who we are

Cando Entertainment is a leading interactive media studio based in the heart of New York City but with a global presence. Since being founded in 1997 by Walter Bell and Jerry Thompson, Cando has produced and developed over 75+ projects for large and small entertainment companies -- many of whom are Fortune 500 listed.

A core team is essential to any great project and we are extremely fortunate to work side-by-side with the most talented designers and developers in the industry. With years of experience under our belt, our team is fast, efficient and the ultimate goal is to help our Clients realize their visions.

Services:
Concept Development • Concept Mockup/Comp • Creative Production • Complete Development
Continual Service Support • Case Study

Latest Projects:
» Okayplayer (See: Recent Projects)
» Independent Comedy Network (See: Recent Projects)
» CBS Mobile Zone - NYC (See: Recent Projects)
» New York Jets (See: Film & Video Production)
» Rawkus Network (See: Recent Projects)

recent projects

Client:
Okayplayer

Weblink:
http://www.okayplayer.com

Project:
Okayplayer


The history of Okayplayer stretches back quite a few years led by Ahmir "?uestlove" Thompson, Richard Nichols and Dan Petruzzi at the helm. With the respect artists like Amy Winehouse, Common, DJ Jazzy Jef, Eryka Badu, J Dilla, Mos Def, The Roots, Skillz and more -- OKP has been making strides in bridging artists and fans together.

Cando was brought in to migrate data from their previous platform which was spread across numerous applications into a single, common format. Additionally, Cando provided integration support and custom programming to extend the underlying platform they were relaunching on.

The beta site just recently launched, take a look here.

Client:
Independent Comedy Network

Weblink:
http://www.icn.tv/

Project:
ICN.TV Video Site


The Independent Comedy Network is a very forward looking company that approached Cando to develop a really, cool and creative web site as a gateway to their growing collection of episodic shows. The goal was to create something that was completely original and the path we took was a hand-drawn site. Nowadays when sites are going for a very "Web 2.0" look and feel, ICN wanted to approach the project very differently. With a slate of original material being released at the top of February 2008, the site had to reflect their vision completely.

With just a few short weeks, Cando worked closely with the Marc Cambell and the ICN staff in creating the vision and building out the functionality. With a community site being attached to the project, ICN wanted to focus on the content but still create a viable platform for fans of the shows to interact. The result is a great seamless integration of content, community and presence for their shows and brand.

Cando is extremely fortunate to have been part of the team that helped Marc Campbell and his team bring ICN.TV to the 'reasonably' intelligent.


Client:
CBS Interactive / CBS Outdoor

Weblink:
http://www.cbsmobilezone.com

Project:
CBS Mobile Zone - NYC


CBS Interactive, a division of CBS Corporation, requested Cando to develop a web application to represent their initiative in creating a massive, free Wi-Fi network covering Times Square to Central Park South in NYC in conjunction with CBS Outdoor. The goal was to integrate content from a number of CBS properties, hyperlocal content, and a social network into a seamless user experience.

During the development cycle, Cando worked closely with Cyriac Roeding, Executive Vice-President of CBS Interactive, and various teams at CBS Mobile, CBS News, CBS Sports, Last.fm and WCBS, to ensure their vision was fully realized within the scope of the project.

The portal development was spearheaded by Jerry Thompson (Co-Founder / CTO), Walter Bell (Co-Founder / Creative Director), Damon Wirth (Lead Developer) and James Ehly (CSS/XHTML Developer).

Cando worked extremely close with other next-generation content companies such as 1020 (hyperlocal content & advertising), Yelp (local reviews), Last.fm (music), Goowy (video technology), Veoh (video streaming) and Ning (social network provider), and integrated their cutting edge technologies in the project.

The "CBS Mobile Zone," will be powered by CBS Outdoor billboards and MTA New York City Transit-owned urban panels located above select subway station entrances that have been fitted with transmitters in a joint initiative between CBS Interactive and CBS Outdoor. In addition, many local businesses will be offered free routers allowing companies and patrons to tap into the "CBS Mobile Zone" from indoors. In launching this first-of-its-kind Wi-Fi network, CBS partnered with the MTA New York City Transit and several next-generation companies including Tropos, BIG, Fon, Ning, Goowy, Veoh, Yelp, 1020, Aptilo and Cando Entertainment, with more to be added throughout the duration of the midtown offering. The "CBS Mobile Zone" also provides interactive advertising opportunities that can be localized down to the individual billboard.

Cando is proud to have been part of the team that brought the vision of Cyriac and his teams at CBS to the masses.

