Kawasaki a Winner at New York Festivals World’s Best Television & Film Awards

Kawasaki received four awards including gold medals for Best Venue and Best Cinematography at the New York Festivals International Television & Film Awards for ads featuring the Ninja ZX-6R (636) and the Z800.

The New York Festivals have been celebrating the best in television and films for 55 years. This year’s awards, announced at the National Association of Broadcasters Show in Las Vegas, awarded 119 gold medals, 145 silver medals, 10 bronze medals and 327 finalist certificates for entries representing 50 different countries.

Kawasaki submitted the videos for the Ninja ZX-6R and the Z800 and received four medals and a finalist certificate.

“For the new Ninja ZX-6R we used the iconic Isle of Man TT course as the location and engaged a top TT rider to star in the video. Likewise, the Z800 production featured a highly respected boxer in line with the tag line that this machine was a middleweight motorcycle with a knockout punch.” says Zoontjes, adding: “Spurred-on by very positive public reaction to each of the two videos we consulted our production partner, Pool Productions, and decided to enter submissions in several categories of the prestigious New York Festivals awards in the hope that they would perhaps be selected among the finalists. To achieve this and then go on to win two gold’s, a silver and a bronze award was simply amazing.”

The “Set Your Heart Racing” ad for the new 636cc 2013 Kawasaki Ninja ZX-6R won a gold medal for Best Event Venue, a silver for cinematography and a bronze for production design and art direction. The ad starred racer James Hillier riding the ZX-6R on the Isle of Man and featured some stunning footage showcasing the speed of the 636 and some stunning visuals of Hillier leaning precariously close to the walls lining stretches of the Isle’s Mountain Course.

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“I had never done anything like this before and to witness roads being closed, helicopter filming coordinated with a camera ‘chase bike’ and all the other elements being organized by the production team convinced me that we would have something special for Kawasaki fans to view,” says Hillier. “If I achieve the same level of success at the TT races in June, I will be delighted!”

The video for the Kawasaki Z800, a model unfortunately not available in North America, is titled “The Undisputed Super Middle Weight”. It features a boxer  Pere Truñó preparing for a big match and riding the Z800 (Hillier is also credited for the riding footage.) The video won gold for cinematography and a finalist certificate for production design/art direction.

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Both spots were produced by Kawasaki and its production partner Pool Productions.

“We have been working with Kawasaki for a number of years and felt these two videos were worthy of wider recognition. To have each win the top award in a major category is an amazing feeling which makes all the hard work of the team involved worthwhile,” says Tom Moran, producer and director of photography who rode the camera bike used in filming both videos.

[Source: Kawasaki]

By Dennis Chung