Creator of 1984 video revealed

This is so much fun to watch: quote

Our statement on the 1984 video

Statement from Thomas Gensemer, Managing Director, Blue State Digital:

This afternoon, an employee at our firm, Phillip de Vellis, received a call from Arianna Huffington of "The Huffington Post" regarding the "1984" video currently circulating online. Initially, de Vellis refused to respond to her requests. He has since acknowledged to Blue State Digital that he was the creator of the video.

Pursuant to company policy regarding outside political work or commentary on behalf of our clients or otherwise, Mr. de Vellis has been terminated from Blue State Digital effective immediately.

Blue State Digital is under contract with the Obama Campaign for technology pursuits including software development and hosting. Additionally, one of our founding partners is on leave from the company to work directly for the campaign at headquarters.

However, Blue State Digital is not currently engaged in any relationship with the Obama Campaign for creative or non-technical services.

Mr. de Vellis created this video on his own time. It was done without the knowledge of management, and was in no way tied to his work at the firm or our formal engagement [on technology pursuits] with the Obama campaign.
I have spoken with David Plouffe, Sen. Obama's campaign manager, to inform him of this action and am appreciative of his understanding and ongoing support of our work.

We wish Mr. de Vellis well in his future endeavors.

In the final months of Howard Dean's Presidential Campaign in 2003-04, Jascha Franklin Hodge, Clay Johnson, Ben Self and Joe Rospars -- four principals of Dean's Internet Team -- conceived of Blue State Digital. As leaders of a campaign that made history for its innovative use of the Internet, the four wanted to continue developing best practices for online communications, fundraising, organizing, and technology. So, on March 5th, 2004, the four founded Blue State Digital.

The team first worked out of a coffee shop on P and 22nd in Washington, D.C., and in just two weeks, released its first version of tools including contributions, email, fundraising and petitions.

About two years later, Blue State Digital operates offices in Washington, D.C., Boston and Los Angeles, employs a team of twenty-five and has worked with more than sixty clients including: national and state Democratic parties, international political organizations, political action committees, environmental advocacy groups, progressive think tanks, online communities, news organizations and campaigns of every size.