We’re off to WIN some ADDYs!

Three Seas Wins 3 ADDYs at the Baltimore American Advertising Awards

With a “Wizard of Oz” theme in full effect at the 2024 American Advertising Awards, the Three Seas team followed the yellow brick road to the Baltimore Museum of Industry, and brought home three Silver ADDYs.  The annual event, hosted by the Baltimore chapter of the American Advertising Federation (AAFB), celebrates Baltimore’s best in advertising creative.

Three Seas remains actively involved in the AAFB and was once again an in-kind sponsor of the event. Three Seas Senior Producer Heidi Torma was this year’s Awards Chair, taking over for former Three Seas Executive Producer Liz Norton. Heidi presented Liz (virtually) with the Crystal Prism Award for her contributions to the Club.

The night began with the presentation of two scholarship awards. Three Seas made a contribution to the AAFB’s Scholarship Fund, and CEO Lee Konen was on stage to present a $4,000 scholarship to an outstanding local marketing student.

The award-winning projects included contributions from all four Three Seas boutiques:

Meals on Wheels America, The Power of A Knock®

  • Agency: Gigawatt Group
  • Director/Creative Director, Gigawatt Group: Jim McNulty
  • Producer, Three Seas: Heidi Torma
  • Creative Director/Senior Editor, Cerebral Lounge: Owen Lang
  • Creative Director, Noise Distillery: Rich Isaac
  • Editors (Cerebral Lounge): Amy O’Byrne, Caitlyn Naylor
  • Audio Engineers (Clean Cuts): Harry Evans, Nick Sjostrom
  • Composer (Noise Distillery): Austin Caughlin

Navy Federal Credit Union, Making Cents

  • Producer, Three Seas: Heidi Torma
  • Director/Senior Editor, Cerebral Lounge: Owen Lang
  • Creative Director, Cerebral Lounge: Giles D’Souza
  • Designers (Cerebral Lounge): Carmen Cothern, Bee Possidente
  • Audio Engineers (Clean Cuts): Andrew Eppig, Nick Sjostrom

American Advertising Federation Baltimore, 2023 AAFB Awards Open

  • Producer, Three Seas: Heidi Torma
  • Creative Director, Cerebral Lounge: Giles D’Souza
  • Creative Director, Noise Distillery: Rich Isaac
  • Designers (Cerebral Lounge): Carmen Cothern, Bee Possidente
  • Audio Engineers (Clean Cuts): Archie Moore, Andrew Eppig
  • Composer, Noise Distillery: Austin Caughlin

This year’s Awards open was also produced by our Cerebral Lounge, Clean Cuts and Noise Distillery’s team, bringing the “Wizard of Oz” theme to life.

Three Seas is a collective of creative boutiques with studios in Baltimore and Washington, DC: Clean Cuts, Cerebral Lounge, Gigawatt Group and Noise Distillery.

Clean Cuts is our Grammy® award-winning audio recording and production boutique that delivers professional quality sound for film, television, streaming video and audio, podcasts, audiobooks and more.

Cerebral Lounge is our production and post production studio that delivers thoughtful creative for every medium, including shooting, editing, graphic design, 2D & 3D animation and color correction.

Gigawatt Group is our digital-first creative marketing agency that specializes in strategy, creative and execution.

Noise Distillery is our custom music boutique that delivers Sound Like No Other, including jingles, sonic branding, post scoring and re-recordings.

Asgard’s Wrath 2 Wins at D.I.C.E. Awards

Clean Cuts Interactive Designed an Immersive Soundscape for 2024 Immersive Reality Game of the Year at DICE Awards

Asgard’s Wrath 2 was awarded “Immersive Reality Game of the Year” at last night’s 27th Annual DICE Awards, the video game industry’s premier, peer-juried awards show presented by The Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences (AIAS). Clean Cuts Interactive provided custom sound design services for three of the nominated games, including the winning title.  Congratulations to our partners at Sanzaru Games, Oculus!

The full list of DICE Award winners are available here.

Over four years in the making, a team of seven Clean Cuts Interactive sound designers spent thousands of hours creating, crafting, and implementing the custom sound design for this landmark title. From unique weapons to signature sounds, boss monsters to tailored spells & abilities: You hear it, we touched it.

“Asgard’s Wrath 2 is the full-fledged VR open-world RPG I’ve always wanted to play, and for that matter it’s one of the best RPGs in any perspective I’ve played in years.” IGN.com (10/10, Masterpiece).

The winners were revealed at the 27th Annual DICE Awards ceremony, the culmination of a week-long industry gathering at the 2024 D.I.C.E. Summit (#DICE2024), on Thursday, Feb. 15 from the Aria Resort in Las Vegas.

