Luma breaks into the American market

Advertising Greek-style snack mousse, cottage cheese and yoghurt, the animated spot opens up with four Friesland cows grazing at dawn, in a lush green meadow. Theodorakis' Zorba, The Greek is heard, as one cow after another stands up on their hindquarters and breaks into a Sirtaki, a popular traditional Greek folk dance, which is often performed in a line or circle formation.

Produced in just two months, the advert is currently flighted on cable television in major hubs like Minneapolis/St. Paul and Milwaukee, opening the door for the Johannesburg-based success story to secure more work in a consumer-hungry mass advertising market like the USA.

Holy cow! A dancing bovine with all the mooves

"We were searching for an animation studio that had experience in creating photorealistic animals, and one that was brave enough to attempt bovines dancing on their hind legs - the project was also very budget- and deadline-constrained - and Luma was able to work professionally within those limitations," says Patti Hoffstad, Executive Producer of Broadcast for Periscope. "We received an incredible piece of work, and the production process went extremely well - our client was absolutely thrilled, as were we."

Gerhard Painter (left) and Paul Meyer.

Commenting on the significance of the deal, Luma director, Paul Meyer, says, "Its been years in the making - building a strong, vibrant, international network, a polished and talented team with good infrastructure and an understanding of what makes client service really deliver, both to a client and agency's needs. Our relationships with international clients are growing from strength to strength."

Having developed Hollywood-styled tools in-house - a hair and fur system, and a muscle and skin simulation system, the studio is able to produce at an international benchmark. Competing with historically strong animation markets like Japan, France, the UK, and the US, the cherry on top is that the agency is able to deliver quality at significantly less cost than their international peers can.

"It's a question of timing - the world is really beginning to sit up and take note of our work, from clients in Australia, Czech Republic, China, Singapore and closer to home in Kenya and Ghana," adds Meyer.

About Luma

Luma is a leading South African CGI animation studio, servicing clients across the globe. Owned and operated by Paul Meyer and Gerhard Painter, the 30-member team has won awards for character animation and photo-realistic visual effects.

Watch the advert...

Kemps Greek Style Dancing Cows! from Luma on Vimeo.