Chris Wilcha of Park Pictures directed this tale of actress Kristin Bauer van Straten (from HBO’s True Blood) and her dog, Asher, who was an animal shelter rescue pet. She notes that there is a misconception that “a rescue is going to be damaged in some way.”
She then introduces us to her pooch who was a stray running around the streets of L.A., underweight and malnourished. The dog has been her pet, friend and wonderful companion now for five years and counting. He makes an eloquent case for people to adopt or foster a shelter pet. This PSA drives traffic to NKLA.org.
Creative came from TBWAChiatDay, Los Angeles, for it client Best Friends Animal Society and its No-Kill Los Angeles (NKLA) initiative which aspires to turn Los Angeles into the largest no-kill city in the nation, ending the killing of healthy and treatable dogs and cats in Los Angeles shelters by the year 2017.
The plan is simply to provide spay/neuter services where it is needed most so fewer animals go into shelters, and increase adoptions so more animals come out of the shelters and go into new homes. Led by Best Friends, NKLA is a coalition of more than 50 animal welfare organizations, city shelters and passionate individuals.
In 2012, the coalition’s first year of existence, L.A. shelter deaths decreased 12 months in a row, culminating in 4,200 fewer animals killed compared to the previous year. Also in 2012, the NKLA Coalition facilitated 23,421 adoptions and 4,458 spay/neuter surgeries were performed.
Still, last year, more than 13,000 animals were killed in L.A. city shelters. Each one an individual. Each one a loving pet. That number should be zero. And it can be. There is a solution, but only if the people who care work together.
DGA Spot Nominees: Lance Acord, Kim Gehrig, Tim Heidecker & Eric Wareheim, Andreas Nilsson, Ivan Zacharias
This year’s field of nominees for the Directors Guild of America (DGA) Award recognizing Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Commercials consists of a filmmaker who’s won the honor each of the last two years, another past winner, a five-time nominee, a helmer who’s just picked up his second career nod, and a duo garnering their very first Guild nomination. The latter is the directorial team of Tim Heidecker & Eric Wareheim of production house PRETTYBIRD. The director now going for her third consecutive DGA Award win is Kim Gehrig of Somesuch. The other past winner is Andreas Nilsson of Biscuit Filmworks. Nilsson won the honor in 2016 and now has three career nominations. Lance Acord of Park Pictures just earned his fifth career DGA Award nomination in the commercials category--his four prior nods coming in 2004, 2012, 2013 and 2017. And scoring his second career DGA nod is Ivan Zacharias of SMUGGLER who was previously nominated in 2023. The work Gehrig earned her third straight nomination on the strength of three entries: SiriusXM’s “A Life in Sound” for agency Uncommon; Nike’s “Am I A Bad Person?” for Wieden+Kennedy, and the Apple client-direct spot titled “Find Your Friends.” Nilsson’s latest nomination came for Hennessy’s “Board Game” out of Wieden+Kennedy London; Andrex’s “First Office Poo” for FCB London; the client-direct Apple spot “One More”; and Virgin Media’s “Whizzer” for VCCP London. Acord’s fifth career nod is for Volkswagen’s “An American Love Story” out of agency Johannes Leonardo. Zacharias’ second career nomination is for Apple’s “Flock” out of TBWAMedia Arts Lab. And the duo of Tim Heidecker and Eric Wareheim nabbed their first... Read More