WKE
TypeSubsidiary
IndustryEntertainment
Founded2001 (2001)
Headquarters
Portland, Oregon
,
United States
Key people
Dan Wieden, David Kennedy
(Founders)
Bill Davenport (CEO)
Mark Fitzloff, Susan Hoffman, Aaron Rose
(Creative director)
Janice Grube
(Content Director)
ProductsFilm & radio
ParentWieden+Kennedy

WKE (abbreviated from WKEntertainment or Wieden+Kennedy+Entertainment) is an independently owned American production company and arts and culture delivery channel, a subsidiary of the advertising agency Wieden+Kennedy. The site contains material from a number of contributors, as well as original materials created by W+K under the creative direction of filmmaker Aaron Rose.

History

Wieden+Kennedy had created original contents for various brands under the name 'W+K Entertainment' since 2001, with Bill Davenport as CEO.[1] Its productions include Battlegrounds,[2] an MTV2 series showcasing street basketball;[3] Ginga,[4] a documentary about Brazilian soccer players; Road to Paris,[5] documenting Lance Armstrong's path to his third Tour de France victory in 2001; and Say My Name, a worldwide documentary project about women by Nirit Peled.[6][7]

Wieden+Kennedy's exploration into producing its own non-branded content was started after in early 2009 after five prior months of refinements with WK Radio,[8] an internet radio station. WK Radio was created by singer-songwriter Janice Grube, in collaboration with Davenport and under the executive creative direction of Mark Fitzloff and Susan Hoffman.[9] WK Radio broadcast DJs, live music performances and interviews with "low key emerging talents, musicians and designers",[10] where staffers often pitch in as well as outside artists and musicians.

Present

WK Radio stream was put on hiatus on mid-2009, and Wieden+Kennedy hired creative director and filmmaker Aaron Rose to help relaunch the station as entertainment content delivery platform and production house.[11] The studio's first project is a daily recap coverage of Portland Institute for Contemporary Art Time-Based Art Festival 2009, done in collaboration with Portland Radio Authority and Radio23.[12]

A full site launched in October 2009, with episodic shows such as:

  • Califunya, a comedy variety show.
  • Don't Move Here a look inside Portland's vibrant underground music scene
  • DIY America, a documentary-based exploration into the American subcultures of skateboarding, graffiti, punk and hip hop.
  • HOW TO!, a series of offbeat instructional shorts.
  • 12, a documentary on Wieden+Kennedy's agency-disguised, experimental advertising school.

References

  1. ↑ "Wieden + Kennedy Names 2 Partners". ADWEEK. March 17, 2009. Retrieved August 27, 2009. ...Wieden Entertainment president Bill Davenport...
  2. ↑ "LeBron James, MTV2, Comcast, Charter, and Nike Join Forces for 'Nike Battlegrounds: King of the Court'". PRNewsWire. Retrieved August 25, 2009. Nike Battlegrounds is a Nike, Wieden + Kennedy Entertainment and @radical.media production in partnership with MTV2.
  3. ↑ Staff report (June 16, 2004). MTV2, Nike Take to the Streets for 'Battlegrounds.' Zap2It.com
  4. ↑ "Nike Ginga: The Soul Of Brazilian Football". December 14, 2005. Retrieved August 25, 2009. ...Ginga is a dynamic documentary that explores Brazil through the country's favorite sport.
  5. ↑ "Wieden & Kennedy Looks To Branch Into Other Creative Areas". Business 2.0. September 2009. Retrieved August 25, 2009. W&K created a film around Nike endorser Lance Armstrong entitled "Road to Paris"
  6. ↑ "SXSW Film Preview: Say My Name". Austinist. March 12, 2009. Retrieved August 27, 2009.
  7. ↑ "Say My Name Documentary". Women Make Movies.
  8. ↑ "WK Radio Portland". Shots (115): 31. June 2009. The concept took five months to refine and launch, and since going live late in 2008
  9. ↑ "Wieden+Kennedy gets real with online radio". The Oregonian. April 15, 2009. Retrieved August 27, 2009. Last fall, Grube made a [radio] pitch to the agency's senior managers. They said yes before she finished the presentation.
  10. ↑ "WK Radio Facebook Group". Facebook. Retrieved August 25, 2009. WK Radio exists to inspire creativity through provocative conversations, interviews, and artistic expression relating to the arts, culture, music and media.
  11. ↑ Christine Clarke (July 6, 2009). "Aaron Rose hits the road for Wieden+Kennedy". Boards Magazine. Archived from the original on September 27, 2011. Retrieved August 28, 2009. ...the project is only a small slice of what Rose was brought into Wieden to do. His primary job is to help the agency develop an online media channel, which will debut September 1. The channel will air original content produced by W+K
  12. ↑ "W+K Portland · Wk Radio = Wke". Archived from the original on September 29, 2010. Retrieved June 28, 2010.
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