Germany's Next Top Model

With work on Australia and America’s Next Topmodel already in our tote bag, when Screentime approached ZENT to lend its creative touch to Germany’s Next Topmodel’s visit to Sydney, we just couldn’t say ‘Nein’! 

The ZENT team, led by Alex Zehntner, collaborated with the German production team to art direct Episodes 7 and 8 of Germany’s Next Topmodel’s 11th season. We worked vigorously over 10 days to shoot the episode in various locations around Sydney. 

We pulled together exciting sets for 3 model challenges, which included a nude photo shoot out in the Australia bush, an ice truck challenge and a red carpet catwalk contest against a stunning Sydney Harbour and Opera House backdrop. 

The result was slick and sophisticated. Another international triumph for the Next Topmodel crew and ZENT Productions. 

Codecamp

They say that children and technology are our future, so ZENT jumped at the chance to bring life to a project that combined the two and create an exciting brand experience for Code Camp! 

Code Camp is an organisation that teaches kids how to write code and build iPhone apps in their school holidays. 

Banter agency approached ZENT to conceptualise and deliver a cool and interesting brand experience at Westfield in Chatswood, NSW. 

ZENT, led by Alex and Andreas Zehntner (Creative Director and Creative Strategist) delivered the end-to-end experience from concept and design through to production.

This was the first time that Code Camp had done something outside of the classroom and so the ZENT team pulled out all the stops to make sure that the kids experienced camp in a stimulating, open environment as well as ensuring that interest and interaction was created with the general public passing by. 

The space had to appeal to the target market of kids aged between 5-14, whilst still remaining functional and effective for the client.

“We created a branded experiential environment made up of 4 vibrant, distinct zones. These were specifically designed for education, interactivity or brand engagement and included a modern classroom area and a funky gaming station,” says Alex. 

However, it was the ‘Gameplay for Real’ zone that invited both Code Campers and the public to engage in a fun game of mini soccer that was a real crowd pleaser!  

The entire 5-day event was a huge success for Code Camp, who is so happy with how things went that they are looking to roll out the concept nationally. 

At The David Jones Table – Women In Conversation

In celebration of International Women's Day, David Jones released 'Women in Conversation', the first series of episodes to be announced as part of the new content program 'At the David Jones Table'. ZENT were engaged by McAvoy Media to dress and style a beautiful house in Watson’s Bay to host this inaugural series.

The 4 x 15 minute episodes, accessed via the retailer's website, YouTube and social media channels, feature round table discussions with a line-up of 18 influential and inspiring Australian women from differing backgrounds speaking about the important issues relating to women in today's society.

Alex Zehntner, Art Director, explains “David Jones wanted to capture the entire day with these interesting and dynamic women, from seeing them get their hair and make-up done, through to meeting each other before the lively round table discussions themselves. So, we had the challenge of creating 3 distinct zones that looked beautiful but remained functional for filming purposes.”

Through our excellent styling expertise using soft furnishings, flowers and glassware, ZENT created set spaces that were bright and elegant but maintained a sense of simplicity to allow for complex filming to capture the conversations from all angles.

Filming took place over 2 days and ZENT worked to a tight daily schedule, facilitating bump in, shooting and bump out all in 8 hours.

ZENT was specifically selected for this project for their professionalism and their openness to be featured in the filming so that the styling of the space could be incorporated as part of the filmed content.

The ZENT team was extremely proud to be involved in a piece of work that aspires to celebrate and inspire Australian women. 

Target Style The Nation with Gok

When Seven Network, Target and Gok Wan teamed up for Target’s Style The Nation with Gok, it was the Ensemble Agency and ZENT Productions  collaboration that helped make it happen. 

Taking place on Cockatoo Island in Sydney Harbour, five Australian women were awarded a $20,000 make over experience- across four days, culminating in a huge fashion parade to reveal their new looks. This fun and exciting journey was broadcast on SEVEN in an hour long program, scheduled in prime time with the launch of Dancing with the Stars.

When Ensemble Agency engaged ZENT to conceptualise and art direct the project, together they knew one of the creative challenges would be to bring a warmth to the sometimes cavernous warehouses on Cockatoo Island. They also wanted a functionally dynamic space that could best showcase the Target product.

Creative Director Alex Zehntner envisaged that each woman would have her own personal 'fashion sanctuary', along with additional studios devoted to accessories, hair and makeup, where up to 25 experts led by Gok Wan would work their magic…

'We created urban cocoon’s constructed from temporary inflatable wall panels, placed in the various corners of the large halls,’ says Alex.

’These were then lit with pastel lights which illuminated and softened to create the perfect space to be set dressed. The styling of the sets were feminine, electic, colourful and bold, with all the soft furnishings and accessories sourced from within the Target 2015 summer range.'

