Even though “The Best Work You May Never See” gallery is now in its 10th year, the positive charge still resonates for SHOOT when a spot recognized in that gallery goes on to gain wider spread attention.
In September, the Idaho Lottery’s offbeat “Twister” spot earned “Best Work” distinction and now three months later it has been nominated for an Annie Award, recognizing excellence in animation. Directed by Christopher Hinton of Hollywood-based Acme Filmworks for agency es/drake in Boise, “Twister” is one of five nominees in the TV commercial category (SHOOT, 12/7) as selected by judges from the International Animated Film Society, a.k.a. ASIFA-Hollywood. The winning spot will be announced and honored during the Annie Awards gala on Feb. 8 at UCLA’s Royce Hall.
“Twister” is a charming, tongue-in-cheek, largely black-and-white animation :30, which opens on a ringing Idaho Lottery office phone that is picked up by a female receptionist. On the line is a man who says he saw the new Twister scratcher game cards in the store, which prompted him to come up with an idea for a TV commercial promoting the Idaho Lottery’s new game that carries a $30,000 payoff.
The guy’s head turns into a light bulb, connoting the proverbial inspired idea. He explains his spot storyline to the receptionist, an ad scenario that is brought to life via Hinton’s unique brand of animation. The man with the plan explains that a dot builder, whom we see with trusty hammer at the ready, is all set to play Twister. Since he makes the colored dots on the Twister board–causing players to contort their bodies in different directions–it figures that he should be masterful at the game and a leading candidate to win the 30 grand.
But these best laid plans are scuttled as our idea man relates that a “ginormous octopus alien” arrives on scene and uses its far reaching tentacles to out-twist the now caped superhero Twister man and win the top prize. The octopus then uses the money to repair its spaceship.
The receptionist, seen mindlessly twirling her hair, says succinctly that this idea “would never make it on television” and proceeds to burst the light bulb that emerges from her ear. (The idea started with the man, apparently made its way through the phone receiver and went in one ear of the receptionist and out the other.) The guy responds, “That wasn’t necessary,” referring to the manner in which the receptionist summarily dismissed his concept.
An end tag shows us an animated version of the scratcher game piece along with the Idaho Lottery website address.
Hinton said he was drawn to the project primarily for the “creative freedom” the agency team afforded him. They presented Hinton with a basic script and then an audio recording of the voices in the phone conversation. “I put together a rough animatic based on all of that, and they accepted my interpretation, adding a few suggestions.”
The agency team that entrusted Hinton consisted of creative directors Joe Quatrone and Dennis Budell and producer Lisa Hawkes.
TikTok Creators Left In Limbo As Supreme Court Considers Potential Platform Ban
Will TikTok be banned this month?
That's the pressing question keeping creators and small business owners in anxious limbo as they await a decision that could upend their livelihoods. The fate of the popular app will be decided by the Supreme Court, which will hear arguments on Jan. 10 over a law requiring TikTok to break ties with its Chinese-based parent company, ByteDance, or face a U.S. ban.
At the heart of the case is whether the law violates the First Amendment with TikTok and its creator allies arguing that it does. The U.S. government, which sees the platform as a national security risk, says it does not.
For creators, the TikTok doomsday scenarios are nothing new since President-elect Donald Trump first tried to ban the platform through executive order during his first term. But despite Trump's recent statements indicating he now wants TikTok to stick around, the prospect of a ban has never been as immediate as it is now with the Supreme Court serving as the final arbiter.
If the government prevails as it did in a lower court, TikTok says it would shut down its U.S. platform by Jan. 19, leaving creators scrambling to redefine their futures.
"A lot of my other creative friends, we're all like freaking out. But I'm staying calm," said Gillian Johnson, who benefited financially from TikTok's live feature and rewards program, which helped creators generate higher revenue potential by posting high-quality original content. The 22-year-old filmmaker and recent college graduate uses her TikTok earnings to help fund her equipment for projects such as camera lens and editing software for her short films "Gambit" and "Awaken! My Neighbor."
Johnson said the idea of TikTok going away is "hard to accept."
Many creators... Read More