About Clean Cuts Interactive
Clean Cuts Interactive is a Three Seas company, a collective of creative boutiques with studios in Washington, DC, and Baltimore, Md. Visit the Clean Cuts Interactive website to see their full portfolio of outstanding—and award winning—video game sound design and implementation.

Clean Cuts Sound Designer Wins National Rising Star Award

Congratulations to Clean Cuts Interactive Sound Designer William Lowe! He is the recipient of the United States Institute of Theater Technology (USITT) 2024 Rising Star Award. William will be honored during the 2024 USITT Conference & Stage Expo, in Seattle, WA, March 20-23, 2024.

Established in 2005, this annual award recognizes a young professional working in the disciplines of scenic, lighting, sound, or projection/video design.

A graduate of Carnegie Mellon University’s School of Drama, William joined the Three Seas family in January 2021. Since then, he has worked on high-profile projects like the recently-released Asgard’s Wrath 2, along with Lego 2K Drive, WWE2K22, and NBA 2K22, as well as film, TV, audio book and podcast projects.

William told Live Design Online: “I am honored to receive the Rising Star Award from USITT, Live Design, and LDI. I owe my work on the cutting edge of the entertainment industry — at the intersection of art and technology — to the unique theatrical training I received.”

You can read the full announcement on the Live Design/LDI website here: https://www.livedesignonline.com/news/william-n-lowe-receive-2024-usitt-rising-star-award-sponsored-live-designldi

About Clean Cuts Interactive

Clean Cuts Interactive provides world-class sound design, expert implementation and innovative original music, delivering unparalleled soundscapes for video games, spatial audio and digital applications. Clean Cuts Interactive is a Three Seas company, a collective of creative boutiques with studios in Baltimore and Washington, DC.

Epic Game | Epic Sound

In collaboration with Sanzaru Games, Inc. and Oculus Studios, our team here at Clean Cuts Interactive is excited to announce the release of “Asgard’s Wrath 2”!

In this epic adventure, players continue to pursue their ultimate goal of stopping Loki’s mayhem throughout the mortal realms. One of the largest in scale action RPGs experienced in VR to-date, players battle monstrous enemies, solve god-size puzzles, and explore several playable realms in a fight for the fate of reality.

“Asgard’s Wrath 2 is the full-fledged VR open-world RPG I’ve always wanted to play, and for that matter it’s one of the best RPGs in any perspective I’ve played in years.”
– IGN.com (10/10, Masterpiece).
MetaCritic: 93/100. GameRant: 90/100.

This game has it all: A fully featured 100+-hr campaign with four playable characters, a roguelite mode with asynchronous multiplayer gameplay, mind-bending anomalies in mixed reality, and more. Trust us when we say this will absolutely blow you away and really is a full-size undertaking in AAA VR gaming.

Over four years in the making, a team of seven Clean Cuts Interactive sound designers spent thousands of hours creating, crafting, and implementing the custom sound design for this landmark title. From unique weapons to signature sounds, boss monsters to tailored spells & abilities: You hear it, we touched it.


Game play from Asgard's Wrath 2

We can honestly say the Clean Cuts Interactive team put all of their hearts and passion into this project, and we’re eager to finally share such an awesome achievement in VR with the full gaming community. It was a wonderful experience to work once again with our friends and we want to congratulate Sanzaru Games, Inc. and Oculus Studios on this game-changer of a AAA virtual reality adventure.



ABOUT CLEAN CUTS INTERACTIVE
Clean Cuts Interactive provides world-class sound design, expert implementation and innovative original music, delivering unparalleled soundscapes for video games, spatial audio and digital applications. Clean Cuts Interactive is a Three Seas company, a collective of creative boutiques with studios in Washington, DC, and Baltimore, Md.

DICE Awards Finalists Announced

Clean Cuts Interactive worked on 3 finalists for the 2024 DICE Awards

The Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences (AIAS) announced the finalists for its 27th Annual DICE Awards (#DICEAwards), the video game industry’s premier, peer-juried awards show co-hosted by Greg Miller (Kinda Funny Games) and Stella Chung (IGN). Clean Cuts Interactive provided custom sound design services for three of the nominated games.

Congratulations to our partners at Sanzaru Games, Oculus, 2K & Visual Concepts! The three nominated titles are:




Three Images Side by Side



The full list of nominees are available here.

The winners will be revealed at the 27th Annual D.I.C.E. Awards ceremony, the culmination of a week-long industry gathering at the 2024 D.I.C.E. Summit (#DICE2024) that will be live-streamed by their official media partner, IGN, on Thursday, Feb. 15 from the Aria Resort in Las Vegas.