The functionality of the sets created by ZENT needed to change, with just a moments notice. One of many achievements for ZENT in this project was transforming the entire space from the 'fashion sanctuaries’ format, to that of a catwalk and dynamic cocktail party space for 150 guests, including - media, network execs, families and friends. 

‘This way of making branded entertainment is only for the creatively brave!’ says Alex.

'We absolutely loved creating a kit of parts that included inflatable wall panels, coloured wall paper flats, key props, furniture pieces and soft furnishings in multiple colour options, to help us respond to the needs of the shoot and the experience of the women.’ 

On set, ZENT had a team of two senior art directors, 5 set stylists and two prop makers, along with a construction studio allowing the team to build and customise props live and as needed, across the four days.

Seven won the night of TV ratings and Australia may now consider themselves Target and Gok devotees. This exciting branded entertainment activation, absolutely proved to a new audience that Target is the place for fashion forward, fast moving trends.

Contiki Presents: Robots Unrivalled Brand Activation

A pop-up Tokyo inspired Robot restaurant and experience called #robotsunrivalled came to life in Sydney recently, celebrating the launch of Contiki Travel's new ‘Japan Unrivalled’ trip. Contiki and Ensemble media engaged ZENT Productions to create this burlesque like, raving robot performance and food event at Slide on Oxford St.

The ZENT team, lead by Creative Director Alex Zehntner, saw the design and production of nine shows over three nights, starring 28 cast members alongside a pop-up restaurant, creating an impact you could only compare to Contiki’s Tokyo trip itself...

Set styling and build, music production, costume design, hair and make up, lighting and video content was fused together for a serious ‘wow’ factor, in this extraordinary brand activation. 

Giant robots in dance fights, J-Pop songstress girls, naughty neon acrobats and an exuberant soundtrack left audiences wired with delight. ZENT ensured all of the creative elements worked together to distill the essence of exactly why Tokyo is worthy of your bucket list.

ZENT’s team designed an 80 minute total experience for each performance, which included 30 mins for food and beverage, the 30 minute show then followed by 20 minutes for photo’s with the hero robots.

Moshtix called it the ‘craziest and coolest event of 2015’. Meanwhile, Time Out were inspired to create a haiku photo essay. In total there were 58 separate online articles generated by independent digital publishers and bloggers during the three nights.

 Around 600 images were posted by delighted audience members during the #robotunrivalled three day event, with subsequent reach seeing a 225% increase in website traffic for Contiki, during and post brand activation.

 ZENT Productions loved turning Japanese for this super fun brief. 

KFC's 'Home Cricket Ground’ at the SCG, Branded Experience

A bunch of best mates from Victoria had the ultimate Aussie cricket experience watching Australia v India in the Fourth Test at the Sydney Cricket Ground from a corporate box decked out as the ultimate boys pad with all the comforts of home, thanks to KFC’s Home Cricket Ground campaign.

This KFC and Ogilvy Sydney campaign focussed on the traditions of getting together with friends and family to watch the cricket at home. For the branded entertainment component of the brief, Ensemble worked with ZENT Productions to create the experience at the SCG for one competition winner and 9 of his best mates...

The corporate box was divided into four zones, with lounge, kitchen & dining, games area and outside backyard all decorated to suit the specific interests of the competition winner. ZENT’s creative team ensured there were remote control cars, dart boards, camping and fishing magazines, crazy cricket fan hats and trophy’s for all the guys.

Upon arrival, the award winner was surprised to see his favourite family pics on the wall and was provided with a polaroid camera to capture all the day’s fun with his friends. This polaroid pin board allowed the social media team to post through to social media, during the experience.

The ZENT production team did a brilliant job of transforming the corporate box in 5 hours over night and then bumping it all out again, before the next day of cricket commenced. 

Channel Nine crossed live to the 'HCG' three times during it’s coverage, it was featured on The Cricket Show and a brilliant time was had by all. Even Australia and India declared a draw on the fourth day. The ZENT team lead by CD Alex Zehntner were delighted to produce this win win result.

School Spectacular

2014 marked the 31st anniversary of the show and saw students from over 400 schools, 35 featured artists and 2000 dancers take part in a wonderful array of performances. Called This is Australia, the show celebrated the Australian landscape. When ZENT Productions was approached  to be the style team for last year’s School Spectacular, an Australian variety show featuring over 3000 talented students from around NSW, we were very excited.

Presented by Channel 9 and the Dance Director of the School Spectacular Kirsten Dickason, our brief was to produce a cohesive and dynamic wardrobe that would bring the featured artists to the foreground and help celebrate the Australian theme.

We quickly got to work putting together 100 individual complete looks for the 35-featured artists in the show. Working vigorously backstage at the Sydney Entertainment Centre, the ZENT team consisted of a head stylist, wardrobe co-ordinator, two fashion assistants and our seamstress.

