Kids love snow days which also mean no school days. For athletes, snow days are also play days as reflected in this spot featuring an all-star cast of Nike sports pros led by NFL stars Rob Gronkowski and Ndamukong Suh who take to the streets for a game of snow football while the rest of the city shuts down due to inclement weather.
Steve Rogers of Biscuit Filmworks directed “Snow Day” for Wieden+Kennedy, Portland, Ore.
Client Nike Agency Wieden+Kennedy, Portland, Ore. Chris Groom, Stuart Brown, creative directors; Brock Kirby, copywriter; Lee Jennings, art director; Jeff Selis, producer; Matt Hunnicutt, executive producer; Edgar Morales, designer; Alicia Kuna, studio manager; Seth Shelman, Jeff Ackley, Oliver Rokoff, motion; Adam Sirkin, motion, color/retouching; Saskla Thomson, color/retouching; Grace Petrenka, art buyer; Patrick Marzullo, Ben Oh, Evelyn Loomis, Jenna Simon, digital production. Reid Schilperoort, digital/social strategy; Ben Grylewicz, head of production; Mark Fitzloff, Joe Staples, executive creative directors. Production Biscuit Filmworks Steve Rogers, director; Shawn Lacy, Holly Vega, Dana Balkin, exec producers; Jay Veal, line producer; Alwin Kuchler, DP; Craig Owens, 1st assistant director. Editorial Joint Editorial, Portland Peter Wiedensmith, editor; Dylan Sylwester, assistant editor; Jen Milano, post producer; Leslie Carthy, exec producer; Mary Zuleger, operations director. VFX The Mission Joey Brattesani, lead Flame; Piotr Karwas, animation director; Michael Gibson, on-set supervisor; Diana Cheng, VFX producer; Michael Pardee, managing director; Ellen Turner, exec producer. Music/Sound Joint Editorial Noah Woodburn, sound designer. Song: The Payback Audio Post Joint Editorial Noah Woodburn, mixer; Jen Milano, producer.
Dancer turned director Ezra Hurwitz collaborates with Ailey II artistic director Francesca Harper, featuring movement as museum pieces against the Whitney Museum of American Art’s striking architecture for this short film titled Echoes of Ailey. Commissioned to celebrate “Edges of Ailey” at the Whitney Museum, the film accompanies the first large-scale exhibition on the life and enduring legacy of visionary artist and choreographer Alvin Ailey. “Edges of Ailey” is currently on view at the Whitney until February 9.
Animating iconic images from Alvin Ailey’s 20th-century repertory, the film expands on the exhibition by constructing a visual narrative around his storytelling and influences. Set to Radiohead’s “Everything In Its Right Place,” dancers from the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, Ailey II, and The Ailey School capture the emotional core of the company’s history--physically situating Ailey’s masterworks amongst the Whitney’s collection.
“As a child, my grandmother took me to Ailey’s Revelations once a year,” said Hurwitz. “No matter how often I saw it, the work captivated me. There isn’t one specific thing I hope viewers take away from the film--or one way to interpret its images. It’s meant to be an abstract work, like Ailey’s creations.”
Turning to his archive, Hurwitz and Harper illuminate key sequences symbolic of Ailey’s profound legacy, closing on an uninterrupted sequence from "I’ve Been Buked," the opening movement of Ailey’s legendary "Revelations." Carrying a watershed moment back to its own medium, Echoes of Ailey captures the multigenerational impact of Ailey’s work, continued by his organization. The short film first premiered on Nowness.
Hurwitz is... Read More