About Clean Cuts Interactive

Clean Cuts Interactive is a Three Seas company, a collective of creative boutiques with studios in Washington, DC, and Baltimore, Md. Visit the Clean Cuts Interactive website to see their full portfolio of outstanding—and award winning—video game sound design and implementation.

Behind the Scenes | Dr. Pol ’80s Theme

Go behind the scenes with the Noise Distillery team as they compose an 80s-style theme for National Geographic’s Dr. Pol.

Our Noise Distillery team had a blast with this one! National Geographic wanted a custom jingle for Dr. Pol that had the feel of a ’80s sitcom theme. Check out the video to see how the project came together.

To see more of Noise Distillery’s great work, check out their portfolio page.

Video Transcript:
National Geographic came to us looking for an 80s sitcom theme. Anytime National Geographic calls us we get excited because they always bring the coolest ideas. When David and his team came to us, they had ideas for lyrics that we could base the jingle off of. Our faces lit up and we’re like, “oh you know this is this is right up our alley. we’re going to have a lot of fun with this one.”

You know,I’m a child of the ’80s. I grew up watching all those shows empty nest Mr. Belvedere, Golden Girls, Too Close for Comfort… so they wanted something in that vein.

So the basic chord progression is just this: (playing the piano) “Who do you call when your cow takes a fall? You call the doctor—Dr. Pol!

You know when we cut stuff with Kristen, we had her stack all this stuff that’s just one chord put on top of another, and that’s not something that you know sometimes I get to do all the time.

We have access to an incredibly deep talent pool when it comes to live musicians anytime you bring in players it’s not just about how they play their instruments or what they’re going to play. They bring their musicality to it, they bring their ideas, and even their mistakes are better than anything that you could have written.

[Music up full]”Who do you call when your cow takes a fall? You call the doctor—Doctor Pol! Who do you ring when your teeth need a clean? It’s the doctor! Doctor Pol! If it’s your cat or your dog or the family hog, when your animal is sick, he’s the man for the job. He’s the doctor the incredible Doctor Pol.”

“Yeah, that’s pretty nice right yeah I like that man that’s nice.”

Video Marketing for Law Firms

Video & Podcasts are becoming an important part of marketing strategies for law firms

First impressions matter!

Cinematic quality video and a professionally produced podcast can contribute to law firms’ marketing efforts in many ways, raising your visibility and notability while spotlighting the important factors that position your firm above the rest.

Last week, Three Seas sponsored the Legal Marketing Mid-Atlantic conference in Washington, DC. Our professionals at Cerebral Lounge, Clean Cuts, and Gigawatt Group are experts in connecting our clients with audiences in multiple ways by igniting an authentic emotional reaction from what they are seeing and hearing. Law firms can use video and podcasts as a powerful tool to say who you are:
your mission…

your people…

your culture…

your expertise…

and (most of all) your value.

When executed well, a brand video combined with partner profiles gives prospective clients a much more informed impression of your firm.  They also can be part of an effective talent acquisition strategy.

Podcasting provides an additional way for firms to demonstrate thought leadership, and creates a content engine for firms to provide regular engagement across social platforms.

Contact us now to learn more about how Three Seas can create compelling video and podcast content for your law firm that is informative, entertaining, impactful and effective.

Members of the legal marketing association are eligible to receive special rates on an introductory content package.

Click the link to schedule your free consultation.

NBA2K24 DROPS

Clean Cuts Interactive is THRILLED to have wrapped another year of NBA2K with our friends at Visual Concepts 

This year for 2K24, we helped work on an all new beachside city, crafting immersive ambiences and layers of detailed audio to bring the world to life. Everything from recording walla, to creating SFX for the vehicles MP drives around the city. Our team, led by Cory Foley-Marsello, also mixed thousands of scenes that create the MyCareer story arc.  Check out the full case study below!

NBA 2K24

There was always something new and fun to design. So, as you explore this year’s awesome new features, keep your ears open for all the details we’ve added to create an immersive experience!

Clean Cuts installs its second Dolby Atmos mixing suite

Our new Dolby Atmos mixing suite now fully tuned up and sounding fantastic

Clean Cuts upgraded one of our 8 suites in our DC studio with Genelec monitors as a 7.1.4 Atmos configuration. If you’re unfamiliar with Dolby Atmos, it has the ability to create an immersive audio experience, with sound that moves and flows around you in three-dimensional space with its addition of ceiling speakers. That being said, listeners can enjoy a spatial experience on headphones as well.