 This Is Australia was hailed as a great success and we were very glad to play our part.

Carols by Candlelight

In the lead up to Christmas, ZENT Productions art directed and constructed sets for Sydney’s 2014 Carols by Candlelight songbook for Australia’s largest, free Christmas concert held in the Sydney Domain.

Delighted by the opportunity to take part in such a widely celebrated event, we created  a Christmas set consisting of oversized gold and white gifts, adorned with a snow white Christmas tree and an array of gold decorations. To top it all off, four adorable golden retriever puppies in Santa hats were held by Channel 7’s Sunrise Team and singer Samantha Jay as they posed for their hero shots.

The ZENT team, led by its Senior Art Director Alex Zehntner and two art department assistants, worked closely with photographer Adam Flipp, wardrobe stylist Pip Cook and hair and make-up artist Amy Turner. Together they managed to create a modern yet playful family of images, ready to be handed out to the thousands of candle wielding carol singers on December 20th.

LABIOSTHETIQUE Showcase at Melbourne Hair Expo

Every year Melbourne becomes the exciting venue of the Australian Hair Expo, the biggest trade event in the Southern Hemisphere for the hairdressing industry. This year ZENT Productions was honoured to work in collaboration with the LA BIOSTHETIQUE style team, showcasing the latest international trends to beauty and spa industry enthusiasts from across the world.

The ZENT team, directed by CD Alex Zehntner, was able to unleash their creativity with the responsibility for styling the ready-to-wear runway show, exhibiting the Parisian hair-care products of LA BIOSTHETIQUE with admiration and elegance.

This year the Melbourne Hair Expo showcase coincided with the Melbourne Fashion Festival, providing an excellent opportunity for Alex and his team to work along-side a mixture of fashion and beauty experts from across Australia and the world.

Lune Productions Offices Sydney - Project in progress

Knowing of ZENT’s ability to creatively and innovatively transform any space, ZENT Productions, Led by Director Alex Zehntner, was approached by Lune Media to develop their new Sydney office – an exciting opportunity that the team was eager to undertake.

Presented with a large warehouse shell, ZENT’s brief was to create a movable multi-functional environment with a dynamic flexible workspace that would allow the space to accommodate the varying number of staff housed at any one time. Using custom made furniture; the team was able to craft a temporary space, diving the footprint of the larger space into functionally smaller areas, successfully addressing the briefs shifting-spatial requirements.

Employing a clever variety of simple materials and a familiar but modern colour palate, ZENT is nearing completion of this very new-age take on the office environment; a space that ZENT hopes will inspire functional office development for years to come

Personal Piece - COFA Assignment: Voyeurism

Director Alex Zehntner’s relentless pursuit of design education has led him back to the Sydney based design school COFA, where he is currently completing a Masters in Design. His current project focuses on train travel within the New York subways, and more specifically the act of Voyeurism.

This particular “Voyeurism” refers to the habit of analysing how other people interact with each other within a public space and to what extent the underground environment affects this behaviour. The study was created using a mixed media study in both a 2D and 3D form, with the final two dioramas created by layering and abstracting images of previous graphical artworks.

Alex’s ability to surround himself with creative artistic thinking on a personal level helps facilitate his innovative and imaginative thinking essential to meeting the briefs of his clients in a most novel way.

Personal Piece – COFA Assignment: The Journey

A significant part of our personal creative thinking process is sparked by our past, a lifetime of physical and emotional experiences that combine with our imagination to produce ideas and concepts that shape the present and future.

For this particular COFA project Alex was asked to analyse an emotional feeling or event that impacted on his life. Alex chose to depict a relationship with a friend who unfortunately past away. He used this impassioned memory to graphically and analytically map his emotions and in doing so created a powerful abstract study of mixed media in both a 2D and 3D form.

Alex believes that it’s important not to conceal our emotions and past experiences, as they will only act as a fountain of inspiration and a source of creativity essential to original design

Personal Piece - Graffiti & Mural Study: The Walls of East London

In 2014, with the likes of street artists including Banksy, Os Gemeos and Aakash Nihalani, talented urban graffiti is considered in a high-regard in both creativity and ability to imaginatively utilise what is usually a featureless and monotonous space.

During his frequent visits to London in the United Kingdom, Alex is constantly inspired by the urban landscape and how graffiti and murals have brought the city to life and created pieces of valuable urban fibre.

Eager to capture this creativity, Alex set out to map the cities most vibrant urban pieces through a series of photographic images that tell a story of popular culture and temporary art. The inspiring creativeness of these artists has helped Alex with some of his more contemporary projects back in Sydney, utilising the colour, texture and spatial-creativity of London’s underground artists.