A teenage girl remembers the day she visited Children’s Memorial Hospital (CMH) for a brain tumor. “It kept coming back,” she said of the recurring tumor, relating that a CMH doctor wanted to “try something new.”
That “something” was a state-of-the-art treatment, a process that is reflected around her visually like electrons circling a nucleus. Scenes of the youngster being in a wheelchair and laying flat on a CT scan table give way to her today looking well. Seated in a library, the girl notes that thanks to that one fateful day at CMH, she has since enjoyed 1,427 more–and counting.
A voiceover informs us that nearly 70 percent of Chicago-area children diagnosed with brain tumors are treated at CMH. Supered messages read, “New treatments, new cures, new hope for the future,” accompanied by the CMH logo and slogan, “Where kids come first.”
Titled “One Day,” this PSA is part of a two-spot campaign based on true stories and directed by Steve Beck of Rhythm + Hues Commercial Studios, Los Angeles, for agency Element 79 Partners, Chicago. The other PSA is titled “5 Candles” and tells the story of an infant who was brought into the hospital with respiratory problems. He is rushed into a treatment room and his life is saved. Now he is celebrating his fifth birthday.
The Element 79 creative team consisted of group creative director Susan Bertocchi, art director David Boensch, copywriter Greg Oreskovich and freelance producer Lisa Von Drehle.
This agency ensemble saw its CMH campaign win Element 79’s annual internal creative department competition. To their peers at the shop, different Element 79 creatives make a presentation about their favorite work of the past year. The three highest scoring presenters then make the finals. Agency artisans voted to give the top honor, this year’s Alchemy Award (for creating gold), to the creatives on the CMH work, which earns them a trip to the Cannes International Advertising Festival in June.
Beck’s support team at Rhythm+Hues included executive producer Paul Babb and producer Joel Zimmerman. The DP was David Kessler. Production designer was Jeff Dombro.
Rhythm+Hues also handled editorial, 2D effects and Flame work. Editor was Jay Lizarraga, with additional cutting by Steve Wellington. The latter also served as online editor. Visual effects supervisor/lead Flame artist was John Heller. Flame artists were Yukiko Ishiwata and Eric DeHaven. Roto artist as Sheri Cruz. Lisa White is head of production, commercial digital, while Ken Roupenian is director, digital production, and Stacy Burstin is executive director, design division. Anjelica Casillas is manager, track, rig and animation; Jay Miya is manager, light, FX, pipeline; Jenny Groener is manager of compositing and rotoscoping; and Thom Burkhart is 2D operations manager.
Colorist was Stefan Sonnenfeld of Company 3, Santa Monica. Missy Papageorge produced for Company 3. Additional telecine was done at Spy Post, San Francisco, with Gary Coates and Lori Joseph serving as colorist and producer, respectively. Audio mixer/sound designer was John Binder of Another Country, Chicago. Michelle Hofbauer produced for Another Country.
Bicoastal Elias Arts turned out the music. The Elias coterie of talent was comprised of creative director David Gold, composers Jonathan Elias and Chip Jenkins, and head of production/producer Dayna Turcotte. Elias was the composer on “One Day” and Jenkins on “5 Candles.”
The cast of “One Day” consisted of Stephanie Flood who was the healthy girl today, Sarah Saltiel who played the patient when she was younger, Cathleen Coyle who portrayed the girl’s mother, and Dr. Goldman as the doctor.
SUPERLATIVE Signs Director Claudia Abend For Spots and Branded Content
Latin American director/editor and documentary filmmaker Claudia Abend has joined SUPERLATIVE for her first U.S. representation spanning commercials and branded content.
Abend's empathetic docu-style POV has garnered several international awards for the documentary films Hit (2008) and The Flower of Life (2018). Her spotmaking credits include such brands as Procter & Gamble, Nestle and Blue Cross/Blue Shield. SUPERLATIVE has already worked with Abend, together producing a new ad campaign for digital agency Tinuiti and The Honest Company, a consumer goods corporation featuring eco-minded products.
“We found Claudia through her poignant documentaries on the festival circuit,” said SUPERLATIVE creative manager Stefan Dezil. “We are excited about her textured narratives, emotional storytelling, and her powerhouse long-form storytelling abilities, currently on her third feature film. As SUPERLATIVE continues to build our brand after premiering our latest films at Sundance and SXSW, Claudia is the kind of multidimensional artist we are excited to partner with on branded content and beyond. Fluent in English and Spanish, her reel shows real prowess with infants, food and skin products, families both young and old. Great visual storytelling and inspirational doc work.”
Abend began her career in her native Uruguay, studying film and editing in college. “My dad would show me films like Citizen Kane,” she said. “I love cinema and became an editor. It was here that I learned all about communicating human emotion.”
From the get-go, Abend hit it big as a documentary director, teaming with Adrianna Loeff on Hit, a movie chronicling pop artists of Uruguayan music. Abend took home a Best Editing... Read More