Canon is giving the public a chance to direct in “Project Imaginat10n.” Helmed by Ron Howard and daughter Bryce Dallas Howard, filmmakers of all skill levels can join five celebrity directors—Eva Longoria, Jamie Foxx, Biz Stone, Georgina Chapman and James Murphy—in directing short films inspired by 91 Project Imaginat10n winning photographs. 

The third annual program found inspiration after it charged Howard to use crowdsourced photos for a short film project, when you find me, which was directed by his daughter. This year, aspiring directors can submit photographs that fit into 10 themes, including character, mood, backstory and obstacle. The contest is the brand's latest installment in its Long Live Imagination campaign.

Howard is no stranger to marketing, as the famous director has often expressed his appreciation for the industry and its tendency to be "wide open" to creative ideas. For a brand like Canon, the marriage between producing traditional films in an untraditional way is helping it set itself apart from its digital competitors.Continue reading...

Any doubt that the BlackBerry 10 is central to the survival of Research In Motion was likely erased on Wednesday as the company not only unveiled its new operating system and phones, but changed its corporate name to "BlackBerry," too. "We have a fantastic brand, BlackBerry, and we are known as such all over the world, except in North America," CMO Frank Boulben commented in a video interview at the launch. "We wanted to take full advantage of that global, iconic brand."

"We have redefined ourselves inside and out," said CEO Thorsten Heins, speaking from New York to launch events held across the globe, including one held at the world's tallest building, Dubai's Burj Khalifa, in its $650-a-night Armani Hotel. "RIM becomes BlackBerry. It is one brand, it is one promise." He declined to specify the company's marketing spend for the corporate rebrand and a global launch of BlackBerry 10 that includes Sunday's Super Bowl ad buy, but characterized it as in the "hundreds of million dollars."

That was partially evident at the New York launch with the introduction of Grammy Award winning singer Alicia Keys as the company's "global creative director." It's a trend that follows Lady Gaga's arrangement with Polaroid, will.i.am with Intel, Victoria Beckham with Range Rover, and Keys' husband Swizz Beatz with Reebok — and no doubt annoys creative directors.Continue reading...

Ron Howard has wanted to be in the marketing business for decades now, but his wife told him that if he had time to take away from his work as a famous director, producer, and actor, he better fork it over to his wife and kids.

Well, the kids are all grown up now and Howard must have gotten buy-in from his wife because the partnership of Howard and producer Brian Glazer – the duo behind such classic films and TV series as Splash, Apollo 13, 8 Mile, A Beautiful Mind, Friday Night Lights, 24, and Arrested Development – are bringing their storytelling savvy to the marketing world, according to Fortune.

The appeal of working with brands, Howard told Fortune, is that marketers are “wide open” about their how they deliver content, using "long form, short form, live events.” They're also eager for better quality storytelling, and eager to bring Hollywood-honed creativity to their brands. Down the road, Howard says, "We could bring in an Academy Award-winning screenwriter to work on a brand."Continue reading...

The world loves Formula One racing — well, most of the world. The sport is said to be worth $3 billion annually around the globe, an amount that would grow if only America would learn to love extremely cool-looking cars zooming around at 200 mph. Now they will (once again) have a chance to go speed-dating with F1.

After a five-year hiatus, Formula One is giving the United States another try. The new $400 million Circuit of the Americas track in Austin, Texas, will host a F1 race in November, and another race is planned in New Jersey next year, according to a profile of the sport in the new issue of Vanity Fair. (Red Bull sports marketer Jordan Miller clarified via Twitter that it's 2014 for F1 in NJ.)

“Here’s what the U.S. market has to understand,” said Red Bull driver Mark Webber to Vanity Fair. “F1 is a prototype sport. It’s about pushing the boundaries of technology. It’s luxury. It’s top gear, optimal lap time. The teams are so heavily invested technologically, the cost of shaving one-tenth of a second from a single lap time exceeds $100 million.”

However, as film director Ron Howard tells the magazine, things are a lot safer in the sport than they were back in the ‘70s: “F1 today is still a cool, intense, sexy environment,” he said. “But back in the 70s it was a lot more dangerous. Drivers would go to their first drivers’ meeting of the year, look around the room, and know that a couple of these guys wouldn’t live through the season.” Howard’s next film, Rush, is focused on the sport during that time period, and he's supporting the Circuit of the Americas track opening by attending kick-off festivities on Nov. 1st.Continue reading...

David Cassidy has probably sung “C’mon Get Happy” about seven zillion times since he joined the cast of The Partridge Family in 1970 and became a teen idol at the age of 20. That doesn’t mean that the now 62-year-old is pleased with the show or its producers. In fact, he’s furious.

After all the T-shirts, lunch boxes, posters, games, dolls, trading cards and other collectibles with his picture on them, not to mention the years of dodging screaming fans, Cassidy says he only made $15,000 in merchandising fees. He’s been on a long legal battle to get some of that dough, which could equal around $10 million, according to a press release.

An L.A. Superior Court judge is currently considering if he will hear the case against Sony in front of a jury. Cassidy isn't the only disgruntled '70s TV star, either. Some of the cast members from Happy Days are also suing CBS over their cut (or lack thereof) in merchandising sales related to the show.Continue reading...

AIG raises $8.7 billion.

Amazon launches $164 Kindle 3G with ads, as B&N unveils $139 touchscreen Nook.

Apple passes 500,000 unique app offerings in its U.S. store.

Bharti Walmart expands wholesale stores.

Bob Dylan turns 70.

Boeing weighs options for new planes.

British Airways develops Windows 7 mobile boarding app.

California Pizza Kitchen agrees to buyout offer.Continue reading...