Sidetrack Films is an independent production and financing company dedicated to emerging talent, transforming ideas and evolving media. In 2006, AREA 17 was hired to develop the company’s brand and create their visual identity system and website.
Sidetrack approached AREA 17 as a company on the rise in the film industry. They had recently experienced a number of critical successes with their award winning films “Favela Fising” and “Low and Behold” and they needed to channel this momentum into their brand and website.
It was important to communicate that Sidetrack Films is more than just another independent film production company in a sea of thousands. The company’s vision has an arch that spans all of their films to date and beyond: pursuing new talent, embracing challenging subject-matter and being ambitious when it comes to new technologies and channels of distribution.
Out of that vision, AREA 17 developed the company’s tagline, “Emerging Talent. Transforming Ideas. Evolving Media.” This statement became the driver for all of the work that followed. Our goal was to develop a brand that is entertaining, inspiring and provocative and to create a logo and visual identity system that was itself emerging, transforming and evolving.
In terms of the website, we wanted to create a communication platform that was as strong as Sidetrack’s work; forming a unifying thread throughout their project. In addition, the website needed to successfully encapsulate all of their projects and promote them in the clearest and most effective ways possible.
The resulting website focuses around the films. Each film has its own page and all paths lead to ‘Rome’. The film page has all relevant film information, including credits, awards and a media module that uniquely integrates a photo gallery with videos — allowing the user to explore the visuals of the film in one simple space. A key part of the website is the integrated news blog which allows for posts to be made generally or related to a specific film. The website structure itself was built for scalability and flexibility to accommodate the company’s growing and changing needs.
Sidetrack Films is more than just another independent film production company in a sea of thousands
Sidetrack’s latest film “Beautiful Losers” — a documentary about an accidental art movement emerging from the youth subcultures of America — was released in 2008, receiving rave reviews from critics and the public alike. Expect to get sidetracked from the mainstream with more compelling work from this bold new film company.