Justyna Obasi of production house Love Song directed this commercial titled “Wisdom & Obi,” part of Expedia’s new “Never Give Up On Going” campaign.
Following a father and young son, the spot match-cuts the child’s hands running over a common beige carpet as he imagines the feeling of sand on the sunny beaches of Jamaica, his father’s childhood home. Inspired to show his son the place where he grew up, the boy’s father utilizes Expedia to make this goal a reality. The spot ends with the family in Jamaica creating new memories, experiencing what, before that moment, had only been a dream.
The film strikes a personal note for Obasi, an alum of SHOOT’s 2020 New Directors Showcase, who shared, “It took me back almost 30 years ago when my mother decided to finally show me Nigeria. This is me; this is a familiar feeling.” Leading with empathy, the camera follows the characters as they grow, move through the story, and reveal more about themselves. Obasi speaks to the need for “Wisdom & Obi” to unfold organically, adding. “If we are not authentic enough, then we risk a cliché. These characters are not clichés.”
Credits
Client Expedia Group Hector Muelas, SVP global creative; Michele Rousseau, SVP global brands; Kevin Tenglin, Luke Harris, executive creative directors; Michael McCommon, creative director; Bruno Barbieri, Diogo de Souza Valim, associate creative directors; Perrin Rausch, head of integrated production; Lindsey Wood, executive producer; Kara Fromhart, sr. producer; Lauren Bautista, associate producer. Production Love Song Justyna Obasi, director; Kelly Bayett, managing partner/exec producer; Daniel Wolfe, partner/exec producer; Deannie O’Neil, exec producer; Nicole Powell, producer. Editorial Exile Edit Sound Barking Owl Kelly Bayett, creative director/co-founder; Gus Koven, sound designer; AJ Murillo, mixer; Beau Manning, assistant mixer; KC Dossett, producer. Music "Ballerina" by Yehezkel Raz Color/Finish Trafik Mark Gethin, colorist; Nate Seymour, assistant colorist; Greer Bastiche, color producer; Megan Lang Bice, color exec producer; Benji Davidson, VFX supervisor/sr. Flame artist; Jacob Goldberg, Markis Lazarre, Flame artists; Charlotte Preuss, finish producer; Karena Ajamian, finish exec producer.
Director Gia Coppola Teams With Mejuri For “A New York Minute”; 1st Episode Takes Us To The Grocery Store
Mejuri, known for turning fine jewelry into an everyday luxury, has partnered with director Gia Coppola (The Last Show Girl, Palo Alto) and The Directors Bureau in Los Angeles, for the first time reimagining the brand’s story as episodic content. In a series of microfilms, co-created by Coppola and premiering following New York Fashion Week, Mejuri eschewed a typical celebrity campaign and cast us as voyeurs to a group of aspiring young women--real people, not actors--at the crossroads of their adult lives against the backdrop of New York City.
Titled “A New York Minute,” the series features five real-life friends, who include one perfectly imperfect heroine named Emma. The women celebrate ordinary moments and interactions which reveal, sometimes retrospectively, the extraordinary within the mundane. Adjacent to the brand’s own community, the 30-something year old cast includes Laura Love (Emma), Rebecca Ressler, Natalie Vall-Freed and Rozzi Crane. Mejuri’s jewelry makes an appearance as the best supporting actor.
“When I met with Gia and The Directors Bureau team, there was instant creative and personal chemistry and a natural alignment on the desire to push and blur the lines between marketing, storytelling, and the construct of what a ‘campaign’ could be,” said Jacob Jordan, chief brand officer, Mejuri. “Gia was able to push that idea into something that truly feels new and artful, with a realism and relatability that almost feels jarring. Gia was such a perfect collaborator and partner, someone I had complete trust in to be a catalyst for Mejuri’s values of celebrating women as their truest selves. I can’t wait for us to continue to tell the next chapters of this story.”
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