By Robert Goldrich
This black-and-white spot from Bozell & Jacobs, Omaha, shows little girls engaged in fun, constructive activities at YWCA centers–dancing, playing guitar, studying together, reading in the dark by flashlight, playing with bubbles, bike riding and socializing.
This in and of itself would make for a feel-good PSA that promotes the services, resources, recreational opportunities and the sense of community that can be experienced at the YWCA. But the piece takes on an added thought-provoking dimension when these scenes play against a soundtrack of hip-hop and rap tunes that fade in and out, all of them referring to the girls in negative demeaning language (“bitches,” “hos” and telling them to “get out of my face.”).
Seeing the images of the girls in a positive light juxtaposed with the music lyrics makes the songs sound absurd and bizarre, which coincides with what the YWCA does to negative sentiments, as reflected in the spot tagline: “Eliminating racism, empowering women,” accompanied by the Web site address, www.ywca.org.
“Little Girls” was directed by feature filmmaker Bronwen Hughes (Harriet the Spy, Forces of Nature, Stander) of Santa Monica-based Independent Media. Susanne Preissler executive produced for Independent Media. Max Malkin was the DP.
Music producer Nicole Dionne of Primal Scream, Los Angeles, had composer Billy West create seven separate melodies for the spot, turning out music that helps to drive the creative.
The creative team for Bozell & Jacobs consisted of creative director/copywriter Cliff Watson, art director Erica Rowe and producer Nan Pike.
The spot was cut by Meg Kubicka of The Whitehouse, Chicago. Audio post mixer was Dave Gerbosi of Chicago Recording Company, Chicago.Carrie Coon Relishes Being Part Of An Ensemble–From “The Gilded Age” To “His Three Daughters”
It can be hard to catch Carrie Coon on her own.
She is far more likely to be found in the thick of an ensemble. That could be on TV, in "The Gilded Age," for which she was just Emmy nominated, or in the upcoming season of "The White Lotus," which she recently shot in Thailand. Or it could be in films, most relevantly, Azazel Jacobs' new drama, "His Three Daughters," in which Coon stars alongside Natasha Lyonne and Elizabeth Olsen as sisters caring for their dying father.
But on a recent, bright late-summer morning, Coon is sitting on a bench in the bucolic northeast Westchester town of Pound Ridge. A few years back, she and her husband, the playwright Tracy Letts, moved near here with their two young children, drawn by the long rows of stone walls and a particularly good BLT from a nearby cafe that Letts, after biting into, declared must be within 15 miles of where they lived.
In a few days, they would both fly to Los Angeles for the Emmys (Letts was nominated for his performance in "Winning Time" ). But Coon, 43, was then largely enmeshed in the day-to-day life of raising a family, along with their nightly movie viewings, which Letts pulls from his extensive DVD collection. The previous night's choice: "Once Around," with Holly Hunter and Richard Dreyfus.
Coon met Letts during her breakthrough performance in "Who's Afraid of Virginia Wolfe?" on Broadway in 2012. She played the heavy-drinking housewife Honey. It was the first role that Coon read and knew, viscerally, she had to play. Immediately after saying this, Coon sighs.
"It sounds like something some diva would say in a movie from the '50s," Coon says. "I just walked around in my apartment in my slip and I had pearls and a little brandy. I made a grocery list and I just did... Read More