Los Angeles, CA — Miniatures of NBA superstars Derrick Rose and Dwight Howard take it to the hoop in a new :30 web spot for Adidas by Pixomondo. The spot was created by Pixomondo’s Shanghai studio in collaboration with production company Six Toes Shanghai and advertising agency TBWA Shanghai. Launched online exclusively for the Chinese market, the piece can now be viewed here: http://adidasevent.com/nba/

In the highly stylized video, pint-sized action figures of Rose and Howard navigate a funky urban landscape, dodging cars and an aggressive dog, to reach the neighborhood court for a slam dunk. Featuring 2D, 3D and traditional cel animation, the spot aims to bring awareness to Adidas’ current promotional deal in China, which rewards customers with a free collectible figurine in the likeness of favorite players with select purchases.

The spot took nine weeks to create under the direction of Six Toe’s Fabrice Sanchez and the supervision of Pixomondo’s Daniel Rajcic. Six Toes provided a rough initial storyboard then handed off the project to Pixomondo to handle everything but music. Twelve Pixomondo artists contributed to the project, though a core team of five people completed a bulk of the work.

“When I received the script from the agency, I knew right away I wanted to work with Pixomondo,” Sanchez said. “The Adidas spot is our first project together but I hope it is just the beginning of many more to come. For me, Pixomondo was the only studio in China able to understand and realize my vision. I wanted to mix several different media and techniques so I needed solid technical and artistic support. Daniel and his team executed the work beautifully and the passion and commitment they put into the spot really shines through.”

“We really enjoyed working on this project and collaborating with Fabrice, which I think comes through in the final spot,” said Rajcic. “He made us feel like a trusted partner throughout the process, giving us a degree of creative freedom and influence into the final piece. His VFX background definitely helped ensure a smooth production as he deeply understood our process and was very hand on throughout.

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