About Face Media (sometimes referred to as AboutFace) is an American video agency that produces and promotes short-form documentaries within
social media on behalf of commercial clients. The company was founded in 2007 as an independently owned
new media content marketing agency and later narrowed its focus to
documentaries.
History
Pre-Founding
The original founders of the company (
Barry Poltermann Barry Alan Poltermann (born January 12, 1964) is an American film editor, director, and producer.
Poltermann is known for editing the Sundance Grand Prize winning documentary ''American Movie'' (1999) and '' Jim & Andy: The Great Beyond'' (2017), ...
, Steve Farr and David Dahlman) had previously co-founded
Los Angeles based new media production company L’Orange Entertainment in 2004. L’Orange produced cross-media
alternative reality game (ARG) content, primarily video, for the interactive agency
42 Entertainment
42 Entertainment is an American company based in Burbank which specializes in creating and producing alternate reality games (ARGs). The company was founded in 2003 as an independently owned, creative content and interactive agency under the nam ...
. Projects included (client in parentheses) ''Hex 168'' (Microsoft Gaming Studios/Xbox 360), ''MSN Found'' (Windows Live Search) and ''Last Call Poker'' (Activision’s
GUN), and ''Dead Man’s Tale'', an interactive game for
Windows Messenger and Disney’s ''
Pirates of the Caribbean
''Pirates of the Caribbean'' is a Disney media franchise encompassing numerous theme park rides, a series of films, and spin-off novels, as well as a number of related video games and other media publications. The franchise originated with th ...
''.
Founding
Poltermann, Farr and Dahlman left L’Orange in late 2006. In March 2007 the team was commissioned to produce a web based documentary series to promote the 2007
Art Chicago EXPO Chicago is an international contemporary and modern art exhibition held each year in Chicago, Illinois. In 2012, it took over the duties of a prior organization, Art Chicago, which began in 1980. ''Art Chicago'' was Chicago's longest-runni ...
International Art Fair. They retained documentary filmmaker Dan Ollman (co-director of the 2005 MGM release “
The Yes Men (film)
''The Yes Men'' is a 2003 documentary film about the early culture jamming exploits of The Yes Men.
The film revolves around "The Yes Men" — two anti-globalization activists, under the aliases Andy Bichlbaum and Mike Bonanno — who imperson ...
”) to direct the series.
About Face was established as an independent company in May 2007.
Changes
Denise McKee became an advisor to the company in 2007 and officially joined as COO in 2008. McKee previously co-founded San Francisco based
LimeLife, a mobile publisher focusing on the women’s market.
Connection with Independent Film
About Face filmmakers have directed, edited or produced several notable feature-length documentaries, including “
Mad Hot Ballroom”, “
American Movie”, "
Gunner Palace", “
The Life of Reilly
:''See also The Life of Riley (disambiguation).''
''The Life of Reilly'' is a 2006 American film adaptation of actor Charles Nelson Reilly's one-man play ''Save It For the Stage: The Life of Reilly''. Written by Reilly and Paul Linke, and directe ...
”, "
The Art of the Steal (2009 film)
''The Art of the Steal'' is a 2009 documentary film directed by Don Argott, about the controversial move of the Barnes Foundation, generally considered to be the world's best collection of post-Impressionist art and valued in 2009 to be worth at ...
" and “
Collapse (film)
''Collapse'', directed by Chris Smith, is an American documentary film exploring the theories, writings and life story of controversial author Michael Ruppert (1951-2014). ''Collapse'' premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival in Sept ...
”.
Projects
About Face clients include
Sears Holdings, The
Trek Bicycle Corporation,
3M,
Unilever and
Wilson Sporting Goods. Notable projects include the ongoing KmartDesign initiative (launched for
Kmart in April 2009)
and the 2010 re-election campaign of Illinois Governor
Pat Quinn (politician)
Patrick Joseph Quinn Jr. (born December 16, 1948) is an American lawyer and politician who served as the 41st governor of Illinois from 2009 to 2015. A Democrat, Quinn began his career as an activist by founding the Coalition for Political Honest ...
External links
Corporate website"Viral Videos in Social Media"article on Denise McKee
Bloomberg
References
{{reflist
American companies established in 2007
Mass media companies established in 2007