in 2011?

Our latest purr-ject with john st. features Norman, an eco warrior housecat who is helping save our oceans one meal at a time.

After our first successful feline collaboration with john st.  (Catvertising) Aircastle was excited to team up with the agency yet again to work on their latest campaign for the World Wildlife Fund.

Directors Jamie Cussen and Will Beauchamp applied their years of experience living among cats in dark alleyways to bring out some truly inspired performances from Phineus and Parker, the two seasoned actors who combined to play the part of Norman.

The video has gotten paws-itive feedback all around, and made its way around the inter webs its view count rising steadily.

This was our first collaboration with art director Denver Eastman and writer Jacob Greer. We hit it off and have begun development on our next project together, a short film entitled “Dongle”.

ATU Local 113, the union that represents over 9000 TTC workers, came to Aircastle with a challenge: to remind Torontonians that North America’s third largest transit system is kept running safely and efficiently thanks to the dedication of its little-seen Maintenance staff.

Directors Jamie Cussen and Will Beauchamp were given incredible access to a side of Toronto that many citizens never see or think about. They met the men and women who work day and night in the maintenance shops, on the streets, and underground to keep our transit system running safely.

The campaign that emerged sought to present these workers in a heroic light, while reminding a skeptical audience that, at the end of the day, these jobs are important because they keep us and our loved ones safe.

From conception all the way to delivery, Aircastle was responsible for a total of 24 print ads, a micro site, three 30-second broadcast spots and an epic 90-second cinema spot.

Aircastle teamed up with award-winning cinematographer Mikhail Petrenko and shot on the Phantom Flex as well as the Red Epic to achieve the surreal look that was desired.

A huge shout out to our editor Chris Murphy over at Relish for an amazing job. He sliced and diced the hell out of these spots.

Bringing back a classic! Rock Paper Scissors found a new audience online thanks to the National Screen institute, and today it was announced that the film was awarded the A&E short filmmaker award!
Jury member John Dippong, regional director business development2 at Telefilm Canada, had this to say  about the film” it beautifully captured the naivety, bravado and innocent sexual confusion of childhood. It delivers a humorous yet poignant slice of life that should resonate with anyone over the age of 12.”

Looking back at what has been an incredible 2011 for Aircastle, the success of Catvertising is truly remarkable. With over a million views and climbing, a shout out from Conan O’Brien, and a mention on the Time Top Ten of Everything 2011,  Catvertising is the first video we have produced that has earned the label of “viral” . It was also our first collaboration with john st and the extremely talented creative team of Kurt Mills and Kyle Lamb.

Co-directors Jamie Cussen and Will Beauchamp  weren’t sure what they were getting into when they agreed to work with an office full of cats, “we just pumped ourselves full of Claritin, stocked up on catnip and hoped for the best” says Jamie. “It was great, we got to spend the whole day playing with cameras and cats.”

Looking forward to seeing what 2012 will bring!

Aircastle Films recently collaborated with director Jim Goodall to produce the Bravo!FACT short Air Balloon Circus. After shooting outside throughout the coldest winter nights in Toronto’s History it seems like the pain has paid off. We are really proud of this short film. Thanks to everyone involved!

Aircastle Films is currently in post-production on this feature length documentary for OMNI TV. The film tells the life story of Somali Canadian artist Amin Amir, documenting his flight from Somalia and his work as a political cartoonist and social activist in the Edmonton-Somali community.