By Christine Champagne
In creating Honda’s first branding effort in more than five years, the creative team at Rubin Postaer and Associates, Santa Monica, wanted to celebrate the strong ties Honda owners have with their vehicles. "Honda is number one in owner loyalty," said Rubin Postaer senior VP/creative director/copywriter David Smith. "People tend to own them throughout their lives, and people tend to talk about the cars almost as though they are extensions of themselves. That led us to the thought of how sometimes people’s pets look like them, so what if we showed people whose cars looked like them to get across this point about how much people love Hondas?" The result is the charmingly simple "Cars/People," directed by Malcolm Venville of bicoastal Anonymous Content.
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CLIENT
American Honda Motor Co.
PRODUCTION CO.
Anonymous Content, bicoastal.
Malcolm Venville, director; Jeff Cutter, DP; Dave Morrison, partner/executive producer/commercials head; Lisa Margulis, executive producer; Jon Benet, line producer. Shot at Raleigh Studios, Hollywood.
AGENCY
Rubin Postaer and Associates, Santa Monica.
Larry Postaer, executive VP/director of creative services; David Smith, senior VP/creative director/copywriter; Joe Baratelli, senior VP/creative director/art director; Gary Paticoff, senior VP/head of production/executive producer; Brian Donnelly, producer.
EDITORIAL
The Whitehouse, Santa Monica.
Rick Lawley, editor; Dan Oberle, assistant editor; Sue Dawson, executive producer.
POST
The Syndicate, Santa Monica.
Beau Leon, colorist; Christine Goldby, Flame artist.
AUDIO POST
Play, Santa Monica.
John Bolen, mixer.
MUSIC
HUM, Santa Monica.
Alan Steinberger, composer; Jeff Koz, owner/creative director/composer; Debbi Landon, executive producer.
First-Time Feature Directors Make Major Splash At AFI Fest, Generate Oscar Buzz
Two first-time feature directors who are generating Oscar buzz this awards season were front and center this past weekend at AFI Fest in Hollywood. Rachel Morrison, who made history as the first woman nominated for a Best Cinematography Oscar---on the strength of Mudbound in 2018--brought her feature directorial debut, The Fire Inside (Amazon MGM Studios), to the festival on Sunday (10/27), and shared insights into the film during a conversation session immediately following the screening. This came a day after William Goldenberg, an Oscar-winning editor for Argo in 2013, had his initial foray into feature directing, Unstoppable (Amazon MGM Studios), showcased at the AFI proceedings. He too spoke after the screening during a panel discussion. The Fire Inside--which made its world premiere at this year’s Toronto International Film Festival--tells the story of Claressa “T-Rex” Shields (portrayed by Ryan Destiny), a Black boxer from Flint, Mich., who trained to become the first woman in U.S. history to win an Olympic Gold Medal in the sport. She achieved this feat--with the help of coach Jason Crutchfield (Brian Tyree Henry)--only to find that her victory at the Summer Games came with relatively little fanfare and no endorsement deals. So much for the hope that the historic accomplishment would be a ticket out of socioeconomic purgatory for Shields and her family. It seemed like yet another setback in a cycle of adversity throughout Shields’ life but she persevered, going on to win her second Gold Medal at the next Olympics and becoming a champion for gender equality and equitable pay for women in sports. Shields has served as a source of inspiration for woman athletes worldwide--as well as to the community of... Read More