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    Canadian Creatives “Reach Out” With Animated Mental Health PSA During The Pandemic

    By SHOOTUpdated:No Comments2217 Views

    This heartfelt animated spot in support of mental health follows a teenage boy experiencing the world closing down due to the COVID-19 pandemic. He’s repeatedly met with the all-too familiar message: Stay home and stay safe. We eventually see him at home, but feeling alone. Viewers are reminded that staying home doesn’t mean they have to feel alone. The spot ends with a positive message encouraging people to reach out to one another.

    A group of Canadian creatives came together to bring the film to fruition during their downtime due to the virus crisis. No agency. No client. When the lockdown became a reality, a lot of projects were shelved. “Production came to a halt, which meant we weren’t going to be shooting anytime soon,” said director Edward Andrews who also served as a writer and the editor on the PSA. “As a director I had to adapt, and I saw this as a creative challenge: Stay safe and help to flatten the curve, but continue telling emotional stories that connect with people.”

    Andrews teamed with Jeremy Stewart, co-founder of Animism Studios, producer Kelsy Wittmann, and creative director Jonathan Guy. “We had been seeing a lot in the news about the unprecedented surge in calls to mental health and kids’ helplines due to the pandemic,” said Guy.

    The group decided to try and help in some small way by raising awareness for mental health. “We were in discussions about our next commercial when the COVID crisis suddenly put a stop to everything,” recalled Stewart. “It would have been far easier to just send our crew home and tell them to wait till this was all over. Instead we chose to keep our people employed and working safely from home for a good cause.” Once the animation got to a certain point, they asked Didier Tovel and his studio, SNDWRx, to write an original score.

    The “stay home, stay safe” message is an important one to help keep us physically healthy, but the hope is that this spot, “Mental Health Awareness: Reach Out,” reminds people to also think about their mental health. “Although we all find ourselves in a situation of isolation, I can’t begin to think how this new reality is the norm for many children out there in need of support,” said Tovel. 

    Support can be as simple as a phone call or text message to a friend or family member. “Reach out to someone. Ask how they’re doing. It can really go a long way,” said Andrews. While the project doesn’t have an organization attached to it, Guy says that everyone who worked on it has made a donation to a cause of their choice. “We hope this encourages others to donate if they are in a position to do so. These organizations need our help now more than ever.”

    Causes donated to:

    • Animism Studios: Doctors Without Borders
    • SNDWRx: SickKids Foundation
    • Edward Andrews: MIND
    • Jonathan Guy: CAMH (Centre for Addiction and Mental Health)
    Credits

    Creative/Production Jonathan Guy, creative director/writer; Edward Andrews, writer/director/editor. Visual Effects/Animation/Production Company Animism Studios Jeremy Stuart, animation/art director; Kelsy Wittmann, VFX producer; Michael Stewart, VFX supervisor; Brad McGiveron, Daniel Davie, Jamie Schmitt, CG artists; Francis Bezooyen, concept design; Victor Barbosa, rigging support; Paulo Nogeueira, tech support. Color Grading Sam Gilling Music & Sound SNDWRx Didier Tovel, writer/composer/sound designer; Geoff Devine, additional sound design; Nefe, performer.

    Media Type:Commerical: PSA
    ScreenWork Categories:Commercial
    Video Tags:Animism StudioscoronavirusSNDWRx



    The Docter Twins Direct Part 2 Of FactSets’ “Not Just The Facts” Comedy Campaign From VSA Partners

    Thursday, November 21, 2024

    FactSet, a global financial digital platform and enterprise solutions provider, has partnered with Chicago-based creative agency VSA Partners to unveil a second round of spots in its “Not Just the Facts” campaign. The campaign originally launched back in April.

    The campaign was built on a core strategic insight: While quality data is critical for financial professionals, facts in isolation provide little value. FactSet’s personalization, data connectivity, open and flexible technology, and dedicated service and support provide the context necessary for the investment community to turn facts into valuable insights--and make the most of them.

    The new creative picks up where the previous left off. This time it focuses on a particularly boorish office worker, drolly played by character actor Wyndham Maxwell, who ticks off an encyclopedic list of facts and non sequiturs during business meetings and to the bemusement of his colleagues.

    The tongue-in-cheek campaign, which plays more like a perfect-pitch comedy series than a typical B2B commercial effort, is a major departure from financial services industry norm--both in its use of humor and in its humanistic approach. Starting this week, FactSet will roll out 16 unique spots—a combination of :30s, :15s, :06s and nine “shorts”—across multiple channels including digital, streaming and CTV.

    This :30, “Dinos,” has an office worker’s relevant reference to dinosaurs spark our boorish colleague who proceeds to utter one irrelevant fact after another about the prehistoric creatures.

    The Los Angeles–based Docter Twins (Matthew and Jason Docter) directed the original campaign and this new humorous work through their production company, Thinking Machine. The identical twin... Read More

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