The directing duo of Pat Heywood and Jamil McGinnis rolled out this short film created for the seventh season of Motionpoems, a nonprofit that turns poetry into film. The short is an adaptation of the poem “Things I Carry Into the World” by Cynthia Manick. It’s an abstract meditation on the body, the feminine, the everyday realities of being young and black, and the fragility between the manmade and the natural. Heywood and McGinnis worked with a nonprofit, Urban Word NYC, who connected them with four poets: Esther Aloba, Nkosi Nkululeko, Makayla Posely, and Trace DePass. The scenes featuring these poets are actually adaptations of their own poems, heard briefly in the opening scene.
Different companies–including The Mill, Cosmo Street, Sonic Union, Heard City and Smuggler–were involved in helping to make the project happen.
McGinnis is an associate producer at Droga5 while Heywood is a coordinator at Smuggler. The two met when they briefly worked at Saatchi & Saatchi and eventually came together as a new directing team.
Heywood and McGinnis ran a successful Kickstarter campaign to fund the project which made its online premiere on NOWNESS.
Credits
Production Jamil McGinnis, Pat Heywood, directors; Claire McGirr, producer; Frances Chen, DP; Todd Boss, Egg Creative, Carolyn Casey, exec producers; Jessica Miller, Tiffanie Young, assistant directors; Armaan Virani, first assistant camera; Patrick Morgan, Denny Kortze, Steadicam; Chandler Tucker, Manny Munoz, DIT; Adrian Anaya, grip & electric; Kearah Armonie, Will Chambers, Jacob Pirogovsky, Darcie Reisler, Jay Robinson, production assistants. Casting Safiya Martinez Connell Adam Falkner, Shannon Matesky. Story Esther Aloba,Trace DePass, Pat Heywood, Jamil McGinnis, Nkosi Nkululeko, Makayla Posely Editorial Cosmo Street Editorial Mark Potter, editor; Anne Lai, producer. Post The Mill Mikey Rossiter, colorist; Evan Bauer, Jacqueine Sands, producers; Mario Stipinovich, Laura Nash, title design; Kieran Hanrahan, 2D lead. Music Squeak E. Clean Rob Barbato, Matthew Compton, composers; Christine Bilich, producer. Audio Heard City Tom Morris, sound engineer. Sonic Union Paul Weiss, sound mixer; Pat Sullivan, producer. Voiceover Talent Aliah Mourad
Blinkink director Jack Brown created this stop motion film to tell a handmade story for Tekla’s holiday campaign.
Established in Copenhagen in 2017, Tekla was born from a desire to bring modernity and freedom of expression to the homeware category. As a brand, it rejects rapid trend cycles by designing for longevity, with an uncompromising focus on quality and responsible production. Brown’s use of stop-motion animation, using only Tekla fabrics, places both the brand’s story and its values front and center.
The film takes us on the journey of a teddy bear exploring the enchanted interiors of the Tekla Copenhagen store. The vibe feels dreamlike and the addition of stop motion adds a tenderness to the film. Inspired by the stories of Hans Christian Andersen, the campaign features iconic figures and nods to his fairytales; the towering mattresses of The Princess and the Pea, the magical umbrella of The Sandman, and the floating luggage of The Flying Trunk.
Brown said, “What an amazing little project this was, and for such a great brand. Tekla was such a cool client to work with. I suggested making the whole ad out of their fabrics and within 24 hours, there were boxes of beautiful fabrics being delivered for us to cut to pieces. Everything you see is about the size of an A4 sheet of paper and all hand cut, stitched and animated by a very small team of very talented people. Anita Bruvere was the lead builder and animator and did such an amazing job of turning all these tiny pieces of fabric into a magical world.”
