By Christine Champagne
JetBlue Airways soars into the creative stratosphere with a humorous new :60 called "Mockumentary" created by The Ad Store, New York, and directed by Paul Cappelli, The Ad Store’s president/CEO/creative director, with production support provided by U Direct Productions, New York. According to Cappelli, Amy Curtis-McIntyre, VP of marketing for JetBlue, gets credit for coming up with the idea for the spot.
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CLIENT
JetBlue Airways.
PRODUCTION CO.
U Direct Productions, New York.
Paul Cappelli, director; Mike Trim, DP; Daniel Miller, executive producer/line producer; Anthony Nelson, production manager. Shot on location at Long Beach Airport, Long Beach, Calif.
AGENCY
The Ad Store, New York.
Paul Cappelli, CEO/president/creative director; Brian Flatow, senior VP/copywriter; Vincent Anselmi, art director; Katya Bankowski, producer.
EDITORIAL
U Direct Productions.
Daniel Miller, offline editor.
POST
U Direct Productions.
Daniel Miller, online editor.
Nice Shoes, New York.
Micah Kirz, colorist.
VISUAL EFFECTS
Gunshop Inc., Brooklyn, N.Y.
Stacy Nimmo, owner/graphic artist.
AUDIO POST
New York Sound, New York.
Joe Cunningham, mixer.
SOUND DESIGN
U Direct Productions.
Daniel Miller, sound designer.
Steve McQueen Shows Wartime London Through A Child’s Eyes In “Blitz”
It was a single photograph that started Oscar-winning filmmaker Steve McQueen on the journey to make "Blitz." As a Londoner, the German bombing raids on the city during World War II are never all that far from his mind. Reminders of it are everywhere. But the spark of inspiration came from an image of a small boy on a train platform with a large suitcase. Stories inspired by the evacuation are not rare, but this child was Black. Who was he, McQueen wondered, and what was his story? The film, in theaters Friday and streaming on Apple TV+ on Nov. 22, tells the tale of George, a 9-year-old biracial child in East London whose life with his mother, Rita ( Saoirse Ronan ), and grandfather is upended by the war. Like many children at the time, he's put on a train to the countryside for his safety. But he hops off and starts a long, dangerous journey back to his mom, encountering all sorts of people and situations that paint a revelatory and emotional picture of that moment. SEARCHING FOR GEORGE AND FINDING A STAR When McQueen finished the screenplay, he thought to himself: "Not bad." Then he started to worry: Does George exist? Is there a person out there who can play this role? Through an open casting call they found Elliott Heffernan, a 9-year-old living just outside of London whose only experience was a school play. He was the genie in "Aladdin." "There was a stillness about him, a real silent movie star quality," McQueen said. "You wanted to know what he was thinking, and you leant in. That's a movie star quality: A presence in his absence." Elliott is now 11. When he was cast, he'd not yet heard about the evacuation and imagined that a film set would be made up of "about 100 people." But he soon found his footing, cycling in and out of... Read More