While Dolby Atmos has long been associated with video projects…it’s in fact not just limited to visuals, opening up thrilling opportunities for podcasts and the like as well. The possibilities are limitless.

We are excited to offer our clients the opportunity to experience Dolby Atmos firsthand in our newly installed room. If you haven’t had a chance to check it out yet, we highly recommend that you do so.

Did You Know Dolby Atmos 7.1.4 includes 7 ear-level speakers, 1 subwoofer channel, and 4 overhead speakers

Click the link to check out the new Dolby Atmos mixing suite all the state of the art studios Clean Cuts has to offer.

MOBILE FRIENDLY + PARENT FRIENDLY WEB DESIGN

Our Lady of Lourdes is a private Catholic school based in Bethesda, Maryland, serving pre-kindergarten through 8th grade. Gigawatt Group was approached by the school to design their new website, with the intended goal of making it look modern, mobile-friendly and user-centered.

Our team, led by Creative Director Jim McNulty, and Graphic Designer Yasmine Bouchlaghem, explored creative solutions to deliver an enhanced user experience for both the school’s faculty members and parents. The design process involved multiple phases from the discovery and user research to the creation of the prototypes and the website’s launch.

The team chose Squarespace as the hosting platform, based on its ease of use for future content authoring by the school administration, as well as its ability to integrate e-commerce into the site.  Gigawatt Group is a member of the Squarespace Circle partner program.

With both user experience and interface working hand-in-hand, the Gigawatt team was able to design a user-friendly and responsive website for the most optimal user experience, while still capturing the school’s culture, identity, and values.

“The team at Gigawatt was incredible. Their proactive, flexible and creative approach is wonderful. The results are fabulous.”
—DAVID LONG
Principal, Our Lady of Lourdes

See the full case study at the link below.

Dolly & Dylan Join the Mix

Clean Cuts Completes DC Expansion, Adding Two New Suites

Clean Cuts is thrilled to announce the completion of our D.C. expansion! The two new suites, named after Dolly Parton and Bob Dylan, continue our long-standing tradition of theming suites after legendary artists and albums.

Acoustically designed by Clean Cuts President Paul Perret, and art directed by Cerebral Lounge creative director Giles D’Souza, the suites feature large recording booths that not only sound great, but look great too. Today’s increased options of acoustic fabrics allowed us to execute a really fun visual aesthetic.


The inspiration for the Bob Dylan suite came from the Milton Glaser designed poster that was included with the 1967 Greatest Hits album.


The Dolly Parton suite was inspired by her Jolene album. While the recording booth features Dolly’s favorite Smoky Mountains.

These rooms already feel like instant classics!

We can’t wait to share these rooms with you. Whether it be VO, ADR, game audio, podcast, audiobooks or Foley, come schedule your next session in our DC studios and experience these great new suites for yourself!

Gigawatt Group Sparks Holiday Rush

Redwood + Co.
A Social E-Commerce Success Story

Let’s light this candle!

Redwood + Co. is a Virginia candle company that was looking to identify and retarget customers on social media who had engaged solely through influencer marketing without visiting their own social media pages.

Our team, led by Senior Digital Strategist Orlando Trott, used our proprietary attribution framework, FOURCORE, to identify how the brand’s audience was engaging across various web properties.

Next, we implemented a content strategy focused on vertical video, to be uploaded across Instagram Reels and TikTok.

We then extracted key data points to optimize marketing initiatives both on and offline.

The results highlight Gigawatt Group’s ability to not only increase social engagement and brand visibility, but also execute a hands-on-keyboard approach to running a brand’s paid social across social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and TikTok—driving conversions both online and in-store, and generating increased sales.

“Advertising with Gigawatt not only helped our online strategy but jump started our in person traffic with many of the customers mentioning the ads when engaging with team members. In addition, we truly felt many in person customers were coming from far and wide specifically to buy from Redwood + Co. and making a weekend of their trip here in the Shenandoah Valley. Through online marketing efforts, Redwood + Co. has become a destination.”
CHRISTOPHER WOOD, Co-Founder & CEO, Redwood + Co.

We invite you to explore the full case study on Gigawatt Group’s website .

Carlos Diggs Joins Three Seas

Three Seas, Inc., announced today the appointment of business development veteran Carlos Diggs to Director of Business Development, effective immediately. Mr. Diggs is an enterprise business development leader, who has vast expertise in spearheading innovation and leading high-performing teams that deliver transformational growth. Diggs will report to Brian Leonard, VP of Development.

