Gary Watson of DentsuBos, Toronto, served as creative director, writer and director of this cinema commercial which shows person after person shrugging off a friend with statements like you’re imagining things, all you need is a girls’ night out, nothing a few beers won’t fix, you’re making a big deal out of nothing, and get over it. All this is shot from the POV of the unseen person whose feelings are being dismissed.
A supered, sobering question then appears on screen: “Is it any wonder why 2 out of 3 people living with mental illness suffer in silence?”
A parting supered message then reads, “Defeat denial. Help defeat mental illness,” accompanied by the logo for Toronto’s Centre For Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH).
“I think we’ve all said things like this without even thinking about the signal we might be sending,” noted Watson who directed the spot via Holiday Films, Toronto. “It’s almost like saying, I don’t really want to hear about it or deal with it. And for someone living with a mental illness, that’s just another reason not to speak up or get help.”
Director Cassandra Brooksbank Joins Monument Content For Spots and Branded Content
Monument Content has signed director Cassandra “Cassie” Brooksbank for U.S. representation spanning commercials and branded content. She brings to her directing and storytelling the experience and skills of a writer, conceptual artist, editor and visual effects artist.
Her body of work as a director includes Pepsi’s “Selfie” featuring Lionel Messi amid a flurry of fans, Barclays madcap women’s Soccer League spot where she collaborated closely with the agency to develop the creative, ultimately winning the Grand Jury Prize at the Sports Industry Awards, and a grass-roots campaign for Fellow Coffee. The latter just didn’t brew buzz; it helped raise $1.2 million on Kickstarter.
Prior to joining Monument Content, Brooksbank had been repped in the U.S. for commercials by production house Hey Wonderful.
On the long-form front, she is repped by CAA for film and television. And on the horizon is her debut feature, My Masterpiece, produced by Sylvester Stallone’s Balboa Productions and backed by Amazon.
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