This spot from the Illinois Lottery pays tribute to the winning spirit of the people of the State of Illinois, through the story of a family and how they face the trials of everyday life when the mother in the family cannot go home. The spot was created by the Lottery’s creative agency, O’Keefe Reinhard & Paul and was brought to life by Chicago director Simon Reinert whose wife Shifra is a nurse at Northwestern Hospital in downtown Chicago and is featured in the ad.
In developing the new work, OKRP group creative director Aubrey Walker was inspired by the story and music behind The Wiz and the search for home. He was thinking about the many healthcare workers who are self-separating from their families and not able to go home, and he thought that showing the sacrifice through one woman’s experience was also a way to reveal the ethos of what it really means to be a winner. The team at OKRP knew there were challenges for a shoot amid the limitations of the coronavirus pandemic and sought out a local director.
The commercial evolved into a docu-inspired, minute-long piece featuring Simon, Shifra, and their young son–all of whom had never acted before–in their own home and work environments. This also allowed the concept to be executed safely. Production house on the job was Minimal Productions, which represents Simon Reinert.
“This new normal that everyone keeps referring to is allowing us to exercise our problem-solving skills,” says John Condne, executive producer at Minimal. “We’re producing like never before, meeting challenges with as much grace and ingenuity as possible. We’re extremely proud of what Simon accomplished with this film and the level of support we showed one another through the process.”
“It was a bit of a roll of the dice on if we could tell a narrative story well, with such large production limitations,” explained Laura Fegley, chief creative officer at OKRP. “But the serendipity of finding a family with an important story to tell, that also happened to have a director in it, sold us. Ultimately having the director literally connected to the story, made for some truly intimate footage.”
The ad will begin airing early in May on local network broadcast in Illinois. In addition to the 60-second spot, there will also be a 30-second version. It will also air on digital and social channels.