See:
CBS press release: http://www.cbscorporation.com/news/prdetails.php?id=17255&pe=1
CBS Mobile ((Zone)) - NYC: http://www.cbsmobilezone.com

Client:
Rawkus Network

Weblink:
http://www.rawkus.com

Project:
Lifestyle Portal


Rawkus Records was established in 1996 by Brian Brater and Jarret Meyer, with financial backing from a school friend, James Murdoch, son of Rupert Murdoch. In 1999 the label entered into a distribution deal with Interscope/Geffen, whose parent company was Universal Music.

Over the years, Rawkus has recorded several notable independent hip hop artists, including Company Flow, the High and Mighty, Mos Def and Talib Kweli (as Blackstar), Common, Pharoahe Monch, and Skillz.

In July 2005 it was announced that Rawkus had re-emerged with a new distribution deal with RED Distribution and a new vision for Rawkus Records online.

Cando sat down with the founders to explore their ultimate goals and vision. Within a short period of time Cando had rolled out a number of phases which would ultimately become Rawkus 2.0 and help them relaunch their official label site.

Since the relaunch, Rawkus has been retooling its online presence into a lifestyle portal. Working with a number of successful and award-winning bloggers, the Rawkus Network was born. Incorporating daily Hip Hop and fashion news, music rumors and gossip, RSS feeds, a complete social network component integrated with a seamless and integrated look-and-feel that includes user profiles, blogs, forums, photos, videos, music, groups, internal private messaging and more -- the Rawkus Network has evolved into one of the fastest growing web destinations on the internet.

The relaunch helped to create a 720% increase in daily visitors to the site. The Rawkus social network component alone is experiencing exponetal growth. With over 140% growth each month to its registered members, Rawkus has established a viable platform to expand, promote and provide relevant Hip Hop related news generating over 1 million page views per month.

With a starting ranking on Alexa.com of over 300,000, the Rawkus Network now ranks 11,280 within a few short months.



Community / Social Networks

BuzzCuts
Uproxx Media

visit site
Barnmice Social Network
Barnmice

visit site
ICN.TV Video Site
Independent Comedy Network

visit site

CBS Mobile Zone - NYC
CBS Interactive / CBS Outdoor

visit site
My.Rawkus Social Network
Rawkus Network

visit site
Hip Hop Hangout (H3Oh)
Cando Digital Entertainment



Film & Video Production / Post-Production / Broadcast

NY Jets - ALR


play video

Online Video Episode
Joanne Colan

play video

Motion Graphics Reel


play video


Don't Dance With Death
MTV Broadcast PSA

play video

The Monster
MTV Broadcast PSA

play video

He Said, She Said
MTV Broadcast PSA

play video


Behind-The-Scenes EPK
Richard Lugo

play video

Behind-The-Scenes EPK
Tamia

play video

Pilot / MTV
Jesse McCartney

play video


BabyPhat In-Store Video
BabyPhat

play video

Mixtape, Inc. - The Movie
Feature-length Documentary

play video

Corporate Sites

Orthometrix, Inc.
VibraFlex Product Site

screenshots | visit site
Simmons Lathan Media Group
Cable TV Site

visit site
Zen Media Group
Artist Management

visit site

Sampson & Naylor
Corporate Site

visit site
Coldwell Banker Commercial
Coldwell Banker Commercial


WexTrust Capital
WexTrust Capital

screenshots | visit site

Label Sites

Okayplayer

visit site
Rawkus Network

visit site
Asylum Records / Warner Music

screenshots

Clef Records

screenshots

Artist Sites

Ludacris - Chicken & Beer
Disturbin Tha Peace / Def Jam South

screenshots
Method Man - Tical 0
Def Jam

screenshots
DJ Silva Sir-Fa - Artist Site
Silva Sir-Fa Productions

screenshots | visit site

Baby Paul (BpZy) - Artist Site
Baby Paul

screenshots | visit site
Ashanti - Chapter II
Murder Inc / Def Jam

screenshots
DMX - Grand Champ
Ruff Ryders / Def Jam

screenshots

Keith Murray
Def Squad / Def Jam


N.O.R.E. - Grimey... God's Favorite
Thugged Out / Def Jam


DMX - The Great Depression
Ruff Ryders / Def Jam



Foxy Brown - Broken Silence
Ill Na Na / Def Jam


Terri Walker - Untitled
Def Soul UK

screenshots
Ludacris - Back For The 1st Time
Disturbin Tha Peace / Def Jam South



contact us

Cando Entertainment
245 8th Avenue, Suite 842
New York, NY 10011 USA

info@cando-ent.com