Photo of Carlos Diggs“We are always looking for new ways to expand our business, and Carlos brings a different and fresh perspective to our development team. His many years of experience and the unique approach to reaching new clients make his arrival here a valuable and exciting addition to Three Seas,” said Brian Leonard.

As Director of Business Development, Diggs will expand the company’s new business strategies, field marketing, and channel partnership opportunities. Diggs is charged with advancing Three Seas’ position as a leading innovator of marketing and entertainment content creation for today’s most creativity-driven companies, organizations, agencies, and media outlets.

“I am extremely grateful to join an organization with so many award-winning videos, audio, and music production professionals,” said Diggs. “I am excited to promote Three Seas’ capabilities and achievements that have positioned them as the go-to-specialist for some familiar global brands such as Discovery Warner Bros., HBO, Walt Disney Companies, PBS, Netflix, NBA2K, McDonald’s, Audible, and many more. It’s no wonder why Three Seas has earned so many accolades over its three decades in business, including Grammy, Emmy, Addy, and Clio awards, to name a few.”

“We’re excited to add Carlos to the family. He has a real passion for our industry and a desire to help our clients solve tough business challenges. His positive energy will bring a fresh new perspective to our Development team.” Lee Konen, CEO of Three Seas.

ABOUT THREE SEAS

Three Seas is an award-winning collection of creative boutiques with studios in Baltimore and Washington, D.C. Our four sister companies (Clean CutsCerebral LoungeGigawatt Group, and Noise Distillery) comprise a passionate community of creative specialists who serve their clients by delivering powerful content, intelligent and innovative strategies, and stories that transform ideas and achieve results. Our experts specialize in creative strategy, visual storytelling, digital/social media marketing, podcasting and audio, sound design, and custom music for film, TV, advertising, streaming services, AAA video games, and more.

AMA Baltimore Chapter Awards Gigawatt, Howard Bank at 2020 MX Awards

GIGAWATT WINS GRAND MX RUNNER-UP FOR CAMPAIGN OF THE YEAR

“Howard Bank Cares” Campaign Earns Two MX Awards at AMA Baltimore Chapter’s 2020 Virtual Gala

Gigawatt Group is incredibly proud to announce the Baltimore Chapter of the American Marketing Association (AMA) awarded our Howard Bank Cares Campaign with two awards at its 2020 Virtual Gala this evening!  The brand campaign earned Best New Brand Identity Campaign, and the print campaign won the Grand MX Runner Up for Campaign of the Year.

One of the things that makes Gigawatt unique is our ability to bring in our teammates from Clean Cuts, Cerebral Lounge and Noise Distillery to help maximize our clients’ budgets and produce engaging, effecting creative for all platforms. The print campaign was one part of a hyper-targeted, omni-channel brand campaign that involved the entire Three Seas family.

MX Awards

Of course, it’s always gratifying to have your work recognized by your peers; however, it’s even more special realizing that recognition means you’re helping your clients achieve their strategic goals.

A very special thanks to CEO Mary Ann Scully, SVP of Marketing Erica Starr, and the entire Howard Bank team for their continued partnership, and for entrusting us with their legacy.

Congratulations to the entire team!

– Jim

Ready to energize your brand?

Contact Jim McNulty
Email: jim@gigawattgroup.com
Phone: 202-888-0504

 

Gigawatt Group Launches Howard Bank Campaign Featuring Remote Recording

Campaign Features Contributions from Every Three Seas Boutique


Gigawatt Group is proud to partner once again with our long-time client, Howard Bank, on their latest broadcast and digital marketing campaign. The campaign features Zoom interviews of current Howard Bank business banking clients, conducted by our creative director, Jim McNulty.

“This project really highlights our ability to continue providing creative solutions for our clients, even with pandemic restrictions still in place,” McNulty said.

Gigawatt was able to leverage the entire Three Seas portfolio on this campaign, with Lauren Schild and Ellie Kunzig from the Three Seas team establishing the work flow for testing and recording the virtual interviews, Cerebral Lounge’s Giles D’Souza designing the animation, and Jonathan Hodges handling the editing and color correction.  Harry Evans from Clean Cuts provided the sound design and mix that featured a custom Xplodr music pack created by Noise Distillery.

Gigawatt Group’s digital strategist, Orlando Trott, implemented a social media campaign that combines both organic and paid media, and features a combination of :15 and :30 commercials combined with extended-length digital content.  Each creative element drives to HowardBankCares.com, a custom microsite developed by Gigawatt Group’s senior web developer, Amir Mishani.

Ready to energize your brand?

Contact Jim McNulty
Email: jim@gigawattgroup.com
Phone: 202-888-0504