Kawasaki Videos Win Awards at New York Film Festival

Kawasaki Motors Press Release:

Two Kawasaki promotional videos have been recognized as being among the best of their kind in key categories at the New York Festivals World's Best Television & Films Awards. Productions for the Kawasaki Ninja® ZX-6R (636) and Z800 motorcycles achieved first place in highly coveted award categories including best cinematography and best event venue.

Now in its 55th year, New York Festivals is recognized as a major event by those involved in television and film industries on a global scale and success at the awards ceremony held in Las Vegas is extremely important according to Senior Brand Officer for Kawasaki Motors Europe, N.V., Frank Zoontjes.

The New Kawasaki Ninja ZX-6R - Set Your Heart Racing:

“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.” said 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 New Kawasaki Z800 - The Undisputed Super Middleweight:

Taking top spot in the event venue category for the Ninja ZX-6R 636 and cinematography for the Z800 productions, the ZX-6R video also achieved silver and bronze status for cinematography and production design respectively.

With a judging panel comprised of over 200 award-winning directors, producers, journalists, writers, actors, creative directors, art directors, filmmakers, composers and programming executives, the decision making process was inevitably rigorous, as film maker, Tom Moran explained.

“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”.

Although not able to attend the April awards ceremony in Las Vegas due to training for the Isle of Man TT races, ZX-6R racer James Hillier added his praise for the film crew, saying: “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. If I achieve the same level of success at the TT races in June, I will be delighted!”

Awards:

Event Venue

Gold World Medal: Ninja ZX-6R - Set Your Heart Racing - Film and Video - Industrial Productions

Cinematography

Silver World Medal: Ninja ZX-6R - Set Your Heart Racing Film and Video - Craft: Films/Productions

Production Design/Art Direction

Bronze World Medal: Ninja ZX-6R - Set Your Heart Racing - Film and Video - Craft: Films/Productions

Cinematography

Gold World Medal: Z800 - The Undisputed Super Middle Weight - Film and Video - Craft: Films/Productions

****Production Design/Art Direction**

**

Finalist Certificate: Z800: The Undisputed Super Middle Weight - Film and Video - Craft: Films/Productions

Production Design/Art Direction

New York Festival's World's Best Television & Films competition honors programming in all lengths and forms from over 50 countries. Dedicated to both the Television and Film industries, categories mirror today's global trends and encourage the next generation of story-tellers and talent.

For more information: www.kawasaki.com