About Face Media is an American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 content marketing

Content marketing

Content marketing is an umbrella term encompassing all marketing formats that involve the creation or sharing of content for the purpose of engaging current and potential consumer bases. Content marketing subscribes to the notion that delivering high-quality, relevant and valuable information to...

 agency that produces and promotes short-form documentaries within social media

Social media

The term Social Media refers to the use of web-based and mobile technologies to turn communication into an interactive dialogue. Andreas Kaplan and Michael Haenlein define social media as "a group of Internet-based applications that build on the ideological and technological foundations of Web 2.0,...

 on behalf of commercial clients. The company was founded in 2007 as an independently-owned new media

New media

New media is a broad term in media studies that emerged in the latter part of the 20th century. For example, new media holds out a possibility of on-demand access to content any time, anywhere, on any digital device, as well as interactive user feedback, creative participation and community...

 content agency and later narrowed its focus to documentary

Documentary

A documentary is a creative work of non-fiction, including:* Documentary film, including television* Radio documentary* Documentary photographyRelated terms include:...

.

Pre-Founding

The original founders of the company (Barry Poltermann

Barry Poltermann

Barry Alan Poltermann is an American film editor, director, and entrepreneur. Poltermann edited the Sundance Grand Prize winning documentary American Movie and edited the Sundance Special Jury Prize winning documentary, The Pool , both for director Chris Smith...

, Steve Farr, Nicolas Gagliano and David Dahlman) had previously co-founded Los Angeles

Los Ángeles

Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...

 based new media production company L’Orange Entertainment in 2004. L’Orange produced cross-media alternative reality game (ARG) content, primarily video, for the interactive agency 42 Entertainment

42 Entertainment

42 Entertainment is an American company based in Pasadena which specializes in creating and producing alternate reality games . The company was founded in 2003 as an independently-owned, creative content and interactive agency under the name 4orty 2wo Entertainment. The company started with a...

. Projects included (client in parentheses) Hex 168 (Microsoft Gaming Studios/Xbox 360), MSN Found (Windows Live Search) and Last Call Poker (Activision’s GUN), and Dead Man’s Tale, an interactive game for Windows Messenger

Windows Messenger

Windows Messenger is a client by Microsoft that is included in the Windows XP operating system. Designed for use by corporate users as well as home users, it was originally created as a streamlined and integrated version of MSN Messenger...

 and Disney’s Pirates of the Caribbean

Pirates of the Caribbean

Pirates of the Caribbean is a multi-billion dollar Walt Disney franchise encompassing a series of films, a theme park ride, and spinoff novels as well as numerous video games and other publications. The franchise originates with the Pirates of the Caribbean attraction, which opened at Disneyland in...

.

Founding

Poltermann, Farr, Gagliano and Dahlman left L’Orange in late 2006. In March of 2007 the team was commissioned to produce a web based documentary series to promote the 2007 Art Chicago

Art Chicago

Art Chicago is an international contemporary art exhibition held each year in Chicago, Illinois. It is Chicago's longest-running and only remaining major contemporary art exposition.-History:...

 International Art Fair. They retained documentary filmmaker Dan Ollman (co-director of the 2005 MGM release “The Yes Men (film)

The Yes Men (film)

The Yes Men Fix the World is a documentary film about the culture jamming exploits of The Yes Men. The film premiered in New York City and Los Angeles on October 23, 2009 and in other U.S. cities beginning on October 30...

”) to direct the series.

About Face was established as an independent company in May of 2007.

Changes

Denise McKee became an advisor to the company in 2007 and officially joined as COO in 2008. McKee previously co-founded San Francisco based LimeLife

LimeLife

LimeLife Inc. is an American privately held digital media company based in the San Francisco Bay Area. Investors include U.S. Venture Partners, Rustic Canyon Partners, Core Capital, Monitor Ventures and i-Hatch Ventures.- History :...

, a mobile publisher focusing on the women’s market.

Connection with Independent Film

About Face filmmakers have directed, edited or produced several notable feature length documentaries, including “The Yes Men”, “American Movie

American Movie

American Movie: The Making of Northwestern is a 1999 documentary directed by Chris Smith. The film chronicles the real 1996-1997 making of Coven, an independent horror film directed by an independent filmmaker named Mark Borchardt...

”, “The Life of Reilly

The Life of Reilly

The Life of Reilly is a 2006 American film adaptation of actor Charles Nelson Reilly's one-man play "Save It For the Stage: The Life of Reilly". Written by Reilly and Paul Linke, and directed by Frank L...

”, “Rock the Bells” and “Collapse (film)

Collapse (film)

Collapse, directed by Chris Smith, is an American documentary film exploring the theories, writings and life story of controversial author Michael Ruppert...

”.

Projects

Primarily working in the Chicago area market, About Face clients include Staples Inc., Sears Holdings, The Trek Bicycle Corporation

Trek Bicycle Corporation

Trek Bicycle Corporation is a major bicycle and cycling product manufacturer and distributor under brand names Trek, Gary Fisher, Bontrager, Klein and until recently, LeMond Racing Cycles...

, 3M

3M

3M Company , formerly known as the Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Company, is an American multinational conglomerate corporation based in Maplewood, Minnesota, United States....

, CNH (company), Wolverine World Wide

Wolverine World Wide

Wolverine World Wide is a footwear manufacturer. They have their own brand, Wolverine Boots and Shoes, and also make footwear for other companies, such as Caterpillar and Harley-Davidson. Wolverine also makes shoes and boots for the military...

 and Wilson Sporting Goods

Wilson Sporting Goods

The Wilson Sporting Goods Company is a sports equipment manufacturer based in Chicago, Illinois, and currently is a foreign subsidiary of the Finnish company Amer Sports....

. Notable projects include the ongoing KmartDesign initiative (launched for Kmart

Kmart

Kmart, sometimes styled as "K-Mart," is a chain of discount department stores. The chain acquired Sears in 2005, forming a new corporation under the name Sears Holdings Corporation. The company was founded in 1962 and is the third largest discount store chain in the world, behind Wal-Mart and...

 in April 2009) and the 2010 re-election campaign of Illinois Governor Pat Quinn (politician)

Pat Quinn (politician)

Patrick Joseph "Pat" Quinn III is the 41st and current Governor of Illinois. He is a member of the Democratic Party. Previously elected three times to statewide office, Quinn was the sitting lieutenant governor and became governor on January 29, 2009, when the previous governor, Rod Blagojevich,...

External links

• Corporate website
• About Face Media on Facebook
• About Face Media on Twitter
• "Viral Videos in Social Media" article on Denise McKee
• Interview with About Face executive producer Andy Gorzalski